1988 Jaguar XJ40 Sovereign 3.6 light resto

[kamilb1998]

[Sorry Rick, but that took me so long to type with one thumb that I thought I'd just go right ahead and post it even after seeing that you'd got there earlier!

Hehe - just goes to show that great minds think alike John....

Agree with you about taking out the glass, I've done this before, a call to your friendly Autoglass rep and they'll happily bond it back in for you, not too expensive either. So long as you make it clear that you don't hold them responsible for breakages, they may well be happy to pop round and take them out for you too - they have some clever cutting wires (a bit like cheese wires) that work pretty well, although a bit time consuming.

I honestly can't see how that can be repaired properly without glass removal, but I grant you that it might mean that the "light restoration" bit of this thread title might seem a bit mocking once you get stuck in.

My budget is low, and I am trying to keep the costs down. But I will consider getting it done by a pro.

[kamilb1998]

Just a quick update on this -

I've strated taking the varnish off the wood, the I'm going to stain it and re-varnish. Hopefully to a good standard.

Done -


Almost done -


Just went a bit crumbly towards the top -

[JPB]

Well done for tackling the woodwork. That's something - as anyone who's been in my car would tell you - that I'm a bit afraid of doing in case I don't get the veneer to a flat enough finish for new lacquer on the dashboard, the glove hole lid and the doors.
I'll watch with great interest and might have a go at doing my timbers if yours work out ok.

Great stuff.

[kamilb1998]

Some more from today. More grinding, treating and painting

[kamilb1998]

An update from today:-

I've finished cutting a piece of venner to fit the little bit that went crumbly. As it was the end of the lunch hour, my D&T teacher gave me some epoxy glue and said I can have a go at sticking it on at home. Pictures below:-

Awaiting glue~:-


With the new piece of veneer clamped down to dry:-


After 3 hours:-



Excess venner filed down:-



And as the filler had arrived a couple of days back, I started filling to make the surface smooth and ready for primer & paint.











And I made a start on sanding down the filler on the A-pillar:-

[kamilb1998]

Some more from today, 180 grit paper on an orbital sander and 4 hours and 8 cuppas later I ended up with this...

[kamilb1998]

Some more photos from today, just sanding & priming




This needs a little bit more work, but otherwise came out OK

[kamilb1998]

Some more pics from today...

[kamilb1998]

Some pics from today, jobs I did today were -

Wire brushed and painted the whole exhaust, it wasn't rusty as it had been replaced just before I got it. But painting it just smartened it up and made it stand out.
Wire brushed and painted the calipers with some silver caliper paint I got recently.
Wire brushed and painted the bump stops.
Wire brushed and rust treated (where neccessary) the rear inner wings, primered the repaired areas and undersealed the whole inner arches.
Wire brushed and rust treated (where neccessary) various suspension parts, primered them and undersealed.

Time for pictures...



And some pics of the holes I found...



And inside them...



And guess what some previous owner filled them with...bathroom sealant and some strong glass fibre re-inforced filler (an absolute pig to get out)

[kamilb1998]

Refurbished the little bumper strip today, plastic primer and a couple of coats of Satin Black. I will refurbish the front bumper strip tomorrow and I may redo the cam cover as well, as I didn't remove all the old flaky paint when I did it the first time round so it didn't come up 100%.