I am on a quest. To go original restoration or retro a wonderful car with non-obtrusive enhancements,
Yesterday I went to a Concours D’ Elegance in Brookfield, WI put on by WI Jaguar Ltd Auto Club. There was a Mark V with A/C vents through the wood dash, (shudder) and 140s with stereos and speakers in the rear deck (nice touch). The black survivor was interesting but not that appealing.
Today I visited “Its Alive” restoration shop in St. Louis, MO. Talked with the owner. Total restoration is VERY expensive. Was treated to restorations in various stages and cars needing them, incl. many E-types, and one Mk5.
I bought a wonderfully preserved Mark 9 survivor that is on the edge of needing major restoration. For instance, the front seat is finally spltting, but the rear could be reconditioned. The headliner is grey with age but intact. The windshield washer does not work but is there. Fortunately all the wood is good, and it is 100% complete. Someone painted it a metallic grey-green, but only taped the chrome, thus it is chipping and showing its original creme in places.
As above, I wonder to what extent I keep the survivor look, and when to go all in with paint and interior, all rubber, etc.
Here’s where I am thus far: I took out the very leaky BW250 and have a GM 4L60E in its place. I swapped the original radio for a look alike RetroSound, and put speakers in the front kick panels and back deck. I switched polarity and installed a Dynamator alternator. I put in an aluminum radiator and pusher fan, and overflow tank. I will be installing an A/C system, hanging a Vintage Air Heritage heat and cool unit under the dash. I put O2 sensors in and and Air/Fuel Ratio gauge to set the carbs more accurately.
With the latest work, I am missing driving the car. I LOVE the way it presents itself. So classic, so majestic! The thumbs up, the questions, the adoration, even in its imperfect condition.
For me, I have enjoyed driving and enjoying the car with occasional periods of being laid up for improvements. I do not know how far I will take it, but the car is not so rare that it needs to be preserved intact as is. I think if a/c was more widely used, if there was a good overdrive automatic, and quality FM/Bluetooth in 1961, they would have been in the car.
Leather and paint will come in time, but I do not want this to become an unfinished project car. Drive it, enjoy it, let others enjoy it, and improve it over time as a part-time hobby.
Your opinions?
I agree with the opinions already stated. The car is beautiful as is, and doesn’t have to be perfect. Enjoy it as it is, fix things as you must. A perfect car is actually less usable, and imo less fun because of it.
With the O2 sensors on the downpipes, what did yiu set the fuel mixture to?
I use the tailpipes to insert the CO2 readind device. 5-6 seems good. I had one car, which drove fine, but had feally sooty plugs. It eead 8,5 and 10,5. Tyrned it down to around 6.
A later model but still a saloon, replacing the drop links on my ‘99XJR yesterday.
These came from Rockauto as did the last ones i replaced.
The first one I did will need to be cut off when the job comes around again, this was the nut that came with the item;
You can see the heavy staking that was applied, it absolutely destroyed the thread going on and to add insult to injury the Allen head which is there to stop the ball spinning started to strip out.
I always liked this thread, and learned a lot that also applies to my car, so can I now consider my XJ as a saloon too? I think it’s better to stick to the category with its old world charme. Pre-globalization cars…
It’s become a little silent lately
(They come staked like that instead of nyloc, really??)
I am not sure how your air/fuel mixture reads, but I can have it read either the numbers like 14.7:1 (stoichiometric) or a scale using stoich as 1 (lambda). One post I read here uses a richer mixture at hot idle of 13.5, 13 WOT and a claims that the XK motor gets its best mileage at 15.5 for cruising.
Paul_Saltwick, post:3, topic:37660"
I know that with the SU carb, when the throttle is opened, the dashpot rises slowly to give a richer mixture for acceleration.
Another said with 10% ethanol gas the combined ideal fuel mixture should be at 14.08
So I have been playing with different needles and settings to get close to good mileage, idle, and acceleration AFR. I still have not got it where I want it, and it will change according to air density. I have a flashlight and screwdriver in the glovebox, and have made many adjustments.
The thing about stopping with the hood (bonnet) raised with an old car, is the number of concerned citizens who offer help. “You having problems, buddy?”
I would like an in-cabin adjuster for each carb like small piston powered airplanes have.
Here’s some proper Saloon insights: my striped door carton extravaganza.
Also filed 2 drain channels in aluminum pedal mount, so the pumps don’t leak into the cabin upholstery.
I’ll add my experience to the chat about 02 sensors, I believe I ended up with mismatched needles, the front is UB and the rear is UO I think, as my rear carb would run way leaner than the front at acceleration (fuel flows backwards I guess) and I ended up with a good enough balance at hot, idles and cruises in the mid 13s, accelerates in the 12s. Not perfect but I’d rather be slightly rich vs. in danger of being lean.
a big day today.
did a sneaky drive around the block
after 30 years sitting in a shed the 1961 Mk10 lives again
even better the oil leek out of the gearbox seems to have healed
My 420G had its rear bumper detached through a set of circumstances I wont bore you with, other than to say the 4 rubber mounts must have been deteriorated, fortunately no major damage done.
This is not the first time the bumper has been off in my 20+ years ownership,
and its a difficult job to re-mount
I took advantage to remove every single fastener and add anti-seize, heavily coat the inside of the bar with rust retardant, polish it, and the two screws that retain the ornate glass rear light on the bumper were not the correct original screws.
I salvaged these of a spare bumper, they are a special shape, size and finish
I am now about 99.9% complete with correct original screws and visible fasteners
Hopefully the remount will be easier than on previous occasions
Its very important to put anti-seize on all these bolts, as they are retained by caged nuts that, once seized, will simply break off, leaving you utterly bereft, with no way to get the bar off, except cutting the brackets with a reciprocating saw. The brackets then must be welded back on, as the caged nuts are not accessible behind brackets that are factory welded to the bar Every fastener is hard to access at the best of times, so you want them to come apart easily as possible
My spare bar had evidence of hacked & welded brackets.
I had to do one weld, as a caged nut was already broken off
Annual Inspection soon
slight correction to above. You can get the bar off the car if bolts seize by cutting the rubber mounts with a saw, BUT you cant mount it properly, its a hell of a job getting the seized bolts out, then you have to weld the bracket, instead of bolting it, which is not ideal, as you then cannot get the uprights of the bumper without grinding the welds of the brackets, which cover the bolts
The S1 XJ6 greatly improved this system, which I must say, seems less than ideal
you dont have to think, you can know as the needle type is stamped high up on the shank, if you remove them from the piston, and examine under magnification and strong light, you will be able to read the needle code
A difficult task at the best of times, especially on my own, but its done
the caged nuts are a real pita, another one broke
I think if I have to take it off again, I will do a few mods, which is to enlarge all the bolt holes, and this will allow me to slip a nut in behind the hole, and while pulling it up with a longer bolt, tack weld a nut behind the bracket
One trick to mount the bar is to leave all accessible bolts slightly loose, and tighten them once the bar is mounted
the weekend i sorted all the vacuum system out on the s type. there was a pipe not connected to the servo so none of it working. i wondered why as the car was totally restored a few years ago and this not done. after going through it all i found both the actuators in perfect condition and working fine. all up and running with nice heat and vent working. only thin amiss is the large vacuum tank so got it all working off the small one at the moment.
Re-installed the final 2 brake calipers on the right rear wheel that were previously leaking.
Sent them to Apple Hydraulics in New York, all working fine now. Very happy with their services
