Working on the doors of my 1954 XK 120 OTS. The side curtains are held by two Knobs BD.3429 per side. These have a 3/8" UNC thread that should fit in a “Fixing Plate Assembly" with Jaguar Part number BD.4667. Cannot find any reference or picture of this Plate. I assume it’s some kind of steel plate with either a 3/8” UNC tapped hole or a plate with a Nut welded on it. The plate is held by four CSK screws per Knob.
An update.
I received a perfect template from Harold Lang with the positions of the various holes for the Side Curtain Knobs and the Safety Catch Handle. Combining this with the pictures of my original door and the positions of the holes of my new door card, I had sufficient input to locate the correct positions.
See picture 1 showing the inside of the RH door.
Meanwhile “trial-fitted” the RH door and it fits nicely: door gaps at the front are about 1/8 " and (fortunately) not touching the front wing when opening. See picture below. We’re getting there slowly…
I wish ANY of the gaps on my cars fit as well as on Bob’s car. In my next life I want to be as clever as Bob (look at his website and you will know what I mean).
Agreed. Looking at the quality of work executed by folks like Bob and, closer to home, Nick make me realize that my old XK will only ever be a candidate for something a little better than the wooden spoon!
Harold’s helped me out a number of times with his drawings.
I haven’t done a thing on the XK this winter. Bath and laundry room renovations. I still have a few things to fettle out before I take her on a long drive.
An additional question I have about these fixing plates is what size are the machine screws that hold the chrome plates to the door. Also the lock knob uses a small screw and would like to know that size as well.
Jim
Now we’re entering the deep secrets of British industry… This is all BA thread, which is actually based on a “metric” dimension (BA 0 = 6.0 mm) and then going in steps to the smaller sizes where each size was 0.9 times the pitch of the previous. A scientific master piece or utter confusion?
Lucas used them a lot for their electrical parts but also Jaguar and their suppliers like Wilmot Breeden.
Back to you question: the chrome plate behind the knobs (in Jaguar terms Escutcheon BD.3428) is held by two chromed 4 BA x ⅞" Raised CSK Slotted setscrews C.2027/1. Diameter is .142 " or 3.6 mm. Difficult to find but some of the “usual’s” still have them. UNF 6-40 may fit as a last resort
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The chromed knob for the safety catch (Jaguar description Handle BD.4240 and BD.4241) uses a chromed CSK 6BA x ⅜” screw with Phillips drive. Diameter is .110" or 2.8 mm. UNF 4-48 comes very close. By the way, this is the only screw (or one of the few?) with a Phillips cross head used by Jaguar.
I meant touching when opening the door: it’s close but the door doesn’t touch the front wing. Similar problem as the bonnet touching the scuttle when lifting it up.
PS: I have the Stop Plates BD.4675 that limit the hinges going out too far.
Jim, you should go to your profile and put in your country.
Assuming you are in the USA, I get my unusual BA and BSF screws from either www.MossMotors.com or www.britishfasteners.com
This is I think a one man shop and he also sells Mudskipper outboard motors.
Thanks for the tip. I added my country to help narrow things down in the future. I have checked both places with little to no success on an appropriate fastener.
I’m afraid you’ll have to order these in the UK: several suppliers still have these.
I’m nowadays using stainless steel versions as chromed BA screws are really getting scarce. If you polish the heads, you have to look twice to see the difference with chromed versions. See the example below, although these are 2BA . The upper ones are raised CSK and the lower two are cheese-head screws I haven’t polished them yet.
Bob thank you for that. I was able to track something suitable through the link Rob provided. British Tool and Fasteners had them. I had to dig but eventually found them.
Jim
Talking about the appearance of the screw heads for the Dovetail… what are the views, regarding the original finish for the female Dovetail itself as pictured on the ‘B’ pillar, and also the male Dovetail on the door shut face. Not an area pictured nor detailed very often, and of course once the XK has been repainted, no reliable evidence of what was its original finish. Photos of an unrestored car would be great if anyone has an OTS that has not been repainted. I have my views, but dont want to lead the discussion…
Perfect Rob, my views exactly, but still thought useful to seek a few original paint survivors…
But where this is leading of course, if both male and female Dovetails are painted, then does it really matter if the securing screws are steel, stainless steel or polished stainless steel let alone chrome plated… Different situation for the door latched/locks of course - fitted after the painting was finished…
It does make life difficult for those wanting to maintain perfect/concours paint, given the painted dovetails will chip/wear on mating edges…
But happy to see any photos of original cars, that either agree or disagree with the view that the Dovetails and mounting screws are painted Body Colour all over…
