Paint and Touch up on 1990 XJ-S.
Jaguars, like many other UK cars, are prone to attack by the dreaded "Tin Worm" (rust, to those who are not into worms) and maybe our cars are just a little more likely to be invaded by this little gremlin than other cars in the same class. Well, my car is not immune and therefore I have been forced to mount a counter attack on this dreaded pest.
I purchased my car in 2002 and like many others before me was smitten by the looks and style of Sir Williams last creation. I went into the purchase well prepared after having read as much as possible on the trials of purchasing this model, and of course I took particular care to inspect every known area susceptible to "tin worm" attack. However I failed to see a particularly obvious prone area, immediately above the front shock absorber mounts an each inner front wing but this was easily and inexpensively rectified. I did notice that the lower rear edge of each front wing was slightly proud of being flush with the door panels but knew that this was probably only an adjustment of the lower wing support brackets. At the first opportunity after purchase I removed each rear inner front wing splash guard to find, to my surprise, a radiator overflow bottle situated in the wing cavity on the drivers side (3.6 only, V12 models have it in the passenger side). Now this is a typical Jaguar ploy as 1. the bottle contains antifreeze/coolant mix which is corrosive, 2, the bottle sits on a foam pad, 3. the area is subject to water and road salt ingress and 4. it is out of sight and therefore out of mind. So there we have all the ingredients for "tin worm attack". Jaguar appear to have excelled again with the piece-de-resistance being the sitting of the bottle on a foam, moisture absorbing, pad.
The adjustment of each wing is a simple matter and I duly corrected the situation on the left passenger side however, the right drivers side was impossible because the bolts were seized and the bracket was approaching a terminal situation. This area was soaked in rust preventative/killer and left until the winter of 2003/4 and this is where the story starts.
I had inspected the car carefully and had decided that it is a sound, relatively rust free vehicle and as a bonus, I love it. So I decided to remove the drivers side front wing to enable access to repair. It is an easy matter to remove as the wings on an XJ-S as they are only bolted on with two small brazed joints the only fiddly bits. With the wing off I was surprised to see just how bad the lower support bracket was and that the rust had a good hold on the outer skin of the guard where the bracket is welded (another built in water and rust trap ?). After consulting a panel shop and being told the cost of repair, I decided to bite the bullet and purchase a new wing from a very well known Jaguar parts outlet, what followed next was unexpected and has left a bitter taste in my mouth. On receipt of the wing, at a cost of around £200, I noticed what appeared to be manufacturing damage right on the waistline of the wing adjacent to the drivers door. I called the "reputable" parts outlet and was told that I would have to send the wing back at my own cost for it to be evaluated by Jaguar to see if it met their tolerances. I would have to purchase another wing until Jaguar made their determination of the damage. Of course I was not happy and decided to repair the minor damage myself. OK, it was only minor but it has taken time and why should I have to fork out an extra £200 hoping that I would get a refund ? Anyway I will not be using the parts outlet again.
So the repair has been done (almost) and the wing fitted which was very time consuming and tricky as it just did not want to line up with the rest of the bodywork, it was now time to think about the painting and a general tidy up of the car's paintwork. A quote to paint and blend in the paint with the rest of the car by a local paint shop quickly made me decide to "do the job myself" and herein lies a story in itself.
Having owned spray equipment when in Australia and having done a TAFE course on spray painting; and having sprayed two cars before, I decided to buy my own equipment based on the theory that after completion of the job I will still have the equipment for later use. I studied what was available in both the compressor and spray gun fields and then purchased a neat SIP 2.5hp compressor with a 25 litre tank ( no storage space for a larger). I then investigated which spray guns were suitable for this size of compressor and duly purchased a HVLP (high volume, low pressure) gun from a well known supplier in Carlisle, only to find when reading the instructions that it required a far greater compressor output than what I had been both told and what was shown in their catalogue and on their web site. Discussing this with the suppliers technical advice section confirmed that the gun in question required a 3hp compressor. Simple you say! well it is not as easy as that. I soon found out that manufacturers and suppliers sell you a compressor based on the output of the compressor pump but they do not tell you (and in fact do not seem to be aware of) the F.A.D (Free Air Delivery) which is the volume of air available at the end of a 30ft air pipe attached to the spray gun. Friction in the pipe determines that this F.A.D is substantially less than what the compressor pump can deliver. In my case I purchased a compressor which could deliver air into the tank at the rate of 10cu/ft/min with a F.A.D of 7.5cu/ft/min therefore any spray gun, to operate efficiently, would only have to require a maximum of 7.5 cu/ft/min --- logical you say? yes it is but you try telling that to a salesman who seems to have little knowledge of such technicalities.
To sum this up, I returned the spray gun to the sales outlet and in desperation purchased a rather cheap gun (with an air demand of 7cu/ft/min) to at least allow me to spray on the primer and base coats, I then set out to find out if I could in fact purchase a HVLP gun with a less air demand than the first one bought. Searching the net I eventually found that there was a much greater choice in the USA than in the UK and that their products were half (yes half) the price so I ordered a gravity feed, HVLP Titan gun which with postage cost me £36, which was half that of a similar gun available in the UK which also turned out to be incompatible with my compressor. From web order to delivery took just 6 days and I am delighted with the product, and it works well and within air demand limits.
Is there a moral to this story? I would say yes. It is vital that you as a customer do your homework until you know exactly what is or is not compatible with other equipment and to shop around for the best deal, in the end, you will know more than the guy trying to sell you his products. As a footnote to this saga I found out that (a) the company from whom I purchased my compressor did not sell one spray gun that would work with anything but their largest industrial compressors and (b) the company from whom I purchased my initial spray gun were also in the same situation and in addition were advertising their products as compatible when in fact they were not. The latter has since updated their catalogue but still displays incorrect information on their web site.
After all this drama have I completed the job yet? No! because the current weather is either too cold or too damp but I am well on the way and just hope I can get a good colour match on both the new wing and other spot repairs but that is another story.
Col Murray