Yep I ended up buying a rust free non runner. Still a non runner but at least I have removed the V12/TH400 and parted with those.
Was lucky enough to get one with cloth seats too.

My Take on the V12 is that some really good engineers designed a really good engine but then a not so good team of engineers designed the very amateurish fitment to the car.

Still have not made my mind up as to what's going to power it yet. Should have bought a rusty 4.0 manual XJS that was for sale a couple of years ago.

 

Hello, Apologies to resurrect an old thread but I have just joined today and I am in need of some advice. We have an xjs V12, 5.3L. Im looking some advice on the lcoation of this particular section of rust. At the front end under the mounting for the front wing. Is this a structural area or can this section be replaced?

 

That is structural. It is the top chassis rail that supports the upper shock mounting and also forms part of the rigidity of the front end of the engine bay chassis area.
To fix it the wing must be unbolted and the top rail and the inner wing area below it joining it to the lower chassis rail, must be replaced/repaired.
More worrying is the fact that it is highly likely, given this amount of rust in this area, that many other structurally important parts of the monocoque are also very rusty. Look at the sills (rocker panels) jacking points, floors under the carpets, rear wings and exhaust tunnels, penel aft of the doors, windscreen scuttle, etc etc. If this sort of welding and repair are not something you can do yourself, it would be far better and far cheaper to buy another rust free car and use this for spares.

 

CR89,

+1 for Greg's comments.

I think it's quite unusual to have that much corrosion along that seam. I'd be really careful to now check all the much more usual corrosion areas before starting any remedial work as, sadly, it doesn't bode well imo.

Good luck

Paul

 

thank you Greg. Unfortunately we do have rust in all the common areas as you’ve mentioned above, those are what I was aware of previously,

But just last night when I started to get deeper into listing repairs required I discovered the section above.

The car has great sentimental value in our family and it has ended up sitting in dry storage in my shed the last few years as any mechanic or bodywork guy weren’t interested so it lay in their yards for weeks on end untouched until I got it back home with intentions of a project.

Il be honest and say I have very little to no welding experience so this would be a massive project to take on.

 

thank you Paul, we have rust in all the common areas. Il get some photos and make up a thread of my own. I also have some pictures when it was on the road.

 

CR
Thanks for the clarification. Honestly, you only have two alternatives:

1. get some covered space, learn to weld bodywork-thickness steel, strip the body completely (engine, trim drivetrain, interior), build a "rotisserie" together with the necessary structure to hold the body and reinforce it as necessary, weld in new panels/repair the old ones (many aftermarket repair panels are available in the UK), respray and rust treat. Then you "only have the running gear and electrics to do!
2. get another car with a good shell, and swap/transfer as much of your original car interior and running gear and other things into it, so you have a goodly part of your old beloved car still going.

Option 1 is years and years of work. Option 2 is a couple of years of work. This is assuming that you have covered space, time, patience, and that mechanics are something you enjoy doing as a hobby. Even a really good XJS needs looking after on a regular basis, they come from an era when regular maintenance was the expected norm.
Good luck
Greg