PD Miller

Just arranged insurance for my 2001 XK8 today. For the first time I managed to get agreed value ,classic car insurance with Adrian Flux for £200. Maybe it's because the car is 15 years old now that it qualifies for this type of cover. I wonder if my 2004 XJ will qualify in a few years?

Hi Luke and welcome to the club. The XF looks seriously mean in black. Hope you enjoy the forum.

Hi Gordy Love the S type, gorgeous colour. Welcome to the forum. There are all sorts here, even a few Jag mad Norveners

Used my card at Halfords a few times and as you say Ron they sometimes look a bit blank but I always get the discount. I've used it for Europarts as well, a good saving if you're buying something big like a battery. I couldn't fathom out how to use it when ordering from the Halfords internet site but I'm sure there's a way.. Pete

If I had glanced over to the left I would have noticed that it was an S type. I assumed it was an XK for some reason. Hopefully something simple Chris. Hope I didn't send you looking for non existent switches. Pete

Really silly question Chris. Is the master switch by the gear change switched on? I say this because after a winter lay up I spent an afternoon searching for a fault then remembered the master switch Good luck Pete

In my community stats section I'm listed as having an XE ( Chance would be a fine thing ) Is it possible to edit this to show XJ and XK8 Thanks Pete

Sometimes we can be humbled by the way people deal with situations. It puts some of our totally irrelevant problems into perspective. Wishing you both the best of luck and hope for better news in the New Year. Pete

I always tell the 'armchair experts' that the great thing about these cars is that ownership is not compulsory , If you don't like them don't buy one. Sometimes "Methinks he protests too loudly ". ;)

Greetings from Morpeth Northumberland

If your bonnet already has a round 3Litre badge presumably you won't have to drill it to fit a leaper. My XJ has one and when I bought the car I intended to take it off and put a badge in it's place to hide the holes,Sadly it is held in place with the strongest adhesive known to man as well as a big plastic nut. We tolerate each other now but it sneers at me every time I look at it. I suppose it can stay there a bit longer as it has sort of grown on me. Hi Paul Excuse me for talking s---e. I didn't notice the 4 previous pages regarding drilling the bonnet. Pete

Europarts have a deal on Shell Ultra Professional 5W 30. £ 44.99 reduced to £19.99 then presumably our discount on top of that Make a nice little Xmas present for the other half.

It won't half impress the neighbours as well , especially if you wear a white coat with it. Good luck with the squeak.

Just going off on a bit of a tangent Russ, how do you intend to polish the inlet manifold? I've been thinking for a while of polishing or painting the one on my XJ6 but it's a rough / mottley surface and I think it would be quite a job to polish it. I think everyone might be right with the vacuum hose theory BTW. Cheers Pete

Nice to know that the kit works. I've seen them advertised and wondered if they are any good. Thanks

Hi Paul. The metal brackets were fine but I took them off ( just one 13mm nut) in case the sliders were jammed. I cleaned everything up and coated them with copper grease . Can't remember exactly what they looked like but should be possible to make them up I would think, Cheers Pete

Panic over. I managed to get the top bolt out but it was an absolute b£$(£%d. A very short ring spanner , double jointed fingers and sots of patience is required. Sure enough the brass insert was turning. Character building

To remove the rear bumper just remove the 2 mounting bolts above the exhaust finishers and off she pops, (According to the manual.) Problem is one of mine is unscrewed a couple of turns and the captive nut started turning. I've been informed that the captive nut is a brass insert in the bumper. Anyone been here before? I'm trying to unbolt the casting that holds the bumper and lift it off complete. there are three bolts holding it, two lower no problem and one upper, impossible Any Ideas most welcome Pete

Hi John I had to take the panel off again today as part of another job I've landed myself. I'm trying to enclose some photos but struggling a bit . Hope you get them. I just gave it a tug from the bottom edge and off if popped

The flexi brake hoses on my XJ6 while still legal have seen better days with some surface rusting on the metal ends. New OE ones are about £70 each and the rears seem to be hard to find. There are companies who make up braided hoses to customers specifications for much less and with stainless fittings. Has anyone had any experience of these and other aftermarket hoses? Thanks Pete

Hi John Unfortunately it's all back together now, it's a convertible but I would imagine that they are all the same? The clips are a couple of inches up from the bottom edge of the panel in a straight line and there are 4 of them equally spaced. You have to give it a fair tug to free them, I think I pulled it from the top towards the front of the car. Good luck Pete

I managed to get the connectors off this time, there's a little plastic lug on each side of the connectors which my 66 year old eyesight had failed to detect first time round. Both sides are pressed simultaneously and the connector pops off. Sadly no broken wires were found so the auto lights still don't work.

Popped into the main dealers yesterday and they printed off the spec sheets for me. The car has auto lights so when time permits I'll have a go at it. Seemingly the wire coming through the stalk on the light switch is the prime suspect. Wish me luck.

Almost frightened to say this but I tried (very gingerly)and after much deliberation, one of the dry wax polishes. , I think it's called Showroom Shine. I was pleasantly surprised at the result. No swirl marks or scratches. The car wasn't covered in mud or salt before I started and I experimented on the Wife's car first but if you follow the instructions it seems to work. I did the XK which is dark green and it looks great but if it was filthy I would be tempted to wash it first. I've also had reasonable success with Colour Magic which fills the scratches and lasts a month or two before you have to do it again.