At the start of the year, most of us, in the temperate parts of the northern hemisphere anyway, start thinking about getting the car out when the weather improves.  You know you should start to work on it but it is all too tempting to do the cosmetic bits and not worry about the mechanicals.  After all, the XK was fine when you put it away for the winter.  My theme for this newsletter is – Preparation is vital and don’t forget it’s an old car!

Not long ago most XK owners were happy to tour the prettier parts of the countryside at a leisurely pace.  But now we are seeing far more adventurous trends; rallying in some really rugged parts of the world and track days.  This is leading to another trend – panic calls to us to supply parts that have failed.  This is particularly so with rallies and it is not uncommon for us to courier parts to Heathrow to be flown to the mountains or desert or where ever the car has given up the ghost and is waiting to be fixed.

 

The reasons for these failures are two fold; lack of preparation and lack of respect for the car’s age.  It is only too easy to forget your car is over 50 years old and, virtually no matter what restoration has been done, parts of the car have done a lifetime’s work.  Let’s face it; most people don’t work that many years.  The major components on many XKs, and that usually includes the engine block, cylinder head and axles, are the ones that were fitted when the car was built.  “Ah”, you say “but I have spent a fortune with the best restorers not only to bring them up to scratch but also to enhance their performance.”  Yes but a face lift on an older lady does not make her 20 again!

 

One of the most common failures is the half shaft.  These are seldom changed, even on major rebuilds.  Over the years the oil seal wears a groove in the shaft and you can guarantee that the tyres fitted today give far more grip than the old crossplies the car was designed for.  What’s more the engine is probably putting out far greater power than when new.  Add 50 years wear and tear it’s hardly surprising that the poor thing goes bang when you drop the clutch at full revs going up a mountain pass.  ‘NUB 120’, possibly the best known XK, carried spare drive shafts in the boot when rallying in the 1940s.  So what does that tell you?  Front stub axles are another part to watch out for.  This is particularly so with drum brakes as you can lose a front wheel if the stub axle snaps.  Be prepared – fit new or carry spares.

 

Track days are to my mind 100% abuse.  Yes they are great fun but they are mechanical suicide for an XK.  I reckon that 10 minutes driving on a track day at Goodwood puts more strain on a car than 15 years of road use.  I have mentioned axles but it is engines that are equally vulnerable.  I have seen it so often; long fast corners where the G-forces push the oil up the side of the crankcase away from the pick up.  Many drivers never notice until the big ends rattle.  “I never over revved the engine.”  I have heard that so many times where the driver was very careful not to exceed the redline before changing up, but never noticed that he changed down too early for a corner pushing the tacho needle half way round the clock.  High revs not only risk the moving parts but also affect the coolant circulation.  This can result in blown core plugs and serious overheating to a 50 year old engine, which has thinned castings due to corrosion and reboring.  Then there are the strains and forces on the rest of the car due to braking, cornering and steering.  My advice if you want to go on track days is buy a Porsche!

I am worried by the many owners who undervalue their XKs for insurance. They do not realise just how serious this can be if they have an accident, even a relatively minor one.

There are three risks if you are under-insured. First you risk not being able to replace your car with something similar in the event of a total loss. This is because they will only pay up to what you have said your car is worth. Only recently a customer wrote off his car and to his horror found that to replace it with a similar vehicle was going to cost him about £20,000 more than his insurance payout. Also in the event of a claim the insurance company will only pay a percentage of the costs, this is called ‘average’. So if you have valued your car at £30,000 and its true value is £60,000, they can pay only half of the claim. Similarly you could end up with your car being written off when it is not badly damaged. The very high cost of body panels on XKs makes this a very real risk, even where there is no mechanical damage. If you are not sure of your value, we are happy to provide a valuation to customers as part of our service but we must see the car or at least good photos of it.

If you are not sure about your valuation or what you are covered for, dig out your insurance policy and check what it says about valuations and its current value. Most insurance companies put in the small print that they will only agree a valuation if evidence of the value is provided. Our valuations are usually acceptable but check first or you could be in for a very nasty surprise.

We are really packed out at the moment.  We have several C-types undergoing work, particularly preparing for road racing.  Other cars are from Switzerland, France and Malta and we have an interesting lightweight 120 from Sweden. 

We also have the XK120 aluminium bodied roadster that is advertised above. This Broadspeed car is under way and we are looking forward to agreeing with the new buyer the final personal choices to make this car even more special.

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As well as having new products and special offers, our parts catalogues can be downloaded complete from the website together with our Top Secret Broadsheets. Hopefully this will provide you with the detailed information you need when ordering parts and will help in restoring your Jaguar XK. Our registered user base for 'Broadsport News' continues to increase. Please 'Tell a friend' who might be interested in our XK news.