Novice Mechanic, SoCal. motorscooter aficionado

[theLeopard]

Hey there.

Born in San Diego, grew up in Washington State, recently returned to San Deigo.
I'm attending school to be a Commercial Diver, paying out my buddy to repair a '90 Jaguar Sovereign, and just bought myself a '92 FJ1200 to commute to school and enjoy the evenings.

This is my little thread, feel free to ask any questions or simply say hello.
Glad to be here. I love my bike, now I'm just trying to understand her as best I can.
Interested in gaining mechanical knowledge so any tips are appreciated.

[FJmonkey]

You have plenty of friends in San Diego.... Welcome dude...

[movenon]

Welcome the FJ school ! In learning the fist thing I would (and did) do is go back and scan all the threads, yea it takes a few nights. Then go to the files section and scan through those.  The Gallery has a ton of pictures to check out.  If you want to learn about the bike get a service manual.  They are on e bay all the time. You will use it a lot over time.  It helps ask better questions  .
George

[theLeopard]

thanks, George. happy to be here, looking forward to making this a lasting forum for myself and getting to know the other persons.

You have plenty of friends in San Diego.... Welcome dude...

hey. do you live in SD yourself? maybe we could hook up and ride sometime, perhaps get a club started?

[FJmonkey]

thanks, George. happy to be here, looking forward to making this a lasting forum for myself and getting to know the other persons.

You have plenty of friends in San Diego.... Welcome dude...

hey. do you live in SD yourself? maybe we could hook up and ride sometime, perhaps get a club started?

We already have a club, the FJ club, I am in Glendale, always happy to have another FJ along for the ride.... We should hook up soon. I hope to make my next ride in SD...

[theLeopard]

looking forward to it.
will want to take a solo ride to ensure the bike will hold up for the duration, informed Palomar Mountain and Sunset Highway are notable roads.
Ridden either of those? Palomar Mountain is close, I'm in Escondido.

[FJmonkey]

Yep, must do Palomar...

[Capn Ron]

Yeah...a Palomar Mountain/Julian loop is definitely called for.  Heck it's only 100 miles from LA...next ride for sure!

Cap'n Ron. . .

[theLeopard]

Heck it's only 100 miles from LA...next ride for sure!

ah, aha ha !! I like this guy. honest and still up for it, the best kind of mate to have

[ribbert]

Interested in gaining mechanical knowledge so any tips are appreciated.

OK, here's the first one, dump the Jag!

...... on a lean budget for a month.

The Jag will make this a life long condition. I can only assume this car is new to you and you have never owned one before. "Old Jaguar" is synonymous with "bottomless pit"

There was a dark period in my life when Jaguar re invented itself with the hugely popular XJ6 and I had the misfortune to still be a working mechanic. There are cars people dream about and there are cars like the Jags that give you nightmares and then there's the v..vv.....v...1...12's ( I can hardly even say it!)  WW2 mechanics working on Spitfires in the jungle had it easy by comparison.

If you intend keeping it, I would make the acquaintance of your local bank manager, you will be needing his services.

Tip: a drip tray underneath it will provide enough oil for a full service on FJ every two weeks.

A couple of years back I saw one of these with interstate plates towing a huge caravan through mountainous country. My immediate thought was one of great admiration for his adventurous spirit and impossible optimism. I then realised the caravan was probably a mobile workshop carrying spares, lubricants and tools which was the only plausible explanation for getting that far from home.

Welcome Leopard,

While the above observations are a bit tongue in cheek (but absolutely true), I would suggest if the car is new to you, and you are just looking for transport, and are on a budget while studying, get rid of it, now. If however, you are somewhat of an enthusiast, you know what you are letting yourself in for and intend the finished project to be a static display (sorry) fine. '

You own the best and the worst of it. The FJ makes a far better investment with waaaay better returns.

I can fully endorse the help you will get here on the forum. Many knowledgeable guys and all only too happy to help.

Noel

[fintip]

 

Hysterical, noel. One of my favorite posts on this forum, ever.

[Pat Conlon]

Jag's can and do work...with a engine transplant.
There's a company in Dallas Texas called John's Cars that specialize in Chevy 350 conversions.
http://www.johnscars.com/
That's what I did....I found a low mileage 1976 XJ6-L with a cooked motor (typical head gasket) and put a 350 with a T700 trans (overdrive) in it....
The Chevy v8 was lighter than the oem jag 6. The car hauled ass. Cornered like on rails.
I had to register the car in Arizona, 'cause it had no smog equipment needed here in Kalif.

It was a wonderful car, independent suspension, disk brakes (inboard rotors on the rear) Connley leather, burl wood dash, tight body and doors...the L version of the XJ6 was longer so it had plenty of room in the back seat.
I sorted out (as in removed) all the Lucas electrical fuse boxes (they tended to fill up with water) and removed the switches, except a few...
The car had twin 16 gallon fuel tanks with a wonky Lucas tank selector switch...
After a long day, driving back from San Diego (in the rain) via Hwy 78 I felt the car start to stutter....no problem, time to switch tanks...I pushed in the spring loaded selector switch and biiing...the push button of the switch came loose and flew in the back seat....I then ran out of gas....grrrrrrr.
Totally pissed, tired, I reached under the dash and managed to snare the wires and hot wired the circuit so I could get the fuel in the second tank..... Moral of the story...Always carry a flashlight.

I think a XJ6 with a modern fuel injected, aluminum block Chevy LS-3 would be the hot ticket.
The car was great...just the Jag motor/ trans/ Lucas stuff sucked.

[rktmanfj]

Last time I was up at Auburn, there were three red XKEs up to cross the auction block.

The idea to snag one and build a Jagrolet did come to mind...

[Pat Conlon]

Ooooooh, a XKE with a aluminum block LS7.....

[theLeopard]

beautiful machines.
if anyone here wants to buy what I've got they've first dibs. I've invested $2000 into the car itself, and ~$3000more for towing and storage.


http://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/cto/4449117087.html