Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Two Kitties In The Garage

Dateline - May 31st 2011 - This weekend was the third anniversary of getting the XJ6 and after a year and a half of sitting on jackstands, I was thinking it was getting lonely all by herself. Cats can be that way. They are pretty solitary animals, but they do need companionship. So, after about a month of looking through ebay.com, craigslist.org and AutoTrader.com, and many, many CarFax searches, I found a really nice companion for my XJ6.

Let me introduce "Topaz".







She is a 2002 XK8, Fully loaded, single owner car, with 79K on the clock! This car just "purrrrrs" and is so fun to drive I have to pinch myself so that I don't think I'm dreaming! I've wanted one of these since they first came out in 1996. I just can't say how excited I am about it! I did debate over a convertible or coupe, but the coupe is just so gorgeous, and I live in Seattle! A convertible here means that I get to have the top down about 10 days a year!

Am I crazy owning two Jags! YUP! But I'm a happy crazy guy!

Meanwhile, work is still happening on the XJ6. I've purchased an industrial sewing machine to do the upholstery (Got to love Craigslist.org),



and have all the vinyl including 8 yards of tan and 2 yards of "Wine" for the dash and back deck tops. I also have the headliner material too. The thread and adhesives came in today, so I'm going to be a sawing and gluing fiend here soon!

I now have the driver side door panel, arm rest and side pocket glassed and ready to cover with vinyl.





The center console is done along with the kick panels and I've created the center console fascia in pink foam that will be covered in fiber glass and then carbon composite. I need to get the vinyl covering on the center console done first to make sure everything fits.



The passenger side door panel is carved but not yet glassed, but I do have the door handle and side pocket glassed and reinforced.

I also got a whole bunch of parts in. New rubber seals for just about everything (doors, door handles, locks, side markers, tail lights, backup lights, front directionals, and the bonnet), a new/used steering column to fix the bad lower column bearing that is shot, new brake master cylinder, brake hoses, side emblems (that will be used on the door panels) and a 5" "Leaper" for the hood!

I've got just about everything but the carpets and gas tanks at this point. Things may start happening soon. I do have to avoid the temptation to drive the new cat all the time, however! But such a bad temptation to have!