Paragon - Jaguar XK8 & XKR Restoration

Restoration

Footwells

It has been well known for years amongst Jaguar enthusiasts and on forum groups that the Jaguar XK (X100) has had a few corrosion issues, particularly with the front footwells. However as these cars are getting older more and more other issues are coming to light, rear wheel arches, rear chassis sections, sill sections and more now the front cross members under the radiator. All of these problems can be corrected to keep your XK in the best possible condition, we highly recommend waxoyling or other protective product which can be done here at Paragon Design
The cause for the footwell problem is due to the extra thick plate welded to the underside of the car. These Plates have a couple of rubber bungs going through the floor to inside the car under the carpet which have square nuts welded to them, these are what the original bodyshell would have been bolted to on the factory jigs taking the car around the assembly line. The issue occurs when water gets trapped between the thick plate and the footwell floor, as the floor steel is thinner this rots out first which is why you get water ingress before you actually find a problem.		If the underside of your foot well looks like the picture above be prepared for possibly a much larger hole under the carpet, having a damp or soaked carpet is a tell tale sign you have a problem
What under the carpet often reveals		We like to cut a sizeable hole also removing the drain plugs from the manufacturing process
A new floor panel is made from 1.2mm thick steel shaped to look like the original floor		Any surrounding surface rust is ground away, treated, painted with zinc phosphate and if available painted in body colour or equivalent

Sills and Arches

Rear sill sections are becoming more and more common particularly higher mileage vehicles, this then goes into the arch sections which repair panels are now avaialable but more often do not go far enough to cover the extent of the sill corrosion.

In our experience if the outer arches are corroded the inner panel has probably rusted also.

New inner arches have to be fabricated and welded in

This picture shows the rear arch above the bumper, through the hole you can see the boot vent which is often the culprit for this kind of corrosion

The new arch and rear section welded in, just waiting for the front of the arch, rear of the sill to be completed

Front Cross Member

With undertray removed this is a common sight	Under the radiator	Rebuilding the chassis end and towing eye section
	Fabricating new cross members

Rear Chassis Section

This part of the chassis can be seen behind the rear wheel, a very common rust point, there are a few layers of steel over lapping each other, water gets between and rusts from the inside out as the seems are not sealed from the Jaguar factory. Each layer is cut away until we find good metal, this is then treated and primed, new metal is then welded in, primed again, existing seems are sealed then stone chipped to give a lasting repair

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