Hi,
I’m back. Again. For those of you who don’t know me I’ve been a member of this forum for 14 years now and in that time I’ve owned three XJ8s; two 4.0 and one 3.2. My first one was destroyed in an accident, my second one lunched two gearboxes in the space of a month then after it sat dormant it succumbed to rust so was harvested for spares and my third one was sold because circumstances at the time dictated it’s sale.

You see the thing is, I love these cars and the X308 seems to be a habit I cannot kick. You can sell your car and for a while you are ok but then the big cat creeps out the darkness and plays it’s game of seduction. Four years have passed since I sold my last one and in that period I’ve busied myself with other projects but then out of nowhere a car caught my eye and the game began.

So I’ve found myself the owner of a 2000 XJR finished in British Racing Green with Oatmeal and Charcoal interior. I’ve never had the pleasure of owning a S/C variant before and this one seemed to be a viable option as it was priced keenly and I couldn’t see anything that would put me off. So yesterday I picked it up and brought it home to join the rest of my little fleet.

However she’s a 23 year old Jaguar and she isn’t perfect. There are a number of areas I need to address and things I’d like to change or improve. I did this with my 3.2 which when I sold it was probably the best 3.2 in the UK, so the game begins again. Thankfully I’ve got a leg up with this one as I’ve still got a small stash of X308 parts in my loft, but I’m already on the hunt for other bits.

I’m pleased to see this forum is still pretty active. Facebook groups have killed off a lot of good forums, so I’m glad to see this one is still here and I hope some of my old friends are still here and I look forward to making new ones.

I’m going to give the car a full look over today and note what I need and go from there. It’s good to be back.

 

Welcome back from a fellow 2000 XJR owner on the better side of the Pennines

 

I take it, this is how it happened...
I posted this fabulous joke already a few days ago and noted that MY wife normally asks:
Which colour is it? How far away is it? Is it registered? How much is it?
That "What year is it?"-Question is more a question relating to the S-Type, because 2004 and 1966 makes a big difference....

PS: My wife just reminded me that "Does it run?" is also one of her questions, because if not that means "car transporter required" and that is another nearly AUD$1000 on top.
And I played that game also twice before....

 

Welcome back. Hopefully mine won't lunch another gearbox. I've been working on it slowly for months and hopefully will have it back together here shortly. But if my amateur rebuild doesn't hold, it'll probably go to a charity auction just to get it out of here so it quits monopolizing my time. The rest of the fleet is jealous enough as it is.

 

You’re not far wrong, however it was the way I started the sentence that gave her the clue, apparently I have a unique way of saying “Hey Love,…” when I’m going to suggest my next ridiculous endeavour.

it is good to be back in a 308 though, I do love them to bits.

 

"X308 seems a habit I cannot break." I understand . . .

Welcome home.

 

Here’s a couple of photos of what I’ve bought, she’s got plenty of potential. There are a few things I’d like to do, but as I have other vehicles in my little fleet I can’t do it all at once. I’ll start with the easy stuff though, like getting the Matt black paint off the grill inserts. Don’t like that one bit.

I’ve been over the car today and I’ve begun putting together my to do list as well as my wish list. I’m not looking to heavily modify this car, I’d like to keep her factory for the most part but there are some things I’d like to do. All in good time though.

 

I just noticed in your "list of cars" that you also have a "Trabbi", which is an unusual one to have, and with 1985 a fairly new one, as I cannot imagine, that they were able to sell many more after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. If I had one, I would respray it completely, either in Jaguar Racing Green metallic HGZ or in Mazda Soul Red Metallic 46V, because while the Ford Model T came in all colours, as long as it is black, the Trabbi came in all colours, as long as it is an ugly colour...

I love your XJR, especially the green colour. Most of my Jags are green, but my X308 is Mistral Blue Metallic, which is not too bad, but it's not green...

Yes, the grill inserts on yours are Matt Black instead of chrome. I noticed that on some Jags before, it is a bit odd to start with, but something, one could get used to. What do you intend to do about it? I do not think that spraying it silver will make it better... Are you able to source the chrome one from somewhere? Or are you able to buy Stainless steel mesh by the metre and DIY replace it?

And I would add a leaper to the bonnet, but I don't know, if that is still legal in the UK - I know it is in AUS, but probably not in Germany.
Some of the leapers on the Jags I bought were falling apart, hence I replaced them, and the latest X-Type did not have one. I used a new OE XF leaper, which I got for a sensible price form a dealing in Melbourne, AUS (ebay), That looks great. It is a touch bigger than a X-Type leaper and it "jumps a little bit higher up", which is great. I would not go for a leaper from China (Aliexpress) as their inside edges of the paws are not round.

Maybe here is an idea, what to add to your to-do-list for the XJR:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...l-eyes-266338/
Add DTRL, so that you are being seen on the road to reduce the risk of adding another wrecked X308 to your track-record...
Meanwhile I added a 30 Ohm / 3W resistor between NO and NC, to have the DTRL still illuminated with dipped bean on, but at the reduced brightness.

And wiper refills are very cheap on Aliexpress, if you need them.

 

The grille inserts are the originals that someone has sprayed with a can, they’re already peppered with stone chips so I imagine some time spent with a Brillo pad would bring them back to factory colours.

No plans for a leaper however. The UK cars never came with them and whilst they look good on a 1960s MK2, I personally feel they look out of place on the 308. I have no plans for DRL either, they’re not necessary and if it goes dim I’ll just switch my headlights on if the car hasn’t already done so. The XJR won’t be out too much anyway, my Swedish Superstar Volvo does the majority of the work and all the others are for fun.

The Trabant is a fine car, they get a lot of undeserved hate due to miseducation and misinformation. I restored mine in 2018/19 and it looks amazing as I’ve restored it to as new condition. It’s also extremely reliable and economical too, I often use it in the summer to commute to work as it’s so good on fuel.

 

I can't recall the original finish on the grill inserts (terrible I know as I've owned some for 4 years), but would it be a big job to take the grill off & brush some paint stripper over them to remove the spray paint? I've a feeling the grills come off the back of the plastic surround simply enough.Just thinking it might be kinder to the surface & not leave roughness that'd collect dirt.

 

The sport grilles are held on by two stainless steel screws on each side that screw into tabs on the main grille surround. They can be taken off in seconds, which is what I was going to do.

They’re finished in a brushed silver so I’d like to
get that finish back. It won’t take me long and my removal process isn’t harmful to the surface of the grille. As it’s just been sprayed with a can it should flake off for the most part.

 

Stu, welcome back friend! I’ve been keeping my open for another 308!

 

Hi! I’m glad to see another “veteran” is still on here. I wasn’t looking for one as I say, this one caught my eye and I couldn’t find a reason to put me off it so I bit 😝

Hopefully you’ll be able to find yourself another one, they are out there.