Oh Deer! It's a Jaaaag. '01 XJR

Indy-Guy said:

Self awareness is a funny thing.  I'm in my mid forties and just realize enough to put it into words that I'm a British car guy. (I tried and failed to fall in love with the German BMW Einhorn) My first car was a 1976 Triumph TR7 FHC. Later in my late twenties I bought a convertible 1980 TR7. Buick V6 swapped, every mechanical component upgraded.  Dad had a TR4 he bought new in '65, and I've now got these two Brits in the garage:

After the overnight stay in the garage, the Jag left this behind:

Looks like transmission fluid.  Must have developed in the last 3000 miles, because It wasn't there when I bought it. I'll have to investigate.   Hopefully it's just a pan gasket and not the input seal.

If I understand correctly, under the current rules, this repair should be budget exempt.

Is that correct?

I see a couple of V8-powered British cars. You, sir, have a type.

I wouldn't argue against that repair being free. You put way more miles on it already than most Challenge cars get. 

Must be a male Jaguar, its marking its territory

Had a couple of thoughts about the paint damage on this.

1. Rustoleum paint job. Can look very respectable for cheap!

2. Carbon fiber wrap tge hood, roof, and trunklid. Satin black the rest.

3. Some form of livery about bambi's older brother.....

Great looking road trip and repair story so far!  Add the last best looking Jaguar XJ...a winning thread!  Any update on the suspected transmission fluid??

In reply to maschinenbau :

Oh, this Cat's getting the miles put on it all right.  SWMBO loves driving it, so every opportunity she gets, she asks to drive the Jaaaaag.  Additionally, I've been pretty hard on the transmission (and car in general).  I'm trying real hard to remove all the remaining tread from the rear tires before I buy new ones for the Challenge.

In reply to TurnerX19:

LOL, certainly is.  Until that night, it's been an outdoor Cat.

In reply to Dusterbd13-michael:

Thanks for the suggestions.  Your Miata paint job turned out really good (after the wet-sand/buffing).  I've got a few ideas bouncing around in my mind for Challenge livery, but Bambi's older brother, wasn't one of them, until now.  I've been kickin around a "Grey Poupon" variation/satire

In reply to NoahWeb:

The Jag, truly is my daily driver, and with all the running around this week (it's 4-H county fair time here in Indiana) I haven't had a chance to get it up in the air for a proper inspection.

Here's a pic of the Jag today as I was leaving work:

In reply to Indy-Guy :

Either you work later than all of your co-workers or they are afraid the Jaaag's blemishes are contagious

Grey Poupon Racing - "But of course..." peels away in a burnout. I love it.

famous last words:
"hold my mustard, and watch this"

I mean, the car has these retrofitted into the seats by the previous owner, so it's not that much of a stretch.

TurnerX19 said:

In reply to Indy-Guy :

Either you work later than all of your co-workers or they are afraid the Jaaag's blemishes are contagious

I'm at the point in my career where I've entered a management position, hence the late hours at work and the desire for this, a more "executive" type of daily driver.

Barely Functional GPS (Grey Poupon Special) with a black and Gold Livery inspired by this:

You could easily do that just by touching up the current paint and buying a sheet of gold vinyl. Lots of lettering and thin lines means you can cram that sheet pretty densely. 

In reply to maschinenbau :

That's the thought I had too.  Now I need to find a team member with a vinyl cutter....

I got the cat up in the air tonight for some inspection.  Transmission pan is all wet. Probably the pan gasket (I hope).

And while I was under there, I grabbed a few pics of the cut outs:

Some research has revealed this has a Mercedes transmission, but NO Dipstick.   So I've parked it until I get it fixed, because the fluid is undoubtedly low.  I ordered a new filter and gasket, should be here soon.

Stampie was making a junkyard run today and found an XJR, so he grabbed a driver side turn signal lense for me.

Sponsored by Team Stampie.

I'll just leave these FB ads I found here...

Kingsville, MO $2200

Jerseyville, IL $1700

After seeing the above pic, I know you're probably thinking "Indy, what the Berk are you doing with Mercedes Benz parts, I thought this was a Jag?"

And you would be correct. However, Jag-you-are used a Mercedes Benz 722.6 transmission in the XJR and I wanted to keep it as OEM as possible. More $$$ for sure, but I don't want to risk my car with cheap Chinese knockoff parts.

Oil dropped.

And this connector is known to have the o-rings fail, so it gets replaced too.

Consider doing the conductor plate at the same time

the cutouts are awesome

In reply to Indy-Guy :

A British car with German components ... you're berked. 

I got it all buttoned up and filled with fluid. I went with Valvoline MaxLife because Amazon sucks and didn't deliver the Shell ATF 134 I ordered in time. (it was supposed to be delivered next day, and three days later, it STILL didn't arrive) because this is my driver, I needed it to go to Patrick's build party 4+ hours away. Seems ad though I've fixed the leak. (note to self for records, Odometer reading of 82,307)

It's hot here in Indiana today, so I parked the car for maximum sun exposure to the dented rear quarter.

Let it heat up as much as possible, pulled the interior carpet and proceed to attempt to push it out. (Metal is single layer in this area)

Shrug.

It's not pushed in as much, so I guess it's better, but I wish I had the budget room to have a professional Paintless Dent Repair guy do it right. Stickers will hide this area for the challenge.

Remove that stereo equipment and keep tapping at it with a hammer.

any more pics of the Caprice?