11x09 - Jaguar XJ-C

[bunniefuu]

This time on Wheel
of Dealers, a car from a

golden age in British
motoring, the Jaguar XJC.

I reckon I'm onto a winner
because this car is proper rare.

It looks like a well-sorted
motor atop money.

Very impressed on how long
this smile's going to last for, isn't it?

But the big cat soon shows its claws.

Let's make sure the brakes work.

What was that?

And Ed tries to upgrade to Jag
without hurting our precious kitty.

That's pretty much it.

We take classic cars that need attention.

I find the motors and Ed China is the
mechanical master who gets them back on track.

Then we tell them on,
hopefully for a profit.

When it was launched in
the early 70s, the Jaguar

XJ was known as an
elegant and grateful car.

But when the designers
decided to lose the rear doors

for the coupe version, they
created the beautiful XJC.

The big cat doesn't just look good,
its road manners are sharp too.

The XJC is a great
driver's car with refined 6

or 12-cylinder engines
and a sub-9 second 0-60.

Plus, that cosseting ride and confident
handling, which are a regular trademark.

Around 10,000 were built
over a tiny three year production

period and their increase
in rarity is driving up values.

It's a perfect candidate for the workshop.

Now I really love the way the
XJC looks and I'm not alone.

They really are an up and coming classic.

A few years ago, you couldn't give
them away, but now they top 15 grand.

Basket cases are five grand up, but
I want a solid car I can add value to.

So I'll spend 10 and
push for 15 at sale time.

Now there's a small spread
of mid-range cars out there, but

the one I want to make a
call on is actually the cheapest.

And ironically, it's at a dealer's.

They're asking just a fiver under £12,000.

And according to the
pictures and what it says

in the advert, it's in
really great shape.

On paper, I'd expect a car like this to
be 15 grand or more on a four court.

So it's looking a little bit underpriced.

I better get them on the phone.

Hello, I'm ringing about the Jaguar XJC.

This car has just arrived
at a classic car dealer who's

sold the car in the past
and he reckons it's a peach.

How good is the bodywork
because it looks great in the pictures?

He says he wants a quick turnaround on it.

It says in the advert it's £11,995.
That is correct, yes?

I still think that's a low
price in a rising market.

I'm going to pop down
and have a look at it. Bye.

Well, it wasn't a joke.
It is in there for £11,995.

At that price, I think I need
to go and stand in front of it.

The XJCs may be
pretty, but they are just as

liable to rust as their
four-door cousins.

If this one is rotten, it's
not a car I want to go near.

So I'm heading into
the wilds of the Kent

countryside and I'm hoping
it's as good as promised.

What a cracking garage. Lovely.

The old MG here. One over there.
He's got a little dog. Perfect.

But I was very excited driving past this.
That looks lovely. Wow.

Hi, you must be Mike. How are you doing?

Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you too.

Well, I've got to say, what a car.

Here she is, XJ6 Coupe 4.2.

Do you know what, I weren't too
sure about the colour in the pictures,

but now I've seen it in the
flesh, it looks remarkable.

It's beautiful. It's called Fern Green
and everyone says the same comment.

Looks like it's just rolled
off the production line.

So tell us a little bit about the car.

This was restored by
a classic car restorer.

It was bought by him for his own collection

and he restored it about 20 years ago.
You can see what he did.

Fantastic. I mean, usually
they rot around the rear arches,

but this one, you could
literally eat your dinner off it.

I can't believe how good it
is, actually, on the paintwork.

I always expect the sense of theatre
whenever you open the door on a Jaguar.

It should be like a
gentleman's club and... Yeah.

Oh, and there it is. That looks great.

It's lovely, isn't it? Really lovely.

The leather looks fantastic.

Yeah, it was reconolised
a couple of years ago

and often when people do
colonising, they put loads of stuff on,

you sit on it, it cracks, it's horrible.

This is just gently done and it's lovely.

It looks correct and original now.

It does look like new, doesn't it?

Let's have a little sit inside.

Oh, it's lovely being
inside a Jaguar, isn't it?

It's got that lovely
dashboard and the headlining.

That looks great.

Yeah, XJ6 is notorious
for the headlining falls

down because they
weren't built very well.

This has been completely renewed.

Right, let's open that bonnet.

Let's have a look at the engine.

Maybe you could just start it up for me.

Yeah.

That'd be great.

Yeah, that's so clean and so straight.

Got that Jaguar sound, doesn't it?

But this one sounds a bit more protein.

There must be a leak or
something coming from the manifold.

I think you're right,
it's just leaking slightly.

It's just skipping away.

I can hear that.

Also, if I'm not mistaken,
there's a bearing noise, isn't it?

Is that coming from the water pump?

The engine was rebuilt 20 years
ago, right from the crankshaft upwards,

and inevitably over 20 years,

you will get the old anomaly
starts to show, as you know.

The auto choke's just
kicked off, and now listen to it.

Yeah, wonderful.

What's the driving experience like?

It's fantastic.

Please, go and have a drive
and let me know what you think.

Super. Can't wait.

Let me shut this the proper
way, which is round the front.

That's it.

Wonderful.

Yeah, it's been a while since I've been
behind the wheel of a 1970s Jaguar,

and do you know what?

I've been missing out on
one of motoring's greatest

luxury car experiences,
because this car is wonderful.

I love the design as well.

This pillarless coupe look means
that light floods into the cabin.

It's almost like driving a convertible.

In fact, some coach builders,
they made this car as a convertible.

It is very, very pretty.

Inside, you definitely feel
like you're in the lap of luxury.

You've got that nice
walnut dash in front of you.

Everything you touch has
got an air of quality about it.

You relax in these great big
leather chairs and just cruise the road.

And this car is 40 years of age.

And do you know what?

You could drive this car happily
every day in modern traffic.

Your gist looks super, super cool.

Let's make sure the brakes work.

What was that?

This hasn't been locked
off the steering column.

Hold on.

That's not working properly.

Make sure it's...

That doesn't work.

So the steering lock off doesn't work.

It shouldn't affect the way it drives,

but it's not good.

Let's have a thing that's got to be fixed.

So I've given this core
coupe a proper test

drive, and I've got to
say, I'm charmed by it.

I went looking for a high-end
Jaguar that we can add some value to,

and with this one, do you know what?

I really think I've found it.

Now it all comes down to price.

Simon wants £12,000 for this car,

but I'm going to go back
and see if I can get it cheaper.

And then maybe, just
maybe, we'll be on to a winner.

APPLAUSE.

How did you get on?

Loved it. Yeah, really nice.

This was a period, I think, that Jaguar
just got everything sort of just right.

That's right, yeah.

They handle well, they go well,
they're extremely comfortable.

Lovely, lovely cars.

I've certainly made up my
mind that it's a car for me.

Yeah.

And I gather if I was to stand here
and argue with you long enough,

you would put some of the things
that I think are wrong with a car right.

Absolutely, absolutely.

But I don't want you to do that. OK.

I'm prepared to take it now, as it is.

There's the water pump
bearing, that's an issue.

There's also a manifold problem.

The steering column's not locking off,

and with that in mind, I
want to make you an offer.

OK.

And I was thinking, £11,000.

Mike, this car, as you
know, has just come in.

We haven't put it on the ramp,

we haven't put it through the workshop.

It's as it arrived.

I can't take £11,000, but if you
take it as it is, I'll sell it for £11,500.

£11,500.

Hold out your hand.

Yes!

Thank you very much.

I've just got to walk myself.

A Jaguar coupe.

I'm a gentleman.

I've won an awful lot
of car at a fair price,

but now the challenge
begins because somehow

I've got to take a
motor that's already

presented pretty well
and really is worth £12,000

and somehow get the selling
price to around £15,000.

And I can't spend much doing it.

Answers on a postcard.

This Jaguar ticks all the boxes if
you love a great British luxury cruiser.

This straight-six engine,
oh, it makes a lovely noise.

We love cars that can be turned around,

but apart from the grumbling bearing...
Is it coming from the water pump?

..and a dicky steering
lock... That doesn't work.

..this one is already pretty straight.

I can't believe how good it
is, actually, on the paintwork.

And I've paid strong money for it.

£11,500.

Hold out your hand.

Yes!

But now I need to drive the price up above
£15,000 without spending more than two.

Ed's going to love me.

Now, look what I got.

There are very few of these
stylish 70s coupes left on the road

and I reckon I'm onto a winner
because this car is proper rare.

You know, they only made
them between 1975 and 1978

and out of the many
that they made, only 6,500

are in the more
desirable 4.2 like this car.

I think you've got to think over the years

how many of them have
succumbed to tinworm and to rust.

That makes it even rarer.

So I know that this head-Turner,

the price of it is only going
one way, and that's up.

The big thing is, am I going to
be out on a profit out of this car?

And I reckon we can, because the smart
thing to do with this car is to upgrade it.

That's to get this car just
better than it already is.

Do something with the
ignition, make it electronic,

maybe change the exhaust
system to stainless steel,

just tidy it up all over.

At the moment, it does
feel like I'm sitting in a bistro,

where, really, I want to
be dining on the top table.

I like your thinking. You like that?

Jag XJ classic 70s.

You've gone for the two-door
rather than the four-door,

which is interesting, but it
is a fine-looking car, isn't it?

It certainly is.
It's a fine car, in great condition.

These have a reputation
for rusting underneath as well,

and you can actually eat
your dinner off of this one.

It's a really good motor.

I'm very impressed.

I don't know how long
this smile's going to last.

Well, it should last a while,

because all I want you to
do is change the wiper blades,

give it a chamois leather.

Shall we get it in the workshop?

Yeah, nice. That's fantastic.

Oh, come on, I'm not
going to let you off that easy.

It's a 70s Jaguar.
There's always going to be problems.

Let me start with the engine department.

OK.

It's a great colour.

It is a great colour.

It's called Fern Green. I like it.

Wow, look at that.
That is properly tidy, isn't it?

That's amazing.

But you've gone for the
straight-six rather than the V12.

Yeah, I went for the straight-six 4.2.

Much more desirable
engine for this kind of car.

Very torquey. It's a bit lighter.

Makes the car perform a bit better.
I really like it.

I can hear a bit of a noise.

Actually, it's coming from the manifold.

You can see it's actually broken off.
The stud's missing.

And that's cast iron.
It's actually quite tricky to fix that.

Yes, I know. It's not a repair, is it?

It's a replacement job.

But I was thinking that
if we're going to do that,

we could look at addressing
the whole exhaust system,

maybe upgrade it to stainless
steel, something like that.

What's the other horrible noise?

Kind of nasty, isn't it?

I think it's coming from
the water pump bearing,

which is right down here.

The thing is, if it is that, it's a
relatively easy thing to fix in itself.

But actually, trying to get
to it is where it's really tough.

There's not an awful lot of access at all.

But you're a China.

You're never going to be defeated
by a little water pump bearing.

I'm sure you can fix it.

Right, let's show you inside.

You have to shut the bonnet this way, look.

That's the correct way to shut it.

It's good, isn't it?

This is actually a really good car.

It is, isn't it?

Let me turn it off first. There you go.

It's classic Jaguar getting inside.

I mean, it just makes you
feel quite important, doesn't it?

But then everything looks really good.

It's got the lovely leather upholstery,

the walnut dashboard.

It's got that lovely gear shifter
that's a signature of this Jaguar.

Everything works.
All the electric windows work.

So come on, there is
obviously another problem.

Well, I wouldn't call it a problem.

It has got just a little niggle.

Which is?

If you hold the steering
wheel and pull it in and out.

Well, it's supposed to do that.

It's part of the comfort
and luxury of a Jag.

The problem is it's
in the lock-off position.

So that is a problem.

I mean, it might be something relatively
easy to fix, but of course, worst case,

it's going to mean maybe replacing the
column, which could be a real pain, actually.

Fingers crossed on that one.

Now, obviously on the outside,

I mean, the paint looks
fantastic, the vinyl roof's all good.

I guess we're going to
leave it all like it is, aren't we?

I think the plan for this
one is really quite simple.

I gave just 11 and a half grand
for this car, which I think is cheap.

A car like this, a
two-door XJC, is so rare,

we could, if we wanted to,

just wait for the market
to increase and sell it.

But I reckon we could speed process that.

We need to improve it, upgrade it,

make it perform better,
make it drive better.

That way, we can take it
right to the top of the market.

You've just got to
sprinkle that Ed magic on it.

But at the same time,
we've got to be careful

we don't kind of remove
any of its classicness.

Absolutely.

That's part of this car's appeal.

Okay, and presumably for no money.

Well, I won't say no money.

You've got a limited budget.

But if you do go and make it too expensive,

me and you would be having words.

On the face of it, this Jag looks mint.

Someone has really
loved this car in the past

and spent loads of time and
money getting it to this stage.

But that's not to say there
isn't room for improvement.

And as Mike actually wants to
add a few grand to the asking price,

I therefore have to do those
improvements and make the car even better.

My first move will be to
get rid of the grumbling noise

that Mike thinks might be a
bearing, possibly on the water pump.

Since the exhaust is blowing,
I can't isolate the exact sound,

so I use my automotive
stethoscope to hear through the noise.

The power steering pump sounds okay.

As does the alternator.

But the water pump is definitely grumbling.

So there is no doubt that the screaming
seems to be coming from the water pump.

There is another test I can do.

Just wobble the fan.

Look at that.

There's a huge amount of movement.

Another sign that the bearing is
definitely having a bit of a problem.

So it's going to need to be fixed.

The water pump is responsible for
circulating coolant in and around the engine.

If it fails, the Jag will simply overheat,

which can cause long-term
damage to the block, head and gasket.

The pump is hidden deep in the
engine and it's a job to get it out.

MUSIC PLAYS.

Well, here is our water pump.

Now, you can see you've
got pulleys on the front there.

Of course, the V-buck goes round the
crankshaft and that's what spins it all around.

Then look on the inside, you can
see the impeller spinning around there.

That's actually sucking water through
from here, from here and from here

and then it flings it
out through this little bit

here that goes into the
engine just over there.

Now, let's just pop it into the vice.

There's a handy nut
cast into the pulley there.

I can see how much kind of play there is.

So, probably, chances are,
it's the bearing that's failed here,

but it could be the shaft, it could
actually be the housing around the pulley.

So I think the only way I can really
find out for sure is by taking it apart.

My first bit of unbolting goes OK,

but the screw that
locates the shaft inside the

water pump housing
shears in half. Not good.

Well, that's not ideal.

The bearing assembly is actually
held in place by a grub screw.

I've already removed the locking nut,

but actually the grub
screw is just sheared off,

which I guess is why
the nut came off so easily.

Now, if there's enough meat,
I could possibly get that in.

But what I'm worried
about now is the reason

it's sheared is because
it's so stuck fast.

actually inside the body of the pump.

So what I need to do really
now is apply some heat

to try and make the
hole bigger as it expands

and I can try and get
that little grub screw out.

Even with some serious heat,
I can't loosen that grub screw.

Right, so Plan C is an induction tool.

This is rather clever, so
this is the same sort of thing

you might imagine if you have an induction
hob back at home with your cooker.

The idea is that the magnetic Eddies that
are whizzing around this little coil here

actually excite the metal so much
that it actually gets uber, uber hot.

So let's hope this works.

These bits of kit are about 600 quid,

but sometimes only a specialist
tool will get you out of a spot.

If I can't remove this grub screw,

I will have to replace the
hole pump at 120 pounds,

but worse than that, I'll have been beaten.

It's trying to heat up an
awful lot of metal here.

There's no worries about
actually ruining the seals

on the end of the bearings,
because, of course,

when I change the
bearings, I'll get new seals.

As you can see, it's
really going for it now.

Look at that. Fantastic.

At last, I can tease the
bearing from the casing.

Right, well, this is our offending article.

You can see quite clearly straight away
the shaft there is looking rather corroded.

It's probably going to last
another couple of years.

It's not going to just
shear off, but it's not ideal.

The impeller, well, you
know, that looks OK.

It's been seen by the days, but really,

it's the little seal here and the bearing

that are definitely the worst,
where you can hear the bearing.

So, definitely, this
is going to have to be

replaced, but in the
meantime, while I source that,

I do have a lot of smartening up to do.

I clean up the water pump
casing in the parts washer...

..and then give it a coat of satin black

so it goes back on the
car looking presentable.

Time for the new bearing.

Now, this little chap was
rather tricky to track down.

It's actually new old stock,
probably the last in the country,

but the whole kit was
about £50, which is OK,

so now I can rebuild the
pump with the new bearing,

new impeller and, of course,
the new seals and gasket.

I reassemble the pump and use a press

to drive the new bearing into place.

The trick here is to not press it too far,
so keep checking the measurements.

For optimum performance,
I need to have a gap

of around 0.3mm between
the impeller and the housing.

Now, it's great that our
water pump is now ready

to go into position, but
the car and the engine

certainly aren't ready to receive it.

I mean, look at the state of all this.

First of all, I've got to get
rid of all the old gasket,

but also, everything else around the engine
bay is just looking a little bit untidy.

I mean, the car itself is great.

It's just the detail that's lacking.

So, while Ed tidies up the engine bay,

I'm off to visit a company which
mostly works on Formula 1 cars

to see if they can help
me add to the engine

presentation and exhaust
performance of the Jag.

The manifolds on their Jag,
they're not in great Nick and you

can't buy new ones, so I
managed to get a second hand set.

But do you think I'm just
going to hand them over to Ed?

No, because I've found a magical process

that not only makes them look better,

but also perform better.

Sharp, are you Linda?

I am, you must be Mike.

I am, how are you doing?

Good to see you.

This is what we spoke about on the phone.

This is the offending
article of my Jaguar XJC.

Right, needs a little bit
of TLC there, I think, Mike.

It's a bit worse for wear.

I've got a pair of them, but
can we do something with it?

Yep, we certainly can.

Come on through and we'll
take you through the process.

Perfect.

The magical process here
is called ceramic coating.

It's a way of getting a colour
onto your otherwise dull exhaust.

Linda takes me to see Joel,

who cleans up a nasty areas
that don't require coating.

Mike, this is Joel. Joel, Mike.

Nice to meet you, mate. You all right?

There's a major mechanical benefit.

The ceramic coating helps to seal the heat

into the exhaust, which
accelerates the gases through

the car and makes the
engine run more efficiently.

Plus, cause the engine
bay by up to 30 degrees.

No wonder race cars use this technology.

Next, we need to sandblast the manifold.

Actually, Linda, is there any
chance I could have a go?

I think there is, yeah.

Yes?

The manifold surface is blasted to make
sure it can accept the ceramic coating.

If there's rust and dirt, it won't stay on.

That looks clean to me.

Now I'm taken to the plasma blasting room.

This is a bit like Frankenstein's
lair in here, isn't it?

Where the magic ceramic coating is applied.

It's been years in development,

but takes just 20 minutes to bake on.

This is really soundproof, cause
it's pretty loud in there, isn't it?

Yeah, it's about 130 decibels.

I think it's finished, actually.

I opened the spaghetti door.

Oh, there you go. Look at that.

Looking good.

Thank you very much, Gary.

Wow, you can feel the
heat coming from it, Linda.

So is that the finished look?

That's just one of our
proprietary ceramic coatings.

You've got a choice of that,

white, or one of our


So I could go for a nice sporty red.

Yeah, you could.

But then I have to think
about what kind of car it is.

I mean, it's a Jaguar XJ
Coupe from the mid-seventies.

So I think black, you know, knowing
what our car looks like under the bonnet,

that'll look really cool.

Just need to take it over
to the spray booth then.

Wonderful.

The manifold is painted
and quality checked,

ready for collection by yours truly.

The second hand manifolds
cost me 300 pounds,

and the coating was a further 200.

So for a relatively small outlay,
I've got something really unique.

Fantastic. Linda, it's been a pleasure.

Our pleasure.

See you soon.

Okay, bye.

We're doing everything
we can to limit spend

while boosting the
price of our lovely XJC.

Now, Mike's mission for
us on this car is to add value.

We need to put four
grand onto the sale price.

Will our plans for improved ignition
and smart exhaust upgrades be enough?

This Jag looks the part.

You can drive this car happily every day.

It'll just look super, super cool.

Wow, look at that.

That is properly tidy, isn't it?

Our mission is to get a few
grand more than we paid for it.

One job in, and we've
already dropped 600 pound

of our two grand kitty.

If you want to transform the driving experience
of a 40-year-old car, that's peanuts.

Now, Mike wants me to
eke out the best from this car,

and having looked at the cooling system
and sorted out any problems with the pump,

the next thing to look at
perhaps is the ignition system.

Now, this car is nearly 40 years old,

and it's running a point and condenser
system, and they can be quite unreliable,

so hopefully there'll be some
room for improvement there.

The Jag uses a mechanical point system

to originate the spark which
burns the fuel in the engine.

I wanted to know how much oomph
the existing electrical system has,

and no one could tell me, so I
thought I'd try a little experiment.

All you need is a second spark
plug and a vice with rubber mounts.

Now, the reason for this
slightly bizarre contraption

is I want to try and measure how
strong our spark is at the moment,

because the further a
spark can actually jump,

the more powerful, the
more energy it actually

has, and of course that
spark comes from a coil,

and the coil's job is
to actually transform

a low voltage into a high voltage.

So if all could give us a hand, please.

So the idea is we're going to crack the
engine over and increase the gap as we go,

and hopefully, therefore,
eventually the spark will go away.

The spark is unable to jump any further,

and that distance is an
indication of its strength.

It isn't very scientific,

but it just gives me kind of an
idea of where we are at the moment.

At the moment we've
got a gap of, well, 4.12mm,

which is OK.

So hopefully, after I've
done my improvements,

that'll be much, much bigger.

Mike has told me to be even more careful
than usual with the money on this one,

and I've gone and
shelled out £200 on an

electronic distributor
which has no moving parts.

But it's not going to wear
down like regular points.

I'll get a strong, consistent spark for
years and years with no maintenance required.

Well, this is our original distributor,

and you can see you've got the bit that
gets driven around by the engine itself.

That's obviously spinning
around this little rotor arm,

and, of course, that's
distributing the high voltage spark.

But then down here
you've got the little points,

and they're switching on and
off the low voltage side of the coil.

If you imagine in a car that's
running at, say, 4,000rpm,

six cylinders, this is going to be
opening and closing 400 times a second.

So clearly there's going
to be some impact damage,

but also, because there's a spark involved,
there's a bit of spark erosion going on.

There's an awful lot of parts
in here that can wear out

and therefore can throw our spark
or make it much, much smaller.

So I've managed to find a
fully electronic replacement.

So just open it up.

You can see inside, instead of any points,

you've actually just got this
wheel with little magnets in there,

one for each of the cylinders, and this
is what is actually doing the triggering,

but inside there's some solid-state
electronics which does the switching,

so there's no actual physical
switch opening and closing.

So it means there's
almost no parts to wear.

You can guarantee your
spark is going to be in

the best possible
condition all of the time.

I need to swap over the mounting plate.

Then it all clicks back into place.

Plus, I'll add a new
coil for greater power.

A specialist will ask around
£200 for the installation

and set-up, but it is
easily doable at home.

Just remember to reconnect
the HT leads in the correct order.

OK, so our distributor is now
in position and connected up,

so the next thing I have
to do is set the static timing.

That's all about actually
rotating the distributor

to make sure that the
rotor arm is pointing

at the right terminal
on the distributor cap

in relation to whatever cylinder
should be firing at that moment.

So the first thing I've
done is set the number

one cylinder, which,
weirdly, on this engine,

is actually at the back of the
engine, to top dead centre.

The screwdriver in the cylinder checks

that the piston is in the
top dead centre position.

I've also actually made
sure that the rotor arm

is pointing in the right direction

for number one cylinder
on our distributor leads here.

I'm just going to turn on the ignition.

And then what I need to do,

because, again, weirdly, on this car,
it actually rotates counter-clockwise,

I'm actually then going to rotate
the distributor body clockwise

and then hopefully,
rather than the points

actually opening, I'm going
to see an LED come on.

Look at that.

So now, having set that in position,

I can then just nip that
up just a little bit more

to make sure that hopefully
now it'll actually start.

Even though the static timing is now set,

if I've replaced the new
Jizzy a tooth or two out,

the engine won't run correctly.

So this is pretty much
the same gap that we had

before that our spark
couldn't quite manage.

So hopefully now, with all the
new set-up, we're going to get

a much bigger gap because we
have a much more powerful spark.

So we'll just crank over the engine again

and widen the spark as we go.

That's amazing.

That's pretty much it.

Let's have a look at that.

That's basically 13mm,

which is pretty much three times the
distance, so I'm very happy with that.

So we've got a strong, controlled spark

and I can finally add the refurbished water
pump and replace a couple of warm belts.

Ed, how are you doing?

You all right? Ooh, let me put those down.

I'm good, sir. They're heavy.

That's what I like to see, a
man covered in dirt and oil.

You've got the bonnet off, you've
been tinkering away with the engine.

At least I know you're working hard.

Well, I feel I should
remind you that, of course,

when this car turned up,
it was looking very tidy,

and yet I've managed to find
plenty of things to keep me busy.

First of all, sorted out the water pump,

also had a chance to tidy
up the engine bay a little bit,

and we've now got a rather
sophisticated electronic ignition system.

So was I right about the water pump?
Was it the bearing?

The bearing was very
rumbly deep inside the pump.

That's now sorted, so we are good to go.

I've been busy too.

I've gone and got us a couple
of replacement manifolds.

Now, remember, we want this
car to keep up with modern traffic,

we want it to run cooler, so I
had the manifolds ceramic coated,

and they dissipate the heat that
comes from the engine 33% more,

and that's guaranteed.

That is very cool, isn't it?

I have to say, though,
I'm slightly concerned

that all the things that we're doing
to this car are basically invisible,

and you've still got
to try and sell it for

loads more money than
we actually paid for it.

Let me give you some advice.

Don't you go worrying your
head about stuff like that.

I will.

You worry more about stuff like that.

Now, the next little detail I'd like to
look at is this rather strange device here,

which is essentially a
cooling jacket for the battery.

The reason it was necessary,

apparently, back in the day
when this car was first created,

it was fitted with that
rather wonderful V12 engine,

but there was so much
heat coming out of the engine,

the heat soak, when you
actually turned the engine

off, that it actually
used to fry batteries.

So they didn't physically
melt, but it did actually

do so much damage, it
would just k*ll them dead.

So the engineers came
up with a nice little solution.

They put a little fan on the front
here, that's actually drawing air

through this little air
jacket around the outside,

and that air is coming from this rubber
hose which goes through the bulkhead,

and ultimately comes from the fresh
air from the outside of the vehicle.

I imagine there's some kind of thermostat
inside here, which is turned on and off,

depending on how hot the battery is,

and of course, that actually
operates the little fan.

But the fan on our battery
housing isn't working.

Something inside the
cooling box is clearly complete.

Right, so this is our magical
battery cooling device.

You can see you've
got your fan on the front,

and it's a centrifugal fan, so
it's kind of flinging the air out,

and of course, that means it's actually
going to be sucking it in from this side.

And there's also this little
kind of metal device here.

Now this is kind of
like a bimetallic strip,

so the idea is that when
this actually heats up,

it'll flick from one way
to another and actually

turns on the fan, but
it wasn't connected,

so potentially there's
something wrong with the fan.

Yeah, and it feels
like it's kind of seized.

I've got hold of a wiring
diagram, and it looks like

the electrical circuit for
this is shared with the horn,

so someone may have disconnected
the battery box to avoid shorting that out.

But what's wrong with the fan?

OK, so let's have a look.

Well, actually, the fan isn't seized.

It just seems to be that the shaft is bent,

because it's actually rubbing on the
surface, kind of going up and down.

So what I need to do is
try and straighten the shaft,

and hopefully that
might be enough to fix it.

I really do hope so, because there's no
way I'd find a replacement one of these.

They're just too rare.

Now, I'm going to take a
little tip from Archery here.

If you want to find out if
an arrow is still straight,

you actually Chuck it up in the
air, but spin it at the same time.

And if it looks like
it's not really moving,

then everything's OK.

If it's wobbling around, then
clearly it's got a bit of a bend.

So I'm just going to
actually power up our motor.

So here we go.

And actually, that's pretty good.

I would say that is
actually pretty straight.

There's nothing wrong with the shaft.

It doesn't sound very good as a motor.

I might just take it apart a
bit, put a little bit of oil in there,

and hopefully try and
quiet down those bearings.

This is standard lubricating fluid
which won't fuse the internals.

It quietens the motor down,

but I still haven't discovered
why the fan wasn't working.

So our fan is working, which is lovely.

In fact, you can actually see
that there is that little wobble there.

When you fire it right
up, it flattens out nicely...

..and runs rather flat, which is fantastic.

The switch which turns it on
and off is controlled by heat.

Let's see if it does the job.

So I've now connected up a power supply

so we can have a little play
with our thermostatic switch.

Now, this is very clever.

It's a little bimetallic strip,
so you can see that side is

slightly brassy, whereas
that side looks more like steel.

And the idea is that the brass
actually expands and shrinks

more quickly than the steel
does under temperature.

So if you imagine you've got
your two bits of metal together,

at the moment it's sort of fitting
that way, so this is the brass side,

but then as the brass heats
up more quickly than the steel,

it'll then click over to the other side,
and that's what operates the switch.

So theoretically, if I
force it manually now,

what should happen is the fan should go on,

which it does, which is very cool.

So now let's add heat
and just see if that works.

Let's get it to the right sort of level.

What should happen is you
see the switch just click over.

There we go. Fantastic.

So when this gets hot enough,
the fan actually comes on.

It goes off again as soon
as everything's cooled down.

Brilliant.

And I think, actually,

I did think this was
some kind of connection.

I think it's actually
just a protective shield.

So what was the problem?

I can only conclude the fan was temporarily
seized or there was a loose connection,

but it's now working,

so it can go back in the car,

as can Mike's lovely new exhaust manifolds.

From the downpipe to the tailpipe,

Mike wanted to upgrade to a


It looks and sounds better,
and it will outlast the car.

You could perform this upgrade
at home, but get a mate to help,

as there'll be plenty of
wrestling to get it in place.

And always use a heat-curing
exhaust paste to seal the joints.

Finally, I reinstall the fan and radiator
and then top up with waterless coolant.

Now, Mike's idea with this car is to do
sensible and sensitive improvements,

and bit by bit, we are
definitely getting there.

And as far as the engine bay is
concerned, our XJC is in good order.

The Jag was already cool,

but now we've made it
more thermally efficient,

which will, in turn,
improve the running.

But our kitty isn't in such good shape.

We can't spend more than two
grand if we want to bag a profit

and have built, so far,
a touching 1,600 quid.

We desperately need that sky-high resale.

I always loved the look of the XJC
and found this lovely rust, for example.

I can't believe how good it
is, actually, on the paintwork.

It was already worth strong
money and a clean car.

Our strategy for adding value is to dial
in greater efficiency and better running.

I'm very happy with that.

But the Jaguar still has
a dicky steering column.

What was that?

And there's only £400 left in our kitty.

That's money I prefer not to spend.

Back in the day, this car was bristling
with all kinds of luxury features,

one of which is considered pretty
much standard on cars of today,

and that is the adjustable
reach on the steering column.

Now, it actually works beautifully,

but the problem is it also
works as you're driving along,

and that's because the
lock nut doesn't really do that

job any more, and it's not
really what Jaguar intended.

I need to remove the steering wheel
to expose the locking mechanism.

There's no airbag to move out of the way,

just a retaining nut.

Right, so we're just going to
wind the nut back on a little bit

because, as always, there's a
little taper that I have to break,

so I'm just going to pull it out,
and then by having the nut on,

it's going to stop the steering
wheel coming too far into my face.

So then, there we go,

and hopefully now it should come off.

Look at that. It just dropped down there.
What was that?

Oh, that is, in fact,
a little bit of taper.

It's worth tackling little jobs like these

because they can really hurt the
value of the car and put buyers off.

So this is our little reach-locking unit.

You can see the steering
wheel's going to go here.

It slides backwards and forwards,

and this nut is tightened up
against this little clamp here.

That's what actually does the locking.

To get inside, there's three little screws.

I'm just going to undo those
and see what's going on.

So now we just unscrew this all the way,

and there we go.

So we've now, inside there, got
our little taper, as I was expecting,

and on the inside of this,

you can see you've got another taper,

all these kind of fingers, and
the idea is, because of those gaps,

of course, when this is
then clamped up onto there,

it actually just crushes
these fingers onto the spines,

and that's what stops
everything moving around.

Looking at the tapered edge on here,

what you'd normally
expect is to have a really

nice, obvious kind of
straight ramp going down

because that's how it's
going to fit into this properly,

but actually, if you look at them,
they're sort of slightly curved.

If we can get hold of one, it'd be
great if we could actually change this.

And so I can.

With a bit of cooling around, I
get a new old stock part for just £20.

I'm just going to try our
new collet on the old one.

You can see straight away, actually,

that this new one has got a
nice, very, very definite angle.

It's dead straight,

and when it's offered
up against the old one,

you can really see how worn
away some of the edges are.

So having now seen this evidence,

I'm pretty convinced that this
should actually solve our problem.

There's only one way to find out.

I reassemble and get the
mechanism back into place on the car.

OK, so let's give it a go.

So we've got our nice
bit of adjustability here.

I set it somewhere in the middle
and then do up the lock nut.

We should now lock it
in position, which it does.

Fantastic.

Now, this is the last
job for me on the Jaguar,

so now it's over to Michael
to see if he can convert

our smart, good value
upgrade into some kind of profit.

The XJC is becoming highly collectible

and is arguably one of the
best looking Jaguars ever.

I've fallen in love with this car, and I
know its fantastic condition is backed up

with top line mechanicals
and smart upgrades.

I had to have a rust-free Jag XJ,

and this dealer car, fresh
in, was an opportunity.

Do you know what?

I've been missing out on one of motoring's.

greatest luxury car experiences.

But it was good, and I
had to pay top money.



Hold out your hand.

Yes!

Its first problem was on
winding water pump bearing.

Easy to fix on paper, but
life's not always like that.

Well, that's not ideal.

The grub screw is just sheared in two.

Ed made the ignition system
more reliable for everyday use.

I'm very happy with that.

And I found a cool way of
reducing heat from the engine.

And Ed installed a stainless exhaust
system for its look and also longevity.

The details were cheap to fix, thankfully,

and the Jag leaves
the workshop with all its

dignity intact, but a host
of discreet improvements.

We're going all out to
score a £16,000 sale,

but how much has it cost
to make the XJC perfect?

The electronic ignition was £200,

and we dropped £1,200 on the exhaust parts.

So we've come in under
our two grand budget,

at the price of the car,
and we're just over £13,000.

The XJC is ready to leave the workshop,

and because it's a
Jag, it's leaving in style.

Ed, what kind of person do
you reckon drives a Jaguar XJC?

Well, I think it'd be the sort of person
who'd have an eye for style first up.

The sort of person who can
appreciate that kind of old world,

you know, wood veneer, leather interior.

The sort of person who
likes a little bit of comfort.

Yeah, you're talking about us, aren't you?

We're gentlemen. We've got the Jaguar.

We've got the nice jackets.

I reckon, me and you, we
should sample that Jaguar lifestyle.

Oh, he's on the green. I'm on the green.

That's a cr*cker. That is awesome.

Wonderful. That's very nice.

Well, that was a lovely shot.

It was a good shot, wasn't it?

This is a good car.

Do you know what? I really like this motor.

It doesn't exactly feel like
it's in the first flush of youth,

but it still gets down the
road really, really well.

I like it.

Well, because of all the work that we've
done, obviously it now sounds a bit quieter,

it now kind of goes a bit better,

and it's a bit more reliable as well,
and when you actually think about it,

all of that without actually hurting what
made the car so good in the first place.

You are future-proof this car.

What's there not to like?

Well, exactly.

The thing is, though,

what should gentlemen like
ourselves actually do in a car like this?

What we should do is what we're doing, Ed.

Just wafting along, enjoying
the ride, driving down to a

beautiful village like that
we're just pulling into now.

Lovely Cotswold place
with lots of tourists around,

and we should just enjoy it.

Well, talk of enjoyment.

With that lovely straight six up front,

I'd imagine you'd normally be
doing donuts by now, wouldn't you?

If I was driving, yeah, I'd
probably be eating a donut.

Well, we haven't got time for any of
that because I'm in a rush to sell the car.

And what kind of money
are you driving for with this?

I'll see what you've done there.

Bit of a golf analogy.

Well, hopefully we'll get
a hole in one for £16,000.

You might get chipped on that.

Too much!

Now, I was going to advertise my
lovely Jaguar coupe for £16,000,

but just when I went to put it online,

a couple of others
appeared a little bit cheaper,

so I had to be a little bit
more realistic with my price

and lower my expectations,
so I've advertised it for £15,500.

Now, this guy behind me, Steve,

he'd come and see the
car not once, not twice.

This is the third visit, so come on!

I must be able to put a deal together.

So then, Steve, third visit.

You must like this car.

It keeps drawing me back, yeah.

The colour's stunning. Very nice indeed.

It is gorgeous, isn't it?

And I love the originality of this.

You know, it's got that lovely vinyl roof,

it's got that wicked interior.

So do you know anything about cars?

Yeah, I look after the Mercedes F1 engines.

So you know a little bit about engineering?

Yeah, I hope so.

So you would know that my
engineer, or my mechanic head,

has done a good job of
putting this one back together.

Yeah, yeah.

It's a very good car,

and that's why I think I'm
asking a very reasonable.

£15,500 for it.

What did you say?

It is reasonable, but
it's a bit over my budget.

What can it go to?

£15,000.

I can't let this car go for £15,000.

It's too nice.

Can you do £15,000, £2,000, £15,000?

Seriously, I couldn't.

Well, I don't think it's going to
get me spraying champagne.

on the top step of the podium,

but go on then, hold out your hand.

You just bought yourself a wicked car.

Well done.

Thank you.

A sale price of £15,000 gives
us just under £2,000 profit.

Looks like the decision
to start with a decent

car in the first place
has paid dividends.

We took a car that was already excellent,

and somehow we managed
to make it even better,

and we earned ourself
a nice little profit to boot.

If you want to see more classic cars
being turned around by me and Ed,

join us again soon on Wheeler Dealers.

Salah.