Had it delivered yesterday. Put about 50 miles on it since, real pleasure to drive.

I've been lurking the forum for a few weeks, so I had many of my questions answered already. However if any of you lads can offer insight on any of the below, it would be appreciated.

• Any way to know the type of wood my car has? I'd like to purchase a wooden shift knob and would prefer a close match.
• Looks like it's difficult to source a Celebration wooden steering wheel. Any source that typically has US versions?
• Headliner is a bit droopy in the rear, any recommendations on best replacement? Purchase a new headliner or can these be fixed by an upholstery shop?
• Best place to source the quad headlights? I've seen a few derelict parts on eBay, but would prefer to order a whole set if possible.
• Definitely want some larger OEM wheels. I very much like the XJ6 17" wheels, however finding it very difficult to find a set with machined finish. Any leads?
• Second choice would be the Asteroids. From my understanding the rears bolt up perfectly, but does anyone know what spacers are needed for the fronts?
• Is there a consensus on best way to lower the vehicle? It's just a cruiser for me, so performance isn't a priority. Just looking to lower it about an inch for an aggressive look. Eibach springs? Cut stock coil? Coilovers?
• Anyone know the make of the factory radio? I'd like to add an Bluetooth transmitter to the CD changer control. Maybe Becker?
• Leaping cat hood ornament, is that a faux pas on these cars? Or acceptable to swap out the flat badge?

Thanks in advance for any assistance. Really looking forward to being part of the community.

And here are a couple of shots for good measure...

 

Welcome and good luck with your car.
I can help with a couple of your questions:

• SNG Barratt can supply complete brand new headlight sets, crome surrounds and all. But one piece lights are very much prized, so someone might do you a swap, or keep them as they are NLA from Jaguar and loads of people need them.
• Your car is currently fitted with 15 inch rims from the pre-facelift era of cars. Your car came from the factory standard with Jaguar 16 inch rims, for which there is a far better choice of tyre. The later wheels look like this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/325150508...oAAOSwpv1iW-dO

They can be found second hand and if you like, refurbished with the finish of your choice.

• Leapers on XJSs are a subject of some dispute! Purists like me say no!
• Lowering the car: the problem with ditching the factory springs is it can ruin the Jaguar ride/handling balance, once again opinions greatly vary. Try keeping the OEM springs is my initial advice (and even if you change them, keep them safe) but try lowering them as follows: a set of platform adjustable rear shocks will lower the rear very easily, for example: https://mossmotors.com/gaz-shock-absorbers you want the adjustable spring perch option.
• and on the fronts, you will probably find there will be a few nylon packers in the spring pan/spring tower, top and bottom of the spring. Removing two or three of these, if they are there, will drop the front. But beware, the camber will have to be adjusted, which is a bit of a procedure on the XJS.

 

With the facelift cars, which yours is, they all came with the oval headlights. You can get round lights from a pre-facelift car, but I'm not sure they'll fit.

 

Gareth
I am pretty sure that some facelifts had the double headlights; but I could easily be mistaken about that. For example (a UK car though)
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/294914667...MAAOSwL1diUcYn
PTJS will know for sure!

 

I was under the impression that the oval lights were one of the features of the facelift. But I could be wrong.

 

The pre and facelift cars all came with oval lights. The quads were fitted only on North American (USA ?) pre facelift cars only to comply with US headlight regulations. They came with sealed beam lights only too.....
SNG have new kits for pre and facelift cars that use the much better H4 and H1 halogen bulbs.
Twin Headlamp Conversion Kit Left hand drive (SBS9204) (sngbarratt.com)

Leapers.... Some owners have put a smaller leaper that fits in the place of the growler. PLEASE don't drill holes behind the growler and fix a big leaper. But it is your car


Radio i believe is Alpine

JAGUAR STEERING WHEELS, JAGUAR WOODWORK, JAGUAR INTERIORS, JAGUAR XJS WOODWORK | eBay

 

Hi Liam,

Congrats on the purchase, I'm sure you'll love it!

A couple of thoughts and responses to your queries:

I'm presuming your VIN ends in a number lower than 194774? It's difficult to see from the pics but a few clues tell me that it is so. Your seats and radio head unit seem to be from the era of a pre-194774 car, but the gearknob seems to be changed from a later car between VIN 194774 & 221855. As mentioned, someone has also fitted the smaller 15" starfish wheels from a much earlier car.

I think that headunit in the pic is a Clarion unit. The later face-off units were made by Alpine.

The wood is Burr elm, but they all fade at differing rates.

You can fit a wood and keather wheel, but it must be a US one as the airbag, mount holes and column shaft adapter are different sizes on US cars.

You've also made the schoolboy XJS error of asking about headlights and a leaper! You'll very soon learn its like the first rule of Fight Club!

But seeing as you asked, Don't fit either!!! No facelift XJS came with twin headlights. (No standard UK XJS ever came with twin lights) The standard lights have not been available for years. If you do change them , (and there standard twin kits you can buy) then keep the originals.

Don't lower the car, it's a real pain and will spoil the handling. Fill the space, if you must, with bigger wheels (I'd just move to the standard 16" that should have been on your car) and fit adjustable Gaz shocks to tune the ride to your choice.

As for a leaper? Seriously, don't! No-one will ever look at a standard XJS and say "it would look better with a leaper". But if you do fit one, plenty of people will think the opposite, even if they never tell you to your face!

But, its your car, so don't pay any attention to my thoughts. Just have fun with the car!

Good luck

Paul

 

Hi Liam,

Lovely car, you're going to enjoy it and there's so much great help and expertise on this forum.
For what its worth, my comments on your queries!!!;
I love the quad headlamps and have them fitted to my UK spec facelift. The kit from SNG is the one to go for and you'll likely be able to pay for the conversion if you sell your oval headlamps.
For the wheels, my preference would be the lattice type fitted to the early facelifts.
Lots of options if you google for the shift knob wheel and headliner. I am in the process of replacing my headliner and if yours is like mine the backing sheet will be like an over cooked biscuit and disintegrate in your hands when you remove it. So a new covered fiberglass board is the way to go on this.
I wouldn't mess with the suspension as its so good as it is
And its a definite NO from me on the bonnet leaper.
But hey.... it's your car so you need to do what you like.
Welcome to the forum!

 

Beautiful car, Laim, congrats. Don't you dare put a leaper on there! Leapers go on sedans, growlers on the sporty models (IMnot-soHO).

I was going to suggest you drive that car a fair amount before changing the suspension. If you're looking for handling improvements, I don't think it'll work without sacrificing the nice ride (but I do not have hands-on experience with that). If it's a special look you're going for, well the XJS already has it in spades and you're going to look amazing in traffic just as you are. Great colour on that Jag of yours.

 

Thank you everybody. Appreciate the warm welcome and all the info.

From what I've gathered, absolutely no on the leaper. Scratch that from the record. What was I thinking?
I wound up purchasing a set of Asteroids that should be delivered tomorrow. I have some concerns about them being too large for the car. I'll get them mounted and see how it looks. From my understanding the front will need a 1/4" spacer.
The SNG Barratt front headlight kit is about $900. Perhaps I'll leave that for a while. As some of you mentioned it seems the oval headlamps are quite desirable themselves.
A forum member was nice enough to reach out with an extra wood shift knob, so that should be arriving this week.
Wood steering wheel is less of a priority so another thing I'll leave for another time.
I visited a couple of upholstery shops in regards to the headliner. Neither of them wanted to touch it, since the aftermarket sunroof could cause some issues. However they recommended another shop nearby that seems confident he can do it. Going to see him later this afternoon.

Other than that I've been really enjoying the car so far. I live in Los Angeles, and even amongst all the exotics, it seems to have a great presence and gets an unanticipated amount of attention.

Thanks again for all the info and insight. Drinks on me!

 

very nice car you have there, i owned the car below for 18 or so years, and did what i wanted to it, drive it and do to it as you wish only within the limits of safety , other than that,,,,well

mine is ( was ) pre-facelift 1989 car but is riding on 18" Flute alloys from and XK8 , backs bolt right on, fronts needed a hub centric spacer and appropriate hardware , tyres and profile will make the difference to whether they hit the arches on full lock or full suspension travel, some trial and error will be required with your new wheels ,

most of all , enjoy the drive , whatever you do to her..

BB






reason for parting company with an XJS, i turned to the dark side.......

 

Both gorgeous cars. I can't fault you (maybe a little bit).

But thanks again for the insight. I'll do some test fitting over the weekend and hopefully land on a setup that works.

Keep you guys posted!

 

BB...... thanks for the tag line, " ...it's how late you brake"! Not a truer statement has been said.
I do take issue on the Leaper issue. As you see in my pic, IME it was the best alteration I've made. AND, since it fit in the same holes as the badge, changing it back is simple and no evidence of the change is visible.

 

I have 17" Revolvers from an xk8, they came with car, such a mistake by the PO. You can't fit the XJS center caps to the front wheels because of the hub. And they ride terrible. I had a set of basket weaves I picked up as a replacement, ran them for a bit and it was a lot better, but two of them were not true and I need to get them fixed. But that's what's going back on.

 

Quick update...

Got the Asteroids installed today. Mounted to 245/40/18 Pirelli P Zero Neros.

They bolted up perfectly in the back and needed an H&R spacer up front that also worked perfectly.

I'm not instantly in love with the skinny sidewall look. I think these cars do benefit from having a bit of rubber on them. But overall I think it looks pretty striking, especially in person.
​​​​​​
Other things I've done have been minor - light ceramic tint, repaired the headliner, disconnected the aerial mast, replaced the badges on the trunklid.

Next up might be swapping the speakers and adding a Bluetooth amp so I can keep the stock head unit.

Overall it's been a great few weeks with this car. Drives beautifully and turns lots of heads.

 

What a beauty.