New Member from Somerset

S

Somerset Jim

New member
Hi Folks,

Just joined and pleased to be a member. I’m on the Somerset/Devon border and on the hunt for a V8 convertible. I have had Porsche’s, BMW’s and Merc’s in the past and having seen a friend of mine with his F type I’m in the mood for one now. I tend to take a trip to the Alps once per year for a few mountain passes and this year the F type would be the car for the job.

I’m looking at convertible v8’s only and don’t really mind whether the car is RWD or AWD but I want to have the most amount of theatre available which means no PPF which leads me to a couple of questions;

1) are PPF’s dependent on model year?
2) is there a way to tell if a car has had a software update to dull down the exhaust sound without having to go and see the car?

I tend to like buying older cars with lower mileage so I guess I’m looking for a car between 2013 and 2016 unless there are any reasons to widen this to a younger car.

Any thoughts on the above are welcomed.

Attached pictures are from last year on a couple of 2023 Alps trips with cars I have imported from Japan and a couple of G Wagen’s we’ve had for a while.

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And a couple of previous cars which were great fun and akin to the F type:

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How was that M3? I bet it is glorious with a little exhaust treatment (heard a few go past me and they are super quiet in standard form). I've got a 2017 F Type R, which doesn't have the PPF, so anything before then will be fine.

Did a trip to the Alps myself this year, was wonderful, many many passes driven and enjoyed, the swiss ones were the best for me... Super quiet (I went outside of school holiday time). The worst/busiest by far was Stelvio Pass in Italy, it was just horrific!

Where in Somerset are you? Welcome!
 
Hi Jimmy,

I’m based near Wellington, Somerset but often come down to Plymouth in the summer months for weekends a float. I’ll look out for you since you appear to be in the area.

The M3 was a great car and one I would happily have again. The sound was great and it would “woof” on a downshift which was a great experience. No cracks and pops like the more modern cars but still a lovely sound especially when hitting the higher revs. The favourite pass was either Grimsel or Hahntennjoch in the video below.

https://youtu.be/Lh7yn6bx9cA?si=GgiUkTljGHZ4sCZI

Hopefully the right F Type will come up in the coming weeks. They look lovely and sound great too!
 
living near Cullompton but off on holiday for 2 weeks tomorrow, but when back if you would like a ride out and i could answer any questions i am able which might help you?

PM me after 6th March if interested.
 
gasgas said:
living near Cullompton but off on holiday for 2 weeks tomorrow, but when back if you would like a ride out and i could answer any questions i am able which might help you?

PM me after 6th March if interested.
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That’s very kind. Will touch base in March in that case. Do you ever go to Re:Fuel? If so we could catch up there at some point.
 
Well after some time searching I found one which ticked all the boxes bar the external colour but the rare tan interior more than makes up for that!

It’s an early V8S with relatively low mileage and the previous owner seemed like a lovely chap and was only selling due to moving abroad. It comes with jaguar history throughout and had the big service the year before last with the belts changed.

The only issues are that the vents do not raise or retract (currently in the raised position permanently), the start/stop button and steering wheel paddles are sticky to touch and the paint needs some correction where the previous owner used what must have been an old sponge to clean the car.

Overall I’m really made up and looking forward to a fun summer with the top down! ;)

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Looks like a stunner! The paint swirls are often called love marks in the detailing world. The paint on these is very soft so easy to correct if you fancy giving it a go yourself. I'd happily answer any questions and give you a bit of a how to if you need it. Doing it yourself is definitely more satisfying and if you do end up with minor scratches they're easy to correct yourself instead of paying for it to be re-detailed. I got quoted £800 by a company in Exeter.
 
There are various threads on here regarding the vents and sticky buttons, both easy fixes. There is a menu setting for the vent so that it’s permanently deployed so it may be worth looking at this first
 
Thanks folks. I cut polished and waxed our black G55 AMG and after that vouched never to buy a black car again for fear of having to do the same again. I guess I’ll have a go at this one unless I can find a decent quote locally.

It’s been terrible weather but I’ve still found the time to give it a wash and started to work on the tail pipes. More work needed but they are starting to look better already.

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I’ve also managed to find time to clean the seats with leather cleaner. The state of the steering wheel was quite bad which was the catalyst to start cleaning. Looking much the same but feeling much better to the touch.

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Looks good! If you fancy giving ceramic coating a go I can highly reccomend carpro cquartz UK 3.0 as its easy to apply and seems to last for me!

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After being away for a few days over Easter I have come back and have started to fettle with the car. The roof has now been cleaned and fabsil gold applied which gives a satisfying beading effect. Dodging in and out of the showers I had to do this over 2 days and it was interesting to see the difference in the evening with only half covered.

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Then yesterday I took the opportunity of a break in the rain to wash and clay bar the car and swap it into the garage for some paint work. Before doing the paint I cleaned up in the engine bay since there had been a build up of detritus in crevices which would likely attract moisture and then encourage corrosion. To save the bolts from corroding I have coated them with Dinitrol 77B which I had from undersealing another car recently.

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After having quotes around the £1k mark for sorting the paint I thought I’d make the saving and have another go myself. Starting at around 2pm and finishing in the early hours of the next morning with about an hour break, I had forgotten how time consuming cutting the paint work is! I would say I have managed to shift approximately 90% of scratches and all swirl marks. I’m now ready to attack it with the polish and wax. Does anyone have any hits or tips on how to clean around the badges especially on the spoiler? I have some cotton ear buds that I have used but they don’t seem to do enough. I’m considering removing them altogether and just putting new badges on.

Having considered ceramic coating I think that given the amount of use the car is going to have and being that it will be off the road in the winter months, using wax will give it a better lustre. If you think ceramic coating is better then let me know why. I’m open to ceramic coating but I’m loathed to coat over and lock in the remaining scratches left on the car.

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I’m not aiming for perfection but want to get rid of the haze of swirls which were covering the car.

https://youtu.be/JI3DGcL2xec?si=8gn_mGvrXUZImPWi
 
Nice job on the paintwork there! Makes one wonder how the previous owner treated and cleaned the car to manage to mess the paint up like that.
 
Thanks Major Tom. It is a drawn out process but worth it with as much of a change as this has gone through.

Last night I set about installing an apple car play unit that I took a punt on from Ali Express. I didn’t realise that the back of the cabin had to be taken apart to get to the headunit but after sorting this and checking it all before putting it back together to my relief it works really well. Next on the list of things to sort was the rising vents which were ceased open. After taking this apart and sanding down the necessary parts and greasing them it works now which is great news!

After this the sun came out so I thought I’d take a photo or two before putting the number plates back on the car.

I’ve since buffed the exhaust tips within an inch of their lives. Now it is just a case of enjoying it!

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One point of note that someone better informed may be able to answer is whether a speaker can simply be added to the rising vent where there is a space for the higher spec system? It would appear that there is wiring there and I was wondering if one can simply be plugged in or if it is much more involved than this.

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Personally I wouldn't bother adding a centre speaker even if the system can be made to drive it. Even an upgraded speaker on mine sounds coloured and spoils the sound quality, so I use just the stereo setting rather than surround.
 
... many many passes driven and enjoyed, the swiss ones were the best for me...
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Give Grossglockner heading south from Innsbruck a try. You won't be disappointed :D
 

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