I purchased D713DAC as a running project in May 2010 for £1500 with around 130,000 miles on the clock - on a whim because I liked the Nimbus white (cream) colour and the unusual gold alloys. The service book showed a history up to 1995, with evidence of much money spent in 2004 (120,000 miles) including a bare metal respray, a new stainless steel exhaust system at the rear half, and new rear Koni adjustable shock absorbers. The head gasket had also been replaced, but it would soon become apparent that the leaky head gasket problem wasn't cured. The car was originally owned by Jaguar themselves for the first couple of years, hence the Coventry 'AC' registration. Aside from extensive mechanical work, a replacement bonnet and boot were subjected to a bare metal respray costing around £600, the lower edge of the O/S front wing was repaired along with the lower rear quarters/wheel arches, rear wings, buttresses, the front/rear outer sills were replaced, and I sprayed and fitted new lower front panels, which bolt on. The paintwork isn't perfect, but it is very presentable. The chrome is very good as is the interior, with the usual wear and tear on the driver's seat. I wrote a 4 page article on the restoration, which featured in the January 2013 edition of Jaguar Driver Magazine.
Below is a summary of most of the major work completed:
November 2010 for MOT - CFS Motors Jaguar Daimler Specialists, Coventry (131,291 miles):
Replace front subframe, Welding to: O/S front subframe mounting area and N/S floor to sill seat belt anchorage point, Replace 2 bottom ball joints and 1 top ball joint, Replace N/S front subframe rubber bush, Replace O/S rear wheel bearing, fit 1 hand brake pad, Replace O/S rear light lens, Fit new bulb to rear fog lamp tell-tale, Rectify washers, wipers and horn not working, Rectify loose N/S Anti-roll bar link. Total cost £900
November 2010 - Full service at Halfords Autocentres (131327 miles):
Filters, plugs, oil, new front brake pads, brake fluid replaced, and 4 new 225/55/16W tyres: £544. Unfortunately, they jacked the car under the front sills instead of the jacking points resulting in crushed sills. To be fair, they needed replacing anyway so Halfords paid the labour charge of £600 and I bought replacement sills for £262.50
May 2011 Tamworth Vehicle Services (131652 miles):
New 3 part Borg & Beck clutch (£194) plus £130 labour/gear oil
Replace gearbox output shaft oil seal, diff pinion oil seal, O/S rear radius arm bushes, exhaust manifold to downpipe sealing rings. Labour £123, Parts £76.36
August 2011 Tamworth Vehicle Services (131980 miles):
Replace head gasket, skim head: Labour/fluids £307, Parts £83.50
November 2011 MDM (Jaguar) Services, Coalville (132,186 miles):
MOT plus extensive work, parts and labour £1641.82
4 Jacking point spigots welded on, front valance/under tray attached, drivers door hinges replaced, rear engine mount problems rectified, Dash removed - Air conditioning/heater rebuilt using XJ40 salvage parts, Dim instrument pack lights rectified, Oil pressure gauge/sender rectified, Inoperative volt gauge rectified, Lighting faults rectified, Engine coolant thermostat changed, heater valve changed.
July 2012 Tamworth Vehicle Services (132,341 miles):
Persistent head gasket failure resulted in the engine being replaced with a 75,000 mile XJ40 3.6 engine. The engine cost £225 including delivery, plus £500 for fitting/fluids. TVS also replaced the front shock absorbers/mounts with new units costing £80.47 from SNG Barratt, and fitted a second hand steering rack with new track rod ends. While the engine was out, corrosion around the N/S inner wing shock absorber mounting was cut out and new metal welded in.
November 2013 Tigweld4u
Custom made alloy radiator expansion tank designed and constructed for £160
December 2013 1st Class Alloys
Spare set of Fondmetal Gold/Diamond Cut 8J alloy wheels refurbished for £594. They are virtually identical to the un-refurbished 7J ones currently fitted to the car.
August 2014 R N Upton & Co Jaguar Daimler Specialists (133,273 miles):
New front discs/calipers/pads (parts £250), Refurbished steering rack (£180), Front exhaust downpipe/front pipe (£80 second hand), Replace front ant-roll bar bushes, Change engine oil/filter/sump plug/washer, Replace rear subframe mounts (parts £40), Replace rear O/S radius arm/bushes/anti-roll bar links, Replace rear springs (parts £60), Welding/fabrication to O/S radius arm/sill area (£175), Replace front and rear suspension bump-stops, Replace rear suspension needle bearings, Diff loose - replace securing bolts. Parts/fluids supplied by R N Upton (£467.57), Labour (£1000.50) Total approx: £2,300
September 2014 - Tanya Batteries:
New type 075 XJS battery £40.
17th October 2014
MOT - R N Upton Ltd (133,492 miles)
New front anti-roll bar drop links were required for the MOT - supplied by Martin Robey Ltd for £27.50
Total cost of MOT plus labour for fitting the anti-roll bar drop links was £92
The only advisory was for the handbrake bias, which has been mentioned on MOTs off and on since 2009! - clearly the handbrake mechanism will need an overhaul or adjusting on the one side in the future.
November 2014
Windscreen wipers overheat after a few minutes use and stop working until they have cooled down - Wiper unit replaced with a second hand one supplied by Just XJS for £100.
February 2015 - R N Upton
New front coil springs fitted including a new spring pan nut and bolt kit (£10) - springs obtained via S N G Barratt for £60 (pair) (single spring part number C32130*) - £270 for fitting - they had to be refitted in order to get the correct ride height - the max 5 packing rings per spring were tried first, but the ride height was too high - all the rings had to be removed. Still sits a little higher than I would like, but that's just how it is.
July 2015
I replaced the drivers exterior door lock, which was broken and a small vacuum pipe in the engine idling system - a split in the pipe was causing the engine to idle at 1200 rpm instead of 750rpm.
August 2015
Refurbished alloys finally fitted along with new 'B' rated wet grip 225 55 16 99W XL tyres (£220).
Gold twin styling stripes fitted by me.
The air con works but blows the fuseable link (which protects the compressor from damage) after a while. I had the gas removed (there was about 750g in the system after 3 years, so obviously there are no leaks) from the system and replaced with 900g of R12 replacement A437A (£90 Leicester Car Regas). Another de-gas and further investigation is required. I bought a new receiver-dryer for £40.80 as it would be a good idea to change it, along with checking the filter in the expansion valve.
I noticed play in the N/S radius arm bushes, so a new ready-bushed radius arm was purchased (£85) and fitted by Dave Upton. The anti-freeze was also changed at the same time - 4 litres of the correct blue anti-freeze was used - total bill for labour/anti-freeze was £127.50
13th October 2015 - R N Upton
Adjust front wheel bearings and re-attach exhaust system at nearside rear for MOT. £101.20
24th October 2015 - TT Mac
£30 for welding to repair a small hole in the outer skin of the N/S front inner wing.
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