Replacing leaper a 2nd time?

2000 XJ8, Leaper stolen 12-2004, thief left base. I bought a new one (HNA-6350BC) online $159+ $6 S&H from Captain Jaguars Cathouse. Was able to remove old base & plastic nut & install new leaper.

Today when I opened my hood, I heard the noise of a small part falling. Didn’t see anything so opened & closed again & heard it again I searched undercarriage & found the spring & the short cable with the loop & the cap. I could not see a way to reassemble. I think this means I need to buy a new leaper & replace the entire ornament. I believe the plastic nut secures the base which is also secured by adhesive. The looped cable must attach to the leaper itself internally & the spring give tension so it is not loose in the base & the cap keep the spring in place.

My leaper is a bit loose but not certain it wasn’t always a bit loose. Not sure what is now holding it on the base. My factory original one used to be able to be turned to face either front or rear while the 1- 2005 replacement could not be pulled out from the base to turn it. I don’t think it could be pulled even a small amount, don’t really recall.

Anyway, b4 I buy a new one I wanted to make sure there was not some way to reassemble it since I think I have all the parts.

I’m wondering if another thief attempted to yank it out & couldn’t but broke or loosened something internal so a day or so later opening/closing the hood allowed the parts to fall out. If not, then it just fell apart.

Thanks!

 

You might check with this guy, he might still have the leaper, and his price would be better than new. https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/p...-models-77728/

 

Hi
There is another forum thread on the hood (bonnet) leaper "How to make your leaper removable (see post# 1):

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...movable-25921/

Only problem is that all the photos are missing. I sent a private message to forum member labcoatguy to see if the photos are still available and can be uploaded.

The leaper part# is HNA6350BC and Jaguar retail price is $289 discount down to $252.88.
Ebay listing# 220855227361 has new one for $125.45 (factory oem part).




Jim Lombardi

 

Thanks Old Mike, for the link to buy a used leaper. I’m going to buy new one that had not been aged in the sun & rain if I need one. Found several online sources for less than dealer prices for OE version.

Thanks Jim, while I do not understand w/o photos exactly what he did to make his leaper removable, I think you sent that link since If I wanted to do that I could probably do that with my existing Leaper & parts. It appears that when he was finished his was somewhat loose. Also, to remove it I think he would need to open the hood. I do like the idea of an easily removable leaper (W/O opening the hood) but, would not want to carry it with me in my pocket. <GRIN> Maybe quickly pull off & then stow it in the trunk? I had also read about a guy who used magnets but required machine tools & quite a bit of work. Plus a guy who sells magnetic ones which are both expensive & different than the OEM one & would not match up with the holes in my hood.

From SeanECE
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/e...-leaper-69079/

From Original Arden Jaguar leaper
http://shop.arden.de/kuhlerfigur/jaguar-en.html

I still wonder if any leapers just fall apart or if mine was pulled in a botched theft attempt.
From my understanding of the assembly, if that cable is gone then nothing holds the leaper to the base & it should just pull off. Mine does not. I’ve seen photos on eBay of many leapers w/o a base & they look like mine (6 inches long) & they all have the short cable attached to a hole in the bottom of the rear of the leaper. I suspect mine had the hole break so the loop of cable could fall out intact. If I was able to pull hard & remove my leaper from the base, there would be no way to attach my cable loop or anything to the broken hole on the base of my leaper.

I think I will order a new OE version for $73.00 & just replace the entire ornament.

 

I bought the used leaper that I was talking about above and it looks new to me. My old leaper was held on by some washers and a nut -- spring was missing. I pried the old leaper base off the hood (gulp!) and screwed the new one on with the nylon nut. Seems to be just a tad loose -- am I supposed to have some kind of adhesive under the base?

 

I’ve now replaced 2 leapers on my 2000 XJ8.
One in 2005 when the OE was ripped off leaving only the base & just yesterday bc of the issue I posted here.

A new leaper comes attached to the base with a cable & a spring. To remove the old leaper you unscrew the white plastic nut under the hood & then loosen the adhesive which still holds the base FIRMLY to the hood. I use a hair dryer to heat the base & then both dental floss & some type of thin plastic. I’ve heard guitar picks work. Or fishing line. Then use Goo Gone carefully to remove residual adhesive from the hood being carful to not get it on any area the leaper base does’t hide. Prying with a metal tool is not recommended anywhere I have searched. The method I described will work.

Now when you have your shiny, adhesive free, clean hood with the holes -- it is easy to install the new leaper.

YES, it should come with the bottom of the base covered in adhesive like a type of two sided tape. It is protected by a paper that you remove. If your leaper had no adhesive it is not new &/or not a Genuine Jaguar part. I’ve heard there are Chinese knock offs.

Anyway, you remove the new white plastic nut, remove the protective paper(s) & carefully place the new leaper in the correct spot. It s/b easy as the threaded large circular part with the protruding cable end goes into the largest hole & the base has a small peg that fits into the rearmost hole in the hood so it is perfectly aligned. Press down firmly & then open the hood & attach & hand tighten the new, white plastic nut. You may be able to work a pliers in there to tighten the nut a bit more. It is semi-hidden in the hole in the underside of the hood.

Voila! You’re done.

BTW, I bought mine (new) from this eBay guy, canman9, for ~ $73. He says he gets then from England. He was very good re answering questions. He seems to sell leapers for many models/years.

Jaguar hood ornament! New Steel 1998 1999 2000 2001 XJ8 | eBay

 

Thanks for the install info. Mine is a used, original leaper but since it was taken off another car it doesn't have the adhesive pad on the back of it. It does have the spring, etc. My old one was apparently an original that someone cut the cord/wire holding the leaper on and through the spring, they had simply replaced the entire spring part with a wire with a loop on the end to put a small bolt and nut on it to hold the leaper on through the tube that the nylon nut goes over. When I removed the nut and bolt, the leaper came right off but the base stayed attached to the hood. I carefully wiggled a screwdriver in the largest hole (the one that the tube/spring stick through) until the base popped off the hood. The "new" base plate fits on the hood with the small post keeping it from rotating, but I figured there must've been some type of adhesive under it when it was first put on. I'm sure I can get some trim adhesive strips that will work fine. The old leaper was loose because the little bolt/nut kluge didn't hold it tight like the spring does. The new leaper is nice and tight but I would like the base a tiny bit tighter on the hood. I'll run to the auto parts store to see what I can find.

Again, thanks for the how-to, it was very helpful.

 

I understand. I bet some type of double sided tape would work. As long as you carefully cut it to not go past the edge of the base. I’d stop 1/8” from the edge. Probably many types of adhesive would work & hold the base firmly. The trick is finding one that will not damage your hood & that you can remove relatively easily if you need to replace the leaper again.

It’s curious that someone cut the leaper cable & replaced it with that “Rube Goldberg” makeshift mechanism. As I understand, the purpose of the spring loaded cable is to minimize or eliminate damage to the hood when vandals/thieves rip off or attempt to rip off the leaper. I doubt it is to allow us to rotate our leapers so they face the windshield. Who would do that, it looks stupid. Theft of leapers & other hood ornaments is all too common.

BTW, how did this mysterious someone attach the wire to the leaper after they cut the cable? I think there is a hole on the bottom of the leaper bc when I removed my broken one (cable & spring fell out) even though the cat is still mysteriously attached to the base, I can look into the threaded tube & think I see a ‘c’ shaped ring that s/b an ‘O’ shaped ring where the cable used to be attached. The open/broken part of the ‘c’ is facing down the tube. When my cable fell out the cable loop was intact. I suspect for most leapers, this would cause the cat to fall off the base. I will attach a photo of my old leaper, just removed.

 

I found a photo on eBay of a leaper w/o a base. I wonder if this is stolen?

I’ve seen other photos of leapers w/o bases with the cable still attached. Seems like that would happen when the thief/vandal pulls hard.

Anyway that open ring on the bottom is clearly broken in mine which explains how the cable fell out with the loop intact. Now whether it just broke after 7 years or someone pulled it.... is a mystery.

Normally after a theft, the leaper would be gone leaving just the base but, as I’ve stated, for an unknown reason, my leaper remains loosely attached to the base w/o a cable or a spring.

 

This is what mine looked like (the old one)

 

Thanks!

My leaper should have come right off the base when that hole broke open freeing the cable & spring. Once you have the leaper off the base with the hole at the bottom of the cat intact, it would be easy to attach wire & thread it thru the tube in the base & then come up with ‘some means’ of securing it to the underside of the hood tightly. Or perhaps superglue the cat to the base, which would work with my broken one <GRIN>

But either your old one or if I had glued my old one would defeat the safety measures so next thief would yank & rip the BASE off the hood, denting & scratching it, causing far more expense.

 

Bit of a zombie bump here but my leaper got stolen today. Can I buy a used kit from a junk yard or is a whole new one the only way to go?

 

That's wack man ! I read somewhere online that people have had success with salvaged leapers.

 

I found a reasonably priced used one online -- it was in perfect condition. I still have the old one, I only replaced it because the base was missing the nylon nut.

Just one thing to make sure of -- get the right size, there are two sizes.

 

I ran over to Elite yesterday morning and for $60 got the center cap and leaper. Galpin Jag was kind enough to give me some double sided tape so now I just need to track down a 24mm socket set.

 

Mark if you locate the being that did this, I have Mike Tyson on speed dial lol.

 

It's LA. They dont catch anyone here. True story.

 

The irony of it's name lol.

 

Not to crap on LAPD but when we first moved here about two years ago we were broken into and north of $9000 was taken including two of my guns. LAPD took a report and basically said sorry about your bad luck, hope you have insurance (we do). We even turned video over to them of the theft happening. So if that didnt get solved I dont think my leaper getting ripped off will even pierce the surface.

 

Back in '03, when I still had my first X308, I remember walking by a lake park and watching a 13 year old, in bare feet, trolling in the lakeside mud for Leapers. He had already found 14 with his toes - one he gave me - and then six more. Two sizes. The lake was about four blocks from Checkered Flag Jaguar in Virginia Beach. Talking to the service manager at the next warranty stop ('Boot open' -- again), he told me it was part of corporate legend. In the late 60's and 70's a kid was yanking the Leapers off the new cars which caused them to buy a fenced storage yard. My tale was the first they had heard of the missing cats ever being found.