. This beautiful looking 1986 3.6 manual XJS was infact way beyond economical repair, due to terminal rot! Paintwork was mirror Finish, She looked stunning! Click on pic1 for full page view.

This is not intended to be a definitive guide to every little ailment that XJS's suffer from. You have to accept that a 20 year old car is going to have a few problems however well it has been maintained!

What I aim to achieve is pointing out the show stoppers!

BODYWORK

A lot of the problem areas are fairly obvious and similar to what you would expect to find on any mild steel constructed car of this age. Bodywork is normally OK if it looks good, i.e. if there are no signs of poor repairs like, sanding marks, odd contours, mismatched paint, ripples, poorly fitting panels and shutlines etc. Yes it is possible that there is rot and filler underneath, but usually a bodger would not go to the effort of making it look perfect. (If they are going to go to that much trouble they might as well repair it properly in the first place. They are much more likely to make it look just OK to the casual observer! If in doubt take an expert with you. If possible check with a torch the inside of the panels and carefully run your fingers around the back of wheel arches to check for bad repairs.(Be careful not to cut them open if you find some jagged rusty metal)

Bottoms of doors are very popular for rot on any car. The appearance of the inside bottom lip is more of a guide to its condition than the outside. These can be repaired but it is not going to be cheap by the time the whole side of the car has been resprayed if you desire a perfect match!

If you find an XJS with a good boot lid it will soon become the eighth wonder of the world! Again looking carefully at the inside lip is going to tell you more than the outside.

More importantly than the boot lid is the condition of the inner buttress's and rear window surround Check carefully for bubbles or repairs inside and out, including the channel that the boot seal attaches to. Repairing these areas properly is going to be nightmare. Don't forget that rust repairs are always far worse than you first imagined!

Check the A posts for rot, it is fairly rare but I once found a car that looked quite good generally but the door seemed to move more than it should have. On inspection it wasn't sloppy hinges but severe rot in the A post. Almost certainly a write off!

Check the area at the bottom of the windscreen either side of the window wiper grille. Bubbles or signs of repair around this area can mean a windscreen out job. Also bear in mind that if you are welding in this area you need to consider the proximity to wiring looms and all the electronics behind the dash. It can be repaired without destroying the car, but extreme care needs to be taken.

The area immediately below the rear side windows is yet another favourite for rot. Again it is difficult to repair as you will probably need to remove the window the rear seat, and the interior trim.

TO BE CONTINUED