06x09 & 06x10 - Jaguar XJS (Part 1 & 2)

[bunniefuu]

To Wheeler Dealers, we find iconic classic
cars that have fallen on hard times and we

give them a bit of spit and Polish
and make them feel great again.

I find the motors.

And I fix them up.

We've got a budget of up to
£5,000 to buy and restore a car.

And hopefully we're going to make
a little bit of profit when we sell it on.

That's the plan.

Now this time we're after a car
that was controversial when it

was new, but now it's considered
to be an appreciating classic.

We're looking for one of motoring's
unsung heroes, the Jaguar XJS.

At launch in 1975, it
raised a few establishment

eyebrows when it
replaced the classic E-Type.

It was too daring, too racy and
too shocking for some tastes.

But now classic car
fans love the big cat's

chrome detailing, distinctive lines
and lusty straight six or V12 engines.

This is a classic car that
can be driven every day,

and even better, they can
be had for very low money.

My strategy is to find a
cheap car and keep turnaround

costs super low, then we'll
be sure of bagging a profit.

When the Jaguar XJS was new, it cost a
bundle of cash, over £40,000 in some cases.

Now, I've been having
a look around and there's

a few out there,
especially late ones like

the convertible model
and that fetching top dollar.

But I don't want a car like that.

I want a car that I
can do some work on,

something that we can
spruce up, turn around

and earn a few quid out of it.

The Internet is a great
place to find an XJS.

My preferred spec is
a structurally sound car

with good paint and a
pokey 3.6 litre engine.

The V12s are cheaper
on account of their

first, and here's one that's quite
appealing at only 2,700 quid.

It's really interesting, this car.

It's got everything going for it, it's good
spec, and it's been converted to run on

LPG, liquid petroleum gas, which
means it'll be half the fuel bills.

So that is a car definitely worth ringing.

It needs minor work,
so it's worth having a

look, but I'll keep looking
and bang, here's another one.

A dealer is selling an


and judging by his
other stock of hatchbacks,

it's a trade-in.

Only 1,295 quid he wants rid.

I have got for you to see, I'll add it to
me less and I'll come out and have a look.

Is that right?

You're miles away.

If you waste me time, you're
going to pay for me petrol.

Time to hit the road and
check out the first car.

I'm on my way to go
and see an XJS V12, big

gas-guzzling engine, but it has been
converted to LPG, so rather exciting.

Well, there she is, it's a Jaguar XJS V12.

He did say it's got a nasty knot.

Oh, that is nasty as well, look at that.

So it's had a bit of a bang
in the front quarter panel.

Funny colour, isn't it?

It's not really a colour.

Sort of a bit dull.

The wheels are a bit
knackered, they're a bit pitted.

At the moment, do you know what?

It's just not talking to me.

Cars do communicate with
me and this one isn't doing it.

XJSs are not in short supply,
so it's on to the next car.

Right, I'm heading up north to go
and see a 3.6 that belongs to a dealer.

So he's going to be a tough negotiator,
but it's always worth trying to do a deal.

Well, I finally made it
all the way to Leeds.

It's been a long, long
journey, I've got to tell you.

They do say it is a bit colder up north,
and it certainly is, because we've still

got snow and ice on the cars, but I
hope I haven't had a wasted journey.

Well, this must be
the car, looks all right.

Let's meet the owner, Glyn.

Hello, mate, how are you?

Hi, Mac. I'm Mike, yeah.

Thanks.
A few problems with the bodywork, you said.

Right, but first of all, this bonnet,
Glyn, what's going on there, mate?

Common fault, XJS, if you don't know.

Is that because as you
push them down it...?

Yeah, bonnet catches, push up.

Gotcha. Can I have a look underneath?

Of course you can, yeah.

Blimey, that really is rotten.

Engine, all that good? Lovely, yeah.

Sweet as a nut.

God, it's huge.

Up a 3.6.

Good runner. Good runner.

No mechanical work, then, Stu?

No, nice spot on.

Gearbox, everything.

Right, that's quite nasty,
isn't it, the old door handle.

But looks all right inside.

Lever seats, just like a Jaguar should be.

Oh, the headlining.

Yeah, it's a common classic
car problem, you know,

parked in the garage, gets damp, sags.

Looks like a kook.

It does, doesn't it?

Right, so the headlining,
when they replace it,

there's a bit of a cracking
on the console as well.

It's not real, would it?
It's laminate, it lifts.

Well, you did describe it
accurately on the phone.

It is exactly what I was
expecting when I got down here.

I know it's not, you know, the
crown jewels in terms of money.

All I need to do is drive it, really,
and make sure it drives right.

No problem, yeah. No problem.

All right, and, Glim, thank you very much.

Thank you.

Leave your keys so
you don't run off with it.

I won't run off with it, I promise.

Cheers, Glim.

OK, thanks.

Oh, here we go.

It's not missing a beat.

Silky smooth.

Kick...

Lovely power delivery.

I mean, you put your
foot down and you can

feel that big 3.6-litre
straight-six engine.

just drag the car up the road.

Mechanically, I think
we're on to a right winner.

I'm more concerned
about the amount of work

we need to do on the
bodywork of this car.

The bonnet, for instance,

I think we're going to have to replace it.

It's in a bit of a mess.

We've got this mess on the interior.

This is all broken and the headlining is
rotten and there is a few quid to spend.

So I'm going to go back
and I'll offer him, say, 800 quid

and I shall think he'd be
delighted to see the back

of this car and he'd be
delighted to take my 800 quid.

Well, that's the hope. Fingers crossed.

Not bad.

Interesting being rear-wheel
drive on this snow and ice.

It's not bad at all.

I'll give you 800 quid for it.

What do you mean no?



You can't have 500 pound off a car.

Why not?

Look at the pedigree it's got.

It's got every MOT from you.

Look at that. Blimey, every MOT.

Seriously.

When you're buying a car, things like this,

the pedigree of a
car, especially like this,

is as important as
the car itself, isn't it?

It still doesn't change my mind now.

I'll give you 900 quid for it.

Come on.





That's the best I could do.

It was a trade sale, drive it away.



No, I really want to stick at 900 pound.

I'm going to throw so much.

Can't do it. Can't do it.

I'm going to leave it then.

I've had a blooming wasted journey.

Well, that's the price.

Oh, come on, Glyn.

Come on.

That's the price.



I'll tell you where we're at, haven't we?

I can feel it already.

Right?



I'll meet you in the middle.



Bag of sand.

Today, drive it away.

It's all the same.

Yes.

That's it.

I got myself a Jaguar.

Cheap Jaguar.

I'm back now and I can't tell you
how pleased I am with this car.

I mean, I'm really pleased.

Electric windows, cruise control,

worn out dashboard,

air conditioning,

leather seats,

electric mirrors,

electric heated seats.

It's got everything for 1000 pounds today.

I'm a little bit worried, though,
because I haven't put the whole

car on the ramp yet and I don't
know what's lurking underneath.

And cars like this, you know, old cars,

they just get to the edge
where they're just tipping over

and you can start throwing money
at them that you'll never, ever recoup.

But I've got a funny feeling that I've
bought a proper little gem of a car here.

We're going to turn this baby around
and we're going to make this cat roar.

It sounds like Noddy's
car turning up, doesn't it?

How are you, Ed?

All right, mate.

Hey, look what I've got!

A Jaguar XJS.

All right, well, looking at it
from a distance, there's clearly...

No, no, I've noticed already
there's a nasty bit of rust...

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,
whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

A little bit of spit and Polish, Ed.

You've got nothing to worry about.

Or we might just have to get a new bonnet.

Sit inside, Ed.

Okay, okay.

And isn't that nice?

It's pretty nasty.

I mean, look at this veneer for a second.

It's all in bits and pieces.

It's going to be quite expensive
to get hold of one of these.

Oh, I can find one of those.

Nice veneer interior.

We're surrounded by wood.

I mean, how hard could it be?

Are you having a laugh?

The headlining is absolute toast.

It's a five-minute job.

Have a look under the bonnet.

Pull the bonnet for us.

Let's have a look where the business ends.

This is what Jag do quite
well, so let's have a look in here.

Right, well, underneath
here, Edward, look at this.

Look, ready?

Oh, okay.

That's a nice... A straight six.

That's a lovely little engine, isn't it?

It is fantastic, Ed.

The thing about this
lovely powerful engine, of

course, is that it's
really hard on gearboxes.

So what's the state of the gearbox?

Why?

Are they tricky to fix?

Yes.

Really?

Very.

Well, you'd be pleased to know
there's nothing wrong with this one.

It's absolutely perfect.

Goes in and out of gears, lovely.

There's no clunking.

Well, I'll give it a service
anyway, just to be safe.

Trust me, I think a car like
this, for a thousand pounds,

it was worth every single penny.

Our XJS is absurdly good value,

with image, luxury,
performance, and style on its side.

It's untidy right now, but I
know Ed can sort her out.

The market's tougher used Jags,

so there's big pressure on us to
make a decent wedge on our big cat.

This is Wheeler Dealers,
and this is our Jaguar XJS.

As befits a Wheeler Dealers
motor, it's crying out for TLC.

The bonnet, for instance, I think
we're going to have to replace it.

It's in a bit of a mess.

We've got this mess on the interior.

This is all broken, and
the headlining is rotten.

There is a few quid to spend.

Not a huge surprise on a car that costs,
wait for it, just one thousand pounds.

Of course, being cheap, we've
probably also bought a lot of trouble.

A classic example of
that is the centre console.

It should be a really simple job,

but the process is going
to take absolutely ages,

so I'm going to start with that.

Jag interiors are well put together,

but easy to dismantle using only
some screwdrivers and spanners.

The ashtrays and switches lift
out with a little gentle persuasion.

OK, there is a small
catch to this, of course.

What's happened is the varnish has cracked,

and that's actually broken the veneer with
it, and the veneer is stuck to some metal.

So it's not something I can
just sand down and repair,

and unfortunately Mike hasn't been
able to track down a second-hand one,

partly because they're getting
very few and far between now,

but also most of the ones that are
still left have the similar sort of damage.

So what's next?

Replace the veneer with my DIY fix-it.

First, chip off the old veneer.

Then, clean up the surface
ready for the replacement panel.

I got this new cherry veneer
from a local cabinet maker for £20,

and used the old panel as a template.

A professional re-veneer is around £200,

so this is worth trying if you can.

You can see it's not exactly flat.

That's going to give me a bit of
a problem when I come to glue it,

because, of course, our
centre console isn't very

flat either, so when I
put these down together,

I need to push all these lumps
and bumps as flat as I can.

And, of course, I can't put it in a
normal press because of this funny shape

and also these big sharp
bits of metal on the back.

So what I am going to
do is use the weight of air.

Now, that might seem a bit strange, but
I've borrowed a vacuum pump and vacuum bag

from a local cabinet maker, and
the idea is I'm going to put these,

sort of like a sandwich
with the glue in there,

a little sandwich of metal
and wood, into this bag,

turn the pump on, it
sucks all of the air out,

which means the entire
weight of all that air above me

is going to be pushing
these two things together,

and the idea is these little
lumps will be squashed flat.

Let's hope so.

I'm using a quick-drying contact
adhesive to stick the wood to the metal.

Next, I roll the veneer as flat as possible
and then insert it into the vacuum bag.

I've got to make sure
there's no kind of ruckles.

Pop this bit of plastic,

work it all the way through.

Okay, start the pump.

Now, what should
happen here is that this

bag, all the air is
going to be coming out.

You can see it's already
finding the various areas

where the holes are for
the switches and things.

So once I've finished getting
rid of all these little bumps,

I need to leave it in this bag
with the pump on for five hours.

So I'll get on with something else.

I think maybe I'll get my hands dirty.

Everyone knows that
changing the engine oil is

important, but the gearbox
oil often gets forgotten,

and it's essential to keep
fluids fresh on a car of this age.

Now, you can see there the
colour is not good to start with.

It's kind of like a horrible brownie green.

It should be a lovely bright pink, rather
like cherryade but without the bubbles.

I'm going to attempt a gearbox flush,

also known as a fluids and filter change.

It's not a particularly glamorous
job, but it's worth doing it yourself.

You could save up to a hundred pounds.

There's a little drain
plug on the back here.

Often, they don't bother.

You just have to undo the sump
in one go, but luckily we're okay.

Now, you can see this fluid
isn't looking very, very nice,

but the reason it's so
important to be in good

condition is because
an automatic gearbox,

imagine, is like a load of shafts

and kind of like a load
of clutches in a line,

and in between those metal
plates are actually bits of paper,

and that paper is what transmits
the torque, which is mad.

It won't work without that fluid,

because imagine if it got
dry, they're just going to burn.

It's just going to basically set on fire.

I'm swapping the oil
filter inside the gearbox,

and to get to it, I need
to remove the sump,

a reservoir for the oil at
the base of the gearbox.

There's our old oil filter.

It might not look like a normal oil filter,

but the fluid goes in
through that hole there.

and comes out of there
into the sump from there.

And you can see, talking about the sump,

we've got a rubber gasket
seal that goes down the top,

so I'll take that off, because
that's going to be changed.

And you can see these two lumps in here.

They're actually magnets.

There you go.

So you can see little iron filings,

because, of course, as the
gearbox gets worn, perhaps if

you put it into park, where
you're still moving it, that...

goes in, bits of metal being
chipped off the gearbox,

and rather than ending
up in the very, very

important sort of galleries
around the gearbox,

they get picked up by these little magnets.

So this is going to clean off all
the iron filings from our magnets.

Jags are popular,

so getting standard mechanical
parts for them isn't a problem.

So this is our new filter.

They're looking considerably cleaner.

Okay, so let's pop that
O-ring back into place.

And there we have it.

The filter and the sump are
ready to go back on the car.

Mustn't forget those little magnets,

so just drop them into position.

With the sump back on,

now I need to put in the new gearbox oil.

You can clearly see it's
a lovely cherry red colour.

That's what I was looking for before.

Cycling through the gears
draws fluid into the system,

so I know the level of the
gearbox dipstick will be accurate.

You mustn't overfill the fluid,

because it could damage the gearbox,

so it makes sense to fill it up gradually.

That's pretty good.

So it's now on maximum for cold.

Obviously, I will at some
point take it for a test drive,

get the engine and the
gearbox nice and warm,

and then test it
again on the hot scale.

But for now, I've got the peace of mind

that the fluid has been
changed, as is the filter.

Five hours is up.

The centre console is now out of the bag.

I've actually cut out the holes
that go in the middle here,

and I've now dressed it
over as well with a little

bit of sandpaper, so it's
now ready for lacquer.

But what I'm going to
use is normal car lacquer,

because a varnish with a little bit of colour
would make that go a little bit darker,

and this is exactly
the right colour, I

reckon, so far for the
interior of our vehicle.

I'm going to have to put loads
and loads of coats of this on,

flatten it back, and then Polish it
to get a really lovely deep shine.

But the first coat has to be a dust coat.

A first dust coat acts as a kind of seal,

and the following coats
eventually add the deep shine,

the way it should be on a Jag.

This is looking really lovely.

I've probably put maybe eight
or ten coats of lacquer on there.

I was actually expecting to
have to flat it off and Polish it,

but actually it's come out
really, really lovely and shiny,

just like all the rest
of the wood in this car.

And if you look at that colour match,

it's come out really rather well.

All that remains is
to reinstall the veneer,

making sure that the inserts and switches

are securely back in place,

to avoid rattles on the road.

Wow, would you look at that?

Definitely worth all of the effort.

It matches the rest of the wood.

It makes it a very pleasant place to be,

and of course it was quite a laborious
process, but we have saved a few quid,

and I think it was well worth it.

But there's still plenty
to do with this interior.

Now this headlining, you
can see it's actually dirty,

but also, like a lot of cars from this era,

they seem to have a problem
with actually trying to retain

or keep the fabric attached
to the padding behind.

Now somebody has
had a go at fixing it before,

there's all these little
bits of thread trying

to hold the headlining
to whatever's behind it.

They've also tried glue,
clearly that didn't work either.

But what I have managed to do
is get hold of a replacement panel

that will actually just
change this all together.

Once the visors and
interior lights have come out,

the side panels that butt up
against the door can slide out.

Oh, there we go.

Three companies told me you
can't get replacement headlining,

but I managed to find one
on the Internet for £242.

This is our new headlining.

I'm just unwrapping it.

Got these rolls here of fabric.

Now these are going to go around
these caps that we took off earlier on.

You can see they're pretty
horrible, really, really grubby.

So I need to peel all this fabric
off and then relay it with this stuff.

So now it's just a matter of
loosely trimming the fabric

and attaching it to the panel
using a spray-on upholstery glue.

That's looking pretty neat.

Much better than what we had on before.

It's a little fiddly.

Bit of perseverance will be there.

I always knew that this job
was going to be a bit of a faff,

all that cutting and gluing and fiddling
around, but clearly it was worth the effort.

This new headlining has
completely transformed the interior,

and now I've done the centre console
as well, this interior is totally sorted.

Ed?

Yes?

Hold on a minute.

I gave you this car days ago,
and what have you done to it?

Nothing.

How dare you? How dare you?

For a start it's drier than when you
gave it to me, that's the first thing,

but actually all the work has
been done on the inside of the car.

Check out that centre console,
remember how horrible that was?

Wow, that's fantastic.

How about the headlining?

Oh, what a job.

And I have done more than just the interior,
I also did some stuff under the bonnet,

so remember of course
that lovely, strong, powerful

engine gives the gearbox
a bit of a hard time,

so I've changed the transmission
fluid, and it wasn't a moment too soon.

Good.

What we need to do now,
Ed, is address this bodywork.

Well, yes, and to that end you
still need to get me a bonnet.

Look at it, it's hopeless.

Well, when I got the car
I knew the bonnet was a

little bit perished, but
it's got no better, has it?

It's completely past that you're
going to have to get me another one.

But if you can get me one that's the same
colour, it should be quite an easy fix,

I can just unbolt it from there
on the hinges and swap it over.

Nice and simple, I've
got one in my jacket, Ed.

You want me to go out and buy you a
bonnet for an XJS in the same colour?

How hard can that be, come on?

Well, let's hope it's not too difficult,
but I will get onto that for you.

Good, so we're saving some
money, I'm really pleased.

There is one other slight, well,
should we call it a bombshell?

Actually, it's a bit of a nightmare.

I noticed when I was
playing around with the

gearbox that you can
see the engine moves.

Engines should move in the engine bay.

Not that much, it is pretty
serious and on further inspection

it turns out that there's a big
mount at the back of the gearbox

and that's completely perished, so we're
going to need to buy a new one of those.

Right, it needs to be
done, so leave that to me.

You get on and finish the car.

Alright.

So far the big cat has
been easy on the kitty.

We've got well over three grand
left from our five grand budget,

but there's still work to do.

Including replacing the
bonnet and sorting out that

new problem Ed has
identified, the gearbox mount.

Let's hope we can keep
turnaround costs super low.

It's the only way to
make money on this baby.

The XJS is a glamorous
and pacey grand tourer.

Launched in 1975 to replace the E-Type,

our 1986 car cost more than 40 grand new.

Of course, old jags don't always run smooth

and this one definitely
needed Ed's magic touch.

Are you having a laugh?

The headlining is absolute toast.

It's a five minute job.

The interior wood had seen better days,

so Ed's come up with a
DIY fix that sorted that.

Well, would you look at that.

He flushed out the
gearbox fluids and good job,

it was quite nasty stuff in there.

Plus, that sagging headlining got
swapped out for a brand new one.

Bit of perseverance will be there.

So we're certainly one on the
way to getting this cat to roar.

We've got £5,000 to buy and restore a car

and we've still got more than
three grand left in the kitty.

Later on, I'm going to
go looking for a buyer for

our Jag but Ed has still
got plenty of work to do.

before we can ever hope to get it sold.

Now, I have told the tall
man to keep the cost down.

That's because there's plenty of
second hand XJSs out there on the market

and I need our one to
stand out from the crowd.

So, Edward, it's over to you, me old bean.
Get on with it.

I've done the interior
cosmetic work on this car.

Now it's time to get dirty underneath.

When I was working on the gearbox flush,

I spotted a couple of areas
needing urgent attention.

I've noticed that this
gator, this steering

gator, is actually a
bit wet, a bit moist.

And on further inspection, you can
see there's a big split in the gator.

Problem is, if dirt gets into there,

what's going to happen is
eventually that dirt's going

to get onto those seals,
onto those mated surfaces,

and eventually they're
going to be more of a leak

and then you're going to have
to replace the steering rack.

And, of course, that is going to
cost you a good few hundred pounds,

whereas, of course,
to replace one of these

now is only going to
cost a couple of pounds.

To remove the steering gator, I
need to whip off the track rod ends.

There we go.

One, two... To keep the steering
geometry exactly as it was,

I need to count the number of turns
on the track rod end as I remove it.



So I just remember 13 and a
half and I wind that back on again.

That will put it in exactly the same place.

There we go.

OK, I'm just going to
pop this into position.

With two cable ties at each end,
the gator is fixed and ready to go.

I've now got the important
thing of putting on track rod ends.

I need 13 and a half turns.

Four, five, six, ten,
eleven, twelve, thirteen.

So that is where we need to go.

OK, that's nice and tight.

So now push that into
position and then do it up.

Well, that's that done.

So we've got a nice new gator.

The steering rack's in all right condition.

So now at least it's
protected for a few more years.

Ed's been moaning.

Our bonnet is too far gone to fix.

So I've tracked down a
specialist breaker that has one.

It would just need a respray
to match the colour of our car.

Wow, look at this place.

Hello there.

Oh, hello.

You must be Graham.

I am indeed.

Hello Graham, I hope
you've got clean hands.

You have got clean hands.

Early in the morning.

A Mike spoke on the phone
about the Jaguar parts.

Oh yes.

What an amazing business you've got.

Why is it these days that I can't
go into a modern car dealership,

stand at the parts counter like I used to

and go and buy parts for,
say, a 20 or 30 year old car?

Well, really, I think it's because
they are 20, 30 years old.

Ford and the owners of Jaguar
can no longer really bother.

to replenish those stocks

and so really the only source is
end of life donor vehicles like this one.

Now I've come to buy a bonnet for our XJS.

Indeed.

Yep, that's the one we had in mind.

Oh, fantastic.

Super.

£120.

I can rest on my foot.

£120.

That would be safer actually.

That's an easy job for
my mechanic head to do.

Really just bolt it straight on?

It's a doddle, yes.

You've got all the clips and everything.

Put a bit of rust preventative around the
gills because that's where they always go.

So just as a precaution,
you really must do that.

Would you mind giving
me a hand, put it in the car?

That's great.

Yeah, I'm fine.

Ooh, didn't realise it was as heavy.

I'm a bit lighter now because you've
just relieved me of £120 though.

It's time to address the
hot potato with this car.

I noticed before that the
engine was moving around

too much and the gearbox
mount might be the culprit.

I need to have a look, see what's going on.

It might mean I have to replace all of this

but the only way I'm
going to find out is by

taking this off and
having a good look around.

Before I can start trying to
take off this gearbox mount

I need to support the
weight of our transmission.

Now, normally if you're doing loads
and loads of engine and gearbox work

in a workshop and you happen to have
a ramp you'll have a transmission Jack

which is basically a big hydraulic
ram with a little cradle on the top

and that is used to support
the weight of a transmission.

If you haven't got one
of those, just like myself

it doesn't take long to make
something that works the same way.

I've got myself a bottle Jack,
nice cheap bit of kit there.

I've got a tube, drilled a hole
in it and put a bolt at the end

so it's got a stop inside there which means
I can then pop that onto the trolley Jack

and you can see it's
not going to fall anywhere

but also the trolley Jack's
got something to push on.

I've then got myself a pad
that comes off a trolley Jack

that just pops into there
and again, nice and secure

and then I just pop that into position
which has taken up the weight.

I can now undo the
bolts for this mount safely.

Okay, well it's looking
very filthy for one thing.

Loads of rust in there, the
spring's actually quite corroded.

This spring is so
rusty it's no surprise

that it isn't supporting
the gearbox properly

and it seems to be the
cause of the extra wobble.

There's no need to replace the whole mount

all I need to do is
replace the internal parts.

I'm just going to give this a good clean

can't really put it back
on the car looking this

filthy so I'm scraping
off the worst of the dirt

and then I'll go into the parts
washer and get it looking spotless.

It's good practice to thoroughly
clean all the bits going back on the car

or a garage will degrease
engine parts for you for a fee.

So I've got all my bits of rubber
here and the Springs as well.

If we compare that
with the old one this is

all looking much more
shiny and brand new again

so hopefully that should be perfect.

Reassembly is plain
sailing but make sure the

rubber gaskets and Springs are seated
properly before tightening everything up.

There we go.

This is the slightly tricky part.

What I need to do is compress
that spring and then do the bolts up

and of course it's going to take
two hands to compress the spring

and I might well get the
assistance of Paul to give us a hand.

Paul.

Okay.

Paul.

Push this up into position and we're
going to try and get it onto there like so.

Is that good?

Yep, there you go.

Okay, so that is now all bolted in.

Now I'm just going to take the strain
off the jacket onto our new mount.

It hasn't fallen out which is a good sign.

So let's have a look.

Let's see if this is fixed.

And you can see it's still
moving but nothing like

as much as before
which means it's all sorted.

Look after the pennies and the
pounds will look after themselves.

Well, our Ed has been
watching the pennies alright

and the Jag is well on
its way to being saved.

But there's restoration
work to be done on the grills

and bright work and my
new bonnet needs to go on

so we really can't afford to find
any more problems with our cool cat.

I bought our classy Wheeler
Dealers XJS for just a bag of sand.

A grand.

My strategy with the Jag is to find a cheap
car and keep turnaround costs super low.

Then we'll be sure of bagging a profit.

Keep coming Ed.

Keep coming.

There's he.

It cost me £110 to get
this bonnet resprayed.

And there you go.

One Jaguar XJS bonnet.

Perfectly matched paintwork for this car.

Nice job.

And that one was so rusty.

This is going to be such
a much easier fix isn't it?

Well it's easy to do isn't it?

All you've got to do is take the
bolts off, change that one over,

put the Jag badge on,
we've got a car ready to go.

Right, you get it screwed on,

I'll put the kettle on.

Fair enough.

Now I'm doing the gas drops first because
if I didn't when I came to undo the hinges

the bonnet is going to
be trying to force itself

off the car which is
going to end in tears.

So it's much safer to get these
things off and out of the way.

To get at the bolts for the bonnet
hinges you have to remove the grille first.

OK, so now the bolts
that hold the bonnet to

the hinge are undone
as are the gas struts.

So all I have to do now
is take the bonnet off.

Just come straight up.

There you go.

Brilliant.

A brand new bonnet plus fitting would
easily have been around 700 pounds.

So I reckon this salvage swap
has saved us around 500 quid.

Now we're just going to do the hinges
up, get them nice sort of finger tight.

Then we can attach the gas
struts and then we can move

the thing around, make
sure it fits and sits nicely.

That should be within all the shut lines.

OK, so if you shut the
bonnet down, I now have the

bonus that this bonnet has
actually got a catch as well.

It's got the safety catch.

I'll just close it down
to see what happens.

Not bad at all.

Oh, look at that.

That's fantastic.

That's really, really good.

So it fits perfectly.

It's the right colour.

Mike's done alright with that, I think.

The job is not quite finished.

This tired looking scuttle
is being shown up by the

resprayed bonnet and
a lick of paint would help.

Now this scuttle is
held on with four bolts.

We've got two on the front here
and two little ones on the back,

but also it's held on with the windscreen
wiper, so I need to undo those as well.

Now I can't actually seem to get these,

the windscreen wiper spindles
out, so let's have a look.

It's moving around a lot.

So the entire windscreen wiper mechanism

has actually bolted to
the back of the scuttle,

which is a bit of a pain
and I didn't need to take

those other bits off, but
I can just unplug it here.

There we go.

Okay, cool.

So now we can prep this and paint it.

Okay, here's our scuttle.

Now it's a bit different to most cars

because you've got the windscreen
wiper mechanism actually attached to this.

Most cars would have this attached to
the car somewhere, but it doesn't matter.

The good thing is it's
got these little protective

flaps to stop water
getting onto this kind of,

the mechanism, if you
like, the moving parts.

So what I'm gonna do is I'm
gonna make the most of that.

I'm actually gonna prep it and
paint it with that on the back.

I'm just gonna mask
up these little spindles.

Now I've been over the
whole grill with an abrasive pad,

so it's got a nice key,
but also where there's little

chips of paint I've actually
softened the edges.

with a bit of 600-grip sandpaper.

So now that's ready for paint,

but also there was another bit of rust

that Mike was complaining about
at the front of the car and it was this.

This is the front grill that goes
sort of underneath the bumper.

You can see it's in pretty sorry state.

So before I get on with the painting,

I'm just gonna prep this as well.

Grinding off the rust is best done
using a wire brush attachment.

This will clean up the main areas,

but for the harder-to-reach places,

I've got this snazzy
air-powered belt sander,

which you can pick up for a few quid.

As is often the case when you're
having to paint parts from a car,

you might have to use
aerosols or rattle cans.

Well, if you have to do that,
especially in a cold workshop,

one thing that's really
good, if you actually heat

up these metal parts
before you put the paint on,

it's actually gonna help
stop the paint from running.

Now these are ready.

Now this grill from our Jaguar is in
a pretty unpleasant place on the car.

It's right underneath the bumper.

It gets all the stones
and all the stuff coming

off the road, so it gets
quite a lot of abuse,

which is why it was so rustic.

So what I've done, instead
of using normal primer,

I've actually used stone chip,

and the stone chip is a
slightly more rubberized formula,

so it actually protects against more
damage, but also it's slightly textured,

so all that rust pitting that was
going on, this kind of covers it up

and makes it look like an even texture,

so that way, I haven't got
to spend hours and hours

trying to Polish something
which is never gonna come out.

As always,

before we can paint our cast
aluminium scuttle with a top coat,

it has to be primed.

Bit of satin black should look great.

The trick here is to build up the layers
gradually because if it goes on too thick,

it will probably run,

so it's not worth rushing
this part of the job.

When parts go back on the car,

it's a good time to check
and replace any rusty bolts.

Just goes to show that with a few
quid and a couple of hours work,

you can really make a
difference to a car's appeal.

Mike moaned about the
rust on this door handle,

so he got me this
salvaged part to swap over.

All it takes is a swift
removal of the door card,

two bolts, and it's replaced.

Another small change that adds
value when the buyers look over the car.

Now once this finishing
touch is bolted down,

this car is ready.

Okay, I'm gonna have to clean it, but
when you think there are quite a few jobs

that were crying out to be done on
this vehicle, but now they're sorted,

I'm gonna have to
admit that although this is

a cheap car, it's a lot
of car for your money.

This 70's styling rattled the
purist when it was launched

and now is an established
and usable classic.

And this one might have
ended up on the scrapyard,

but instead it's looking like a show car.

Ladies and gentlemen, an
XJS to feast your eyes on.

The XJS is in plentiful supply,

but it took work to find
this tired 3.6 from a dealer,

and I gave just a grand for it.

The interior wood veneer
was sad and chipped,

but Ed's DIY replacement
gave it showroom appeal.

The saggy headlining
can't be replaced according

to experts, but I found
a great kit on the net.

The gearbox fluids and filters would
change to give the gearbox a longer life.

A leaking gator was swapped
over for a brand new part,

and Ed traced a wobbling
gearbox to a rusty spring

inside the undercar
mount and replaced that.

The broken bonnet needed to be changed.

I found one at a Jaguar salvage
specialist and got it resprayed.

Ed just bolted it on.

Some final cosmetic tweaks meant we had a
Jaguar that was no longer looking its age.

Ed was under pressure to keep costs down,

so how did he do?

The veneer was £20.

Gearbox fluids and filters, £42.

The headlining, £242.

The gator, £42.

The spring, £75.

The bonnet and respray was £240.

And the sorted parts and consumables, £30.

Throw in the cost of the car at a grand,

and we spent just £1,691.

Great! Not even £2,000!

Wow! Look at the Jag, Ed! Fantastic!

It's like stepping back in time.

It's like being in a Jaguar
showroom, circa 1980s.

Mate, it looks brand spanking new.
Well done.

Well, thank you very much.

I've really had to get my
hands dirty with this car,

but now I think she's
where she needs to be.

And we managed to keep
this super-car transformation

super-cheap, what with your second amp
on it and my thrifty work on the interior.

Fantastic. Well, before we see
if all your hard work equals cash

in the back pocket, I reckon me and you
ought to take it for a drive one last time.

Yeah.

Quite put my finger on it that there's
something wrong with this motor.

I've been having a go at my workmanship.

At the end of the day, I've spent hours
on this car, making it look this good.

It's not your workmanship.
That's brilliant.

I know what it is.

We're driving something
that owes us less than £2,000.

This Jaguar XJ is one happy motor.

It's going up and
down through the

gears beautifully,
holding the road nicely.

It feels fantastic.

Well, it is still a luxury motor,

and the engine is lovely and quiet.

It's kind of got a
cosseting, kind of

lovely, huggy feeling
about it on the inside.

Ed, the devil is in the details in cars
like this because when I got this car,

it was like an old,
leaky ship, to be honest

with you, but now
it's as tight as a drum.

It feels fantastic, and
if there is somebody in

the market out there
who wants this kind of

car, they're going to
be mightily impressed.

Well, of course, the plan is
they're going to be so impressed

that actually opening their
wallet just a little bit wider.

Well, that would be nice,

but I will tell you, Ed,
there's plenty of cheap XJs

out there on the market,
but this car is the right spec.

It's the 3.6-litre engine.

Oh, so there's nearly a couple of grand,

and I reckon three grand.

The first person that comes
through the door offers me a bit less.

I'm going to bite their arm off.

Yeah.

The Jaguar is a mainstream classic car,

and I put large ads on
standard classified Internet sites

and printed weekly inkies to
guarantee maximum exposure.

Two buyers made an appearance quickly,
but they weren't making the right noises.

Regrettably, I've seen a better one, so
I must take my leave of you. Take care.

Thank you very much for popping down, mate.

Anyway, cheers.

She's a lovely car, but it's not for me.

OK, mate.

Well, I always knew our big
cat was going to be a tough sell,

and I was a bit cheeky
with a price at 2,950.

A little bit unrealistic, maybe.

Well, you never know.

There are plenty of people out
there with a bit of disposable income,

and I reckon Sean might be one of them.

Let's just hope I can close him down.

Right then, Sean.

She's lovely, isn't she?

Yeah, not bad.

So you can see the
paintwork's all in good Nick.

Yeah, it's pretty good, innit?

I will be honest with you, though.

This bonnet was a little
bit rusty on the corners,

but I've actually replaced the
whole bonnet, and it's transformed it.

All right, well, you wouldn't expect
every panel to be original, would you?

Of course not. Of course not.

Straight six, absolutely
beautiful cruiser on the motorway.

Inside, it's all been tidied up as well.

You can see it's got brand-new headlining.

We've done a little bit of woodwork here.

We've tidied all that up and
given the leather a spruce.

Yeah, she's pretty tidy inside.

Lovely, isn't it?

Yeah, yeah.

So, there you go.

I think you've seen it all.

I know you've driven it,
and you like the way it drives.

All I need to do, really, is get it sold.

So I've advertised it for 2,950 quid.

You're here. You must be interested.

I'm interested, but not at that price.

Go on, then. What price?

I'm thinking more realistically
for me, probably two grand.

Two grand? That was a kick.

Right. 2,000 pounds.

Well, she's seen a bit of action.

Let's be fair, she's not
straight out of the box, is she?

I was being a bit cheeky, I think.

I think I was being a bit... Three grand.

Listen, you can have a
couple of hundred quid off.



And I think for that, it's a right bargain.

I'll come up to 2,250.

I know we're going to end up being you,

so I don't want to go for all
the flannel mucking around.

Okay, go for it and see if we can agree.

Two and a half grand,
cash, and the car's yours.

I tell you what, you knocked
me 50 quid out of that

for some fuel to get me
home when we're due.

You've got a tank in it.

Well, I was going to
have a full tank, isn't it?


away a fairly happy man.

Only if you promise next time I go
and buy cars, you'll come with me.

So you've got yourself a lovely motor.

Thank you very much.

All told, this car made
almost 760 pounds profit

on our only paid-a-gram
for it in the first place.

Ed and I have worked hard,
but we've been lucky too.

Let's hope the Jag delivers plenty of
trouble-free motoring for the new buyer.

The most controversial
Jag of all time has settled

in quite nicely and is
now firing on all cylinders.

Our lucky owner has bought a
super car done on the super cheap,

thanks to my savvy and a
few of Ed's ingenious fixes.

If you want to see some more iconic
motors getting a turnaround treatment,

then join us again soon
on Wheel Of Dealers.

Ta-la!