Hello all,
It was my birthday yesterday and my dad got me a leaper for my xj40 (Vin 589245). The part number is 724265 3WBB which a Google search gave me 2 year ranges (67-87 and 69-89)

It probably isn't the correct one for my car but I want to mount it anyway. How far back should it sit on the hood, and is there any provisions on the underside of the hood for a leaper?

Cheers, David

 

Hi David,

You can look on the underside of your hood, under the insulation liner, to see if the central reinforcement rib is drilled to allow access to fix nuts onto the threaded studs on the bottom of the leaper (or screws into the threaded sockets on the leaper - I can't recall which). If you have the holes already, they will help you determine where to drill holes for your leaper.

On our '89, which had never been equipped with a leaper, I had to drill two holes of around 1 inch or 1-1/2 inch in diameter through the reinforcement rib only (not the hood, of course) so that once had positioned the leaper in place, I would be able to install washers and either nuts or screws to secure the leaper in place. I have photos somewhere but whether or not I can find them is another story.

As far as positioning the leaper, obviously it is centered from side to side. Ideally, it is positioned far enough forward that the back of the leaping cat is close to horizontal, or parallel to the road. But if it's positioned too far forward, the cat's nose will hit the top of the grille when the hood is opened, so you have to take all of that into account.

I applied a strip of painters tape down the middle of the hood and carefully measured and marked the center line, referencing both side edges of the hood. I then tried various positions of the leaper forward and rearward on the center line, temporarily marked the positions of the threaded studs or sockets, then opened the hood to see if the leaper would come into contact with the grille if installed at that position.

Once I was confident of the positioning and had marked the locations of the leaper's studs or screw sockets, I used a center punch to mark the points for holes. I used a small bit (1/8 inch or so) to drill holes through the hood and on through the reinforcement rib on the underside of the hood. This told me where I needed to drill larger holes in the rib, which I did with a small hole saw.

I used incrementally larger bits to drill the holes in the hood to the appropriate sizes in several steps, until the leaper's studs or sockets fit snugly through them until it was flush with the hood surface. I fixed it in place with washers and either nuts or screws, and the job was done.

Cheers,

Don

 

Position on a 40 is critical, too far back is silly looking and too far forwars, droopy. Mine is of course PERFECTLY positioned

I haven't measured it but maybe a photo can help?





Both my car and the parts car leapers were dealer mounted through the hood only, a bit awkward to get to but there is an access hole down there to fasten it through.

 

Thanks all. I've looked and there is no access to the support rib on the underside of my bonnet, so no luck there. I saw another post where a member (can't recall the name) used some threaded rod to make longer studs, and go all the way through to the bottom of the support rib. I think I would prefer to make an access hole.

In that same post the measurement from the edge of the bonnet to the center of the first hole drilled was 4 3/8". It appeared to be the same leaper as the one I have. Once I find the rubber gasket for the base of the leaper, I'll have to spend a day with some masking tape and my tape measure

Cheers

 

I just had a look at the specs for your 724265 3WBB leaper and I see it's a 5" one - that's good, the larger ones don't really suit the 40.

Here's the profile of the one I removed from an '89 XJ40, you can compare it with yours, I don't think there's much difference - maybe the base angle?

 

Just from looking the only difference seems t be where the studs are on the base.
Mine is mounted, but I'm not happy with it. By using the long stud method it starts to squash the bonnet before the leaper is tight, so I'm going to create an opening in the understructure and do it that way

 

I finally remembered to take a look with a tape measure etc, here's mine, as you can see there seem to be some rubber plugs in my hood (94MY) and when I took the leaper off my parts car there were also access holes, not very well positioned, but they were there.

Also, all the leapers I've seen mounted are done through the hood sheet metal ONLY.





Larry

 

Those rubber plugs must be part of the oem kit, since all the leapers were dealer installed.
The post I saw was by Rob Everson, and they were pictures in his profile. I had longer studs like him, but today at work I cut out a rectangle with my 3" zip disc for access (I plan to clean up the hole with some split vacuum hose around the edge) and bolted it right to the outer skin.

My leaper is almost in the same position, about 3/8" further back than yours.

 

Looks good!

I think it's in roughly the same spot, I measured from the crease in my pic, looks like you measured from the chrome?

BTW I have a vintage tape measure like yours around here somewhere too

Larry

 

Thanks, I saw referenced on the interwebs that the leapers back should be pretty close to parallel to the road surface, and I think I've hit that nail on the head. When the hood is open, the tip of the leaper is roughly 9/16" from the growler on the grille

That's not my tape measure, it's works. Only the finest for Kal Tire!

 

Nicely done, David!

I know that many of our friends in the U.K prefer their Jag saloons without leapers, but since the first XJ6 I ever encountered up close had one, I've always preferred them. Yours looks great!

Cheers,

Don

 

Thank you, I've always preffered them myself. My entire life, my family's XJ saloons have always had leapers, and none have ever been stolen either.

This particular leaper came from my dad's SIII, whoever mounted it put it too far back, and crooked! My dad removed it in favour of the larger leaper (I always preffered the bigger ones on the SIII anyway)