Sunday 2 November 2008
Fixes
I wanted to mock up a design to make sure that I was happy with the layout. I checked the shed today and found some old wood. One bit was the perfect size for the front board and I didn't need to cut it to size. I measured up some bits of wood to support the DVD.
I removed the carpet and cut it to the correct size. I had to cut the hole out for the DVD player. I am going to leave this for a week to make sure it stays up and I will then build a proper stand next weekend out of MDF.
It was about time I cut away the headliner, It was pea'ing me off every time I got in the car I could feel it on the top of my head. Also it should give me more of an incentive to get it fixed!
Friday 31 October 2008
Music Time
I have been trying a number of different USB devices with my Kenwood head unit to see if they would work, like the Nokia N95. You select the phone to Mass storage and the head unit reads it as if it was a USB stick.
I have also wired up the audio/visual lead to the screen in the car so you can use the phone as normal but view it on a large screen.
The question now is how many music files the head unit can see, I am in the process of copying 47GB's worth of music to the drive to see if it will ok but as I am not running windows it should be fine. Navigating will be a problem, and there will be a lot of track skipping.
Not bad for 54 quid...
On another note, due to the weight of the DVD player the bit of plastic that sits under the glove box gave way this week. Need to figure out a way of re-fitting the DVD player and make it look pucker!
Thursday 9 October 2008
Oil, What Oil
Couple of litres from Westleigh Motor Factors and its registering again. I know where the problem is, I did not replace the sump nut washer when I did the last service and its leaking slowly from there.
Oops!
Saturday 13 September 2008
Quick fix
Also there was no "Always Live" power to the car so the seat did not work when the ignition was off.
I remember that I had some problems fitting the passenger sunvisor, so I took a look at this first... And guess what, I found the problem. The positive wire had split and was connected to the Shell of the car. Is was shorting the car out.
I removed the sun visor and needed to fix that before I refit it.
I also had ordered a new bit of chrome for the front windscreen as it flew off a couple of months ago. It was only 3 quid from Jag which I thought was good!.
Tuesday 2 September 2008
Back to Project Sovereign
18 years of wear and tear.
At first it looked like I would need a new clip but with some Burrows magic and a hammer I got it out.
Then it came to fitting it. I replaced the broken bolt with a shiny new one and enlisted the services of the Ramus' to tighten the clip as I pushed the exhaust back together.
Now its sounds very quite.
Project Spitfire!
On the way to work I noticed a burble noise coming from the Jag. When I go to Ramus' I quickly checked but could not see where the problem was.
I drove very slowly to Motor World and asked Chris to take a look. He took one look at it and confirmed it was defiantly the exhaust, however, he couldn't fix it until this evening.
So we drove very slowly to work. It made it to the gates in the car park and then bang, the car shock, the noise was deafening. It sounded like an old Spitfire getting ready to take off!
When looking closer, it looks like the pipe has come off the manifold. So should be easy to fix.
The sound is awesome but unfortunately not drivable...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDGWLUmbB_Q
Sunday 24 August 2008
Visual entertainment. Day 3
Sunday 17 August 2008
Visual entertainment. Day 2
I also fitted the relay that will supply the DVD player and screen with power
Saturday 16 August 2008
Visual entertainment. Day 1
I spent hours upon hours looking and never really found anything I liked. Eventually I noticed that you can get an LCD monitor that attach's to the headlining.
I did not want one that you manually had to move down to watch, I wanted something different. I found a motorized unit that on a touch of the button the screen would come down.
Finding a DVD player was nice and easy.
My next issue was powering the units. I only want the unit to work when the ignition is on to save battery in case the system is left on. However, I did not want to power it off the cigarette lighter as I already have the SatNav and phone charger running off it.
This is quite a simple job just requires some wiring. I used a relay to be triggered off the cigarette socket and then wired a wire to the battery. So when the ignition is on, the relay completes the circuit to the battery and the system should turn on.
Because I now had a direct feed from the battery I wanted to make sure that every device had a fuse and the main lead was fused as well. (Picture to follow).
I wanted to mount the DVD player in the glove box but it was to long for this, I then looked at mounting it under the driver seat but when the seat is moved back it closes the gap and would crush the DVD player. The only place I could think of mounting it was under the glove box in the passenger foot well. Mounting this was quite fun and took me a couple of attempts to get right.
My task for tomorrow morning is to fix the screen to the headlining. The screen came with some screws that you just screw into the headlining but this is not the best way to do it. I have a metal plate that I will fit above the headlining and will screw the screen into this.
The stereo has an AUX input which I will use to give the DVD player audio as the car has 6 speakers and a 12" sub.
Saturday 2 August 2008
Bushes need changing
Its turns out the front bushes need replacing. I have been told this is quite a simple job and should only take 3 hours to change and of course a set of Bushes.
While we had the wheel off we also tightened the hub nut that was a little loose.
Friday 1 August 2008
No more leaving the lights on
I have drained the battery 3 times now doing this.
I know there is an option on the alarm to alert if the lights are left on. The only issue is figuring out how to wire it up.
Nice and simple, just need to get the +12Vdc from the side light to the alarm box.
Now the car beeps 6 times and the key fob goes nuts if you leave the lights on and lock the car.
Thursday 31 July 2008
Fuse
When I started the car last night to come home I noticed the "Lightning bolt" on the dash which means a blown fuse. I pressed the VCM button and the on board computer told me it was in fuse box one, which is the right hand fuse box.
Only to find out it was the cigarette lighter fuse that hand blown. Nice and simple! 5p Fix.
Wednesday 30 July 2008
Hot Hot Hot and Still Hot
Saturday 12 July 2008
Boot lock
(Yes that is a driving cap that Rash and Ramus bought me)
Wednesday 2 July 2008
Not done yet
Now its about time for the Jag's six month service. Bit's I need to do on this service are as follows:
Air Filter
Spark Plugs
Oil Filter
Oil Change
Coolant
And if I feel brave, Transmission fluid!
When I do the service I will look at taking the headlining out. At the moment I have a temporary fix, which is working.
Sunday 29 June 2008
Miles Per Gallon
Since I have changed the wheels and done the major service the car had six months ago, the MPG from the car now averages 30 MPG.
Not bad for a 4 litre monster!
Also the Car Tax is nice and low, costing me only 185 quid a year and if I take it into the London "Low Emissions Zone" they report...
Not subject to LEZ - Based on the information you have entered and information held by Transport for London (TfL), the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) does not apply to this vehicle. As long as the vehicle remains not subject to the LEZ the daily charge does not have to be paid for this vehicle when it is used in the zone.
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/lez/
HA HA
Friday 13 June 2008
Headlining
- I am going to have to drop the car down at Motor World Car Body Shop on Monday
- Arrange for the Windscreen company to take the windscreen out on Tuesday
- Tuesday night remove the headlining from the car (Joy!)
- Wednesday arrange for the headlining to be dropped off at the trimmers
- Allow a couple of days for the job to be done.
- Hopefully Friday its should be finished... Fingers crossed!
Friday 6 June 2008
Sunday 1 June 2008
Red brakes
Saturday 31 May 2008
Petrol Cap + Rear Bumper
Today was about sorting out the petrol cap. Last week while filling the car up, the hinge broke. I gave the trusty people at Howard's Car Spares a call and they said they had one, but I had to remove it myself!
I enlisted the help of "The Ramus" and we set to work. It was a sorry sight seeing an old Jaguar the same age as mine rusting away, being taken to bits.
LOL Me doing some work!!!
5 quid later we headed down to Motor World to fit it.
Changing the hinge was a nice and simple job. Only took about 30 minutes to complete but was worth it as the petrol cap now pops up.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=5enSAaZKLVM - Yes I did upload it to YouTube!
Then I wanted to fit the new bit of chrome from the rear bumper and have a look at sorting the dent in the rear bumper.
The rear bumpers are really easy to get off, but I had to cut the cable to the rear fog lights as there was no connector to disconnect. The look on Ramus' face when I just cut the cable was priceless... LOL
I will get it to fit!
It took some beating but I got it looking a lot better... Not perfect, but it looks really nice.
The view most people have of the car....
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTylVoq6VSQ
Thursday 29 May 2008
Alarm issues fixed
Tuesday 27 May 2008
They fit
New V's Old
Ramus doing some work!
All finished.
Straight away I noticed an improvement in the handling and stability at high speed. She has never driven so well... The best bit was not the new wheels, but that the car has been sat for over 5 weeks now and she started first time and I had no problems with the engine or gear box! (Touch wood)...
Wheels are here
Monday 26 May 2008
Sunday 25 May 2008
Warning Contains....
Saturday 24 May 2008
Rear Bumper
Thursday 22 May 2008
Already upgraded
After thinking about this I decided that I did not want to do that as the car already has 220's and for the price I had paid it wasn't worth the upgrade...
I spoke with a guy called "Michael" who was very helpful and after loads of telephone calls we changed the wheels and the tyres for a different size!!
I now have coming 245/40/18 - upgraded to 18" rims. The overall size is a little smaller than the current tyres but hay. Size aint every think Ramus!
Message from the supplier
"Just in case you need confirmation we will be sending you 18" muggelo + 245/40/18 tyres. again sorry if we have confused you but it becomes expensive if you get it wrong. thanks dp"
P.S. Thanks Rash for winding me up about the result last night...
Monday 19 May 2008
WHEELS ORDERED!!!!!!!!!!!
I have gone with some bad boy wide tyres! I saw a set of 255's on Chris's new Range Rover and wanted some of that!
17" DOTZ MUGGELO ALLOY WHEELS SUPPLIED WITH 255/50/17 PERFORMANCE TYRES
The reason I went for 17" is because I did not want to change the overall size of the wheel as I wanted to double check they fitted in the arch and the speedo was correct.
Also a new tyre for these wheels are 66 quid not 140 quid.. so I can replace 4 new ones for the price of 2 old ones... Beat that offer Tesco's
Sunday 18 May 2008
More about the authors
Ross Burrows
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=ross+burrows&meta=cr%3DcountryUK%7CcountryGB
Mark Ramus
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=mark+ramus&meta=cr%3DcountryUK%7CcountryGB
Arash Foroozandeh
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=arash+foroozandeh&btnG=Search&meta=
Friday 16 May 2008
Cool tool
I have been trying to work out what the change in wheel size will have on the car, and if they will work out a similar size.
This site will even tell you what the effects are on your speedo after you have changed the wheels.
http://www.kouki.co.uk/Utilities/tyresizer.asp
Thank you! http://www.kouki.co.uk
Wednesday 7 May 2008
Wheels - Dimple but not simple!
I wanted to get some Dimple alloys that replaced the silly ones Jaguar originally used. The old ones are 390mm where the Dimple ones are 16".
EBay seemed a good place to look, but people want silly money for a set of wheels! So I am starting to look at aftermarket ones.
Replacing the tyres was an option, till I got a price of 140 quid per wheel, and need to do 3 of them!! :(
Dimple but not simple!
Thursday 24 April 2008
Jag Running
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7Km0ZbgbhE
The fan is strong enough to blow you over if you stand to close. It will be nice in the summer standing by the car... Cool breeze from the engine....LOL
Great Headlining
I was taking some pictures of the air intake to see if I can find an induction kit that might fit the jag.
Looks like I will have to call Portchester Trimmers tomorrow to see if it can be fixed. If not the front windscreen will have to come out again.
Joys of owning the Jag!
Monday 21 April 2008
At least its not just me
Ramus picked me up for work as I'm still deciding what to do about the wheels on my car!
The only problem was Ramus ALSO got a puncher... On the same wheel as me!!
We were travelling down the M27 heading towards Fareham, in a traffic jam, in the rain. Some bloke in the car next to us, got our attention and said "Your tyres flat mate". I looked out of the window, and yep it certainly was!! Ramus asked me how flat, as I think he wanted to drive to work like this! I said "Dont go over 70MPH flat".
We pulled over on to the hard shoulder and I made Ramus stop under a bridge...
Changing the wheels on a Citroen thing'y is really easy!! Pump up the suspension, place the jack under the car and lower the suspension... As easy as that!!
The HA support team turned up and watched us change the wheel... But at least they had some handy wipes. LOL
Saturday 19 April 2008
Moving the car
I only just made it with the tyre nearly coming off the wheel..... LOL....
These tyres are a right dog to find and are silly money!! I think this is because the wall is height (65) and the size are in mm (390) not inches they are a funny size...
"Thank you" to the person that designed the wheels for this car!
Friday 18 April 2008
Great start to the day!
Wednesday 16 April 2008
XJ40 TV Advert
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=p0bplJoqDUo
Tuesday 15 April 2008
All Passed!
** Two new front tyres and because I have a child seat fitted in the back, they couldn't test the rear seat belt! **
CO Max: 3.500 - Actual value: 0.120
HC Max: 1200 - Actual value: 104
All other bits passed. It was quite a shock, I thought it might have failed on some thing... But hey, can't complain.
I do have an issue with it smoking when I boot it! Could be that I put too much oil in the last time I topped it up. (Need to check some forums)
Thank M & N Autos (http://www.mandnautos.co.uk/)
Monday 14 April 2008
MOT Tomorrow
Keeping my fingers crossed for tomorrow!
Saturday 12 April 2008
School Boy Mistake
I sat behind a car and was waiting to turn left but I could see my right indicator was flashing, I checked to see if my hazard lights where on... They weren't!
Then it hit home, I had wired both the grounds together on the same relay to get the alarm to flash both lights.... What a tit, for the last week or so I have been driving around like this and no one had noticed.
Simple fix... I cut one of the ground leads last night and will have to buy another relay and do it properly some time soon.
D'oh
Wednesday 9 April 2008
Cruise Control
I set the cruise control to 40MPH and let the car work out the rest. I could not faulter it at all! It keeps a constant speed even going up and down hill’s
I still had my foot hovering over the brake and accelerator pedal.
:)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Ports+Down+Hill&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=48.555061,81.914062&ie=UTF8&ll=50.851366,-1.118631&spn=0.038094,0.079994&t=p&z=14
A terrain map from Google Maps
LOL @ Stuart
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=jtcCRFhyLtc
All will be explained.
Sunday 6 April 2008
All Finished
Well what a start to the day, as I set off the snow started to come down really heavy and fast. The motorway was covered with snow and could only manage about 30mph. Not the best day to drive, but was worth the risk to finish off the Jag!
A good note was the car started as she always does so the cold did not effect her!... Yipeeee
Today was about soldering the wires. This took about an hour, but it was worth doing the job right.
Then I started to put the car back together. I found a place for the alarm box and a place to feed the cables. I fitted the trim that was below the glove box. This has never fitted correctly since I have had the car. It never looked right, as was always a gap in the trim below the glove box. I used a bit of brute force and bent the frame into shape, which sorted the problem and it now fits like a glove!
I then had to put all the trim around the steering wheel back together and hide the bluetooth module for the hands free and the USB connection to the stereo.
At the same time I cut the wires for the audible alert, which constantly beeps at you when the key is in the ignition barrel and a door has been left open... Peace at last!!!
Ramus had turned up now and checked the AMP settings for me, which were fine. So I then asked him to help with the brakes. They had started to squeak since I had them changed. For some reason Joe had forgot the passenger side anti squeal pad. Copper Grease later and hopefully the problem will go away.