fix your Jaguar hood leaper ornament
#1
fix your Jaguar hood leaper ornament
First of all Happy Father's Day to all you Father's out there.
Ever since I've had Back Problems my son has always helped me on father's day weekend, detail my car. We also do it on Labor day. Today I was putting Griot's cleaner/sealant on the hood of my X. My son was wiping it off. I use a buffing machine, by hand is for young folks. As my son was wiping down he broke of the Jaguar Leaper. I was a bit pissed. He took a look at how it is put together, very cheaply by the way. He went to the local hardware store and both a stronger piece of wire and a aluminum crimps. He threaded the wire thru the hole in the Jaguar and down into the hood/bonnet. put the spring back and then the crimp. I held the Jaguar on the hood/bonnet in place and he push the crimp up as high as he could to compress the spring. He crimped the crimp and that was it as good as new. It is now solid but still flexible as it should be. But the original design is the same as what my son did, but the wire is thin and just rusted away. He also bought stainless steel wire which was a little thicker. So don't despair, as I first did today, they can be fixed and not that hard to do.
Ever since I've had Back Problems my son has always helped me on father's day weekend, detail my car. We also do it on Labor day. Today I was putting Griot's cleaner/sealant on the hood of my X. My son was wiping it off. I use a buffing machine, by hand is for young folks. As my son was wiping down he broke of the Jaguar Leaper. I was a bit pissed. He took a look at how it is put together, very cheaply by the way. He went to the local hardware store and both a stronger piece of wire and a aluminum crimps. He threaded the wire thru the hole in the Jaguar and down into the hood/bonnet. put the spring back and then the crimp. I held the Jaguar on the hood/bonnet in place and he push the crimp up as high as he could to compress the spring. He crimped the crimp and that was it as good as new. It is now solid but still flexible as it should be. But the original design is the same as what my son did, but the wire is thin and just rusted away. He also bought stainless steel wire which was a little thicker. So don't despair, as I first did today, they can be fixed and not that hard to do.
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dishongphoto (08-14-2016)
#2
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Glasgow, Scotland UK
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#3
#4
Hood Fix
Here is a pic of the job my son did on the leaper. I looked at my Mercedes emblem and it is bendable also, but of much better construction. The Leaper fix my son did looks better and is stronger then the factory. Also I am going to throw in a picture of the car after we finished detailing the outside. For Father's day my children, Adam Jr and Jill got me a blower vac, so I can vac the car and blow water out of tight spaces. really neat. Griots had the vac for $84.00 and Amazon had the same vac, by the same maker and model for $20.00 less.
If you look at the hood fix pic this is exactly the same way the factory attaches the leaper. As I said my son got some better stainless wire and a aluminum crimp. The important part is the round object and the spring which you cannot see above it. They have to be tight up against the hood before you crimp. And the pic of the car explains itself.
If you look at the hood fix pic this is exactly the same way the factory attaches the leaper. As I said my son got some better stainless wire and a aluminum crimp. The important part is the round object and the spring which you cannot see above it. They have to be tight up against the hood before you crimp. And the pic of the car explains itself.
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Mikey (06-20-2011)
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#7
Leaper Fix
Back to father's day. My children also got me a 500 watt mini vac/blower, which has a strong vac on one side and a strong blower on the other. Griot's sells it for $84.95. My son found the exact same vac, maker, model, all the accessories for $20.00 cheaper on Amazon. He picked standard shipping last Thursday which is a week, but I got it today. So I am going out tonight and vac and blow the car. I feel the blower will be good for the places where water lingers, it has some very thin tubes for tight spots.
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#8
#9
Leaper
I appreciate your son's help and he must be a good guy . I trust he never leaves you when he decides to marry and be a happy family .
I send my best wishes to him thru this message If he does decide to leave then I will have to move into a home with care. Oh well life has its twist and turns I am in a U turn for the pass 11 years.
Back to the leapin' , your pics suggested to me that this was a marvellous job then I imagined
I send my best wishes to him thru this message If he does decide to leave then I will have to move into a home with care. Oh well life has its twist and turns I am in a U turn for the pass 11 years.
Back to the leapin' , your pics suggested to me that this was a marvellous job then I imagined
#10
Leaper Fix
RegentV12 I showed your post to my son and he says thank you very much. It came at a good time, as he has been down since Monday over a few issues at his job, he is a Web Developer and they are having program problems and he is having a heck of a time fixing. It needs some special software, his boss doesn't want him to spend money on, so he has to create it himself. A lot of hours work for little money. Also I have been very sick with my stomach haven't eaten since Sunday, guess I have to call the doctor again.
He also said " I will make a CD of the Leaper fix for $4.95." He was only kidding. Thanks again.
He also said " I will make a CD of the Leaper fix for $4.95." He was only kidding. Thanks again.
#12
Leaper
I also will pass on your kind comments to him.
Thank You
#13
so... the other day my battery died. the service man comes out to jump start me and lifts the hood by my leaper.... :headsmack:
of course he rips it off (athough it was obviously rusted through anyway) and now I am left to find a way to reattach it.
It looks simple enough... thread the new wire through the leaper, through the base on the hood, down inside the spring, and crimp the wire as it is pushed up against the spring.
So I went to the jag service guys (not the dealer) and he tells me I have to unscrew the base from the underside of the hood, pry the base off the hood. Thread the leaper and base, and spring. Screw the threaded leaper to the base. Double stick tape the base back down, screw it back on. Then crimp the wire against the spring....
WHAT????
Why can I not just do like Adam did, above?
of course he rips it off (athough it was obviously rusted through anyway) and now I am left to find a way to reattach it.
It looks simple enough... thread the new wire through the leaper, through the base on the hood, down inside the spring, and crimp the wire as it is pushed up against the spring.
So I went to the jag service guys (not the dealer) and he tells me I have to unscrew the base from the underside of the hood, pry the base off the hood. Thread the leaper and base, and spring. Screw the threaded leaper to the base. Double stick tape the base back down, screw it back on. Then crimp the wire against the spring....
WHAT????
Why can I not just do like Adam did, above?
#14
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Stimpy, you can do exactly as Adam did above. The big trick (this is where a second person may come in handy) is getting a little bit of tension on the spring so once you remove the tension, the cable goes tight and keeps the leaper in place. If you don't get things nice and snug, the leaper way wobble on you some. Follow the above guidance and all is good.
#17
Attaching Leaper
so... the other day my battery died. the service man comes out to jump start me and lifts the hood by my leaper.... :headsmack:
of course he rips it off (athough it was obviously rusted through anyway) and now I am left to find a way to reattach it.
It looks simple enough... thread the new wire through the leaper, through the base on the hood, down inside the spring, and crimp the wire as it is pushed up against the spring.
So I went to the jag service guys (not the dealer) and he tells me I have to unscrew the base from the underside of the hood, pry the base off the hood. Thread the leaper and base, and spring. Screw the threaded leaper to the base. Double stick tape the base back down, screw it back on. Then crimp the wire against the spring....
WHAT????
Why can I not just do like Adam did, above?
of course he rips it off (athough it was obviously rusted through anyway) and now I am left to find a way to reattach it.
It looks simple enough... thread the new wire through the leaper, through the base on the hood, down inside the spring, and crimp the wire as it is pushed up against the spring.
So I went to the jag service guys (not the dealer) and he tells me I have to unscrew the base from the underside of the hood, pry the base off the hood. Thread the leaper and base, and spring. Screw the threaded leaper to the base. Double stick tape the base back down, screw it back on. Then crimp the wire against the spring....
WHAT????
Why can I not just do like Adam did, above?
#18
Leaper Repair
Adam,
Thanks for the info and pics. Wish they were clear, but I got the idea. Hope you are in better health. I was going to call Jaguar, but the forums helped, push I am always scared of the dealer since they wanted to charge $400 for a battery replacement. I got the battery at Walmart for $89 installed! Thanks for all your help. You saved me a real headache. I was like your son with my dad when he had lung cancer. he passed away in about 6 months, but we had a lot of time to talk driving to the doctor and waiting around. I miss him very much. He was a good dad and one thing I was able to say to him was "I love you" and that I really appreciated all the wisdom he gave me.
Thanks for the info and pics. Wish they were clear, but I got the idea. Hope you are in better health. I was going to call Jaguar, but the forums helped, push I am always scared of the dealer since they wanted to charge $400 for a battery replacement. I got the battery at Walmart for $89 installed! Thanks for all your help. You saved me a real headache. I was like your son with my dad when he had lung cancer. he passed away in about 6 months, but we had a lot of time to talk driving to the doctor and waiting around. I miss him very much. He was a good dad and one thing I was able to say to him was "I love you" and that I really appreciated all the wisdom he gave me.
#19