Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

 Another project on the XJS?

It wasn't always a garage queen.

The radio in the car needs a security code to function again. 

I've poured through my forum for suggestions and "universal" codes. Nothing worked.

So I decided to pull the radio and see if the code had been written on the radio chassis. 

It was actually much easier than I thought that it would be. 

Unfortunately it wasn't there. I'd looked in the glove box, under the hood and in the trunk. 

I don't have an owners manual or a warranty book. 

Audio theft was once a pretty bad problem, until the price of CD players dropped. 

I copied the model number and the serial number of the radio. 

I would need that info to get the code from an on line source. 

I could even see if the dealer could provide it for me. I read that it could be up to 40.00 from the dealer and around half that much online. 

I don't even know if the darn thing works, I could just be wasting my money. 

The stock radio is a Clarion cassette AM/FM stereo, I'm sure that it was an expensive option when the car was new. I just saw one offered for sale on the Jag forums market place. The seller claimed that it worked, but didn't have the code. So how could he have tested it? He was asking 200.00 dollars for it! 

I have no idea what the stock stereo sounds like. I am not an audiophile, I guess you could say that I've got a tin ear. I wonder what condition the speakers are in. They couldn't be much worse than the XJ6 system. With the cassette slot I could use a a cassette adapter for audio input, as from a small CD player. Or even a Bluetooth hook up. 

If I even had a Bluetooth!

There are things that I need more than a stereo but it would be nice to have some music when I'm out exercising the cat. 

There's a stereo outlet in an industrial area that I've used to install a new CD player in my Truck and '96 Mustang. 

I went down to the stereo store and looked at some of their wares. The cost of the unit is low, but they quoted a high price for the installation.

I decided to give the online code supply company a chance, it will be easier to punch in the code than to put together a new connector harness for an aftermarket stereo. 

After I entered in my data and paid my 35 bucks, the site stated that it could be anywhere from several hours to several days for my return. I've read mixed reviews about the site, I'll just have to see what happens. If it doesn't work out, I'll just make buy a stereo and make up the harness.

Update: The company that was supposed to supply the code is pretty flaky. It took over a month to get a response and that was with my encouragement. They provided a code of 9222. How can I enter that code when my radio only has five buttons? 

I contacted the company three weeks ago and haven't heard back from them yet!

It took another few weeks until I heard from the company, they told me that they couldn't help me so they were issuing a refund.

A new radio/ cd player was always a better idea!

I'm seriously thinking about putting the XJS on non op. While it runs and drives well, the braking problem is going to need some detailed attention. It might just need a new accumulator ball, as the old one has lost it's gas pressure charge. Hopefully! 

I haven't made any progress on the front suspension, and don't think that I will for quite a while. The car is safe inside the garage. It will probably be sharing the space with my '96 Mustang soon. 

Besides the annual registration fee, my biggest savings will be in insurance costs. I need to check with the Wife, but I think that it runs me around 40 dollars a month. That alone is not too bad, but add that to the Mustang, and the XJ6 and things start to add up. Still, I prefer to keep all my running vehicles active, though I'm not going to be driving the XJS until I get the braking problem sorted out. I'm sure that will take me at least a year to get around to. Best intentions aside! 

It's slept in worse conditions.

Holding onto the car and preserving it is not too costly and makes the most sense. 

Snug as a bug in a rug, I hate bugs!

For all the hours ( and there are many!) that I spend looking at cars on CraigsList, there really aren't any cars that I want more than what I've already got. This is actually a pretty fortunate situation to be in.

Lately I've been thinking more and more about my Mark VII. Thinking is how I've gotten myself into trouble before!