Photos - XJC restoration

Before the body restoration commenced the mechanicals were overhauled, including new suspension ball joints and a new rear transmission mount. Generally the car was in excellent mechanical condition as it had only travelled just over 100,000km.

This mess was due to a faulty valve on the climate control unit that required the removal of the whole unit and most of the dash. A big job to rectify a small problem. But once fixed the ancient climate control worked as well as any modern system.

Just arrived back from media blasting.

The plastic bead blasting removed all the top coats of paint and just left the original black etch primer in place.

The insides of the doors and jambs were media blasted, which made it a lot easier to prepare and repaint these fiddly areas.

No it's not a new door handle opening. A reinforceing panel runs inside the top of the door just behind the skin and has anti-rattle material between it and the door skin. This combination holds moisture and can cause rust, as it had in this case, near the door mirror. The solution was to cut out the rust and weld in a new section (refer to next photo).

New section welded into the door just below the mirror. Final step was to turn the door upside down and pour rust prevention paint into the door frame! The round holes are where the door mirror mounts in case you were wondering?

Bare metal, file finished quarter panel. White areas are camera flash reflecting off metal.

When I purchased the car it had a "chrome luggage rack" fitted on the boot lid. To mount the rack they had drilled holes in the boot lid and rather than weld up all the holes I bought a second hand boot lid in very good condition. I then stripped it back to bare metal inside and out to assist with the colour change.

Passenger side floor had minor rust where it met the bulkhead. The rust was cut out and a small patch panel fabricated and welded in place.

The floors were original and very solid, unlike most Jags of this period, and were stipped back to the original black etch primer for protection and refinishing.

The floors were painted in POR15 rust prevention paint.

The floors were painted in two pack body colour over POR15 rust prevention paint.

Door "A" pillars stripped of paint by media blaster.

Door pillars and door jambs were repainted in two pack which provided a great finish straight out of the gun.

Rust proofing, sealing and painting prior to bolt-on panels being refitted.

All the hard work that goes into rustproofing, sealing and painting is often hidden by all the panels that are installed over the top.

Doors painted inside, rehung and gapped on rebuilt hinges with new door seals.

Two pack hi-build primer sprayed on bodywork to assist in obtaining that perfect finish.

A fine black "guide coat" was sprayed over the hi-build primer to assist with detecting imperfections and ripples whilst blocking back the panels.

Left for a couple of days for the two-pack hi-build primer to dry and then the body was ready for final blocking back with wet & dry.

Paint preparation was completed at home and the XJC was then moved to the paint booth for two pack top coats.

All the body and paint preparation was completed at home but a professional spray painter in a heated spray booth applied the final two pack colour. In the spray booth/baking oven, masked up and ready to be painted.

It was fascinating to watch this artist at work as he weaved his magic with spray gun in hand.

A shiny new coat of paint baking in the oven for a few hours. Something to be proud of.

Out of the spray booth and on its way home.

Bodywork and paint all completed and ready for the assembly to begin.

Old vinyl roof removed and adhesive cleaned off ready to start the new vinyl roof. No rust under the vinyl roof and paint was in great condition - unusual for older vehicles with a vinyl roof.

He was hard to find, but an experienced vinyl roof trimmer was located and he made the cover in his shop and installed it at my garage. Here it's about halfway through and ready to be trimmed to fit.

The new vinyl roof looks like it just came out of the Jaguar factory.

Rear quarter window out of the car and in the down position. Mechanism is rather complex and this photo shows the mounting plate with tracks for the window to follow. This item took the Jaguar engineers many months to develop and delayed the release of the XJC. All this, plus the electric motor and lifting mechanism, had to be manipulated inside the quarter panel, bolted in place and adjusted. A long, drawn out and frustrating process.

Quarter window fitted and in the "up" position and sitting on the mounting plate.

Quarter window in the "up" position with electric motor in place.

All the window regulators were rebuilt by a retired engineer who made and installed new pivots and nylon wheels..

Front door window frame that supports the window and enables the window to be raised and lowered without a frame around the top of the door. Window fits to the slide which is about three quarters of the way down in this photo.

This strange object is a spring mechanism that fits inside the door to assist the electric motor to pull the rather heavy window into the "closed" position. In this photo the spring is wound in as it would be when the window was closed. One can only imagine the headaches the engineers had in trying to solve this and the many other problems with the side windows.

The same spring mechanism shown in the previous photo. This time the spring is under tension and extended as it would be when the window was down.

All electric motors for the windows were dismantled, cleaned and refurbished to ensure many years of trouble free service ahead.

Boot side trims were renewed with new backing boards made from MDF and covered in foam and original style black cloth.

The three "modern" materials used to make the “sound sandwich” for under the carpet. Ribbed rubber mat, felt and a dense water resistant foam. This resulted in improved sound insulation and prevention of moisture retention against the floors.

Sound insulation sandwich ready to be installed under the carpet.

Rear parcel shelf required renewing. New backing panel made from 3mm MDF and covered in black vinyl.

The new parcel shelf cover, complete with new stereo speakers.

The darker colour at the rear is the original untouched seat and the lighter colour at the front is a seat that has had the original leather dye removed using lacquer thinners.

Front seats after being rejuvinated. A huge improvement.

The old carpet pieces (left) were used as patterns to cut out the new carpet (right). A roll of grey/green wool blend English carpet was purchased for the XJC. This carpet was used in Series 3 Jaguar saloons and was thicker than the original Series 2 carpet with a higher pile and a thick underlay already glued to the underside. The sound insulation and carpet quality was far superior to the original and the colour helped to lighten the Olive interior.

When removed from the XJC the seats had no cracks, holes, rips or split stiching. Just normal wear and the patina expected with old Jaguar leather seats.

A rejuvinated seat. Original lacquer based leather dye removed and a new coat of Leatherique water based leather dye applied.

Rear seats with original dye stripped from them. There is a noticeable colour variance in the original leather.

The rejuvinated rear seats. The Leatherique process really revitalises leather seats.

Boot floor repainted and retrimmed.

All new fuel hoses, filters and fittings installed. The original fuel pump stopped working and was later replaced with a much smaller and more efficient electronic unit from a Volvo.

Additional aftermarket timber veneer was purchased to enhance the centre console and dash.

The addiotional timber veneer really lifted the console and dash area, something that Jaguar should have applied originally.

The original Jaguar wheels were dismantled, completely rechromed with no black painted scallops. This process greatly improved the appearance of the wheels and the new white wall tyres just set it off a treat.

The completed Jaguar XJC V12. A fabulous car to drive and own with lots of street appeal.

My Jaguar XJC V12

Photo Gallery - Jaguar XJC Restoration