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My 1988 XJS
V12 's
I have owned two v12
1988 xjs Hess & Eisenhardt convertibles since 1997. Only 2000
vehicles of this model exist (1986 to 1988), mostly sold in the US, prior
to jaguar introducing their own convertible design in 1988. The XJS is the
ultimate cruising machine, best driven over 100mph to appreciate, oops, I
live in the US where we still have 55 mph speed limit in many places.
Although in Colorado on some highways it is now 75 mph! I hope my ma is
not reading this!
If anyone is thinking of buying a v12 XJS, these cars are not for the
faint hearted. The owner either needs "a very large wad", English slang
for "lots of money", to keep the car well maintained or the owner should
be a competent mechanic who likes to tinker; I am the latter. When I
purchased these cars, they were in need of a lot of work, but after a lot
of effort I now own two awesome and reliable cars. If you are thinking of
buying an XJS then please read
Kirby's
book (enlighten yourself) PRIOR to your purchase. Also once you
purchase the car here is a list of
alternate parts for you XJS, and save a bundle, there are lots of
parts available at general auto stores! I have also included a number of
useful RMJC
Jaguar links at this web site. The RMJC web site was also hosted by
myself, although I gave up the task recently due to lack of time to
support the web site.
Pictures of my two 1988 XJS convertibles are shown below:
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Pussycat - at Colorado
Springs 1999
Pussycat is my show car and Sunday best driver. The car
has tungsten paint, black fabric top, gray interior and wire wheels;
I like to be a little pretentious hence the car name "pussycat". I
am currently working on replacing the inlet manifold and cam cover
gaskets to slow down the oil leaks, which is a great opportunity to
clean the engine for my next car show. Picture taken at
Colorado Springs 1999 JCNA show. I belong to the
Rocky Mountain Jaguar Club. Pretty car eh! |
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Pussycat Engine in
pieces (Oh boy will I ever get it working again)
My winter of 2000 task is to remove the inlet manifolds and cam
covers to replace the gaskets and slow the oil leaks. Also replaced
fuel pipes, rotor arm, oil pressure sender, spark plugs, cleaned out
the air purge pipes and a lot more. Checked the compression ratios,
valve clearances etc. This job is only for the very brave or
crazy, I have to figure out how to replace all the plumbing. Well
after all that I decided to remove the engine...
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Daily Driver
(web-boy)
My daily driver for most days in Colorado, with the exception of
snow in the winter and hail in the summer. Runs great considering
she has 140,000 miles on the clock. This car has white paint, tan
top, tan interior, and a lot of new parts to make it a good runner.
More details are available at the
Hess & Eisenhardt
convertibles page. |
If you want to own a jag, see if you fit the profile
by reading Kirby's etiquette guide to
being a Jaguar Owner.
A few technical facts about an 88 XJS V12 convertible:
Make/Model
: 1988 Jaguar XJS Hess Convertible
BHP :
260 (US Version, unmodified).
Torque
: 290 ftlb
Top
Speed : 150 Mph, 240 Kph.
0-60
Mph : 7.8 seconds (0-100Kph), slow due to 3 speed GM slush box.
Miles
per gallon : around 14 (5 K/L), only use the top grade
Engine
Capacity : 5.3litres
Engine
Modifications : Nothing drastic yet!
Gearbox
Modifications : A 5 speed Keisler transmission.
Spoiler
Modifications : New spoiler from the white Hess, cost of renewal is high.
Fuel
Modifications : Many fixes to US Hess fuel system assembly, refer to my
Hess Page.
The fuel tank system is not a British design
Paint :
Pussycat - Tungsten, No name - White
Steering
: Sport Steering Rack Bushes.
Suspension
: KYB Shocks.
Interior
: Standard Trim
I.C.E.
: Sony Dash CD, + boot 10 CD changer
Speakers
: 61/2 Polk in the rear, and 4 inch Polk in the front doors
Alarm
: Its a lot of work installing an alarm in this car.
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