Do I live in a bad area? nope but throughout my life I've progressed through some places I wouldn't care to call home now, one particular place I lived was a little too close to an 'estate' not too far away that was a place the ambulances wouldn't go without a police presence. We have had problems with travellers too - of course you're stereo typing when you say they're bad news and yet the crime rate increase when they are is just a coincidence. In certain areas I believe it is pretty common particularly if you aren't a 'native' and or you annoy the local yobs or dare not to fit into the neanderthal mold, and since they're in groups generally the collective IQ can be counted on one hand, the egos enter infinity territory.

The wifes a teacher and it wasn't uncommon for the car to get keyed until the school took steps to segregate staff areas from general access - that and CCTV cameras -

The older I've got the further away from any city I've tried to get, for me the only place I want to see a city is in the rear view mirror.

 

I agree with that last statement. Though visiting can be fun, I certainly wouldn't want to live in one.
Students keying teachers' cars is a bit nasty. I'm pretty sure it wasn't common when I was at secondary school--while students weren't allowed in the teacher parking areas, there weren't any cameras and you could technically access it. Mind you, it was overlooked by the staff room and offices, plus the headmaster's study....

 

I've got this thought in the back of my mind to someday build a "rat rod" and use it as a daily driver. I see these things at car shows, made of old saw blades, soup tins, bits of chain welded solid, etc and covered in a rusty "patina". If you built something like that but with a nice, comfortable interior instead of surplus WW2 aircraft seats, then you could park it anywhere. Nobody'd touch it for fear of getting "tetanus" and if they did, then every dent or scratch just adds to the character.

 

Hello Greg

Tap I used - I basically went to my hose shed shop and said I need a fuel valve that will be placed in my boot and I do not want it to smell. So while I do not know exactly what valve it is, it is very solid with threaded connection. Single barb joiners with suitable loctite. When I put it together, I minimized as much flexible hose as possible, And put the smaller diameter fuel inside a larger fuel hose,(you can see it on the sump to main tank vent line) just to stop as much propegation (?) through the EFI hose as possible.

After about 12 months - my boot still smells like new carpet. So I am happy so far.



Mind you - originality was out the window when I brought her, which allows me a blank canvas

Cheers
Steve

 

Thanks Steve. I could not care less about originality, I want "working properly, ease of maintenance, reliability, simplicity, understandability"!
What is the ID of the tap barbed ends please? Or the OD, if that is easier? 1/2 inch ID taps seem unavailable, but if you have smaller and it is Ok for fuel feed, then no worries.

 

In reference to paintwork damage - I recommend slight modification of the bodywork to adjust it with the laws of the land. Do.it once and forget about any anxiety:


In terms of security device - usually inertia switch will be the best - if not - attach additional switch in confined place...
​​​​​​

 

Vinyl wrap?? Strangely - not too worried about car park damage or stray trolleys. More worried about hitting our wild life going 100. Kangaroo's are a constant worry, had a friend hit a horse (which joined him in the cab) and my brother just collected a cow, I think I will be happy to swear and curse over the trolley damage

Cheers
Steve

 

Left alone it will start to look like that and I won't need to do anything - I kind of like that look but I'm suspecting it is a wrap ?

I've not got as far as including additional immobilisation on the car yet. I'll not go the fuel route simply because these pumps don't like to be run dry, there's a compromise between secure and convenience but any security device that you need to set outside the car will offer any observer a visual clue.

I am considering an arduino type project that essentially will use a fake cigarette lighter, the lighter will contain a pin code, no pin code no ignition and it is easy to pop in the pocket, I can hide the gubbins behind the dash some place, maybe put an external override switch external somewhere just in case.

Paintwork I'm not too retarded over as it can be resolved, for me it is the damage to irreplacable parts, and I had the front taken off a car by a fox that came from nowhere so I hear ya on the wildlife.

 

That's the pure natural artificial rust, no wraps etc. Somehow, when I'm parked in Tesco's car park - everyone around leaves me plenty of space to get in - immaculate feeling. Like they're afraid of something...

You can do nothing about wildlife apart from driving slow and praying. Recently I saw Nissan Patrol y60 with full-thick-metal offoad bumper twisted after deer strike... Nothing you can do I'm afraid. You can order similar bumper to be custom-made for your XJS.Unfortunarely - deer under the front wheels is less lethal than deer on the front seats...

 

i found the two spade connectors for my fuel pump were really easy to get to when changing the battery. just pull one and leave it in just enough to still be disconnected. try faultfinding that when you are trying to steal it. easy and cheap just like me

 

Hello Greg

Can't really get access to get the measurements for you, hose is pushed up hard against the spanner section. I went through my dockets, but that one is faded away to unreadable

By memory (20th of August, 2019), hose going over the tap barbs were about the same as going over the sump and fuel tank.

Cheers
Steve

 

I’m surprised you experience so much trouble. While there are certainly exceptions most people I encounter in life are nice decent people. A polite smile and nod or friendly wave as I go by is usually returned. Maybe they recognize the 36 years the Jaguar Has been on the road.
More often than not someone will engage me in conversation during a refueling or stopping at a store.
My BMW and Mercedes friends tend not to agree but watching their attitudes and driving manners I tend to understand why.

The most friendly people seem to be when I’m driving my MGTD. Big waves and smiles. Friends eager to share their stories and check out my ride. Yes that are a few garage scratches and cosmetic flaws but it was last painted in 1973 so it’s very approachable.

 

Funny, I bought the XJS to keep people away from my other cars. Now I need another decoy.
my favorite deterrent was the commercial in Robocop.