Jaguar XJ-S. Manual - part 120

 
 

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stores for sealing windows and doors.  Get the heavy-duty high density closed cell stuff, this is no place for the flimsy 
foam. 

You might find it helpful or necessary to remove a cover from the flap assembly that is held on with staples.  Therefore, 
you might want to have a box of 1/4” length Monel staples that fit your staple gun on hand.  Monel staples are 
considerably more expensive than normal staples and a lot harder to find, but they won’t rust. 

There are (or were) a couple of strips of foam seal along the back side of the cover, but they have dried up and fallen 
off.  They can easily be replaced with some 1/4” thick 1/2” wide weatherstripping, similar to that described above 
except the next size thicker. 

To reassemble, you’re gonna need a lot of 1/8” pop rivets (1/4” grip length) -- at least 24 per side of the car.  The 
original rivets are a special type with a closed end, intended to prevent leaks.  These type rivets are very expensive and 
difficult to find, and it’s not like anything here is truly airtight.  The only conceivable reason for using these rivets is to 
avoid a whistle, but if you’re concerned you can accomplish the same thing by covering each rivet with a piece of 
aluminum tape or some silicone sealant. 

The four rivets underneath the rearmost chrome strip must fit inside the snaps for the strip, and chances are the rivets 
you have won’t fit.  It is a fairly simple matter, however, to chuck the rivets up in your drill and file the head diameter 
down a little bit. 

These same four rivets end up recessed within these snaps.  This presents another problem, since the “anvil” of the rivet 
gun must sit squarely on the head of the rivet when installing, and of course that anvil isn’t small enough to fit within 
the snap.  So, you will need a little sleeve to fit around the nail of the pop rivet when riveting, or a few very tiny 
washers will serve.  You must be careful not to lose them after each rivet pops. 

 

TAILLIGHT REFLECTORS:  Many people fail to realize the importance of the reflectors to the appearance of 
taillights, turn signals, etc.  Jaguar XJ-S reflectors are mostly chrome-plated plastic, which is fairly durable; but the 
chrome sometimes deteriorates, and the neutral plastic color is only a fair reflector.  Also, the metal panel that separates 
the taillights from the brake lights can get pretty dull. 

To make your taillights look good, you should restore the effectiveness of the reflectors.  You can cover them with 
aluminum foil or aluminum tape.  The best method, however, is to mask the bulb sockets and paint the reflectors with 
flat white spray paint.  Flat white gives a more diffuse appearance to the light, which is prettier than the bright center 
appearance of the original.  If you want to make the light even more diffuse, you can paint a white spot on the bulb to 
prevent a direct view of the filament. 

 

BRAKE LIGHT LENSES:  There’s a little panel with a chrome frame along the inside edge of each pre-1991 taillight 
lens that may or may not have paint on it.  David Cleary explains, “The center section of the boot lid was painted black 
up to about 1977, at the same time the B posts were chrome, and the lenses were also black.”  Mike Morrin says, “I 
think that they only had the black paint on the boot lid between the tail lights for 1975 and 76.  I presume the paint on 
the lenses was deleted at the same time.  The parts book shows that the part number changed at 2W4023(RHD) and 
2W54660(LHD).  I presume that this is the same change.” 

What it changed to is not as clear.  This author’s ’83 had silver paint, while later cars just left the underlying chrome 
uncovered.  Cleary says, “Both my 79 and 82 cars came with silver finish on the rear lenses.  I have only ever seen the 
silver finish lenses available from the factory.  No spares or autojumble retailer has them, only the black or chrome. 

“At a recent autojumble I wanted a pair of rear lamp lenses.  I noticed that the early ones with a black finisher were 
much cheaper than the ones with the chrome (£15 a pair rather than £25).  With 10 minutes work and some careful 
application of thinners you can save yourself £10 by removing the black paint to reveal the chrome - simple eh?” 

The silver paint comes off just as easily.  I said this author’s lenses had silver paint.  They don’t any more -- one look at 
someone else’s car with the bare chrome, and that silver paint was outta here. 

 
 

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The panel in question is actually a separate piece from the lens itself.  The chrome plating is applied to a metal panel, 
and then the panel is attached to the plastic lens assembly with press-on clips.  If the nonremovable clips are removed 
(!), it's a lot easier to work on getting the paint off -- you can dunk the whole thing in a can of solvent.  Or, Cleary says 
you can “Use masking tape to protect the chrome when using thinners.  That way you don't have to remove the bit from 
the lens and chance breaking it.” 

If you’re having the car painted, you might consider something really radical: mask off the chrome rim and the rest of 
the lens and have them prime and paint those panels the same color as the car.  This will give a unique look, since none 
of the XJ-S’s apparently came from the factory with this panel painted body color. 

 

THIRD BRAKE LIGHT CUTENESS:  John Himes sends this tip:  “If you wanted to get creative, remove the entire 
housing and place a piece of custom cut metal or cardboard or something with the leaper cut out, paint black and place 
against the window.  Now when you brake, instead of just a light there, you will be showing a glowing red leaper to all 
that you leave behind.” 

 

LICENSE PLATE LIGHT LENSES -- PRE-1992:  This lens is actually an assembly of two parts: the lens itself, and an 
opaque white plastic hinge that the lens attaches to.  The hinge is provided to facilitate bulb replacement, since it’s not 
all that easy to get a screwdriver into this area.  Both the lens and the hinge are often problem areas.  Patrick 
MacNamara says, “British/Auto USA flyer has an XJ-S license plate light repair kit which includes the flexible plastic 
hinge piece, lens and bulb.”  See page 689.  Chuck Sparks points out that the lens is the same item as used for license 
tag light lenses on the ‘74-76 MGB and the ‘75-76 Midget; it is offered by Victoria British (1-800-255-0088) as part 
number 0-6912 for less than ten bucks. 

The bulb holder is integrated into the lens, which is unfortunate; otherwise, it would be a simple matter to replace the 
lens with any flat piece of transparent plastic.  As it is, such a replacement of the lens requires figuring out some other 
way to hold a bulb. 

One repair possibility is to simply buy a suitable automotive light fixture, throw the original hinge and lens away and 
mount the entire fixture within the space.  The space is shallow, but the sheer variety of aftermarket light fixtures 
available means that something can usually be found to fit.  Be sure to check truck stops, which sell a wide variety of 
“marker lights” for the corners of tractor trailers. 

Alternatively, you can make something to hold the bulbs; this author simply made some connectors that clip onto both 
ends of the bulbs the way a fuse is held in a fusebox and mounted them with suitable plastic cut to serve as insulators.  
Remember, whether you buy or make, there’s no good reason to stick with the original style bulbs; any 12V bulbs of 
comparable wattage that can be made to fit in the space should work. 

Once you’ve fabbed bulb holders, you will need to provide lenses.  This author purchased a small piece of plexiglass 
(Lucite) at the local building supply store, 8” x 10” x 0.093”, for less than $2.  It comes with either thin plastic or paper 
on both sides to protect the finish (paper is better); leave the stuff on until after you have finished cutting and drilling.  
It’s really easy to cut and drill.  Trapezoidal pieces were cut with two holes each to replace the hinge and the lens with a 
single piece.  When done, one side was sanded with 320-grit sandpaper to provide a “frosted” appearance; the other 
side could be done to make it even more frosted, but going to a coarser grit makes the individual scratches too 
prominent and a finer grit seems to not do enough.  Finally, the edges of this lens could be wrapped with strips of 
aluminum tape or (better) stainless steel tape to make it look more professional, but in this author’s opinion the finished 
product already looked neater and more esthetically pleasing than the original cobbled-looking assembly.  These lenses 
are not all that prominent, although they are plainly visible when the trunk is open and are apparent in the reflection in a 
well-cleaned rear bumper as well. 

Julian Mullaney:  “I also made replacement lenses for my old XJS.  It is better if you use polycarbonate (Lexan) instead 
of acrylic (Plexiglass).  Unlike acrylic, polycarbonate can easily be cut with scissors (or metal snips) without cracking.  
It can also be folded along a straight line without heating.” 

 
 

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If your lenses are not that far gone, Ed Avis provides a fix for the hinge itself:  “I removed the old flaps and used them 
to trace the pattern onto a plastic VCR tape case and simply cut out new flaps.  The nice hinged cover on the tape case 
served the same purpose as the hinge on the original flaps.  Total cost of the repair was about $1 for the tape case. 

Mullaney has his own ideas for that hinge, too:  “PET (polyethylene terepthialate sp??) is very good for this application 
too.  This is what Coke bottles are made of.  A good source for this is the large clear bottles with spring water at the 
supermarket.  Although a bit on the thin side this is what I used.” 

 

CHROME-PLATED PLASTIC:  If you ever find yourself needing to remove chrome plating from plastic, John 
Goodman suggests:  “You can probably remove the chrome by removing the paint underneath, with oven cleaner, or 
any of those concentrated cleaners containing sodium hydroxide.  Wear eye protection and rubber gloves.  Liberally 
spray the part with the goop, seal it in a plastic bag, and wait. 

“I haven’t tried oven cleaner to remove chrome from plastic, but I have used it to remove paint from plastic.  Works 
like a charm, doesn’t harm the plastic.  Model railroaders use it on their delicate miniatures” 

See COTECH, page 699. 

 

BUMPER VARIATIONS:  In some countries that don’t require high-impact bumpers, the XJ-S has been fitted with 
lighter, less obtrusive bumpers.  The front bumper is fairly thin, and the turn signals mount on the bodywork rather than 
in the bumper.  The locations for the turn signals are clearly evident on US-issue vehicles, hidden underneath the heavy 
bumper. 

Scott Horner says, “if they are UK based, then the difference in Pre-’82 to post-’82 is in the bumpers...Pre-’82 (Pre-
HE's) used the impact absorbing bumpers without chrome tops...the same for all markets; but at the H.E. for all markets 
(except the USA) Jaguar fitted slimline bumpers without the impact absorbers.   

“This means that most trim kits like the TWR & XJR-S packages sit very close to the body and don't use the rubber 
bumper beam cover - which I've seen on some US kits....” 

For the US, the bumpers changed in 1982 as well -- but both pre-82 and 82-on were impact-absorbing type.  Section 
76.22 of the ©1975 ROM obviously applies only to the pre-82 bumper design, but the ©1982 Supplement covers the 
revised design. 

Note that the 1982 bumper change also entailed a change in the front turn signal assemblies. 

 

LICENSE PLATE FASTENERS:  No matter how pretty your Jag is, having streaks of rust on the tag streaming 
downward from the attachment bolts doesn’t help.  There is apparently no consistency in attachment schemes here, it 
looks like each dealer fastened the tags whatever way he saw fit -- and rare indeed is the dealer that springs for proper 
stainless steel fasteners.  It shouldn’t be too hard to find some stainless steel fasteners that will serve.  On the author’s 
’83, the tag was held on with chincy sheet metal screws directly into the metal of the trunk lid, so a nice chrome license 
plate frame was added with four stainless steel screws. 

 

REMOTE TRUNK RELEASE:  Bob Whiles says: “There are several “Trunk Release Module” kits on the market.  All 
you get is the actuator (solenoid), a button, fuse holder and wire.  But Chevy has a pretty nice - heavy duty - one in 
some of their “upper” models.  Just look for a Monte Carlo or above in the junkyard.  All you will need then is a 
momentary button, wire and fuse/holder.  Cheaper and better than the kits.”  

 

REAR SPOILER:  Welsh Enterprises (page 694) offers a rear deck spoiler for the XJ-S.  JaguarSport does too, and 
John Goodman reports:  “There are actually two types of (JaguarSport) deck spoilers available.  The post-’92 deck 
spoiler has more “sweeping ends” to compliment the revised tail lights and I’m not sure, but maybe an integrated brake 

 
 

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light.”  Several of the vendors listed starting on page 710 also offer spoilers, some with slightly different styles, so 
hopefully you can find one that suits you. 

Note that rear deck spoilers have a hole for the antenna to poke through.  Also note that rear deck spoilers are attached 
to the trunk lid while the antenna is attached to the fender, so opening the trunk with the antenna up won’t work.  If you 
are concerned about this, the Jaguar fix is to provide a wiring change so that when the trunk is opened and the light 
comes on, the antenna goes down.  This could easily be done by anyone; it only requires a relay. 

Now, if you have the earlier XJ-S, you know those springs that hold the trunk lid up when open?  Do you think they 
will still hold the trunk lid up with the additional weight of the new spoiler on it?  Not likely!  Reportedly, the fix is to 
fit the earlier cars with gas struts, just like the later trunk lids have.  Goodman again:  “The struts and the relay with 
harness come with the spoiler if you buy them from a Jag dealer.” 

 

STYLING KITS:  Several outfits, including Welsh Enterprises (page 694), JaguarSport (page 8), and several other 
vendors in the listing starting on page 710, have developed styling kits with components to add all around the bottom 
edge of the bodywork -- from the bumpers downward at both ends, and along the rocker panels under the doors.  Some 
kits cover the bumpers, while others mount underneath the bumpers with the bumpers protruding through. 

The Welsh kit supposedly fits any XJ-S 1982-on, apparently due to some problem with bumpers on earlier cars.  John 
Goodman says (regarding the JaguarSport versions), “There are three different body kits,  pre-’92 and post-’93 US with 
rubber bumpers and ’93 UK.” 

Michael Minglin reports:  “I have installed a ground effects kit (body styling kit) that I purchased from the dealer.  
From the pictures it appears to be the same kit Welsh is offering.  The kit installs over the shock absorbing beams on 
my ’84 XJ-S.  The chrome top trim and the black rubber end pieces are removed.  I find this preferable to the newer kits 
that do not have the shock absorbing beams protruding through the spoiler.  It may not look as nice, but it provides 
excellent protection in the event of slight bumps, like backing into a post I didn’t see.  The kit is fiberglass and would 
easily crack if it was not for the shock absorbing beams. 

“The negatives on this kit are: You have to be very careful when pulling straight into a curb, or one of the concrete 
parking curbs in parking lots.  The front spoiler is so low it will hit the curb and break.  This point must be stressed 
when leaving the car at a shop or using valet parking.  In addition I have noticed that the engine runs a little warmer on 
the open road since I installed the kit.  It seems to restrict the airflow somewhat.  But, it sure makes the car look great. 

“FYI, this kit is manufactured by Arden, a German company.”  Arden is listed on page 711. 

 

LUGGAGE RACKS:  Herbert Sodher wanted to make his car look different, and found that a luggage rack designed 
for a 1968-75 Corvette will fit on the XJ-S trunk lid nicely.  He chose a really nice stainless steel model rather than the 
basic chrome.  He opted not to use the mounting scheme included, since it was intended for fiberglass; instead, he 
visited a good hardware store and purchased some stainless steel flush head sheet metal screws.  He carefully measured 
locations and drilled some small pilot holes, and with very little effort was receiving complements on the appearance of 
the installation. 

 

MUD FLAPS:  If you drive in mud, snow, slush, etc., you probably are sick and tired of cleaning the slop off the car.  
The place to get mud flaps for your Jaguar is at the Jaguar dealer.  In fact, the panel behind the front wheels already has 
a set of square holes for mounting the flaps. 

 

H.E. VS. V12 EMBLEM:  If you feel that “V12” is a more descriptive emblem than “H.E.”, you may be happy to learn 
that the V12 emblem is available as a stick-on item, and will perfectly cover the holes used to mount the original H.E. 
emblem.  If you purchase the V12 emblem (part number BEC4717 - don’t get the earlier 4-piece emblem), merely pry 
the H.E. emblem out, clean the surface, and stick the V12 emblem on.