I just closed a deal on a 1985 XJ6 Vaden Plas in Sage Green with Doeskin interior and the burled walnut trim. 20,818 miles. 1 female owner from new. Car was off the road since 2009 when the owner became too elderly to drive and parked it in her garage on Treasure Island, Florida. Yup, that is a place, right next to Miami. The car presents as a garage kept Jaguar with just a nick over 20,000 miles should present. The car still has all the owner's manuals, cassette tape introducing the car, cassette tape that cleans the tape head, an original 1985 sales brochure, the original 1985 Florida temporary paper license plate, all the tools and tool bag, original spare tire, even the 3 "****" carpets are present and clean. The wood is still dark and not sun faded.

The car was part of the woman's estate and prior to the sale to me the car had the following done:

- 2 new fuel tanks
- 2 new sender units
- New crossover valves
- New fuel lines
- All new/reconditioned injectors
- 4 new tires
- New battery
- New drive belts

Car needs and or will get in addition to bring it up to snuff:

- New brake lines
- Brake fluid flush
- Cooling system flush
- Radiator hoses and possibly heater hoses
- Transmission system flush and filter
- AC system charge
- Any rubber bushings that have probably perished with age replaced
- New plugs, cap, rotor and plug wires. Probably a replacement Petronix Distributor and deleting the ignition module

What am I missing?

 

Beautiful! I'd replace all the rubber hoses. I imagine there will be a lot of little issues until things get limbered up. Stuck relays, that sort of thing. Keep us posted.

 

I am sure there will be things that pop up unexpectedly, but to me it will be worth it.

 

A beautiful car, without question. One small and insignificant point: the coachlines (pin striping) are not to the original specification on this car (or on any XJ6).

By that I mean that the lines have been replaced; the factory-applied lines are shorter, ending within the length of the swage line indentation, both front and rear, and the shape of the end piece is more blunt rather than pointed.

In the photos the paint looks original (and excellent)…any suggestion of why the coachlines might have been replaced?

 

Good question that deserves some detective work. These were applied by the factory correct? I can see where maybe one could have been re-done if the car was in an accident that effected just one side, but the body shop would have replicated the other side that would be factory. The driver's side fender has the VIN sticker still, so unlikely any accidents. And no accident reported on Carfax, not that Carfax goes back into the 1980's.

 

The coachlines could have been requested at the dealer. Over many years I have seen different styles of coachlines. The owner would claim that it came from the dealer like that.
There was no standard set for the application of said coachlines. Each dealer probably had a different style.
Very insignificant and removable. Is it paint or the vinyl stickon type?
Enough of that.
You got yourself a beautiful car.

 

Why is the wood so much darker on this car than other VDP cars I have seen in pictures on the internet? Because it hasn't been exposed to much sunlight that would have faded it over the years?

 

[QUOTE=sanchez;2682495]The coachlines could have been requested at the dealer. Over many years I have seen different styles of coachlines. The owner would claim that it came from the dealer like that.
There was no standard set for the application of said coachlines. Each dealer probably had a different style.
Very insignificant and removable. Is it paint or the vinyl stickon type?
Enough of that.
You got yourself a beautiful car.[/QUOTE

The coachlines were always applied at the factory, not at a dealership. There was indeed a standard set, and they were vinyl (not painted). A single line was used on the XJ6 up to and including 1982, and a double line thereafter. The V12 cars used a double line, but the placement was the same as on the XJ6.
The car is beautiful; my question was simply related to a possible reason for replacement of the lines, as they are longer than the factory applied lines. In itself this fact has no importance.

These 3 photos show the correct positioning/length of the lines (these are also replacements after complete restorations with meticulous care to detail - but note the very fine ends).






This photo shows the original factory placement of the lines: note the thicker end pieces:

 

Leaving sunny Miami Beach heading North. Being delivered tomorrow morning.

 

Hasn't been so sunny lately. And your car is all wet! Hope you enjoy it up north.

 

LOVELY CAR!
One thing you have not mentioned is to immediately replace the flexible hoses feeding the fuel injectors.
I have seen them let go due to old age and are a real fire risk.
Make sure you get the correct type of hose.
Cheers

 

Agreed. I just went through this on another XJ6. I have documentation that the injectors were removed and rebuilt/flow tested/balanced, but that does not mean the hoses were changed. You would think they were, but I still need to confirm. I am also going to add two inline filters before the changeover valve to further protect the valve and fuel pump from debris, even though the car has two new fuel tanks.

 

The car is now in my possession and already I am discovering the small things I expected from a car that has only 20,824 miles and has been off the road since 2009.

- Rear window defroster switch in-op. I have a spare.
- Cigar lighter not working.
- Passenger's rear window in-op. Maybe a lazy switch. I have several replacements.
- Power antenna not working.
- Front passenger's side fender marker bulb socket corroded. I have a good spare.
- Trunk fuel hoses need replacing.
- Front under shield has a bit of surface rust and needs to be cleaned and painted. I also plan on spacing out the lower valance to allow water and debris to more easily drain.

And the biggest issue, I believe the rear brakes are hanging up. I drove about 2 miles to fill up the two tanks and when I stopped at the gas station there was smoke coming from the back end of the car, same when I got home. My infrared thermometer showed that each rear disc was right about 400 degrees. Correct me if I am wrong, but that is too hot? The fronts were only around 100 degrees, and they do the majority of the braking.

I feel it would be best to drop the entire rear suspension and replace the calipers, check for leaks, replace the rubber brake hose and probably replace the trailing arm bushings and any other rubber part that look questionable.

 

Before you go to the trouble of dropping the rear end to get at the callipers just go after the flexible hose.

I have just been down the exact same route with hot rear brakes and it was the flex hose that had swollen internally. (It comes on with old age.)

I also changed the front flex hoses as a precaution reasoning that they would also be on the way out.

 

I never thought just a bad hose would cause this issue. The good news is that I already have the 2 front and single rear rubber hoses. Can’t hurt to see if the hose is the issue.

I was just thinking worst case scenario given how long the car probably sat with old brake fluid.

 

Trunk full of goodies. Someone at some point in time seemed to really cherish this car. I am very happy that all of these survived the past 39 years. The only thing missing would be the original window sticker.

- Original Florida 20 Day Temporary Tag dated March 21, 1985
- Series III Service Manual
- Series 3 Parts Catalogue. I find it intriguing how Jaguar used Series III and also Series 3
- All the original Vehicle Literature
- Original Series III sales brochure
- Original Vanden Plas brochure
- Not pictured is a 1985 factory Color & Upholstery Guide
- Cleaning cassette and cleaning solution
- A Vanden Plas CD explaining the car and the VDP differences. That was a fun listen
- Radio face blank with Jaguar embossed on it with its case to put in place on the radio when the facia is removed
- Original jack and lug wrench. I think I am probably the first person to remove it from its case

And lastly another tool kit. This I am not familiar with. Was this a dealer option? Please chime in as I have never seen one of these before, but it is clearly Jaguar. .

And lastly, did only the VDP cars get the fiber board trunk panel? This is my first VDP and my other various series 3 cars did not have this, or it went missing.

 

You really have a “find” here. Congratulations! The tool kit in the hard case: this was not part of normal equipment, and it is worth a small fortune. You might consider insuring it!☺️
The black fibre board was fitted to the late cars, all S3 models as far as I know.

 

Rear brakes definitely need immediate attention, because being inboard, the heat will quickly destroy the oil seals on the diff output shafts as well as the caliper seals themselves.. However, it could just be the handbrake pads due to seizure of the mechanism. I had a rear brake caliper piston seize on my old 1980 XJ6 and the smoke that came out of the back of the car was incredible ! The calipers can be rebuilt with new seals, but its probably best to just replace them. Make sure the handbrake mechanism is all OK. There is no provision for lubrication on the handbrake caliper pins so they seize up after a while, especially if this brake is not used much.

 

Yes, I immediately drove the car back home and haven't driven it since because of those very same concerns about seals.

Even with the low miles I am inclined to drop the rear suspension and replace all the rubber bushings that have probably become as hard as hockey pucks, Rebuild and or replace the calipers. My thoughts on this are that brake fluid is hygroscopic and I have no idea what the insides of the piston bores look like. Probably the parking brake mechanisms will need freeing up even if the car is super clean from being stored inside.

I figure now is the time to do it and not have to worry for a number of years. I've watched videos and it looks pretty simple to drop the suspension cage.

 

I find that usually the callipers themselves can be honed and re-used but the pistons go rusty on the exterior edges hence why they start to stick. New pistons and seal kits are available from the usual suppliers and so the original callipers can be DIY refurbished for a fraction of the price of buying replacements