Nice Jag!

[I-am-the-reverend]

swisstoni said:

Huntsman said:

Oof!

https://carsonline.bonhams.com/en/listings/jaguar/...

Nice new paint.

A fair bit of plop on the rear wing to sill joint as well. That will erupt at some point - the tattiness in the bonnet shuts etc doesn't bode well. It's likely a restoration project in abeyance but you'd need to look at it in person, very carefully.

[GoodOlBoy]

What about this six cylinder coupe in the same colour ? Another "cosmetic" restoration that might not stand up to close scrutiny ?

https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1739366

Edited by GoodOlBoy on Wednesday 10th July 14:54

[I-am-the-reverend]

Take the view that any 1975 Jaguar would have been rusting nicely in 1980 and go from there. Most of them were scrap at ten years old and absolutely rotten.

This is what they are about unless they have received some very thorough restoration:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNqQR89ETEE

[uk66fastback]

GoodOlBoy said:

What about this six cylinder coupe in the same colour ? Another "cosmetic" restoration that might not stand up to close scrutiny ?

https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1739366

Edited by GoodOlBoy on Wednesday 10th July 14:54

I think that’s the one that has a great paintjob by the looks of it but the engine was definitely whipped out just for that and then dropped straight back in, so you have rusty old bolts and a generally ‘used’ looking engine in a freshly-painted engine bay - looks awful!

[rovermorris999]

uk66fastback said:

I think that’s the one that has a great paintjob by the looks of it but the engine was definitely whipped out just for that and then dropped straight back in, so you have rusty old bolts and a generally ‘used’ looking engine in a freshly-painted engine bay - looks awful!

Rule number 1. Never buy a classic car with a fresh paint job.

[Huntsman]

I-am-the-reverend said:

Take the view that any 1975 Jaguar would have been rusting nicely in 1980 and go from there. Most of them were scrap at ten years old and absolutely rotten.

This is what they are about unless they have received some very thorough restoration:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNqQR89ETEE

Shudder.

Imagine if there was a Heritage body shell for an XJ.

[I-am-the-reverend]

There are still a few around in hot US climates to bring back. I've seen a couple of early project XJ-S's on trailers being brought back from the docks. Even really good ones aren't worth a huge amount - it has to be the way to go. Obviously it will need partially dismantling so it can be drenched in Dinitrol or whatever.

Unless you were around in the 80's you can't imagine just how bad these were for rot.

[uk66fastback]

There were worse cars for rust - Datsuns and Lancias etc … hardly any exist. Maybe Pressed Steel just used slightly thicker metal!

[swisstoni]

Huntsman said:

I-am-the-reverend said:

Take the view that any 1975 Jaguar would have been rusting nicely in 1980 and go from there. Most of them were scrap at ten years old and absolutely rotten.

This is what they are about unless they have received some very thorough restoration:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNqQR89ETEE

Shudder.

Imagine if there was a Heritage body shell for an XJ.

That would be fantastic. The interiors and most other bits last amazingly well.

[rovermorris999]

Regarding paint jobs, this is worth a watch, particularly the second half.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdaYi8ZXw7A

[vixen1700]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/126570513176?itmmeta=01...

Nice!

Thoughts from the experts?

[I-am-the-reverend]

rovermorris999 said:

Regarding paint jobs, this is worth a watch, particularly the second half.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdaYi8ZXw7A

It is good.

£10,000 to paint a car is about right - no major surgery or accident repairs but a strip down, glass out, bare metal+repairs and prep before painting.

[Huntsman]

uk66fastback said:

There were worse cars for rust - Datsuns and Lancias etc … hardly any exist. Maybe Pressed Steel just used slightly thicker metal!

My recollection of the 80's regarding rust was the Mobego and Maestro, you could hear them fizzing.

[rovermorris999]

Citroens and anything Italian, dreadful. I remember seeing what looked like decent cars stacked in scrappies until you looked underneath.

[tr7v8]

Huntsman said:

uk66fastback said:

There were worse cars for rust - Datsuns and Lancias etc … hardly any exist. Maybe Pressed Steel just used slightly thicker metal!

My recollection of the 80's regarding rust was the Mobego and Maestro, you could hear them fizzing.

I used to buy & sell in the 80's Worst I ever saw was a BMW 2002 that was for sale on a traders forecourt. Am early Golf & Honda were beyond grim as well. We used to do a lot of Maxi's & Marinas & generally they just needed sills. Always had a stream of buyers as well. Marinas generally needed either a clutch and/or suspension work.
When I worked for the AA in 78 they'd just done the SuperCover deal with BL. So the fleet was GM had a Daimler & the managers and senior managers had either 18/22 or later on Princesses. More senior directors had Rover SD1's either 2600 or one 3500. They were OK mechanically but rusted in strange places. I believe the Daimler went back to Jaguar for a lot of remedial work and I think got swapped for another at one point.
Lower down the tree it was all Fords, 1.6.L Cortinas & 1.1L Escort Estates.

[I-am-the-reverend]

Princesses and Allegros were surprisingly rot resistant compared to other stuff. Minis were terrible as were Jags. Six years and they needed sills. Ten and they were going everywhere.
Mercs were good as were Volvo 240's and Saab 900's.

[Mr Tidy]

rovermorris999 said:

Citroens and anything Italian, dreadful. I remember seeing what looked like decent cars stacked in scrappies until you looked underneath.

My first car was a 9 year old MK2 Cortina and it was far worse than the Fiat 125 that replaced it. My next car was a Rover P6B that was no better than the Cortina!

Thankfully I was able to afford newer cars after that.

[CKY]

I-am-the-reverend said:

Princesses and Allegros were surprisingly rot resistant compared to other stuff. Minis were terrible as were Jags.

True, just a shame about the rest of them. I remember serving an apprenticeship at a BL dealership in the workshop, first time I sent an Allegro up on a 2 poster ramp I was scorned for leaving the driver's door open; surprise surprise, once the car was back on the deck the door wouldn't close, so poor was the bodyshell it had twisted on the ramp and the door would no longer fit in the door aperture! Fortunately this was resolved by the experienced foreman coming along with a block of wood and a sizeable hammer to 'massage' the top, bottom and B pillar of the aperture, still - the mind boggles compared to cars on sale nowadays.

[Penguinracer]

CKY said:

True, just a shame about the rest of them. I remember serving an apprenticeship at a BL dealership in the workshop, first time I sent an Allegro up on a 2 poster ramp I was scorned for leaving the driver's door open; surprise surprise, once the car was back on the deck the door wouldn't close, so poor was the bodyshell it had twisted on the ramp and the door would no longer fit in the door aperture! Fortunately this was resolved by the experienced foreman coming along with a block of wood and a sizeable hammer to 'massage' the top, bottom and B pillar of the aperture, still - the mind boggles compared to cars on sale nowadays.

I was going to say "unbelievable"...but on reflection, actually it is totally believable...and people wonder why there's effectively very little of the British car industry left. The '70's was time of reckoning for Britain...and I think the country is still working through its identity crisis.

As a Kiwi, it was in the '70's that Japanese cars really started to takeover from the British stuff which used to dominate the roads. Interestingly, in the early-late '50's in Australia & New Zealand, there was a short period when large American cars (albeit generally the six-cylinder variants) sat atop the range of small to medium sized British offerings.

[dbdb]

CKY said:

True, just a shame about the rest of them. I remember serving an apprenticeship at a BL dealership in the workshop, first time I sent an Allegro up on a 2 poster ramp I was scorned for leaving the driver's door open; surprise surprise, once the car was back on the deck the door wouldn't close, so poor was the bodyshell it had twisted on the ramp and the door would no longer fit in the door aperture! Fortunately this was resolved by the experienced foreman coming along with a block of wood and a sizeable hammer to 'massage' the top, bottom and B pillar of the aperture, still - the mind boggles compared to cars on sale nowadays.

My abiding memory of Allegros is one owned by an old boy whose house I had to walk past on the journey to my school's sports grounds. The Allegro was that strange sand colour, a few years old and he was constantly working on it.

The road was a steep hill and walking back in the drizzle after a particularly egregious cross country run in the pouring rain he was working under the car. As I passed it I heard a clonk, followed by a loud and very distressed, "Oh, chuffing nora!" It was exactly how I felt about life too.