So yesterday I tackled the rear brake discs and pads. Pads are EBC Redstuff ceramic compound and discs are Pagid, managed to get the lot for about £120. Didn't take a lot of photos as I was trying to crack on and get finished quickly, although that didn't happen really as it turned out to be a more time consuming job than I thought. Anyway...

Out with the old...

... and in with the new (yes I know this is the other side but I forgot to take one after doing the above!)

Made a pleasant discovery after I got the first wheel off too:

Looks like Goodridge braided brake lines as standard, which is nice.

Braking performance is noticeably more positive even at this early stage. Right now I'd say the EBC pads are actually more dusty than stock, not less as I was led to believe, but this could be just them burning off the brake-in coating so reserving judgement on that one. Main thing is they were cheaper than OEM Jaguar pads and seem to scrub speed quicker, even though they're on the rear. If I still like them after a few weeks I may well change the front pads too...

 

So I had a couple of days off to myself at the start of this week. With wintery weather forecast for the rest of the week I thought I'd get one last good run out in the XKR in first. Decided to do the circuit round the Cairngorm National Park. Some great roads around there and some stunning scenery. It was a little slippery in places and a good chunk of the route was just sitting on the A9 doing and seeing nothing interesting so if I do a similar run again I'll investigate changing some of that but I thoroughly enjoyed myself and spent most of the time grinning to myself in the cabin.

Took a couple of photos along the way, nothing great and the car got progressively more filthy as the day wore on as you'll see.

Taken just before the Lecht ski and snowboard center just outside ****bridge.

Just after Tomintoul I think.

Last two taken at Glenshee.

If anyone's interested then I knocked the route together in Google maps, see below:

 

Hi 8bit great photos lovely car I have been thinking of putting red stuff pads all round on mine as I am getting a bit fed up with all the dust did it die down after a little while ?

 

Hi, and thanks

This was the first really good run since fitting the pads, at least the first one since the brakes were made to work hard at all. The car was utterly filthy when I got back so I can't say how much of what was on the wheels was road muck or brake dust. Last time I washed it I'd say the rear wheels were maybe a bit less dusty, nothing like spotless though.

I washed the car the day after the above run so the wheels are still looking reasonably clean, let me keep an eye on it for another few days and I'll report back. I'd say the red stuff pads are probably worth a look anyway though as I did feel a small but noticeable improvement in initial bite and feel. When the fronts are due for changing I'm going to look at Pagid RS4-2s, these are supposed to be fantastic.

 

Cheers I am not sure when mine will need doing but I await your findings

 

Had a small parcel arrive from Just Jags UK today:

The //R badge I have on my tailgate just now is starting to look a bit tatty as the coloured stripes are starting to come away at the corners. I'll give the new one a few coats of clear lacquer to try and keep it in good nick. The caliper logo plates will also get a few coats but using high-temp lacquer specifically for brake calipers. Have a little time off over the holidays so will hopefully get these and a couple of other little jobs done then.

toyotaman, haven't been able to check the wheels really as it's been pretty wet here lately and dark all the time! I'll try and do some miles this weekend and get some photos to show brake dust comparison between front and rear.

 

Thanks I hope you enjoy yourself over the weekend the R badge etc look really good

 

Nice car!

The redstuff can throw a bit of dust in the first couple of thousand miles but should bed in with your discs and last well with less dust!

More importantly they will stop better!

Mixed reports elsewhere on the paged discs recently.

 

Sorry G4GRB, thought I was up to date with replies here. Thanks for the nice comments

Update on the Redstuff dust is that they're a little bit better than stock pads. Washed the car on Sunday for the first time in a few weeks and the rear wheels were a bit less grubby than the fronts. Will keep an eye on this over the next couple of weeks.

In other news, these arrived today:

My car currently has what I assume to be standard mats, no logo and the carpet doesn't feel as good quality as these. They are also looking a bit tatty so I was after a set of these for a while. These are nearly new, they look immaculate and still had the original packaging. I found someone on the JEC classifieds site selling them at a good price.

One of our two little Jaguars approves:

Finally, I took the plunge and ordered a Spires stage 1 exhaust which should be here this week. Fingers crossed for some dry weather on Saturday to get it fitted...

 

Another delivery today

 

Exhaust now fitted

I'd say there's a fuller, slightly more aggressive sound now than before. What isn't evident is the extra volume, it is markedly (but not extremely) louder than the stock system. I certainly wouldn't want it to go any louder personally, I think it's just right now. It's quite surprising on cold starts now...

 

Very nice! Sounds lovely! 8)

 

Thanks Simon!

 

Recently met a chap through Pistonheads, he's a keen amateur photographer and was asking for some more four-wheeled subjects to shoot using a technique called light-painting. To cut a long story short, we spent a few hours one chilly evening at a small local harbour and these are the results

1.

Jaguar XKR #1 by Sko77y, on Flickr

2.

Jaguar XKR #2 by Sko77y, on Flickr

3.

Jaguar XKR #3 by Sko77y, on Flickr

4.

Jaguar XKR #4 by Sko77y, on Flickr

5.

Jaguar XKR #5 by Sko77y, on Flickr

6.

Jaguar XKR #6 by Sko77y, on Flickr

 

Looking Good

 

Great pictures, but the subject really makes them.

 

Cheers chaps

 

Fantastic looking Cat 8bit, I do mean the one with the wheels Other ones nice too

 

Thanks JP The hairy one in the picture is Snowy, you'd think he was supercharged too, the way he charges about sometimes...

 

Great pics and a great looking car. Its good that you can tackle these jobs yourself must be very satisfying.

However I was horrified by the corrosion on the pics where you are changing the disc's. Sea air perhaps? I would have thought you would have treated that whilst you have the wheels off? Or is that a job for another day? As I said though a nice looking car and well done.

View attachment 7011

 

Hi Frank, thanks for your kind comments

Regarding the corrosion, I think it looks worse than it is. I was working under the car again recently and most of what you see there will be muck thrown up from the roads rather than actual rust, any corrosion will be surface corrosion rather than actual chronic metal rot. The only areas you see that really are in places behind the wheels, the rest of the underside of the car looks in good nick so if it was sea air I'd expect to see the whole underside looking tatty.

I did, however, find myself recently thinking about getting it cleaned up and waxoyl'd so watch this space...

 

Personally id Hammerite it first. Then Waxoyl it. My old 1970's Fords body outlasted the engine. Quite ironic really. The old heap of errr car if I still had it would cost as much as a 2002 XKR today. Wheelerdealers did one up and sold it for, I think, around £12,000? Silly world.

 

If I was going to hammerite parts I'd want to take them off, strip them down, clean them all up then treat them before putting them back on the car. One of these weekends I'll jack it up, have a go at some of these bits with a wire brush and see if there is really anything to worry about.

 

Update time. On Saturday past there we were blessed with some nice weather around here, so I took the opportunity to go for a drive. For those that know the area, I went up over the Cairn o' Mount road, first time in the Jag, cracking stretch of road

Got rather mucky, as you can see.

Got back and discovered I still had some time to myself so I set about doing some odd jobs. I still had the new brake caliper logo plates to fit so managed to get the front ones done, didn't get any photos of that yet. I didn't get round to doing the rear ones yet as one of them wasn't dry yet (I gave them all a few coats of high-temp lacquer to try and stop them deteriorating again) but I managed to get the front indicator and side marker bulbs changed. Here are the ones I used:

Before:

And after:

Looks much tidier now I think. One of the side marker bulbs appears to be DOA so will get that replaced and sorted out. I thought it was going to be a nightmare removing the lamp clusters but it turned out easier than I'd thought it would.

Finally, car was in for a service today. Was a bit annoyed as I had asked for a brake fluid change while they were at it which they (claimed they) did and charged me for, but the health check said that both rear caliper bleeders were corroded, so not sure how they managed to change the fluid. The check also said that the calipers might need changed for that reason, plus there was signs of corrosion on some metal part of the hoses.

I didn't think about it at the time until I chatted to a mate at work and he was surprised they didn't call to say "there are potential issues that may mean replacing rear parts of the braking system, do you still want to go ahead with the fluid change?". Going to call them tomorrow and find out what the score is...

 

So the car is back at the stealer today and tomorrow to get the work done. The warranty people wanted to inspect the car so it turns out they're only covering a small part of the required work (rear track rod end gaiter). I've authorised the garage to change the rear brake hoses, change the bleed nipples and do a fluid change because the warranty won't cover that. The garage also spotted some play in one of the rear upper wishbones.

They quoted me over £700 to change that so told them to leave it. I can get the part for £213 from SNG Barratt (OEM Jaguar) or about 170 as a pattern part and I'll change it myself. Either that, or if the stealer wise up and give a realistic quote then I'll let them do it but there's no way I'm paying them effectively £500 for what I could easily do in an hour.

On the upside, I did get a fairly nice courtesy car:



2013 XF Portfolio S with the 3.0 V6 twin turbo diesel engine. I've never driven a diesel I really liked until this, it's a great engine (for a diesel) and the car is just lovely too. Still much looking forward to getting back into my V8 tomorrow though...