While overhauling the brake system on my car, it didn’t go unnoticed that in times past, when the rear axle (ENV here – can’t speak for Salisbury types) flexed up due to bad potholes and the like, the center rear bulge of the differential would occasional rub against the middle forward portion of the fuel tank. Not nearly enough to wear through, but still not exactly desirable. The rear axle doesn’t seem to have ever shifted back on the springs nor, to my knowledge, has the tank ever been removed. The tank is due for a boil-out and will be accordingly shimmed back slightly upon replacement so, a minor issue at present. I just mention this as it’s easy to miss.
I find a lot of tank support trays dont have the 5 small set screws securing the rear leading edge to the spare wheel floor.
The movement of diff up and down I have seen small dents in the chassis cross rail at top so under acceleration and bouncing it seems to capable of a large degree of movement
At rest, mine appears to have enough clearance as well, but what’s deceiving is how the fuel tank slopes forward the higher it goes. Anyway, a picture is always best so attached is what I’m talking about: the orangish-reddish circle is that area of the tank that’s been scuffed by the back of the differential bulge.
Pretty sure all tray set screws are in place – but I’ll double-check. Thanks for that tip.
Alright, it looks like I got ahead of myself here: it now looks like the differential on the driver’s side shifted back on it’s saddle about 5/16" of an inch. I will need to loosen the U-bolts on that side, possibly fabricate some sort of new locating pin/ bolt and put things to right. I also see that the rubber bushing for the shock link on that side has gone missing as well.
And so it goes…
I’ll bet THAT made some noise.
If you’re referring to the missing rubber bushing, then, no I never heard anything when I last test drove it in February prior to its purchase. I may have been distracted by the brakes though. They were pretty crappy and have been my primary focus since receiving the car in March.
Taper Wedge part number C3829. Illustration T49 in the parts catalog. If your '120 was made after Jaguar went to Salisbury differentials as standard, you can pass on the rest of this thread as this only applies to the early '120s with ENV differentials. Pretty obvious that the leaf spring U-bolts were not securely tightened enough in the past (likely upon replacement of the original rear spring pairs as they were prone to breakage) causing this part to shift back and forth and rock as well – in turn having caused the differential to make contact with the fuel tank. This never really got fixed – somebody just tightened up the U-bolts that much more. I was inclined to try and machine a repair, but there are no longer any flat surfaces to work off of as a reference point. I could use its brother on the other end as a model assuming it’s okay to machine a new one, but for now I will try and source used example(s). The really hard part will be welding/ machining the elongated hole in the differential mounting saddle that sits on top of this part. Groan. Anyway, here are pictures for posterity of this seldom seen part:
If welding up the damaged hole doesn’t work out, another alternative is to make it larger diameter, with a correspondingly larger pin in the wedge, which would in fact be stronger.
My car made Nov 51 has the later ENV type which had taller saddles and therefore did not use the wedge.
Okay, that’s a good idea – thanks. I’ll see how elongated it is first. I have a plan where, in essence, everything here gets unbolted, tank removed, the axle is flipped upside down, hole welded up, then re-drilled using a shop made fixture so the alignment of the new hole is correct.The exhaust pipes could use a respray of paint, the axle will be accessible for a good cleaning, and the tank would benefit from a good clean-out by a radiator shop anyway.