Hi, i'm new to the forum, and just had a couple of questions. My dad purchased a 1985 Jaguar XJ6 about 1 year ago for the price of 500$. It was sitting in a guys garage for a couple years, has original 50,000 miles. Has rust spot on back of car underneath back window by trunk also a rust spot by the front window on the driver side, other than that underneath the hood there is no rust.
Dad fixed the car up, and got it running but he recently moved overseas, and I'm very interested in possibly getting the car to run again & driving. I would just be using the car for weekend use Saturday / Sunday drives to yard sales or just crusin' around town for a couple hours cant consider using it as a daily driver cause thats what my smart car is for
Guess I forgot to mention I know very little about cars & engine stuff but my bestfriend & neighbor know a lot, and they are who would be working on it with me. Also if we came into a problem we both could not fix we would take to mechanic but figured I should throw that out there since I want

Not very sure if the car will start after not being in use for about 5 months, but im curious as to if I got it running what parts I would start to replace or what parts normally fail in a 1985 Jaguar XJ6? & Around how much would it cost part wise?

Also the back seats are trashed & headliner is starting to fall, how much does upholstery normally cost on a older car?

 

My first suggestion would be to get under the car and start taking inventory of all of the suspension bushing and ball joints that may need to be replaced. Also with someone in the driver's see turn the wheel back and forth while watching the power steering rack to see it moves. If so you need to replace those bushings. Inspect all of the back rotors for wear and look for the wear patterns to ensure they are even and smooth. Otherwise you will need to rebuild or replace the caliper.

Another good thing to do is unbolt the brake master cylinder from the power booster and inspect for brake fluid in power booster. If so you will need to rebuild or replace the master cylinder. It may be a good idea to drain the power booster as well so the vacuum line does not pick the brake fluid up and run it through the motor. This is not healthy at all.

 

Go to the top of this section and read the "Buyers Guide" which provide some basic info on problem/expense areas....then post back with any additional questions :-)

Ser III Jags can be quite reliable but it takes money and effort to make 'em that way and keep 'em that way.

Interior/trim/upholstery repairs are very expensive

Cheers
DD

 

I'll advice on the Headliner; First: it is typical for the headliner to collapse in a 1985 car.
there is a foam layer underneath the fabric which deteriorates and separates from the fabric as it desintegrates.

the headliner fabric is cheap, you need 3½ yards, available at any Joann Fabrics store. bring a piece of the fabric to match the color, they have the material there in every color, except Pink. you don't want a Pink headliner anyway. So start saving all those Sunday paper "40% off any single purchase" coupons from Joann.

the job to remove the headliner foam pad is just a lot of labor, but if you are handy, you can do it, it's very easy to recover the foam pad once the pad is out of the car.
you need two cans of 3M Headliner Spray Adhesive, available at any Autozone store.

Otherwise these cars are reliable once you fix their bugs. Parts are not expensive, there's lots of competition to sell you parts, you just have to shop around. eBay is a good source for parts, go there and type "Jaguar XJ6" and you'll see the bread and butter parts being sold, some cheaper than others, some with free shipping, etc.

Do not fear the name "Jaguar", these cars are reliable.
the foam pad comes out through the front passenger door once it is released at the top, and releasing it at the top is what I mean by a lot of labor. It requires a lot of parts being removed before you can release the entire headliner and move it out of the car.

Removing all the seats front and back from the car is also important, that way you don't exert any knee pressure on the seats when you have to remove all those parts, and tear the seams. Refurbishing cars is a very delicate business.

If you're going to keep the car, having the Factory Shop Manual is a must, it is not expensive and it will be the best investment you'll make on behalf of car conservation, which sounds like what you are after.

A rear seat and back can be found used in good shape, you don't need to go through reupholstering it.

 

Do be aware that the original (Jaguar) rack mountings are designed to let the rack move side-to-side within limits bounded by two rubber faced washers on one of the two rack mounts. A lot of people swap these out with polybush mounts that remove this movement. It does however, make the steering much harsher through the steering wheel rim.

Anyway, plenty of good advice here, but it is likely you will need to do quite a bit of work to bring the car up to a "daily driver" standard. Having said that the parts are not too expensive, unlike later Jaguars like mine !!

 

I installed the rack polybush kit in my 1984 XJ-6 back in 1993. The difference it makes is very "satisfying", (not neccesarily harsh), it improves "steering feedback". though I agree with you that the original rack bushings provide a much "softer" steering feel, but as they wear out the steering becomes very sloppy. As the polyurethane bushes "settle in", they become a bit more like the factory bushes, but still retain the firmness we all want.

I recommend the kit from John's Cars, because it is a complete kit and it comes with very specific instructions. John was the one who invented this kit in the late 1980's.
you'll have to call them for the kit, it is not shown in their website. Not expensive either.

Also, for some other XJ-6/12 improvements invented by John, see his website:

Jaguar conversions, swaps, parts, service and advice - from John's Cars in Dallas.