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84FSP
84FSP SuperDork
5/14/19 7:17 a.m.

Nice!  Was hoping the GRM gods would be with you for a safe family trip.

AWSX1686
AWSX1686 SuperDork
5/14/19 8:14 a.m.
Stampie said:

The best thing ever was watching Indy-Guy drill a hole into the unibody of a car he technically hadn't paid for yet. 

You can't just say that and not elaborate! ;)

Indy-Guy
Indy-Guy UberDork
5/14/19 9:08 a.m.
AWSX1686 said:
Stampie said:

The best thing ever was watching Indy-Guy drill a hole into the unibody of a car he technically hadn't paid for yet. 

You can't just say that and not elaborate! ;)

Stay tuned....

I'll fill in all the holes in the story (Ha! see what I did there wink) once I get caught up on things personally and professionally from the trip and it's prepartions.  There's some fun details yet to be told but until then here's a few fun facts:

  • Total distance traveled = 995 miles Door to Door
  • Average Fuel Economy (according to the Jag's trip computer) was 18.7 mpg
  • Car rolled over to 80,000 miles at the beginning of the trip home:

Stampie
Stampie PowerDork
5/14/19 9:10 a.m.

Notice there's no cut out video also. I've heard it. It's nice. 

AWSX1686
AWSX1686 SuperDork
5/14/19 9:21 a.m.
Stampie said:

Notice there's no cut out video also. I've heard it. It's nice. 

True. We're getting impatient here! ;)

Indy-Guy
Indy-Guy UberDork
5/14/19 8:38 p.m.
TJL said:

Perfect timing to experience peak lovebug season in Florida.

This was so true.  The "love bugs" were so thick they completely covered the front of Stampie's borrowed Mazda 3, and often they were hitting the windshield with such intensity, it felt like it was raining.  Weird.

Indy-Guy
Indy-Guy UberDork
5/14/19 8:43 p.m.
rico750sxi_2 said:

The story is great, excellent writing Indy Kid #1. Makes me sad my daughter and I never did anything like as I prepare for her to graduate high school and head off to college. 

Looking forward to the next update. 

It's not too late.  Survey some options (including Hot Rod Power Tour etc.).  Plan, and then execute.  Make memories (whether a good experience or not) that will last a lifetime.  I guarantee you will NOT regret it. My daughter and I will cherish this experience Forever, regardless of whether the car stay 6 months or 6 years.

Indy-Guy
Indy-Guy UberDork
5/14/19 8:44 p.m.
Patrick said:

I’ll give you $2000 for it

A big fat Nope.

Indy-Guy
Indy-Guy UberDork
5/14/19 8:48 p.m.

In reply to 02Pilot & Pete Gosseett :

Yep.   Indy-Kid #2 is also a HUGE turtle lover, so he educated me to know to always help then get to the side they are facing.

Indy-Guy
Indy-Guy UberDork
5/14/19 9:05 p.m.
AWSX1686 said:
Stampie said:

The best thing ever was watching Indy-Guy drill a hole into the unibody of a car he technically hadn't paid for yet. 

You can't just say that and not elaborate! ;)

The Previous owner of the Jag, let's call him Vector (because that's his screen name over on the Jaguar forums), Is a really great guy and authentic gear head who also loves horses. To illustrate the quality of his character, after our first phone conversation (where I expressed interest in buying the car), he immediately called me back and let me know he forgot to mention the hood release cable had broken on the driver side and the hood wasn't able to be opened.  It's a common (known) fault with these cars.

I wasn't comfortable driving a thousand miles in an unknown car without the ability to even open the hood.  He agreed to supply the necessary tools to attempt the procedure to open it up.  This includes removal of the front wheel, wheel liner and then drilling a 3/4" hole in the unibody to poke and prod until the hood latch is released.

Messed around in the wrong spot far too long:

Then drilled this hole:

MTechnically
MTechnically Reader
5/14/19 9:08 p.m.

Looks like you guys had a great trip. Looking forward to more updates. I couldn't help but notice that the temp gauge was looking a little on the high side in the pictures. Did the car give you any trouble on the trip?

Indy-Guy
Indy-Guy UberDork
5/14/19 9:21 p.m.

Backing up a bit here...

A HUGE Thank you to Stampie (and his son).  He really scored a 10+ on the car enabler scale here and he's a really solid guy.  He texted back and forth with me to try to help align a possible pre-purchase inspection, and then ultimately he drove 3 hours (each way ! ) to shuttle Indy-Kid and I to get the car.  They even brought some spectacular donuts from their local shoppe. Yummy! Way above the normal call of duty.  I owe you one my friend.

 

Getting back to Vector, previous owner, he did all kinds of preventative maintenance stuff and kept a great log of it all:

 

Here's the transfer of ownership pic with the two of us in front of the car:

 

Indy-Guy
Indy-Guy UberDork
5/14/19 9:52 p.m.

Now with the hood operation again, and after completing the necessary exchange of $$$ and paperwork, we all headed out to a local diner that's famously know for really good char-broiled burgers, (Stampie ordered the Shepards Pie, just to be a rebel) We all said thanks and parted ways.

 

Right outside of town is this wonderfully draped road:

This scenic road is where the 3 deer leaped out in front of Vector, and he made that fateful swerve that ultimately lead to the car being totaled and allowing it to be within my financial reach.

 

Indy-Kid #1 became enthralled with the Garmin GPS Vector included with the car:

And we boogied North on I-75 putting the miles behind us:

Until we were lured in to see the "13 foot Alligator" and "Live baby Alligators" by all the road side billboards:

 

Stampie
Stampie PowerDork
5/15/19 9:46 a.m.

In reply to Indy-Guy :

You're welcome. It was a fun adventure for us also. 

I thought the best Indy-Kid #1 moment was when the Challenge was brought up and it was implied she might not be coming back to FL for it. You could hear the offense in her voice when she said she's interested in cars and wanted to come back. 

Indy-Guy
Indy-Guy UberDork
5/16/19 9:21 p.m.

I really enjoy looking out and seeing this thing in the driveway. It makes me smile.

Indy-Guy
Indy-Guy UberDork
5/16/19 9:23 p.m.

In reply to Stampie :

Well, she has reason to be concerned.  The plan is to only bring Indy-kid#2 & Indy-kid#3 back to Florida in October.

Stampie
Stampie PowerDork
5/27/19 5:43 p.m.

A little bird sent me this. 

 

Indy-Guy
Indy-Guy UberDork
5/28/19 8:57 a.m.

Patrick and Yupididit,

 

Are you happy now?

 

Patrick
Patrick MegaDork
5/28/19 9:12 a.m.

I like the cutouts.  

yupididit
yupididit UltraDork
5/28/19 9:35 a.m.
Indy-Guy said:

Patrick and Yupididit,

 

Are you happy now?

 

Yes sir, but not completely. I need to take better care of my xjr now lol 

How happy are you with your purchase? 

TJL
TJL Reader
5/28/19 9:59 a.m.

I didnt hear the audio when i saw it last night. Holy crap, that sound coming from a luxury barge! Fantastic!

Indy - Guy
Indy - Guy UltimaDork
5/28/19 11:13 a.m.
yupididit said:
Indy-Guy said:

Patrick and Yupididit,

 

Are you happy now?

 

Yes sir, but not completely. I need to take better care of my xjr now lol 

How happy are you with your purchase? 

On a scale from 1 to 10, I'm definitely an 11 on the satisfaction scale, as I couldn't be happier.

I've never owned a brand new car in my 45 years, so this one here, is by far the nicest (and fastest) I've ever had.  It delivers C5 Corvette levels of acceleration and performance, with luxury seating for five.  Plus with the cut-outs, you're a switch of a button away from making wonderful sounds & unleashing the giggling teen-age boy-racer inside.

 

This car was north of 70 grand brand new!  That's a win in my book.

 

 

dculberson
dculberson UltimaDork
5/28/19 12:33 p.m.

So what on earth did you record that video with? A PXL 2000? :-P

It does sound amazing though.

Indy-Guy
Indy-Guy UberDork
5/28/19 12:51 p.m.

In reply to dculberson :

Sorry about that. It was recorded with a decent cell phone, however, it was texted to Stampie, who in turn uploaded it for me because I don't youtube.  So I suspect it's a function of being degraded by multiple transfers across platforms.  Stampie informed me that it's pretty easy to post to youtube.  So if/when I get time to create an account & post, I'll see about getting a better quality shot.

jstein77
jstein77 UltraDork
5/28/19 1:20 p.m.
TJL said:

I didnt hear the audio when i saw it last night. Holy crap, that sound coming from a luxury barge! Fantastic!

Sounds a lot like a Corvette, doesn't it?

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