Having completed the rewire my 1948 Mk IV (1 1/2 Litre 4 door saloon) and checked the engine visually (followed by a couple of turns of the starting handle to make sure the engine wasn’t stuck), I was somewhat surprised that the engine sprung to life at the first turn of the key. It still has the original HT leads, distributor, etc and what looks like grandpa’s 1940’s spark plugs!! I didn’t risk the petrol tank after standing for a decade or more, so used a plastic can and a rubber pipe for my fresh unleaded petrol. A short run up the drive and back and all seems OK mechanically as well - so I plan to move on to the bodywork and interior.
All the rubber profiles to the doors, engine bay, boot, sun roof, window glasses, etc are totally disintegrated - to such a degree that I can’t tell what size and shape they should be. Has anyone got any information on the profiles, sizes, etc of the body rubbers on this Jaguar? Does anyone recommend a supplier who knows about and can provide these rubber seals for the MK IV in the UK?
Also I have not been able to work out how the round dash board “labels” (around the dash switches, etc) can be taken off. They should be black with white lettering, but most have lifted paintwork and have unreadable lettering. I didn’t actually remove the switches when I re-wired as all of them worked OK and could be accessed via the engine bay bulk head flap or from below by diving in the foot wells.
While going through identifying rubber bits for replacement, there are lots of other parts to consider. Check on external oil lines on the engine to see if a flexible line is present. Back in the day, flexible lines were used to feed oil pressure gauges. The line on my Mark V was this original cloth over rubber until it cracked in about 2005.
At the differential, make sure the oil level is good and then watch over several days for drips from the front pinion seal. Whether leather or rubber used in that seal, running out of sufficient oil in the differential is never a happy outcome.
Yes - I will be working through the engine bay and under the car totally before a “proper test drive”. I can identify (and hopefully source) most of the underbody parts, but the external rubbers have turned to black powder (may have been over hot, reacted to a chemical, or in direct sunlight). I will be replacing all the engine and running gear items when I strip it down fully for its paint job.
BUt there is no one stop shop for everything for a MK IV
The doors have rubber blocks in the pillars to stop them rattling , but no rubber door seals , they have furflex.
The steering column grommet you may find sold asa " left hand drive MK IV" steering grommet [ the 1 /2 NS lhd 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 S share the smaller dia column
There isn’t to my knowledge a sunroof seal profile available . But I do have an article for CJA N&TB showing how to make and fit one . quite easy .
Alan Gibbins does some rubbers like the wiper grommets, trunnion housing rubbers for the 2 cylinder cars which could probably be odded for the narrower springs on your.s.
The dash labels are held on by very small wood screws
Undo the screws , remove, strip the paint , spray in black and when dry , wipe the white piant intothe etched letters and wipe off excess with Prepsol
You may need articulated hands to do much useful through the firewall flap . best to do it all first .
Thanks. I’m struggling more to find the rubbers or to know the size and profile shapes for the external glass and body work (glass weather seals in the doors, windscreen, quarter lights, rear window). The information of making up the sunroof seal would be good if you could kindly post it on the Forum please.
I’ve removed carefully the black paint from the dash labels in situ (which was all flaking and bubbled up) - the are NO screws in any of them except the chromed lower demister control label strip. All the round labels look like brass, overpainted black. So if they aren’t screwed down or held by a front lock nut I am suspecting they must be glued down, or maybe this is a one part “collar” to the switches themselves which I’ve not seen before - just didn’t want to force them and damage the wooden veneer. I will investigate further.
I recall some of the dash labels being pushed through the wood from the front, with fragile tabs bent over on the backside of the dash. I recall the tabs breaking off, and resorting to glue for reassembly. Dave
I think Ed was thinking of the wiper control bezels. They have little screws. I think the pull/push switches have bezels that screw onto the threaded bodies of the switches. I can’t remember what happens with the ignition switch and the starter button but the slow running adjustment is similar to the switches I think.
Alan Gibbins has new vent window rubbers
There are no rubbers for the windows except the windscreen , which either Worcester or Alan Gibbins have.
The door windows have Bailey channel , a woven finish with NO shiny bezel on the bottom one
Fot he bottom one , cut a U shaped normal piece down the centre with tin snips and flatten it .
Rear window isin the chrome frame with silastic and has sealant in the groove on the outside edge and it screwed in from the inside [ # 4 self tappers [ after the head lining is in.
I’ve never seen brass dash labels and Bill would have not been generous enough to pay for brass.
They are definitely NOT glued
YOu would need to remove everything from the dash to do a good job of repolishing
I don’t know about UK, but here th e original shellac lasts about a year fro UV exposure.
Thanks Peter - I’ve tried unscrewing the bezels with no joy, but wondering if they are also glued or stuck with varnish. I need to take the dashboard out fully and investigate as I don’t want to damage the wood veneer.
Thanks Ed. I don’t seem to have a program on my computer that will open a odt file. If your computer will open this odt file then perhaps you would be kind enough to see if you can save it in another format (ie: Word or pdf) to unload on the Forum. I’ll contact your suggestions for the rubbers and see if they can match the MK IV profiles I’m needing. The dash switch bezels under the black paint certainly look like brass to me - I doubt if they are gold !! Also the door hinges are brass which I’ve not seen before, but then most have been painted over I guess and this is the oldest car I’ve worked on. I do know it was one of the last Mk IV’s to leave the Jaguar factory and was sold as an “SE Deluxe” as it had added extras (front door wind deflectors, badge bar, walnut veneer, etc) - so maybe the production boys had some brass knocking around in the store room. I’ve attached a couple of photos of the dash bezels and one for the brass coach hinges.
The tabs in the pics … have a small 'nipple ’ or pin cast into the rear which pushes into a hole in the wood. So as to orientate them correctly
The old shellac may be a bit stuck , but I’ve never had trouble removing them The " airconditionng " label at the bottom of the dash has small screws
Some others like I think from meoery , the ign switchhave a bezel holhing the plated with tabs that are bent ove r behind the dash .
The hinges , of course were brass [ or bronze] as they were structural and needed to support the weight of the doors.
The clutch mech in the other pics , seems to need the pedal rotated brear ward but about 40 degrees
Thanks for the sunroof seal instructions, Ed. Near as I can tell, it does apply to Mark V as you thought. If all goes well I will be doing it this summer.
Rob
