so after slightly mocking our fellow XJ owner, I was pulling parts out of an old rusted MKVII Jaguar (they share many parts with '50s XK Jags which are $100k+ cars), so I have sprayed a bunch of WD40 in to ease getting the old nuts off, and there is spider webs, damm me if I dont see a redback staggering around looking very sickly. So i sprayed a heap more WD40 in there, waited a bit, then continued on with the job

I drove my mainly stock XJ through Sydney's M4 Motorway on Tuesday. Not normally a big deal but the rain conditions were unprecedented for Sydney.

In my view, the prime movers were the only vehicles travelling too quickly for the conditions. I guess they have deadlines.

I was trying to manage 80km/h with the 27 year old wiper motors working at max speed, while the trucks were roaring through the overtaking lane at near 100 km/h. Being high up in a cab, they had the better visibility, but I would argue their stopping power (if tested) would have been average with so much water around.

In one instance, a wall of water was sent 5m into the air on the other side of the concrete divider. It was like slow motion waiting for it to land on top of my XJ Sport ... like concrete.

I must hand it to everyone out there for not getting a wheel wrong in those conditions to cause a pile up. Visibility was poor from the rain, flooding and spray. It was white knuckle driving for at least 30 mins and the heavy rain would NOT let up.

The new windscreen seal I had installed (recently) did not allow a single droplet to enter the cabin. I felt secure with the FT 4WD and the Silent Armor Goodyear tyres stuck to the pavement well.

not a thing , my xj is resting peacefully in the shed, 28 years and 450,000k's

hasn't missed a beat, BUT if i start it my dog is out like a shot and sits patiently by the drivers door hahah

the wk2 is doing main duty now

Fixed the loose arm rest lid (about time), lock doesn't work which is supposedly normal from what I hear 🤣

I pulled up the rear bench to check on my tyre changing equipment. I had not done this for a very long time. To my surprise, I found a large quantity of well preserved crumbs relating to a wide range of snack foods. They were still crispy.

Survival tip: If people are ever stranded in the desert and run out of food, they could open up the XJ rear bench and eat for days until help arrives. It could get someone a lucrative deal with a snack foods company for when the story appears on 60mins.

I started the trusty 35 year old Hoover vacuum cleaner that does garage/car duty, and must have filled up the whole dust bag.

I need to vacuum more often.

You have had a rodent (mouse) problem in the past.
Maybe replace the snacks with Ratsack?

Funny. I keep my cars garaged, and the windows are always up due to the other critters (snakes and huntsman/huntswomen). Impossible for mice and rats to get into the car itself. I regularly check what's under the hood though.