As many of you know, over the last few years here in the US the "Rat Rod" has been a popular form of vehicle style.

How many of you think that the XJS would make a good rat rod?

I offer for consideration my recently acquired 1986 XJS;










A little background...I rescued this car before the owner sent it to the junk yard. The car had been sitting for over 10 years and he (and his wife) finally decided that they would never fix it and it was time to let it go.

It was originally parked because the fan blade broke and damaged the shroud, belts, hoses and the hood. Fortunately the radiator was spared.

As you would expect, after 10 years of sitting in the back yard a lot of things had to be done to get it running again. The radiator and complete cooling system has been replaced or restored. Also restored was the ignition and fuel systems. The old fuel injector harness disintegrated in my hands so it was replaced along with other compromised wiring.

Over the last few weeks I have restored it to running condition and just need to put some new tires on it to make it road worthy.

The body is in excellent condition with just a few small dents and no rust. A fresh paint job and she will look and drive beautifully!

But....what about the rat rod style? If it was yours would you leave the faded paint or go ahead and paint it?

For me the decision has already been made. I will drive it as a rat rod for a few months while I repaint my '90 black convertible. Once the '90 is back together the '86 will be the next car in the paint booth. I will repaint it and restore the car back to its former glory.

Mark

 

Maybe I'm the only clueless one here, as I was under the impression that only very old iron was deemed "rat rod" material. I feel the XJS is beautiful as is. And a red one? You got lucky here. Maybe the asteroid wheels from a 99-01 XJR, but that is just my opinion....

 

Well, if by "rat rod" you mean only unfinished, low budget, and home-built, then sure.

But if you mean "Rat Rod", then you need to chop the top, use white wall tires with fat ones in then rear, with velocity stacks and side pipes, and some Mexican blankets on the seats for good measure. The you'll need to reduce the paint to bare metal, let it rust, then shoot it a few times randomly for the bullet holes effect.

Now that would be cool.

Padre

 

I agree with you but I have encountered people who think that any older car with bad paint qualifies for "rat rod" status. I think they just use that as an excuse to not properly restore their car.

As for the XJS, I feel the styling of the car will always preclude it from ever being a rat rod, regardless of age. An XJS will always look its best with a proper paint job and well represented interior.

Fortunately the interior of my '86 in in good condition. Just needs a good scrubbing.

Mark

 

Dailey driver seems a better "appellation". "Rat Rods are not particularly
interesting to me. I see them as weird collections of rusty tin, powered by whatever engine might be available that runs. I've read of them from
weak 216 stove bolts to mighty Cummins six banger diesels.


Clear coating rusty metal and faded paint is a fav....


Odd but not really rods. Rat may have descended from an original SOCAL guy that built weird critters. But, his were well done and well painted. Ed Roth....


Carl

 

Here are a few Jag Rat Rods:

XJ6, Mad Max style. With minigun!


With massive hood intake:


3-axles!


With a Rat Rod stance:


With "natural" patina:


I actually know the guys who did this BMW 2002 (they caged my 10-second Camaro):


Padre

 

I considered that for my XJS. I was quoted $9000 for paint and bodywork. To much to spend on a $6000 car. I feel that you can't get the right look from a XJS. I've decided to paint it satin black with that vinyl paint that can be peeled off. I've seen cars that have been painted with that in the driveway. I like that option. The performance of a car is more important to me than the look.

 

Got it!!! Only in GA???


Carl

 

Black primer is so popular you see new cars "wrapped" that way. I think your car has a nice patina and you could treat any rusty spots and drive it as is. Rat rod has gotten to mean over the top styling like extremely chopped tops and pipes coming out of the hood!. Your car looks fine. There are a lot of alternatives to 9,000.00 paint/body work, although a proper job would easily go for that. I had a local shop paint my 70 Mustang and it came out pretty good. With the coupon it was less than 600.00. Now before every body gets in an uproar about cheap pant let me say that the point was to make the car presentable and protect the bodywork from rust. If you do some of the prep you can keep the cost down. Here's a pic of the car.

picture of my Mustang

 

I spy a Cali tag on that "stanced" XJS.

Padre

 

yes that car has some posts on here , back couple years tho!

 

That's a beautiful Mustang. I would spend $9000 for paint and bodywork that

 

Thanks for the comment. My point was just that there are acceptable options at different price points. I would just leave that red XJS the way it is for now.

 

Padre:


Got it... Maybe the two nuts that write for Hotrod. One episode had a
lumped XJ and added a super charger. drove the .... outta that
car. Never did show the power that one would expect from a blown SBC????


Fake ???? wouldn't be the frst one. .


I used to see a 'cute" little MBZ coupe perched on 4x4 under pinnings. Must have been odd to climb up into it!!!


Carl

 

Safari,

My recommendation is that you "El Camino" or Ute it, and turn it to the coolest shop truck in the Rocky Mountains.

Plenty of torque to haul whatever you need.

 

The red car is in too nice of a condition to cut up so I'm just going to paint it and enjoy as is.

However, I also have an '84 in the shop that is perfect for a conversion. I'm debating between Shooting Brake, Pickup, Race car or Shaguar.

Mark

 

Paint it

This is a $1700 Maaco paint job, which included removing a dent from the front fender and fixing a little rust spot on the rear fender.

It was a bit orange peely when it first got done, but after polishing and time, it's settled down to a pretty respectable finish.

Now, with Maaco you really need to shop around (and use things like YELP) to find one thats good, because a lot of them are only so-so. I will take more cars to this one particular shop I am sure

 

what is a "Shaguar."


?

 

Austin Powers called his E-Type the "Shaguar".

 

Oh..........Behave!