volvoclearinghouse said:......
While mixing up the special coolant formula, Mrs. VCH caught me in the kitchen filling the Prestone jug with our drinking water. She started to ask why, and then interrupted herself with, "Oh, nevermind....it's because it's a JAAAAAG, isn't it?"
Thanks for relaying this little tidbit, it sure made me chuckle, and could very well have happened similarly at the Indy-Household.... But my cat is a bit newer than yours:
In reply to Indy-Guy :
I do like that Jag of yours. Is that a 6 cylinder?
I have one of those heat gun dealies laying in the garage somewhere. Haven't used it in years- I'm sure it needs a battery.
I've been a bit light on pictures lately, so here's one I snapped at the Wegmans while I was waiting for it to cool off a bit.
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
Your car is a really looker with good proportions.
My Jaaag is an 01 XJR, so supercharged V-8.
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
they put a Wegmans there?? Been a while since ive been over yonder
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
Sir William Lyons sure put beautiful lines in his cars didn’t he?
No less than Enzo Ferrari said his XKE was the most beautiful car the world had ever seen. Yet every car he touched had a certain class or elan to it.
He used to take the prototype of each car home to Wappenbury Hall and study the lines in the evening twilight.
malibuguy said:In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
they put a Wegmans there?? Been a while since ive been over yonder
Yeah, it's over off of Owings Mills Blvd. There's a whole huge strip-mall-o-rama thing going on with fancy bars and snooty food joints and all the other things today's young folks crave. Last exit off 795, heading towards Charm City, before you get to the Beltway.
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
I knew exactly where your at. Saw the bridge and that one building...things that havent changed in the last 5 years lol
frenchyd said:In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
Sir William Lyons sure put beautiful lines in his cars didn’t he?
No less than Enzo Ferrari said his XKE was the most beautiful car the world had ever seen. Yet every car he touched had a certain class or elan to it.
He used to take the prototype of each car home to Wappenbury Hall and study the lines in the evening twilight.
The 3.8S is currently parked in the carport which is directly across from my kitchen sink window. As I'm doing the dishes at twilight I like to glace across the driveway and admire the lines of the Jaguar.
Indy-Guy said:In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
Your car is a really looker with good proportions.
My Jaaag is an 01 XJR, so supercharged V-8.
I think the proportions of your XJR are very similar. The car just looks balanced. It ought to be a case study in 3 box design language.
I feel the same way about the W123 Mercedes, though it trades UK flair for German sensibility.
Friday I had to work out west, and got home a little early so I decided to stretch the Jaaaag's legs a bit. Down to the petrol station for a fill up of 93 octane. 6.5 gallons....into the 7 gallon tank! There was a gallon jerry can in the trunk, but fortunately it didn't need it. The pick up on these is right in the center of the tank in a little sump, so I guess that works well for extracting every bit of fuel possible.
All fluids filled, I went home the long way, which also involves some generally deserted 2 lane blacktop in which I figured (correctly, as it turns out) the opportunity to wind the 3.8 motor out would present itself. I rang up 4000 RPMs in 4th gear, backed off a bit, "shoved it on down into overdrive", and tickled 3500 before running out of bravery fluid. The temperature needle nudged a hair over 90C, and stayed there for the rest of the drive home- which was at a much more relaxed pace, to let the engine settle down a bit. No need to ride her hard and put her away wet now.
At home, I let the engine idle for a bit, and it did top 100C or so, still not the end of the range (110C) as it had the drive before. Finally I shut her down and let the electric fan (which runs regardless of key position, if the coolant temp sensor is over about 70C or so) do its thing. No dieseling this time either- another success I'd say.
Once the fan kicked off I checked the coolant level- it had dropped, but I'd noted coolant coming out of the overflowing during the idling at home, so this was expected. Looking around the engine bay, there seems to be a spot on the driver's side for an catch bottle that is no longer extant. I think this shall be my next project.
After a nice bath (for the car, not me) I fired the Jag back up and backed her under the carport, then went inside for dinner.
... raced back to the farm to dream with my uncle at the fireside ...
I have not yet installed the coolant recovery tank. However, Mrs VCH had a girls' night planned for this evening, which means I was left solely responsible for the care and feeding of the two mini VCHs.
Naturally, I decided to take the crew for a ride in the Jag.
We cruised around town for a bit, past the VFW where the weekly Friday night car show seemed to be thinning out. Knowing my kids love cars, but they LOVE playgrounds, I elected to pass on the VFW and we circled back to the big park in the center of town. Where my daughter discovered that she has some talent as a zip-line rider. 
The parking for the playground was on the street, and as chance would have it we ended up pulled up beside a low stone wall. The Jag looked perfect behind it. I tried to take some pictures, but the sun reflecting off the paintwork played hell with my smartphone. It looked MUCH more stunning in person. I guess take my word for it.
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
Looks stunning!
Took the family out Sunday for the Summit Point SCCA event. We did not take the Jag- it was a fairly nice day, so I popped the kids' seats into the Corvair and drove that. The friends that we met at Summit Point invited us back to their house for dinner that night, but we had to head back to our house first to take care of the animals and restock the cooler. In the process, I decided to swap cars, too. After all, the Jag is more of an evening car.
We had a good laugh over the fact that some people change clothes; we change cars. As we were leaving their house to head back home that night, I went to pull out and noticed the steering was significantly heavier-feeling than what I'd become accustomed to. A few minutes later, my phone binged with a picture...
...and an "are you OK?" message from my friend. A few minutes later he called, I mentioned the heavy steering but that I figured I could probably muscle it home all right. He offered a ride if we needed it, I thanked him, and then set back to keeping the Jag on course. Mrs. VCH commented, "My Camaro doesn't have power steering, this isn't any big deal." 
Of course we did make it home without any other problems. I haven't had a chance to figure out where the power steering fluid decided to suddenly gush out of yet, but it apparently let go very suddenly and fairly completely.
The power steering leak turned out to be a hose that had popped off from the steering box. I put it back on last night, and replaced the hose clamps that held it on with beefier ones. Unfortunately, I had no fluid on hand, so it'll be tonight before I actually test the fix.
Hoping to take it out for a cruuuuuuuuise this weekend...
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
Knowledge is power!!! Don’t you love it when something occurs that to others would be a panic inducing event. But you just accept it and carry on as best you can?
The very definition of stiff upper lip!
Well done sir
In reply to frenchyd :
Thanks. I've been racing LeMons for about 11 years now. Our team's unofficial motto is, "Never give up". I remember several occasions when other competitors packed in and left early for broken stuff that wouldn't have even phased us. One weekend we had the entire drivetrain out of the car at various points- engine, transmission, and rear. Still finished the race.
I try to carry that mentality with me wherever I go in life. It's not always possible, and there have been times when I've had to punt or cut bait. But you're right- understanding what's going on and making the best possible decisions based on all available information at the time will get you far.
I filled up and bled the power steeirng reservoir last night, and took the Jag out for a test run. Everything seems to be back to normal. Hoping to take it to work later this week; the weather shuld be spectacular for a fall drive.
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
It’s clearly time for you to race a Jaguar at LeMons
they’ll get you in group 3 and totally overlook most “speed goodies “ if you pick and choose the right stuff you should do very well. As you well know Jaguars reputation of unreliability is not deserved, Well not completely.
Maybe put a V12 in you car when the Ford engine gets tired? If you put carburetors on a 1991 or newer engine it should be pretty simple and reliable. Plus it will have that rugged GM turbo 400 transmission
The one issue you’ll have is what to do with all that space? It will be about as long as your Ford engine is but at least a foot narrower.
Power wise it’s hard to guess. It has the Torque of a big block. But it’s power is rated by DIN not the old Gross horsepower of your Ford.
I’d guess somewhere around 400 horsepower gross. 284 DIN but that’s tuned to California specs. , advance timing to 10BTDC from 8 and it goes to 299 DIN
Plus DIN is figured through the catalysts which you’re not required to run on the race track.
We have a hard enough time keeping 8 American cylinder firing reliably.
Took the Jaaaaag to work this morning. It got a little warm (90 C) idling in traffic, but on the highway it was happy as a clam, maintaining about 80C and purring along, easily keeping up with traffic. Grins the whole drive.
Took it out at lunchtime, and ended up street parking.
When I came back, it had garnered a slightly younger friend.
Fun stuff. Alas, the owner of that car was not to be found.
On the drive home last night, the temp needle began nudging higher. I wasn't exactly taking it gently, but by the time I stopped at the Lowes for some things, it was up between 100 and 110C. It was at about the same spot when I finally got home last night. It does seem to fluctuate up and down; idling in traffic it's not terribly happy, and whizzing along in the fast lane heats it up a bit, too. The engine's running fabulously, its got fresh oil and coolant and the timing is right. I'm thinking the old radiator might not be quite up to the current demands. A new aluminum deal might be just the ticket.
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
I used to drive old MK2 beaters. If the radiator was clean but still running on the hot side I’d check that the seals were actually forcing air through the radiator.
These were rusty beaters so crude was OK and I just used duct tape to seal it. Duct tape won’t last very long but it helps identify if the radiator is the problem or if the block itself has picked up enough crud to cause the problem. If it’s the block power flushing only helps to a modest degree. Repeated radiator flushing is called for but when you drain the coolant do it at the block with that little chrome faucet.
One other possibility. Check your transmission fluid. If it smells burnt it might be time to tighten the bands. Borg Warner transmissions can be tightened several times.
In reply to frenchyd :
I checked the radiator sealing last night. It seems well sealed to the sides, but there is a slot about 1/2" wide at the top, the width of the radiator. I was thinking about wedging a bit of rubber in there to see if that helps.
When I drained the last batch of coolant it did not look horrid, so I have hopes the block is not all crudded up. I put in all new hoses, new t-stat, etc last year or so. Thanks for the tip about the block petcock. My 460 Ford has one of those, too.
Transmission is a 4 speed manual + OD, and it works fine and just had new fluid a year or two ago. 
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
I bought a couple of those radiator flush dry powder cans and used that to flush blocks. They always seemed to work well. Yes block off that top but I agree it’s probably not the problem. When you say the top, are you talking about between the radiator and the crossmember? Or between the cross member and the hood?
Glad you have the manual gearbox. I really hate those old Borg Warner transmissions.
In reply to frenchyd :
Yeah, the BW35 transmisison was the European's equivalent of the LS engine. They stuck it in everything. Volvos, Saabs, Jags...they're reliable, I guess. That's about all I have to say about them....
The gap is between the radiator and crossmember. Not sure about the hood. But it looks like the air would come in under the crossmember and potentially flow up through that gap. Worth a $free$ attempt at a fix, anyway.
Fill the radiator with a can of radiator flush and then cut a piece of cardboard to prevent the air from short circuiting. Go out get the car nice and hot and open the block valve. If it comes out ( or doesn’t come out at all ) all cruddy looking do it again until it comes out clean.
If it comes out clean looking and the cardboard did it’s job of forcing air through the radiator. Then it might be time to replace the radiator.
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