Five 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.
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 G. 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.
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.
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."
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.
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 V-12 Emblem
If you feel that "V-12" is a more descriptive emblem than "H.E.",
you may be happy to learn that the V-12 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 V-12 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 V-12 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
standoff (about 21/2 inches deep) must be mounted to the bottom of
the trunkwell in order to attach the brace."
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).
Round Gauges & Other Dashboard
Mods
Earlier XJ-S dashboards have smaller gauges that are rectangular
and the needle moves vertically. When the bodywork was revamped in
1991, however, Jaguar decided to provide a revised dash with all
round gauges.
According to Alan Akeister, "There is a company in the UK,
however, who can convert older models to dials, and add extra wood
inserts to dash facias, around heater and radio controls, and to
skislopes. They are called AUTOSTYLE
Ltd.
Cup Holders
See the entry for
Automotion.
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 the Headlight
Modifications
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