Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

The wheels on the Jag go round and round, Part Two.

Here they are, all lined up in a row.

I just finished installing the wheels with the new Cooper tires back onto my car. I had previously noted that I had a problem with one of the wheels being rusted on to the hub. A little judicious encouragement wirh a dead blow hammer and a section of 2 X 4 got the wheel free.

I hit this steel portion of the hub with a wire brush.
It was the first time that I've used my new Makita drill driver.
A most welcome Birthday present from my kids.

Before reinstalling the wheels I hit the mounting area area of the wheel and the hub with a wire brush to clean up corrosion. Then I applied some grease to the mating surface to eliminate the problem in the future. Those wheels had been in place for quite a few years.

After wire brushing this area of the wheel I added a coating of grease.
This will eliminate the problem n the future.

The tires look pretty good to me. They are a bit narrower that the 235 s that were mounted before. Those looked a bit wide for the rims. They had a slightly "balooned" look.

I had mounted one of my XJ6 dimpled alloy wheels to the right front of the XJS after I removed the original wheel. Just to see how it would look and fit. It fit well and looked good. The "lattice" style wheel is a nice looking wheel that reminds me of the popular BBS wheels of the period. I'm glad that the car car came equipped with those wheels  as they are my favorites until the later face lift types. I don't think that would be any clearance issues using this wheel. But since I just paid 500.00 for new tires with a 70,000 mile wear guarantee that idea will probably go way back on a back burner. I don't expect the tires to achieve that kind of mileage, several of the reviews complained that they had only lasted half as long. Still, how long would it take me to put on 35,000 miles? I hate to say it but probably most of the rest of my lifetime. If I put two or three thousand miles on the car a year, that would probably be a lot. Especially since I have so many other cars that I need to, and can use.

Either way I'm anxious to see how they feel on the car.

The tires looked a bit under inflated when I installed them on the car. I added enough air to bring them up to 35 lbs. front and back, for my initial test run.

I went to the manufacturer's website to check the exact specifications on these tires. They were recommended for use on passenger cars, SUVs and CUVs. I was primarily looking to see what the what the weight ratings were. The tires were rated at over 1,700 lbs per tire. That's a total of over 7,000 lbs. well over the approximate 4,000 lbs. of the XJS.

My first impression was that they rode softly and quietly. I drove through my neighborhood streets and then onto the local expressways. Speeds were from 25-50 mph. I took it a little aggressively around low speed corners and down a curvy little back road. Later I tried higher speed turning on the expressway.

I'm not really used to driving the XJS so it's still a novel experience. Visibility is good and the seats and driving position are comfortable. The cabin is nice and cozy. It has a very heavy feel which used to be described as "road hugging weight." It's very quiet and the acceleration is much quicker than I remember, but it's no Hell Cat of course. The car is very low and it's quite apparent when I was mixing it up on the Expressway amidst all those huge trucks and SUVs. It got plenty of double takes as these are pretty rare on the streets. There are also no immediately recognizable Jaguar cues in the styling. I remember the first time I encountered one of these in the wild. I had no idea what it was, even after reading the nameplate on the rear deck. To me, a Jaguar was a XKE.

The tires were much quieter and seem to stick to the road better than the old set. Not really surprising given the age of those tires. Even with brand new tires, problems can make themselves known pretty quickly. I once  put a set of Sumitomo tires on my Seville and they were very noisy going around turns right from the beginning. This is one reason why I stay with the Hankook DynaPros on my F150. I'm on my third set. They are the OEM tire and they have great handling, ride, and grip. They are silent while I hustle the truck through the turns, and believe me, it can hustle. There's no way I would want to trade off that performance to save a couple of bucks!

My XJ6 has been sitting out the dance in the garage for the last few weeks. I took it out Today and put the '96 Mustang in the garage in it's place. I am planning on leaving my XJS's space in the garage empty so I can easily put it back inside after use. The top isn't watertight and keeping moisture out of the car is extremely important.  I'll bring it outside and using it some on the weekends.

I'm sure that my XJS has spent a lot of it's earlier life properly housed in a garage. It was an expensive car when new and I'm sure that the original owner didn't keep it parked in the driveway. The car is very well preserved and most areas of the paint look really good. Luckily there isn't any rust or corrosion on the car which is a constant problem back home in Great Britain.

To be completely honest, until this year the car spent all of it's time outside. Parked curbside in front of my house, in the driveway, and even in the side yard. During this period it was always properly covered. When the rainy season arrived I placed a tarp covering the top, that also extended over the side windows to prevent the entry of water. No the ideal situation, but I could only do so much.

Unfortunately with so much going on, like getting my Daughter's car smogged, I forgot all about the XJ6 and it's registration coming due. It was almost two weeks overdue and that cost me an additional 33.00 for a total of 170.00  I need to track these things better. The XJS will be due in December and I don't want to be saddled with late fees. The XJ6 didn't need a smog check this year, so my plan is to drive it as much as possible and take care of a few things before that becomes a priority.

They call these "lattice' wheels but they are obviously an alloy, simulated wire spoke wheel.
A very attractive design, even with the chrome.

I rushed out to the garage this morning to snap a photo of the installed wheels and tires. I had forgotten to take any pictures after the test drive. The car will have to sit until after the Thanksgiving holiday.

On that note, Happy Thanksgiving to all and a happy start of the Holiday Season.