Can you tell us the brand, model, size and cost of the wheels? I notice that your Jag center cap works with the aftermarket wheels, nice looking car.
Vector

 

Hello Jaguar forum,
Again thanks to all that have shared their opinions. To answer a few questions. The Hood Leaper question has been answered in reply #13.

Chrome hood louvers from Mina Galleries along with their Aluminum Shifter knob and chrome surround.

The two-tone leather seats covers from Vics Auto upholstery AKA www.topsonline.com ask for Vic and tell him Mitchell Mathes sent you he will give a discount. He is very easy to work with and very knowledgeable of the Jaguar brand. He made my seats, headliner and top. They all fit perfectly the first time. They were installed by someone local (Arizona Phoenix area). All were very reasonably priced using high quality materials. GAHH quality or better!

After market warranty EFG company, the administrator. Tech choice deluxe Coverage. $2871.00 4 year or 50,000 miles $50 dollar deductible. This is an exclusionary policy but a very good one the best I could find for a 9 year old car with 76,000 miles. This 2nd warranty has already paid for a window motor and regulator cost $1100.00 and complete repair of broken tensioners and chains with 4 bent valves $6700.00 , plus another bill of 348.00 for other stuff. This was my 2nd warranty.
The first warranty was a company called Direct warranty this was a bumper to bumper warranty (non-exclusionary) they paid out close to $35,000.00 dollars during their 4 year term. It's funny almost nothing happened to the car during the manufactures warranty of 4 years, but crazy stuff went bad after the manufactures warranty ended, even the dealership said they have never seen some of the stuff go wrong that went wrong on my car. I am not a hard driver and the car is garaged. But like I said, best investment I ever made, it has been almost a year since the car went to service for something wrong(knock on wood) I'm hoping that all that could go wrong has! I believe I paid 3400.00 for the this warranty. I will say I did my home work on both the first and second warranty companies and they both have been very good and pretty much paid for everything without much ado! Very happy with both.

The Wheels came from a company called Coventry Wheels, the model is Hornet ( Why that name, I don't know!). The wheels are made specifically for a Jaguar automobiles by Coventry and are well made, a quality chrome finish. Coventry wheels make several models, I like this one the best, but since everyone has different likes and dislikes they make several models, this specific Hornet model is very easy to clean and polish and looks very good with the rounded lines of a XKR.
I purchased my wheels through Discount Tires and got the best deal from them. About $1400.00 out the door, meaning tax and mounting included, Discount Tires ordered them from Coventry Wheels California factory and they actually arrived next day. http://www.coventrywheels.com/
The size on my car are the staggered 8.5 inch front wheels and 9.5 inch back wheels the tires are Michelin Pilots if I did it again I would consider going with all four wheels at 9.5 inch because I like the look of the 2" lip on the bigger tire plus the advantage of being able to rotate tires and get better mileage out of them and I believe the extra 1" inch would not make a big difference in clearance up front. But I am with the staggered set and since that is the way of the factory there must be a reason, so I am happy. Yes, since these Hornet wheels are specifically made for Jaguar cars they do except the center caps and fit perfectly.

As far as the Painted calipers and drums, I did them myself. I used G2 caliper paint System. Bright red for calipers and Metallic Gold for drums. http://www.g2usa.com/ very reasonable cost for the bang. Pretty easy to do as well, Just need to clean everything very well. Good pointer for cleaning- G2 gives a can of cleaner with each box, but I went to Home Depot and bought some drill bit wire brushes and used my DeWalt Battery drill made a tough job VERY easy. I did not even remove the calipers, another good pointer is buy at least a dozen extra foam brushes small 1", the paint starts getting tacking quickly in a few minutes and I did this in winter, so summer heat, the paint dries faster. I bought the Jaguar specific decals for the calipers and wheels from a British company that specializes Vehicle Decals http://highgatehouse.co.uk/ They also make decals for engines.
I believe my next project will be painting the SuperCharger under the hood and may decide to use their decals for that, I will post on thread when that is done. Same color as calipers bright red w/ Metallic Gold letters.

As for a tidbit of bad news I will lose my XKR this week to the paint and body shop since someone clumsily backed up to my rear bumper and knocked it up. Their insurance co. pays (1500.00)for it but I just had it repaired about 6 months ago and hate to lose my car for a week or so, the weather is superb for top down driving, oh well driving a Chevy Malibu will just make me appreciate my XKR, hood leaper sculpture and my Persian Floor mats even more! LOL...

I hope you all can enjoy all this info and you use it as necessary. Typing and punctuation does not come all that natural to me and getting hyper links to make it easier for you does not make it easy for me. But as the mother taught me, if you are going to do something do it right!
I hope you all think I did!! I enjoy the Jaguar forums and like to be a contributor to it's greatness and since I am not a mechanic or engineer this is my way of contributing for the entertainment value of the forum.
Thanks for reading.

 

Thanks for the update, maybe I'll bump into it in person one day!

 

Oh No Norri ; Please, Please do not use such language. But you are always welcome for a cool libation when in town !!

 

What made you put the leader where it is versus on the bonnet like the 1994 xjs? When you painted the caliper did u use gold paint for the words jaguar?

 

I saw the caliper part. I think the car looks great.

 

Put me down for not-wild-about-the-leaper. Good job making colors work. I like the seats. Looks well put together. Thanks for sharing.

 

I didn't mean it that way!

 

Hi guynks,
the leaper is actually in the same location as the badge that comes from the factory was in and the badge was put on the grill.
The leaper was designed so actually complement the lines of the hood. If you notice the hood at the grill or front is actually turning down fairly quick and the leaper breaks the line up by jetting straight out and slightly up, so the head of leaper is not facing or curving to the ground. If you were to place the leaper on the hood itself the leaper as designed would go straight up and that would look ridiculous. The leaper was designed with the lines of the car. It is beyond me why so many are against or do not like the leaper, but again that is what makes the world go round and the reason automobiles are painted in many different colors!
Thanks for question, hope this answers it.
Ps. Guess you answered your own question about the gold lettering, they are stencils or decals in gold..

 

I have viewed your pics of the car several times and have too say that the whole package really goes together very well. Unique and still very classy. Great job!

 

What is the wheel diameter of your Coventry Hornets? My guess is 18". I may want to get a set with the Hyper Silver center and polished lip, staggered. Knowing your wheel diameter may help me to be more reserved than going with 20". =)

 

Nice job on the restoration. I notice on the RHS of the photo with the drivers door open you have what looks like several small dents on the frame just under the door latching bracket. I have almost identical dents on my frame, any idea waht caused them?

Cheers,

YYC Guy

 

Im trying to decide on a good aftermarket warranty company. Who did you use?

 

Hi I do like the colour but the front floor mats spoil the interior finish, why not try sheepskin car mats

 

I like the two toned seats but would have reversed the colors as to mimick the door panels..i.e. the dark color as the inserts...and to not make the center console interrupt the color scheme

 

Hello, Jeff in Tucson,
Yes the wheels are 18" staggered. I thought about up sizing but then it becomes all wheels. The other thing I suggest, is to think about, not going staggered and doing 9.5 inch front and back, that way you can rotate your tires and get MUCH better wear from them.
Let us know what you have done, I have followed your threads and see you love your car and want it to be a bit different and make it your own JAGUAR.
Some say I am the same way!

Hello YYC Guy,
Yes, I can tell you exactly what those dastardly little dents are from.

The seat belt that does not retract all the way and you close the door on it when it is laying on door frame.

Really PISSED me off and stupid me , it took 3 times before I realized and stopped closing the damn door on my seatbelt.


Hello Knowledge,
I suggest re-reading reply #22 it explains all about my experience with after market warranties.


Thanks to all that have given opinions, comments and asked questions.
Keep them coming, it is much fun to get opinions and we all know everyone has one!
It's kind of like a mouth or other orifices of the bod,

everyone has one!

Happy Motoring to all...

 

A painful lesson for you but a valuable lesson to the rest of us.

I have a similar dent on my driver's door frame and thought it had been caused by dealer carelessness when removing the seat.

Haven't made the seatbelt mistake myself but after your warning I'll make sure I never do. Thanks.

Graham

 

I really like what you did those rims look great. I am going to look in to gettig a set for my car. Nice job!

 

Well done Vettegood! I'm not a fan if the "leaper" on XK cars but my word what a great looking ride you have built.

 

Nice car. That leaper would make for a unique gear shift knob.