Restoration, 2006
Another
year started, time to do some maintenance before the driving season
starts.
Headlight connections
45 years old
plastic (bakelite?) headlight connectors were brittle as glass and one connector
broke. I replaced both sides with new connectors. Already some years ago I
converted to H4 headlights.
Steering column service/horn repair
Horn did not
work (separate button under dash was installed for horn), so I bought a repair
kit and removed steering column to fit it. The horn rotor was ok, but the
contacts were worn out. Works fine now. At a same time I replaced felt bushings
and got less sloppy feeling at wheel. Funny to think that they used pieces of
felt for bushes but if they have worked 45 years, I guess new ones will work
also the rest of my life. And give a grin for next restorer, at year 2050
:) Update: During the annual inspection (like
MOT in UK), car was failed due to too stiff steering. I admit it got stiffer
after replacing felts, but I didn't think it was too bad. Well, off the steering
column again and I made the felts little bit thinner, added lots of oil into
them and put all back together. I also bleeded the power steering system, there
were some air, maybe that caused some stiffness too. New trial to inspection and
they said it is OK, for this old car... :)
New voltage regulator
I have had charging
problems and the voltage regulator was not Jaguar/Lucas one, so I decided to
replace it with Lucas RB340. I know this car should have RB310, but this is
close enough. Had to drill one new fastening hole, it seems that RB310 and 340
are slightly different. I haven't tested yet if this one charges any
better.Update: Driving season started and the new regulator did not charge. After trying a week to find the problem and asking help from Jag-lovers, cleaning the contacts with fine sand paper helped and now it charges well. I guess contacts were oxidized during the 40 year storage of the part (it was unused NOS).
Last drive of season
Last drive of the
season, winter is approaching. Car performed excellent, thanks to Riku, long
time Jaguar enthusiast whom I found this summer and who tuned carbs and set the
timing. The clutch bearing keeps noise (like it has done 3 years...), I guess I
have to do something for it during the next winter.
Time to hibernate
Well, as the cat feels
this cold, it is time to take the car off from insurance and put it to winter
hibernation. Don't worry, this cat is from my younger Jag, the Old Lady is safe
and warm in the garage. The clutch repair started by jacking car up, removing bonnet and draining oils. Next thing is to drain coolant and remove all extra bits for engine removal.
Clutch repair
Clutch repair
progressing, engine with clutch and gearbox ready to come off. I guess I'll also
tidy the engine compartment same time. And maybe polish aluminium in engine,
clean carbs, service power steering bump, generator, starter,... Let's see if
all is done before the spring. 
Jouni, another Jaguar owner from Oulu, borrowed his
engine lift and came to help me in engine removal. My garage is quite tiny, so
there is not too much space around. Luckily another room next to it for handling
removed parts. As I did not have proper Churchill engine lift bracket, Jouni
made lifting brackets in his workshop and we fastened those under head bolts.
As
there is no space in my tiny garage to lift engine out, we lowered it to the
floor and will remove gearbox & clutch there, under the car.
Gearbox removed. First I unbolted overdrive from
wrong point and axles won't slide back in anymore. Oh well, I was going to open
it anyway to check how it is internally. Hopefully there isn't too many cogs
dropped from axles. The bellhousing has a nasty 4" crack in it and actually it
also is wrong bellhousing, notice there is no fastening place for engine
stabilizer! No idea from which Jaguar this bellhousing is from, didn't all XK
engines had stabilizer? New, correct bellhousing is in order.
The clutch is still in place, next job is to remove
it.
The overdrive. No plans to dismantle it, it has been
working fine. Just some cleaning.
The clutch plate still has thickness, but as I do not
want to do this operation any time soon, I think I'll replace it anyway.
Exhaust manifolds are this ugly, so I'm going to send
them for replating. Not for enamel/porcelain treatment, but Tech Line Coatings'
Black Satin paint.
That will be nice enough for me and is available in Finland.
First I thought to just lower the engine to floor to
remove the clutch, but now I decided to remove the engine completely, to make
cleaning the engine and engine bay easier. Now that the clutch, gearbox and
overdrive were off, there was enough space even in my tiny garage to lift the
engine out. So plan is to make the engine little prettier.
Here is the gearbox opened. Not too bad, I think. I
have no plan to dismantle it more than necessary to reinstall the front needle
bearings which fell off when I opened the overdrive from wrong point and drew
the countershaft off couple of inches. But maybe getting those back will mean
total dismantle...
Well, while waiting clutch spare parts, I decided to
dismantle the gearbox afterall. No big surprise there, laysaft 1st gear has some
worn teeths but not too bad. Let's see if I can get all these back together with
those needle bearings and all...
Close quarters! I wish I had a 2 car garage. Already
got a big bruise to my leg while climbing over engine crane. Well, it could be
worse, being a treeshade mechanic in Finnish winter would be much worse!
Here is the selection mechanics top part opened. The
down pointing selection pin in lower picture was loose in it's rod and caused
some sloppiness to stick. So I tightened it, feels more precise now.