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3 Studes in a row....


keiser31

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If you know Jags, they can have a problem with rust. The wood floors can really hold the water. Our XK 120 was pretty bad where the floors tied into the rockers and inner trunk side panels. Rockers , front hing pockets and the back of the door jam can be bad as well. The way they finished the rocker in the rear wheel well, is just asking for large rust problems. Look close at the headlight/front marker light pods, where they mount on the fenders, you would need to pull the headlight , or look on the bottom of the fender. Water gets in the headlight pod, and just sits. It will rot out the bottom before you see it on the outside. 

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11 minutes ago, zipdang said:

From the looks of it, I'd bet that Jag currently has no oil leaks.

Yep....they say, "if it doesn't leak water in through the top and oil out the bottom, it isn't British."

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XK Jags can be a darn good investment, and they have been hot.  I've had 5 XK 120 Roadsters and they all treated me well financially, still have my keeper, but the wrong one can also be a money pit.  As Xander pointed out, rust is the number one concern.  Too bad the opened engine has been allowed to get rusty, but solvable one way or another.
If at all possible try somehow to get it on a lift.  I wouldn't worry tooo much if the front side light pods are punky,  the larger rust concern would be such as the complicated structural parts in the area of the door shut pillar and the adjoining parts at the front of the rear fender.  There's a lot going on in there, and trouble might not be outwardly apparent.  The body can also rust out in the trunk area and all along where the rear fender attaches to it, ugh. The 120's had rocker rust out problems but I am not sure about the 140's.  Even the frames can rust out, especially the rear kick-up.  Matching numbers are important too. It looks encouraging if those are California black license plates, but then who knows, it might have spent most of its life in Minnesota. 
Completeness is also a concern, and even if complete is everything usable?   If serious parts have to be bought, bring $$$$. Even a hand full of little pieces can run the bill up.  The fixed head coupes are valued below the open ones, but are desirable and definitely collectable.  Good luck.  It may be a sleeper.

Edited by Dave Henderson (see edit history)
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We are actually in the process of moving it to a lift. The plan is to check it out thoroughly and see EXACTLY what the bad is below. The owner has no real dreams that it is platinum plated, so we are in agreement that it is rougher than he thought. The car's history is the bay area of California. I know it's history from about 1970 something.

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