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This website is all about the Jaguar XJ6 Series 2 Coupe. Regarded by many the be the most beautiful of all the Classic "cats"; the Coupe is one of the rarest of all Jaguars.
Having acquired a 1977 Coupe for restoration in May 2002, it is intended to document in fastidious detail the whole restoration for you to follow on this website. Your restorers are Ray Robbins and Serge Arouff. You can email us by clicking on our names, or phoning 01273 389418.
There will also be galleries of different Jaguars.
Please visit again soon.
Ray here:
Just put the Coupe in for an MOT and guess what? It failed. To summarise;
Excessive corrosion (seems the word "excessive" seems to be the only word to be successfully spelt by MOT testers) to various parts.
I needed a brake pipe, a front toe-board, a front cross-member and would you believe it (no), a steering rack and upper and lower ball joints. On top of that lot, I needed a radiator as the old one sprung a leak.
Well, I had the radiator re-built and purchased a Kevlar hose kit and stainless steel jubilee clips. I bought the steering rack from a local supplier and ordered the ball joints and front cross member from Jaguar. The cross member cost me £48 plus VAT including capping plate. Other suppliers were quoting £48 for cross member and £25 for the capping plate (plus VAT and carriage). A lesson to be learnt here, contact Jaguar and then look elsewhere. My local Jaguar dealer gives me 10% for being a JEC member (not on heritage parts), so that takes care of the membership and you get a good magazine, also there are no carriage costs and the delivery is within 2 days if the item is not on the shelf.
I fitted the radiator replaced the hoses and gave the rest of the jobs to a local mechanic to do. After a while I got the coupe back with MOT and had to borrow the money to get the road tax. Most of the cost seemed to be with welding the front bits. I will not disclose how much it cost, but was "mucho dinaro". When driving the coupe, the cost pales into insignificance. Another year of motoring..
The headlining will be next outlay, but that can wait as I'm also moving house. I will keep you updated.
Ray here: By now there should have been lots of photos and some articles on the restoration, but Sod's Law prevailed. I was just getting some last bits for the Coupe (had a seized rear brake caliper) to get back on the road and the head gasket went in my XJ40. Laughed, I nearly cried. Had to suffer the indignation of being recovered back home with the XJ40 on the low loader. I think nearly all the neighbours were out as it was a nice day. 2 Jags (a Prescott) and neither of them working. Reminds me of some lyrics by Cream, "If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all".
I did the head gasket myself and the only problem I have is the smoke coming out of the exhaust. The Police pulled me up for it and told me off. They said it was distracting for other motorists. (Most of them wouldn't notice anyway, most drive whilst talking on their mobiles). If you need advice on doing a head gasket on an XJ40, give me a call on 01273 389418.
On the Coupe front, the car is now on the road and singing sweetly. Serge and I did attend the Friday-Ad Motorshow at Bentley Wildfowl. A good day and we were the only Jag there. If you have a seized rear caliper and do not want to drop the IRS, be prepared for a lot of work. It can be done. I can advise you on this if you need it. Hopefully, it will be on the restoration pages.
Ray here:
Sorry for taking so long to update the site, but unfortunately I found myself in the position where I needed to get a job and I have 3 other websites. I had exhausted my savings, but enjoyed the summer.
We have decided to include a tips, techniques & tools page. Have you tried to get stainless steel locking wire to do those calipers? I spent a whole day on the phone to all the motor factors in Brighton and was getting nowhere fast. Eventually a motor factor suggested trying a Ship/Yacht chandler. The second Chandler I phoned said yes, "We have stainless steel seizing wire, it's a single strand wire approx 0.8mm, is that OK?" Joy beheld me and I asked the price; "£4.60 for 10 metres". Persistence pays. I drove to the Chandlers and bought a reel of 10 metres. The details can be found on our tips, techniques & tools page
If you want to see some pictures of Jags (lets face it; we don't want to read about Jags), visit Brightonforever and there are plenty of pictures there. Eventually they will end up on this site as it is another one of my sites.
If you were on the London to Brighton runs for 2001 and 2002 and you recognise your cars, please send me the details of the cars so I can include them in the descriptions. I will not divulge names, addresses or locations of the cars. I am only interested in the model and year.
* "The word "Jaguar" and the leaping cat device are the property of Jaguar Cars Ltd, England and are used with permission. It is acknowledged that this restoration, its processes and the contents of this website are neither endorsed nor supported by Jaguar Cars"
This page was last updated on 03/08/03.