I can almost hear the hub bub that I've aroused over  my direction with the Mark VII.

photo source: beverly hills car club
If my car's interior had looked like this, I wouldn't have bought it!

Real restorers, or a least those that claim to champion that cause, are outraged upon hearing that an owner is merely going to "fix up" their car. When I've posted on the Jaguar forum I've heard from commentators about how expensive it will be to fully restore the car. Others have advised me that if the job can't be done properly, then it shouldn't be started at all! I suppose that these old school, "Old  World" cars are mostly of interest to older enthusiasts. Maybe even older richer enthusiasts. 

 Nuts!!! 

photo source: bigstockimage.com
There's only five there, I need eight!

That's what I get for trying to be cute! 

I don't mean cute as in being childishly good looking, I mean cute as trying to be clever! Sometimes I will make some imaginary "connection" between two things and will be confident that I'll remember that connection later. That doesn't always work out as anticipated.

 It's kind of hard to believe. but look at the difference!

There was a blistered, rusted area on top of the left fender. I used a putty knife to scrape off loose paint and rust.  Then I used a hand held wire brush on the metal. The metal underneath looked terrible, could it even be saved? 

 Rust never sleeps, at least that's how the old saying goes.

My Mark slept for 25 years, but not in the best bed. 

Looking at the decklid and roof, the lighter red areas are splotches of primer that was applied years ago. The darker red area is rust. 

 What should I do with my old '51 Jaguar?

It's actually a pretty good looking car. The lower profile wheels, whitewalls
 and shiny caps are a definite improvement.

 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. 

 Things don't just stand still.

photo was taken at the Luther Burbank Gardens in Santa Rosa.

I have decided to put my XJ6 front and center. I plan on driving it locally as a daily, while I try to find a way forward. It's currently sitting at 160,400 miles. How long will it take me to reach 161,000?