Are you sure you have the Gaz set on maximum 
When I first put mine on the car , I set them at half way adjustment point , the back end was bouncing far too much set far too hard , had to back them off about half again , and added a few more clicks to the front !
Yes, by virtue of first setting them on the maximum “+” setting, which I assumed meant the most damping. It was like driving a pogo stick.
I then turned them fully the other way. Much better but still a little soft for my tastes.
So how did it drive in-between the 2 settings you have tried
I was able to speak to Ken Verity last night. Very nice man and very helpful although it’s a good thing my Mum’s family are all from the Midlands and Yorkshire, so I speak Northern 
Ken’s advice on initial settings to optimise what I currently have are summarised below:
Use standard 85 profile tyres 32psi front.
Camber 0 degrees
Castor 1 degree
Use Penrite Steering Box lube (now sold as Penrite Semi-fluid Grease) in steering box.
Gaz adjustable shocks 6 clicks front 5 clicks rear
Use 3/4" sway bar (from later Mk2). I think my car has a 5/8" sway bar
700lb springs (317kg) (? I think these are standard)
Poly bushes all round.
I have some 185R15 tyres on an E type so I can swap them over to see how it feels. It shouldn’t be too difficult to set the car up this way and see how I like the handling. I suspect though that I will still find it too soft.
I emailed Harvey Bailey Engineering overnight as well, and their reply was We supply a 1" front anti roll bar and uprated front springs. The price is £370 plus delivery and vat. Leda time is 3-4 weeks.
When I got the car the shocks were set to approximately what Ken V recommends above, and it was too soft. At maximum damping it still feels too soft. At minimum damping it was frightening even at low speeds.
I’ll make the changes Ken suggests (I may leave the steering box for another day as access is a pain) but I reckon it’ll still be too soft.
At that point, if I can I’ll get the spring rate of my existing front springs checked. From what I’ve heard on this thread and what Ken has said the car should be OK when set up properly, and if not it may be because the existing springs are just shot. If so I’ll buy new standard ones.
If I’m still not happy at that point I’ll get the uprated front springs and ARB, probably from Ken (simply because he has been so helpful), and if not from HBE.
Finally if at this point I’m still not happy I’ll fit a rear ARB.
It is possible to buy 20% uprated rear springs from British Classic Car Brakes and Suspension but even they say This spring is 20% ‘harder’ than our standard Jaguar Mk2 springs. It is rarely needed but has been used for rallying and for carrying particularly heavy loads in the vehicle.
I am using the spring on the left , right is standard ,
So they want around £450 
, its a mad world 
Wow. the upgraded spring is so much shorter. Does that affect ride height?
Car sits about right , for me !
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I would be interested to hear how much self centring you get with those settings
I did initially think that the castor was low, but the manual specifies 0 +/- 1/2 a degree. I assume the self centring is provided by the swivel inclination and the 1/16" of toe in.
Yeah that looks pretty good to me.
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Those settings reflect the wheel and tyres of the time. I’m not sure they work well with modern tyres or if you increase wheel width
With best regards
Philip Dobson
I have some 185R15 tyres on standard rims that I’ll fit, as above.
Most would say that with modern radials you should be running 2-2.5 (+)Castor and (-) 1 camber on these cars. I believe the specs you posted are for bias ply tires. I recently posted an article here previously published in JCNA on Mk2 alignment specifications which you can look for if you are interested.
Excellent! Can you link it for me?
My interest is in how much positive caster you can achieve
I preface this by saying that as yet I have not worked on the front suspension of a Mk2 and my understanding of suspension and steering geometry is far from perfect, so if I’m wrong about any of this please let me know.
From the look of the diagrams, castor is set by moving shims between the front and the rear of the upper ball joint. I assume that there is also a fixed amount of castor provided by the swivel inclination although I don’t quite understand the relationship between this and measured castor.
I assume that the upper wishbone halves are in a fixed position relative to the fulcrum shaft, i.e. you can’t move them fore or aft like the castor adjustment on an E type. If so there is a limit to the amount you can move the ball joint back (or forward).
So the maximum positive castor you can generate is when the upper ball joint is right back against the rear half of the upper wishbone with all the shims and packing piece at the front.
I recently had some argument with our local government vehicle inspectors over an E type I was trying to road register. They claimed that the steering didn’t adequately self centre (it drove exactly the same as my own E types and the dozen or so I’ve been involved in restoring).
Eventually I dialled in as much positive castor as I could; about 2.5 degrees (spec is 1 to 2 degrees). This did make the car centre better and I got the car passed but it made the steering unpleasantly heavy at slow speeds. As soon as I had the plates I wound it back to 1 degree.
Not sure how to link to another forum post, so I’ll just re-post. This came from Jaguar Journal May/June 2015. Pretty much covers everything.
Setting up a Small Saloon’s Suspension.pdf (1.3 MB)
Beautiful!
Thanks Ron.
Great information guys! Try to get within reason best handling out of these cars. I’ve been doing what I can on my 420 and then I have a 1964 mgb to really toss around.