Haven’t seen a topic for my favourite pics category yet - here’s one of my favourites, early morning in the Namibian desert.
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Are they 15" rims, like a MkII, Randall?
Hi Paul, no they are original 16" rims.
Hi Randall,
I have recently resurrected my 54 MK 7, my first car that I bought in 1967, as a freshman in college.
I was lucky enough to find an NOS brake master cylinder for it at the Carlisle Import Show this spring and that allowed me to get the brakes back up and running with a correct Clayton Dewandre booster that I rebuilt. I am now in the process of rebuilding the rear axle and replacing the differential with a much better one from a spare MK 7 axle.
I have driven this car sporadically for the last 56 years and now look forward to restoring the body and interior. The engine was rebuilt in 1973 and the front seal was upgraded to a lip seal so no leaks there. I will post pix as I make progress.
I have collected many NOS parts for it over the years including a perfect mascot. This is the car that started my passion for Jags.
Best regards,
Tom Brady
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Great story, get it finished & up & running. I’ve had mine since 1976. Eight year rebuild & its been going since 1984. Did a 400 mile trip yesterday to domy granddaughter’s matric farewell this weekend, then 400 home miles back next week.
Let’s have some more.
Here is my 1957 Mk7 which I bought around 1971 when I was in university. The elderly owner hadn’t driven the car for around 6 years.
We towed it home on a rope, and later got it running. What a nice comfortable car on the highway. STP would quieten down the valves and rod bearings nicely.
It wasn’t very good in the snow, the front brakes used to drag somewhat, and with most of the weight on the front wheels anyway, the car would just sit there on the ice with one real wheel spinning. The car had a front wheel shimmy at maybe 20 mph, which would go away at faster speeds. It had an oil bath air cleaner, which did seem to collect dirt and discolor the oil quickly. Had to be careful not to spill much of the oil after removing the air cleaner and setting it down, it wouldn’t sit level, and would spill out the oil quickly when set down tilted.
Our family dog Duke, loved riding in the car. Here it is at the summit of Economy Mountain, back in the early 1970s.
I was able to keep the reliable comfortable car for years. Here it is sometime in the 1990s.
I had to sell the dear car in the late 1990s.
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Keep em coming.
Hi all,
My brother and I broke down a spare MK 7 rear end this week and the differential is much better than my original and I will be using it in my rebuild.
New bearings and seals all around and a restoration of the backing plates and wheel cylinders are in order. Amazingly the shock links were intact, pretty rare for a Jag of this age. I have seen 7’s with them entirely missing.
Best regards,
Tom Brady
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I love the Mark IX gray-on-gray color scheme… here’s mine from 1987. Both are daily drivers at this point.
Jay
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I hope you’re not putting a 4.27: to 1 back in there. I put a 3.54 assembly in mine. (not R & P) but whole cluster together. That had to be one of the best changes I did for an everyday driver.
Was yours a manual or auto?
Mine was manual w/o OD.
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Hi Art,
I am staying with the 4.27 ratio. My 1953 built MK 7 has the original model of the Borg Warner automatic transmission that starts off in intermediate gear when Drive is selected. Low gear can be manually selected and manually shifted to Drive to attain second and third. It takes off adequately from a standing start and I am happy with its overall performance.
Best regards,
Tom Brady
My first $50 Mk7 had that DG250MJ automatic. It was awful. For $4.40 I bought a new first gear band because the end of the omega shape had broken off. I changed it in the car. I also spent another 5 Cents to buy a very little sheet metal stamping to hold a spring in the valve body. That gave me back reverse, absent when I bought the car.
It’s my understanding that Jaguar came out with the B head to get more torque a thousand revs lower for the automatic. If you still have the std head a B head might be a good idea, if you drive the car.
There is a book for this BW tranny that Jaguar published.: Publication No. E/113/4
Hi Art,
I have replaced the original “A” head with an “M” head from a later MK 7M and also had a three angle valve cut done on the valve seats. Power is quite adequate and far better than the original. Although it is not comparable to the B heads and 9:1 compression on my MK 9’s, which move out very well with the first gear start.
I think I have all the Jaguar publications on the DG transmissions, including the separate MK 7 Automatic Parts Manual, Publication No. E/113/4, and the very well written Australian "Jaguar MKS. VII-VIII-IX with Automatic Transmission. I recently had two DG-150 transmissions rebuilt for my MK 9’s. See thread.
Best regards,
Tom Brady
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