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Franks XKR Story.

1M views 6K replies 120 participants last post by  JimboV8 
#1 · (Edited)
Over the last few years of owning a car I have found places like this forum an invaluable source of information and help. My last car was a BMW and I joined the UK forum. On their site was a "projects" forum. When I took out the entire interior and swapped it over, put in memory seats etc I took lots of before and after photos. After selling the Beemer I looked back on my postings and was surprised by the amount of work, questions and answers over the years. Very enlightening. So I have decided to do the same on here, I hope no one minds me blathering on. :)

So this will be my XKR story. Good or bad.

When I got the XK home one of the first and obvious things to do was give it a good wash. Several coats of wax and a shield. On first washing I was shocked to see the sheer muck coming from my sponge. Obviously I had made my first mistake and had started washing my new toy with a filthy sponge. So I binned it. Got a new sponge from its wrapper and started again. It was not the sponge. These Zircon Blue cars REALLY hide the dirt well. Several washes and paint cleaner later I then polished etc and it looked much better. So my first before and after shots. Ok YOU may not see much difference but honestly it really was VERY DIRTY.

Before


After



The photo has not been manipulated, it really is a shade lighter.
 
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#2 · (Edited)
Now the interior.

Carpets first. Good vacuum. Took the mats out of the car. I was going to replace them but dealer says he cant get hold of replacements and if he could it would be £110+vat. So I thought whats to be lost? Give them a good clean.

Ok. Done that. Outside drying right now. So lets put up some before's-



Ok,now for the after photo. Taken in full sunlight to show its worst. You cannot really tell from the photos but I can see a marked difference.





Oh and the bit of string on the left is what I used to hand it from our washing line.
 
#3 ·
We know the feeling, we have, in a mad moment, got an elderly Merc 320 CLK

We were cruel and took it to a hand car wash place and got them to scrub her - the cack that came off the roof was a cross between puree'd pistachio and baby puke :?

the mats were cack but we bunged em in the washing machine and they don't look too bad :D

I hope your mats scrub up too

Trev
 
#4 ·
I hope your mats scrub up too Trev
Thanks Trev. Gave them a good scrubbing outside this morning and a really good soaking to rinse them. They have been drying outside all day and are now hanging in the shower to dry off the last bits overnight (dont tell the Mrs)
 
#5 · (Edited)
Been working on the leather. Gave them a good clean and conditioning. However as expected on a car of this age, 2003, there is wear. But I have been working on it as these before/after photos will show.





Not quite finished yet. There are still some lines to get rid of but that will have to wait till summer. The seats look lighter and cleaner now too. The other item with the quite visible difference is the arm rest. Again I will have to colour wash it because the good bits before and now looking a bit shabby in comparison to the just done stuff. What do you think? Looks better doesn't it. :)

 
#7 ·
Hi Frank, that's very impressive. I especially like how your leather has come up. In your 'before' pic you appear to have lost some of the leather surface on the seat side panel. On your 'after' pic it appears cured. I have a similar worn patch on mine and have cleaned and conditioned using Furniture Clinic's products with excellent results but the mark still shows. Did you use anything else? If so, what was it and if not, what cleaner & conditioner did you use please?
 
#8 · (Edited)
Over the years I have tried many products. The furniture clinics products I am sure are good but far too involved for me. I used Scuffmaster from Gliptone, just google Gliptone. It has the finish and other stuff all incorporated into one product. You simply get a little of the product onto a tiny sponge, supplied, then dab it into the creases. Letting each layer dry for around 20 mins. On really bad stuff you can sandpaper the worst out then use the stuff I mention. Their conditioner and cleaner are very good too and give a lovely leather smell. Their customer relations are cr** but the product is good. I once bought a 1 litre bottle from them to do some seats. The bottle arrived spit and half of it lost. I emailed them but they were just not interested. If it were not such a good product id tell them where to stick it.......... but I am not going to cut off my nose to spite my face :)

Carpets should be dry by now...... yes carpets 90% there. Posted after picture above.

Oh and the armrest. That was not dirt. It was worn off. So again the scuffmaster stuff re-coloured/painted it. Before you cringe at the word "paint" as far as I know all leather seats are "painted"
 
#10 · (Edited)
Engine bay.

The guy who previously owned this car obviously thought all you had to do was take it into Jaguar and say "service this" and pay over lots of money and get things fixed when they went wrong. It is obvious he never lifted the bonnet. Its going to take me ages and a lot of effort to bring this engine bay up to Frank standards. But today I made a start..

This is what I had to contend with.





and this, believe it or not this is after I removed the worst of the crud. Don't worry though this will gleam eventually....
and after.......... still a LOT of work to do.
If you take a look at the rubber pipes you will see a before/after effect there too.

Lots of tiny rusty bits to tackle too



Getting there.
 
#11 ·
well Frank got to say I'm suitably impressed an already fine looking cat being brought back up to scratch,
I for one ,will be watching it's progress with interest
 
#13 ·
Thanks for the nice comments guys. Nice to know someone appreciates my hard work other than myself. I have now also updated my engine before after pictures. Obviously no where near finished yet, but we are getting there.
 
#14 ·
This is a great story,thanks frankc for sharing.Keep the pics and dialogue coming.
I cannot understand how any owner can let their car get into a filthy state but its going to look superb when you have finished.
A J.
 
#16 · (Edited)
Well I went for a hunters alignment today see this thread http://www.jaguarforum.co.uk/f30/shims-cambers-bolts-where-do-you-buy-them-75339.html#post700225

Basically it is only slightly out. Read above link for full story. Will be going back for adjustments.

But having the car up in the air allowed me to take a good look underneath, bit easier than lay on the ground in the pouring rain trying to see. I am pleased, and relieved, to say the underneath is pretty solid. It has just been under-sealed as the seller said. There is still room for improvement and a tin or so of Hammerite but all in all actually much better than I was expecting having seen the true extent of the grubbyness of the engine bay.

A big nice surprise too when I found that it has 4 brand new tyres, something the seller did not mention. I knew they were in good nick but never appreciated they were new. The garage pointed on the new marks and tags still on as they have not had time to wear off yet.

Another bonus was the fact he had to check the tyre pressures. Another thing I have not got around to in the week I have had the car. Being split rims he had to remove a plug to get access to the valve to screw on an adapter to inflate/check the tyres. Boy where they stuck on. He had a huge screwdriver and a tin of spray. Combined with a lot of time, and swearing, he managed to get the caps off to check the tyres. They were all out. Some quite a bit. I am more of a 'pounds' man myself but even I know if its supposed to be 2.2 bar and its only 1 bar then its quite low on pressure. He pumped them up to the correct pressure. Applied copper grease to the plugs so when I check them they will be easy to remove. It was worth the trip for this alone.

So tyres sorted. Underneath checked. Alignment only slightly out but can be rectified. Three more things off the, self expanding, list.

Update.

Just Googled it. 2.2 bar = 32lb 1 bar is 14lb pressure. So I had less than half the pressure I should have had in the tyres.

If you would like to know what tyre pressures you should have in your cars tyres please click here http://www.kwik-fit.com/tyre-pressure-search.asp
 
#18 · (Edited)
Boot key fix

My latest work on the car. I found that my key would not unlock my boot. Apparently it is a common problem. I have searched and googled for a solution but apparently there is none to be found. Some people do not even know that their key will not open the boot. Rather than wait till I get a flat battery then realise I cannot get into my boot/trunk to jump start my car I had a go at fixing it this morning. I managed to fix it! Delighted. :)

In case others have had this problem I put together a video. Hope someone finds it of use.

 
#23 ·
Franc
What a genious, unfortunately for me the seat edge has gone too far its through to the cloth, its the bit that always appears to get your hip area as you get into the car. Love the job on the cracked leather and the engine bay looks great. Unfortunately paintwork wise I was too eager to get her cleaned and shining. I tee cut the surface and applied a good quality polish, left it a couple of days, tree sap got onto it (didn't see tha) polished it again. The tree sap has run between the polish layers and looks like the bonnet has oxidised, strip it back and do it again.
 
#24 ·
A simple little bit of advise to all car owners out there with nice leather drivers bolster. Remove the back pocket button on your trousers, it acts as a scraper each time you get in and out of the car. As for the perished leather you do know it can be removed like a sock so you can get it fixed dont you? Just look on youtube for "xk headrest repair" and you will see how it lifts off. :) Oh that reminds me, head rest repair... another for my "to do" list.
 
#25 ·
Franc
Thanks again what a mine of useful information, I just wish the previous owner(s) had been told that. I will look at the issue of removing the seat cover and having it repaired, was going to do that when I strip the interior for the weld next year. Oh the joys of motoring!
 
#26 · (Edited)
Seat Control Fix

I thought the controls felt a little loose. So today I had a good look and sure enough the controls were just hanging loose. It took some working out but basically if you have this problem you put the front in push it HARD to the front, being careful of course you dont break it, then whilst the pressure is on the front you push the back in hard. It has two tiny protruding clips that have to fit into two slots. It is now in solid. Obviously the Jag dealership, or who ever did it, could not get it to stay in. I may be a fussy sod but why don't people do a proper job first time?

Picture time





When the weather gets a little warmer I will attend to those small marks you can see. That's the problem with up close photos..... It can point out the worst bits.
 
#27 · (Edited)
Engine Bay again.

The sun was shining this morning so I popped out and did a little more work on the engine clean up. Still a lot to do, but getting there :)






Shows I have a great deal yet to do.

The close up photos show areas that need redoing but I will get around to that after I sort out a few more important things.
 
#30 ·
Been out at the car again, just cant keep away. Today been literally scrapping off the rust around the fuse box holder with a screw driver. Dusted all the bits off and used rust treatment to turn the rust back into metal so I can paint it, when I can find some paint. Also been around the bay again looking for rust that I may have missed for treatment. I found a really bad bit last time and treated it. Had a look today and I cant find it, obviously the treatment worked.

Gave the hood a wash for the first time. Normally I would not wash it but I noticed the other day that bits are turning green. Obviously never been treated or cleaned since new. Scrubbed away the worst bits just above the boot lip. Cannot tell if its gone until it dries but in this weather I may have to wait some time. Come spring its going to get a good clean. Re-colour and re-proofing.

Washed the rest of the car and a bit of a shine up. Ohhh it looks sooo good when its all clean. Proud owner here. :)

Still awaiting some Black Waxoyl to do the under sealing. Should have been here last Tuesday. Arrr some people make me mad.

Jobs to still to do. Fit new Powerflex bushes back and front. £407 + fitting. Sort out the vacuum problem in the petrol tank ( causes a thunk from the back very occasionally ) Take a closer look at the passenger side foglight. Clean and lubricate all the bits under the car especially the handbrake. Clean. Treat rust. Underseal. Then Waxoyl the underside and wheel arches. Clean, colour and re-proof the hood. New serpentine belt.

It goes in on December 12th for respray and fixing of rusty bits on rear bumper, window trim and lots of nic's and scratches.

Am I being too fussy?
 
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