Front Legroom
If you are tall, you will be pleased to know that the front seats
in an XJ-S have two sets of mounting holes. The cars generally come
from the factory with the seats mounted on the forward holes. Simply
unbolt the seat rails from the floor, turn the seat over and unbolt
the rails from the seat. Remount the rails to the seat using the
alternate set of holes, and the seat will adjust farther rearward.
If you are tall, you will be better off in an earlier model XJ-S.
In the late 1980's, the seats got bulkier. When Jaguar incorporated
electric motors in the seat adjustments in the early 1990's, they got
bulkier still. All these changes made it more difficult for the large
person to fit comfortably in the car.
Tall people should also avoid the H&E convertible. Relocating
the seat mounts rearward will do no good, because the housing for the
convertible mechanism limits rearward motion of the front seats.
Seat Mounting Bolts
The four bolts that hold the front seat rails to the floor tend to
be aggravating. The front two bolts go into rectangular block nuts
that do not hold themselves in place, although it
usually isn't too difficult to hold them in place with a large
screwdriver long enough to get the threads started. The rear bolt
near the door threads into a trapped nut that can move around for
alignment. The rear bolt adjacent to the console is threaded directly
into a boss welded to the floor; since this is the only corner that
cannot be moved for alignment, this is the one that securely locates
the seat. When putting the seat in, it is a good idea to get all four
bolts started before tightening any, and then tighten the rear one
near the console first.
To make the job a little easier, you can replace the two
rectangular block nuts at the front with clip nuts that will hold
themselves in place. The clip nuts are described as an "extruded U
nut, 5/16 Regular" or "Long." The "regular" means that the clip part
is 5/8" deep, while the "long" has a clip about 7/8" deep. Suitable
U-nuts were bought at Lowe's and made by Curtis Industries, Inc.,
Eastlake, OH 44095. The Curtis part number is 838758 for the regular
and 838759 for the long. Similar U-nuts are also sold by auto body
parts shops, with the regular having a part number 4016.
The best course of action seems to be to have a selection of
regular and long U-nuts on hand to do this job. On the author's car,
the regular fit the locations near the doors while the locations near
the console required the long. You don't wanna use the long on the
locations near the doors if you don't have to, since they would
protrude more than necessary and possibly hurt someone's ankle or run
pantyhose.
Of course, strength here is of some importance; you don't want
that seat coming loose in an accident. However, even though the
U-nuts are extruded from sheet metal, they are probably
stronger than the original rectangular block nuts -- which are
made of something related to silly putty. Since the U-nut is a clip,
it is made of spring steel and therefore quite strong. And the
extruded threads are perhaps twice as long as the threads on the
rectangular block.
Since U-nuts seem to only come in coarse thread and the original
mounting bolts are fine thread, you will have to replace the front
two bolts as well to get the U-nuts to work. The shape of the head of
the bolt is crucial, since the wrong shape may obstruct the
adjustment of the seat. The bolt to use with it is a "socket head cap
screw, 5/16-18 x 1 inch. Curtis part number 835558, but this is a
fairly common critter and can be found most anywhere. This is driven
by a 1/4" Allen wrench. The original lock washer may be used with
this bolt.
On the earlier cars, these bolts were Phillips head, and an
unusually large Phillips head at that. This makes them quite
difficult to get really tight, especially the rear ones since it may
be difficult to get the screwdriver to engage the bolt head straight
on. Later cars reportedly use Torx bolts instead, a big improvement.
The Allen drive cap screws also work quite well; if you have the
Phillips, you might consider picking up some 3/4" long fine 5/16"
fine thread cap screws for the rear locations, making all four
removable with an Allen wrench.
Comfort
Some of us prefer the bottom portion of the front seat to be
inclined somewhat; this helps hold the occupant in position with less
effort on his part, as opposed to having to brace one's feet against
the floorboard to keep from constantly sliding forward. This is
especially a problem if you like the seat back reclined somewhat.
The seats in the 1983 XJ-S have no angle adjustment on the bottom.
However, a small amount of incline can be permanently added by
inserting a few 5/16" washers under the front end of the seat rails,
around the front mounting bolts. It wouldn't be a good idea to add
more than 1/4" or so since you may start distorting the rails, but
1/4" can make a dramatic difference. If you need more, you can also
insert washers between the upper rails and the seat itself. Beyond
that, you need to make some tapered washers to be able to bolt the
rails to the floor without distorting them.
Leather
Robert Olman of New York sends this tip. If your leather interior
has areas where the dye has worn through and the color of bare
leather is showing, it can be re-dyed. The original leather, by
Connolly Leathers, is
painted with dye rather than vat dyed like other cars -- if you look
at the back side of the leather, you see the undyed color. Connolly
uses a lacquer-based dye; you'll need 2-3 pints for the entire
interior. Before using, you must determine which pieces are leather
and which are vinyl, as the lacquer-based dye will destroy vinyl
(Some XJ-S's are all leather, others have vinyl in areas that don't
contact humans such as the sides of the seats). Or, you can use a
non-original non-lacquer-based dye.
You might want to remove seats, console, etc. from the car to make
the job easier. Clean the leather with lacquer thinner, sand it
lightly with fine sandpaper to remove the shine, then clean again
with lacquer thinner. Then apply the dye evenly, perhaps in two
coats.
If it is humid, it will take a long time to dry. Heavy coats will
also require a long time. Heavy coats in damp weather may require a
week to dry.
If you would rather spray the dye, you will have to remove all
items from the car, thin the dye with 5-7 parts thinner to 1 part
dye, and apply many thin coats. It will require more dye due to
waste. Many marine supply shops sell disposable aerosol sprayers
(about US$6) with replaceable aerosols (about US$3). You'll need
about three aerosols.
A complete restoration kit is available directly from
Connolly with
instructions.
Note that Jaguar has used at least three different colors called
"biscuit." To get the correct one, you must specify model and year.
There is another product called CT600 that has been used by Jaguar
owners with success. According to Gregory Andrachuk, it involves a
prep cleaner followed by a dye which is applied in two coats with a
foam brush.
Interior Wood Trim
Refinishing
Rick Lindsay provides this suggested procedure for refinishing the
wood trim:
- Sand the veneered wood VERY carefully with 200 or 400 grit
paper removing only enough wood to freshen the surface. Even with
200 grit sandpaper it is easy to cut through the thin veneers used
in britcars especially on edges. I've found it better to leave a
bit of the 'old finish' than to sand thru the veneer and have to
stain the substrate. Pay particular attention to edges that should
be left crisp not rounded. It adds a professional look. Always
sand linearly, not in circles.
- Clean and tack cloth the fresh wood. I use the vacuum
cleaner to suck the sanding dust up out of the cracks and pores in
the wood. It's remarkable how much comes out!
- Dilute into a clean glass jelly jar about a half jar of
MinWax brand exterior Spar high gloss urethane. To that, add an
equal amount of new clean mineral spirits. Mix well (stirred, not
shaken).
- With a small fine brush, paint the wood surface. The fresh
wood will soak up the thin urethane mixture like a sponge. This
is, of course, the idea.
- Allow to dry 24 hours.
- Sand lightly (basically to remove high spots) with 400 grit
paper.
- Vacuum clean.
- Repeat about 5 times to build up a thick coat. By this time
the pores in the wood should be completely full; if not, you're
not done with the diluted coats.
- Sand the last time with 400 grit paper to a matte
finish.
- Here's where things have to be REALLY clean. In a clean
environment away from all dust, spray the wood with MinWax brand
exterior Spar high gloss urethane straight from the spray can. A
thin, smooth coat is fine.
- Allow to dry 24 hours.
- Carefully wet sand with 1200 grit paper. The kind used to
'block' or 'color sand' a new paint job is best. After all, that
is what you are doing.
- I only use two coats of spray because finish is all that
you are adding.
- Block again carefully, polish as if it were a new paint
job. Buff if you have the courage. I do it by hand as a buffer in
my hands is a license to screw up royally.
- Finish the job with a coat of Carnauba.
- Admire and drink beer.
Alastair Lauener provides an alternative method of stripping the
wood:
I used a chemical called Nitromors, a paint stripper, water
soluble, to strip off all the old varnish, and washed under cold
water. I tested on an old spare dash first. Careful not to let the
wood get too wet. Allow to dry out for a few days. Be careful not to
scratch it.
Instrument Cluster
Detailing
John Napoli says it only takes about an hour to clean up the
instrument cluster and make it look nice. First, remove the cluster
from the car, which requires prying off a plastic cover on each end
of the row of warning lights to access mounting screws. The steering
wheel does not need to be removed, and merely disconnecting the
cables and wiring harnesses from the back of the cluster allows you
to remove it from the car. Disassemble the pod, and clean all the
dust out of the warning light boxes and the like.
If you also want to improve lighting, remove the four green
lenses. The instruments will be that more brightly lit at night. You
can probably also fit brighter bulbs, if you so desire. Tighten the
mounting screws for the gauges (they will be a little loose and the
better connection does affect the gauge reading!). Clean the el
cheapo printed circuit tracings where the two electrical plugs
attach.
Another method for making lights brighter would be to improve
reflectivity. Around the bulb, paint the black plastic white --
Liquid Paper works good! -- or apply small pieces of aluminum tape.
Adhesives
If you're doing interior work, you need to know about adhesives.
The following is from Timothy J. Hesse;
I am the product marketeer for the ITSD Industrial Aerosol
Adhesives and I formerly was the product marketeer for Auto Trades
Aerosol Adhesives.
74 Foam Fast Adhesive is an excellent foam bonding adhesive
which performs well up to about 120 degrees F. Above that temp, the
adhesive will soften, and with sufficient stress, you can pull the
foam apart. It is possible to experience up to 150+ degrees in a
closed car, and the seat part does see a fair amount of stress when a
person is sitting on it.
Another 3M product which is a good foam bonder and has 160
degree temp resistance is General Trim Adhesive, pn 08080, which is
sold by the Automotive Trades Division. This would be a better
product to try for seat bottoms.
76 is a good product... but does NOT have very good plasticizer
resistance. Vinyl material is typically loaded with plasticizing
oils, and in time these plasticizers migrate from the vinyl to the
adhesive, and they soften the adhesive to the point the adhesive
becomes very soft and gummy and "lets go." 76 has 160 degree F temp
resistance and would work on foam bonding, but vinyl bonding would
not be a long term success.
A better product for bonding vinyl is Super Trim Adhesive, pn
08090, also sold by Automotive Trades Division. Super Trim is a
neoprene-based contact adhesive in an aerosol can. It has 200 degree
F temp resistance, and is plasticizer resistant. In fact, Super Trim
is very good for reattaching vinyl tops, vinyl trim, etc. in auto
restoration projects.
Headliner
Apparently, if you don't want to have headliner trouble with an
XJ-S, you'd better get a convertible! They all seem to fall down
sooner or later, and the interior light is poorly placed to help
much.
The material used in a headliner is a fabric bonded to a thin
layer of foam. The failure mode of headliners (not just Jaguar) is
that the foam rots and falls apart. While it appears tempting to just
find some way to glue it back up (and there are people who are
willing to sell you products to "inject" glue in there with), the fix
will not last; once the foam is shot, gluing it back together only
makes it fall apart again above or below the glue layer.
The only solution is a new headliner. Fortunately, this problem
affects cars other than Jags, and a competent craftsman can usually
be found locally to do this job well for a reasonable cost.
You will also be given the choice of insisting on genuine Jaguar
headliner fabric or just installing a generic material. You should
have learned about British non-metallic materials by now; if not, let
me point out that you are REPLACING a genuine Jaguar headliner! True,
it appears that American headliners fall too, but it isn't any sooner
than Jaguar ones. The only reason to get the original material is to
match the color perfectly.
While this is a good example of work best left to professionals,
there are those who want to try doing it themselves. Frank Perrick
says,
The trick is to buy only 3M spray adhesive and read the can.
There is only one 3M adhesive recommended for this job. The wrong can
will say 'not for head liners', and the first hot day you will be
wearing your headliner. Headliner kits including fabric and clips are
available at local auto parts stores.
By the way, the headliner fabric in the XJ-S is bonded to a piece
of stiff cardboard. It is somewhat of a challenge to get this out of
the car; the Jaguar manual specifies removing the windshield!
Regardless of the methods attempted, you will need at least two
people.
Facia
On the dashboard, just below the speedometer and tachometer on
either side of the steering column, there is a panel covered with a
fuzzy black fabric intended to be nonreflective to prevent glare on
the gauges. This fabric tends to come apart after a few years'
exposure to sunlight. To replace it, visit any shop that installs
automobile headliners. These two pieces would qualify as scrap to
them, you might even get it for free. Take the panels out, remove the
old fabric and install the new with contact cement.
Glovebox
The lining on the inside of the glovebox is -- you guessed it --
headliner material.
On to the Air
Conditioner/Heater
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