Piston Slap: A Supercharged Way to Cheap NOS Parts?

Keith writes:

Hi, I’ve recently acquired a 2003 Jaguar S-Type R. Sort of rare. It’s the supercharged V8 model. The car is in good condition, but has 140,000 miles and needs some TLC, to say the least. I’m having trouble finding parts. Salvage yards tell me they have parts, only the donor cars are standard S-Types. I’ve been on Jag forums and found help with engine, supercharger, and mechanical parts.

I need the lower (under engine, trans) body panels from the front valance back through the trans including inner fender wells and spoiler. The correct parts have cooling channels for brakes and trans. Jag dealers want small fortune. I’m trying to get salvaged parts. I even bought all new aftermarket pieces from eBay UK. Struggled installing them, five hours on my lift, altering parts to fit. So, obviously not correct, as a “Jag expert” assured me. During my first test trip I saw my new panels in my rear-view, bouncing off the highway into a million pieces.

So, I’m looking for some direction in finding R Model parts. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Sajeev answers:

The first step in finding cheap NOS parts (i.e. cheaper than whatever the dealer says) is acquiring factory part numbers. Maybe one Jaguar dealer will cough them up for you. After researching via a online Jag parts vendor, it seems like everything starts with “XR8”. Which is a start, albeit not a great one.

Pop that number into eBay and lots of cool bits for your Jag show up. For an S-Type R grille, XR847243XXX turns into supercharged feline gold! And that’s a nice price compared to others I see online (well over $500). So get your part numbers (complete and partial) and make them all into saved searches, formatted by newest first. Search these saved links on a daily basis — I often do this during lunch breaks.

This works. eBay works. I couldn’t restore my six undesirable Ford/Lincoln/Mercury vehicles (i.e. no dedicated aftermarket support like Mustangs and trucks) on an ongoing basis without it.

From there, plug your part numbers on Facebook Pages, Rear Counter, Car Part, LKQ and do business directly with the vendors you meet on eBay. They often drop a business card in the shipping materials. You never know, you might find a Jag dealer looking to dump their old inventory quickly! Sometimes all it takes is a business card, a phone call, and a part number to get what you need.

[Image: Shutterstock user AMatveev]

Send your queries to sajeev@thetruthaboutcars.com. Spare no details and ask for a speedy resolution if you’re in a hurry…but be realistic, and use your make/model specific forums instead of TTAC for more timely advice.