Experience in a Book
Body Modifications

LEAPER: Most Jaguar owners feel that the "leaping cat" hood ornament looks really bad on the XJ-S. If you just gotta have one, note that it would be wise to remove the disk emblem and install the leaper in its place, keeping any additional drilling located so that reinstallation of the disk would cover it up. Also note that the leaper is available in a couple of sizes, and the smaller ones will be less obnoxious in this application.

Finally, note that hood ornaments are regulated as safety hazards in some areas. In order to minimize harm to pedestrians you run over, they may be required to be mounted on springs or some such. This not only makes installation more complex, but it also makes it easier for a thief to steal the ornament.

Most leapers are made to be mounted on a nearly level surface, so on the XJ-S they appear to be leaping downhill. However, Michael Kenrick reports on one made specifically for the XJ-S: "It's modeled on the early MkV (?) version and sits on a round base that is directly interchangeable with the authentic OEM bonnet badge, bolted from underneath. And the plinth is beveled to take account of the sloping bonnet. Contact: 

Bill Tracy
4050 Red Rock Lane
Sarasota, FL 34231 US
+1 (941) 924-9523

"I have one mounted on the hood: it certainly looks very good, and adds a subtly different character to the car."

WHEEL ARCHES: These are bright metal trim pieces that fit around the edges of the wheel wells; they are available in either chrome or gold. They are another item about which opinions vary, with many owners finding them gaudy and tasteless while others love them. Of course, if the edges of the wheel wells are where your car is rusting, you might suddenly decide they look good!

John Dyson says, "I have the chrome wheel arches on my '91 "Classic Collection." It is my impression that they are part of the limited edition trim which includes chrome wheels, gold bonnet badge, leather interior with contrasting piping, and "Classic Collection" badge on right rear."

UPPER RADIATOR GRILLE: Face it, your old grille looks pretty bad; the chrome is flaking off, and it's cracked in several places. And a new one is expensive. The solution: install the 1992-on grille.

The newer grille makes a substantial difference in the appearance of the car. Where the earlier cars had the all-chrome plastic grille with chrome frame, three horizontal chrome ribs, two vertical chrome struts on each side, and the V12 badge in the center, the '92-on grille is all black with a single chrome strip across the top edge. There is no V12 badge. The chrome strip makes a match with the narrow chrome strip across the top of the bumper, surrounding the grille top and bottom.

Another difference is the profile. The earlier grille forms a distinct angle from the nose of the bonnet downward and rearward. The '92-on grille is more "bulged" giving a rounded profile.

Of course, how well the bulge of the new grille mates to the four-lamp headlight bezel could easily be a point of concern. The fact is, the bulge of the '92-on grille results in most of the grille protruding farther than the headlight bezel, so the end of the grille is clearly visible. The end of the grille was presumably never intended to be visible, since it would be covered by the bulging one-piece headlamps. However, the appearance of the ends of the grille are quite acceptable indeed, since the chrome strip continues around the corner and the black plastic surface is still black there. The only problem -- and it's a minor one indeed -- is that the black plastic ends just a hair short of where you'd like it to, leaving a triangular opening at the bottom rear edge of the end of the grille. You've gotta be looking for a problem to notice it. But having compared this configuration against what the factory-designed earlier grille did here, I can't say it appears any less deliberate or properly fitting.

As far as mounting goes, the '92-on grille mounts a little differently but can be adapted. The '92-on grille mounts with 5 screws, two on each end and one at the center top, all installed pointing towards the rear of the car. The earlier grille installed with 6 screws, two at the outer ends near the bottom pointing rearward and four along the top edge pointing upward. These upper screws screw into plastic inserts that snap into square holes on the bonnet. The outer two inserts correspond to notches in the '92-on grille and can remain, but the two inner mounts interfere with the '92-on grille since there are no notches in the grille to clear them and the plastic inserts stick down from the bonnet 1/8" or so. Simple solution: pry the plastic inserts out of the holes and throw them away. None of the four will be used again, so you might as well pry them all out.

The next thing to do is trial fit the new grille. It should be held in position so that its top surface fits snugly against the mating surface on the bonnet. With it held so, the necessary alignment of the mounting brackets will be apparent. The outer bottom mounting holes on the '92-on grille appear to be in the same place as on the earlier grille, but when fitting one realizes that the grille is not in the same place. The bulge has resulted in these mounting holes being about a half inch farther forward than the brackets the old grille mounted on. You can deal with this by stacking washers and using a long screw if you want, but that's not the way I do things. The mount bracket itself is an absurdly simple item bolted to the hinges, so I merely unbolted them and made new ones a little longer.

Just behind the upper edge of the grille is a flange on the bonnet, completely hidden by the grille. Simply drill three holes in this flange directly above the upper mounting holes in the new grille and fab brackets to screw to the flange. Add standard clip nuts to these brackets and install the grille with 5 black trim screws.

With the '84 Honda Accord struts described below, the hood opens a lot farther than stock. With this new bulged grille, the bottom center of the grille most definitely does contact the rubber on the top of the front bumper when open. Doesn't appear to hurt anything. It flexes a bit, no problem.

One of the prime reasons to consider the '92-on grille is that it is structurally a vastly superior item. Where the earlier grille had spindly little ribs, this grille's ribs are substantial, and appear designed to survive bird hits. Where the earlier grille had chrome on plastic that flaked off, the only chrome on this grille is a separate piece of metal that is attached to the plastic grille. Add to these facts that the '92-on grille costs half what the earlier grille costs, and you have enough data to make your own decision.

Another possibility is the JaguarSport XJR-S grille, which has no chrome at all. You could paint the chrome strip from the '92-on grille for similar effect, but every bug hit will probably leave a shiny spot.

5 MPH BUMPERS: In some countries that don't require high-impact bumpers, the XJ-S has been fitted with lighter, less obtrusive bumpers. The front bumper is fairly thin, and the turn signals mount on the bodywork rather than in the bumper. The locations for the turn signals are clearly evident on US-issue vehicles, hidden underneath the heavy bumper.

LICENSE PLATE FASTENERS: No matter how pretty your Jag is, having streaks of rust on the tag streaming downward from the attachment bolts doesn't help. There is apparently no consistency in attachment schemes here, it looks like each dealer fastened the tags whatever way he saw fit -- and rare indeed is the dealer that springs for proper stainless steel fasteners. It shouldn't be too hard to find some stainless steel fasteners that will serve. On the author's '83, the tag was held on with chincy sheet metal screws directly into the metal of the trunk lid, so a nice chrome license plate frame was added with four Phillips head stainless steel screws.

BONNET STRUTS: Replacement of the stock bonnet struts is likely to be high on an XJ-S owner's priority list. With the stock struts, the bonnet doesn't open very far, making it a pain to work in the engine compartment. Jaguar apparently limited the range of opening because the bottom center of the grille contacts the top of the front bumper. However, Michael Neal points out that the contact doesn't appear to do any harm!

John Napoli figured out how to replace the stock struts with longer ones so that the bonnet opens a reasonable amount without having to disconnect the struts. The first step in replacing the struts is to make sure your bonnet will open far enough to use them; the alignment of the bodywork varies slightly from car to car, and breaking the front grille will not make you very happy. So, with the aid of an assistant, disconnect the struts and gradually tilt the bonnet farther and farther toward vertical, keeping an eye on the grille/bumper contact. See if you can open the bonnet enough that the mounts for the struts are separated by 22-1/4".

Note that there may also be a minor interference between the hinges and the plastic filler piece between the bumper and the car. If there is a problem here, the openings in the plastic for the hinges can be enlarged slightly.

If this much opening presents no problems, go to your local auto parts store and purchase a pair of aftermarket struts intended for a 1984-85 Honda Accord 3-door. They are made by Pro Lift, part number 92307, or by Motormite, part number 95038. The ends of these struts are thinner than the stock Jaguar struts, so you should add some spacers to the mounts to make sure the body of the strut doesn't contact the mounting brackets. Actually, suitable spacers may come in the package!

The XJ-S requires a strut that will collapse to 13-1/4" or shorter, and the application catalog lists the Honda struts as having a minimum length of 13.4" -- too long. However, measuring the struts themselves indicates they will compress as far as 13", perhaps even a hair under. Therefore, they work fine, and hold the bonnet a lot farther open than the stock struts. If yours end up not quite short enough, you should be able to make them work by elongating the holes in the ends a little with a file.

Note that the stock Honda struts will not work. The struts needed are those sold as aftermarket replacements for the Honda, not the original struts.

Here's the measurement from the corner of the opening for the hood to the corner of the hood when fully open with these new struts: 46.5" Go measure yours!

Be forewarned that new aftermarket struts tend to be strong, and this causes some difficulty in closing the Jaguar bonnet. The bonnet often will not sit against the latches under its own weight, but rather will lift up against the safety latch. Therefore, it may be necessary to hold the bonnet down against the latches with one hand while moving the lever in the driver's side footwell with the other. This is not difficult, once you get the hang of it.

HOOD POP: John Napoli says: "Here's a cool mod for your XJ-S. It works best if you have good hood (bonnet) gas struts, and really well with the generic (Honda) replacement listed in Kirby's book.

"Remove the hood safety latch. Just pull the pin and it comes off. There are not many failure modes on an XJ-S where you need this feature, anyway, so I wouldn't worry about it being gone.

"Now, when you want to show off your V12, just pop the release handle from within. The hood rises silently and majestically. Everyone is impressed. Men stand in awe. Women weep. Children cheer. Way cool."

HOOD VENTS: Lots of people feel that providing vents in the hood of the XJ-S might help with cooling problems, as well as look neat. It probably wouldn't do much for cooling when moving, but it might have considerable benefits after the car is parked -- allowing all the residual engine heat to rise out of the compartment rather than just building up in there and cooking the wiring and hoses.

Of course, cutting holes in the XJ-S hood is a non-reversible act, so a good job is essential; cutting rectangular holes with a Sawzall and slapping on a pair of stamped steel residential air conditioning grilles with pop rivets ain't gonna help your resale value.

Marty Sullivan suggests that the hood vents from a Datsun 280Z might fit the XJ-S perfectly. They are separate parts (not an integral part of the hood) so perhaps they could be removed from a 280Z in a junkyard and installed in suitable holes cut in the hood of an XJ-S with little fuss. They could be painted flat black before installation so they'd look like they match the center air grille, and you wouldn't have to paint the whole car.

Derek Spicer says, "I have seen an XJ-S with an early model Honda Accord hood vent fitted to its hood up near the windscreen on the hood. It's a very natural fit and looks as if it was supposed to be there."

Paul Bachman says, "I have been trying to lay my hands on some hood scoops from a 1988 Turbo Thunderbird. These also appear to be of proper size and shape to retrofit in an XJ-S."

Stephen Wood adds more details: "I looked at some different vents recently in a junk yard recently, that would / wouldn't work:

"79-83 280 ZX (FI Car): Description: Semi Triangular Black Plastic, but the plastic in them is not very good so if you are in a sunny climate they will be brittle. Replacement part is pricey and supposedly not available from the dealer ( Nissan Dealers are scum...). However "Tweeks Ltd." does stock all of that stuff.

"80-83 280 ZX (Turbo-FI Car): I am still trying to find a 280 ZX turbo in a junk yard (I will be going again this weekend) that has a different vent, and see how they attach. They only have one vent on the passenger side of the hood but they look pretty neat, a NACA scoop followed by a grille. If you could find two of them, you could locate them further forward in the XJ-S hood and have "Ram Air" (oooooh cool.)

"The 75-78 280Z vent is different right from left, and would require modification and "dremeling" and is really small, I'm not sure if it would make a worthwhile difference (to vent or not to vent, that is the question).

"Idea: the 78-81 Camaro Z28 had some fenderwell vents on the side, top rearward portion of the fender; those may be big, but you could mount them on the hood of the XJS.

"1989-92 Firebird: Small hood vents in front nose portion, could be cool. I need to get dimensions.

"1979-84 Mustang GT. Cowl hood type. Mounts with 4 bolts and allows removal of block off plate for a 1"x18" opening. This is severe but could be helpful in hot climates."

One other concern I can foresee is that add-on vents might protrude into the engine compartment an inch or so, and maybe hit something -- like the diagonal struts. Best to double-check clearances before cutting.

REMOTE TRUNK RELEASE: Bob Whiles says: "There are several "Trunk Release Module" kits on the market. All you get is the actuator (solenoid), a button, fuse holder and wire. But Chevy has a pretty nice - heavy duty - one in some of their "upper" models. Just look for a Monte Carlo or above in the junkyard. All you will need then is a momentary button, wire and fuse/holder. Cheaper and better than the kits."

REAR SPOILER: Welsh Enterprises offers a rear deck spoiler for the XJ-S. JaguarSport does too, and John Goodman reports: "There are actually two types of (JaguarSport) deck spoilers available. The post-'92 deck spoiler has more "sweeping ends" to compliment the revised tail lights and I'm not sure, but maybe an integrated brake light." Note that rear deck spoilers have a hole for the antenna to poke through. Also note that rear deck spoilers are attached to the trunk lid while the antenna is attached to the fender, so opening the trunk with the antenna up won't work. If you are concerned about this, the Jaguar fix is to provide a wiring change so that when the trunk is opened and the light comes on, the antenna goes down. This could easily be done by anyone, it only requires a relay.

Now, if you have the earlier XJ-S, you know those springs that hold the trunk lid up when open? Do you think they will still hold the trunk lid up with the additional weight of the new spoiler on it? Not likely! Reportedly, the fix is to fit the earlier cars with gas struts, just like the later trunk lids have. Goodman again: "The struts and the relay with harness come with the spoiler if you buy them from a Jag dealer."

"GROUND EFFECTS": Welsh Enterprises and JaguarSport offer styling kits to add all around the bottom edge of the bodywork. The Welsh kit supposedly fits any XJ-S 1982-on, apparently due to some problem with bumpers on earlier cars. John Goodman says (regarding the JaguarSport versions), "There are three different body kits, pre-'92 and post-'93 US with rubber bumpers and '93 UK."

Michael Minglin reports: "I have installed a ground effects kit (body styling kit) that I purchased from the dealer. From the pictures it appears to be the same kit Welsh is offering. The kit installs over the shock absorbing beams on my '84 XJ-S. The chrome top trim and the black rubber end pieces are removed. I find this preferable to the newer kits that do not have the shock absorbing beams protruding through the spoiler. It may not look as nice, but it provides excellent protection in the event of slight bumps, like backing into a post I didn't see. The kit is fiberglass and would easily crack if it was not for the shock absorbing beams.

"The negatives on this kit are: You have to be very careful when pulling straight into a curb, or one of the concrete parking curbs in parking lots. The front spoiler is so low it will hit the curb and break. This point must be stressed when leaving the car at a shop or using valet parking. In addition I have noticed that the engine runs a little warmer on the open road since I installed the kit. It seems to restrict the airflow somewhat. But, it sure makes the car look great.

"FYI, this kit is manufactured by Arden, a German company."

LUGGAGE RACKS: Herbert Sodher wanted to make his car look different, and found that a luggage rack designed for a 1968-75 Corvette will fit on the XJ-S trunk lid nicely. He chose a really nice stainless steel model rather than the basic chrome. He opted not to use the mounting scheme included, since it was intended for fiberglass; instead, he visited a good hardware store and purchased some stainless steel flush head sheet metal screws. He carefully measured locations and drilled some small pilot holes, and with very little effort was receiving complements on the appearance of the installation.

TAIL PIPES: Ernie Laprairie reports: "Just had two dual-tip Pacesetter resonators installed instead of the bulky Jag style. Looks great and still quiet, only about 8 inches long plus chrome double tips on each side." Still, you might wish to consider the warnings.

SIDE MIRRORS: Martin Fooks wanted his car to look stylish, so he installed side mirrors from a Pontiac Fiero. "The mirrors are fairly easy to fit as only one of the 2 bolt holes has to be slightly widened and the angles of the mirrors to the car are just about perfect. My car used to have manual adjustable mirrors and the electric wires for the Fiero items come through the hole that the manual rod used to use.

"The mirrors are bolted to the doors from the inside, thus (unknowingly at the time) removing that easy route into the XJ-S. (ed. note: see Breaking In.)

"The kit installs over the shocks before, I used the complete Fiero harness and switch, although as you will be aware electric mirror wiring is hardly a challenge..."

If you have WWW surfing capability, you can take a look at Fooks' car at http://www.geocities.com/motorcity/8382.

MUD FLAPS: If you drive in mud, snow, slush, etc., you probably are sick and tired of cleaning the slop off the car. The place to get mud flaps for your Jaguar is at the Jaguar dealer. In fact, the panel behind the front wheels already has a set of square holes for mounting the flaps.

H.E. VS. V12 EMBLEM: If you feel that "V12" is a more descriptive emblem than "H.E.", you may be happy to learn that the V12 emblem is available as a stick-on item, and will perfectly cover the holes used to mount the original H.E. emblem. If you purchase the V12 emblem (part number BEC4717 - don't get the earlier 4-piece emblem), merely pry the H.E. emblem out, clean the surface, and stick the V12 emblem on.

CONVERTIBLE RIGIDITY: In the old days, cars had a rigid frame and the body merely went along for the ride; chopping, removing, or otherwise screwing around with the bodywork did not functionally affect the car. However, a frame is now considered a waste of steel, space, and money, and the body of the car is usually the stress-carrying structure.

About the same time this change was taking place, convertibles also disappeared, largely in anticipation of safety requirements that never actually materialized.

Of late, the convertible has been making a comeback, including the lovely XJ-S version. Unfortunately, the stressed-body concept doesn't take well to a convertible; removing the roof removes a great deal of the structural rigidity, and such cars often end up weighing considerably more than the hardtop versions due to added structural members underneath.

Early XJ-S convertibles were structurally good but not great. With the bodywork revisions in mid-1991, mounting points were added under the car for a system of front and rear cross-bracing to add rigidity. This renders the structure truly excellent. Unfortunately, the 1988-1991 convertibles lack the mounts for installing the bracing.

The front bracing can be added to earlier cars, but it involves some welding. A kit including all the parts is available from Classic Engineering. They are reportedly working on a similar kit for the rear bracing, but the front is the more important.

According to Julian Mullaney, the rear brace is very similar to the front, but fashioning mounting points is harder. "This brace mounts on the chassis in front of each rear wheel and crosses to attach on the opposite side, behind the rear end cage on the bottom of the trunk (boot). This is where the problem is. In the new cars, the trunk well is stamped with two downward pointing depressions to which a brace can be bolted. In the early convertibles some sort of stand-off (about 2-1/2 inches deep) must be mounted to the bottom of the trunk-well in order to attach the brace."

A similar front brace kit is available from Harvey Bailey Engineering.

MAKING YOUR OWN CONVERTIBLE: Discussing chopping the top off a coupe, Scot D. Abbott says "I've seen several XJ-S coupes made into convertibles. I also saw several XJ-S bodies cut apart just for examination and have experience evaluating convertible conversions. IMHO, changing the XJ-S unibody to open configuration must be done with some care to minimize strength loss, and reasonable stiffening elements can be added back to make a sound car. This must be done properly and can be done in many ways.

"Roof removal is not necessarily the main thing that can take away body integrity/strength in a conversion. I cut the roof off an XJ-S, towed it on a dolly 2000 miles, and still the door gaps remained the same. I could raise the car with a jack and not twist or deform it significantly differently from an XJ-S with its roof intact. Please note that I kept the sundeck/rearward bulkhead intact.

"Compromise of the rear sundeck/rear bulkhead system or removal of the rearward bulkhead (i.e. the sheetmetal wall behind the rear seats and between the rear wheel wells) from the XJ-S makes the car very flimsy, especially to torsion stress, and it permits undue flexure during motoring which will likely fatigue the sill/floor joints with time.

"Removing the rearward bulkhead is done to make room for a large power top to fold down. An alternative to this is to use a compact folding top and thus avoid creating the basic problem.

"A commercial version of this conversion design strategy is available locally (Driver's Seat of Delaware, Inc., Box 542, Montchannin, DE 19710, 302-998-7889)."

STATION WAGON: See Lynx Motors International Ltd.

XJSS: A radical kit car based on the XJ-S offered by Autostyle. Pat O'Keeffe got the literature, and reports that the blurb says:

PREPARATION: The bonnet (hood), boot (trunk), bumpers, lights, front wings and doors are unbolted. The rear wings and roof are removed. Note that the windscreen pillars and glass are not disturbed. The tubular sill reinforcer, which is supplied, is fitted. The fuel tank is adapted. The rear boot lid support assembly, which we supply, is fitted. 

ASSEMBLY: The one-piece front body section is fitted. The bonnet is fitted. The one-piece rear body section and sill covers are fitted. The boot lid is fitted. The XJSS door skins are fitted and the doors returned to their original locations. The lights and number plates are fitted. 

THIRD BRAKE LIGHT CUTENESS: John Himes sends this tip: "If you wanted to get creative, remove the entire housing and place a piece of custom cut metal or cardboard or something with the leaper cut out, paint black and place against the window. Now when you brake, instead of just a light there, you will be showing a glowing red leaper to all that you leave behind."

On to Interior Modifications