Did you repair or replace a part? Add a new accessory? Sand a panel? Take it out for a drive?
What did YOU do to your Jaguar today?

Post your updates and photos below...... Thanks!

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Webmaster, The Jaguar Experience

I went and got a new battery for the 66 3.8S to get it going again. It's been sitting for at least six months whilst REAL LIFE swirled around it.

After about four hours of fiddling and starting fluid I finally got a genuine chug from the fuel like stuff in the left tank. Now it starts and revs but is reluctant to idle.

I think Job 1 is going to bin the Mallory distributor and put the original Lucas back in. I'm very suspicious a lot of my issues with this car may be that Mallory.

We'll know soon...

Always so helpful to have a "known good" part sitting on the shelf, saves a lot of time troubleshooting!

Let us know how it goes.... what kind of issues? Idle or hesitation?

---

Webmaster, The Jaguar Experience

I put my new insurance verification in the glove box.

What did i do to my Jaguar today? I drove it! It always puts a smile on my face! Just pulling out into a small gap in a stream of traffic and matching the speed of the traffic so quickly is always a pleasure. Its actually relaxing knowing you have smooth endless power on tap to get you from A to B. I have a 1998 XJR that drives like a new car still.

Cleaned it.
Due to the local bird population using it for bombing practice.

Replaced Electronic Fuel Pump with another-other Burnt out both ends(Lucky not to have lost the car to Fire)Checked voltage at regulator and at Alternater-both appear ok 13.5 volts.Have purchased Digital volt meter that plugs into cig lighter socket-so will try next time out,vary wary driving at the moment not Knowing what caused initial problem with fuel pump.Amp gauge in car appears to show high charge at all times-not quite in the red zone but pretty close.Car is 73 series 3 E Type

Took her out for a short drive and replaced the passenger door handle. (Last weekend)

Did the tracking on the sky blue "Brundle" car after its long trip across Europe.

Some explanation for the astonishing levels of grip has finally been found.

It turns out the RHF wheel was a little toe out (which is why it was pulling to the right), but otherwise nigh on perfect set-up for a dual wishbone car.

Being as the whole thing was sorted by eye with a vernier and moving shims around, it stands as quite remarkable how close it was to perfect., inc the prog rate rear springs and Koni gas dampers.

I finally found the cause of the annoying rattling from the rear suspension
(retaining bolt pulling up the cone-cone rear subframe bush wasn't tight enough!).

Here are the final settings:-

(Notice how the ORIGINAL settings from Jaguar would have given almost ZERO castor.
This is an incredible error from the factory, giving the steering almost no feel, and it's how they are ALL set up despite the advice from the after market databases for castor figs on them! )

Front 3.5 Degrees castor. Camber -0.20 deg toe almost parallel (3 mins toe in).

Rear -1.4 Degrees (castor not measured) Toe 0.00 (parallel)
Left hand side TOE OUT 0.24' which would indicate to me, worn Taper bearings on the bottom trunnion**.

Original figures for XJ40 would have been the following:-

FRONT:-
Castor:- 1 degree
Camber ZERO.
TOE Parallel

REAR
Camber -0.30 (negative)
toe ZERO. (parallel)


**Suprisingly enough I have NEVER EVER seen anyone else change the bearings on the XJ40 rear lower pivots, despite them being renowned for ingesting water and those small Timken bearings destroying themselves as a result. Same design, same weakness as E type Jag.

Methinks,- next job is to order those bearings and strip it all down properly and replace.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/24/2012 06:45AM by AJ6mod6.

Replaced glue-on inside rear view mirror with series 1 type. I know it's not correct but a replacement glue-on cost three times as much as the series 1 type. Looks cooler, too.

I enjoyed full with my friends in my Jaguar... and then gave my Jaguar for servicing...

Today I removed the alternator and replaced the regulator and brush box. Tomorrow I shall give the car a well deserved polish. I've been away at work for eight weeks and it seems that everyone and his dog has been driving the Jag but no one has cleaned it. They did all say how nice it is though so they've been forgiven. WE all know how nice Jags are!!!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/17/2012 02:58AM by Black Jake.

taking care of some small tidbits. repacking bearings, tune up, replace hood shocks, and drive some open roads..

Today I collected my Jag from the panel beaters. I had had a couple of rust spots removed from the boot lid, had parking sensors fitted front and rear, and had the headlining replaced. This 1998 XJR is now as good as new! Its was a pleasure to drive it again and yep you guessed it....the smile is back on my face again! lol THAT POWER!

Put $100 gas in the tank and took it for a good 4hr drive, seems to run well at about 3-3500revs.Got home admired it,
cleaned it ,admired it again and put it away under cover!

driving it to the harbour ... parking it .... sailing ... then put the top down and meander home...

Came out to a puddle of coolant under the car so I scheduled time for her with the local XJ-S specialist for tomorrow.

I put the XJS on the hoist-removed all 4 wheels, cleaned inside them and ran the grease gun over all grease points.Put it back together and gave it a hour long run!

Today I installed several items on my 1996 VDP
Replaced the upper radiator grommets, not there is no shaking of the radiator. The old ones damn near rotted off their metal washers.
Replaced the head lamp bulbs with brighter ones. Low beams are nice brite white sulvania ultras and the Hi beams are a hi output amber. Also replaced the white parking lamps in from with and amber bulb. The cat looks great during twilight now.
Cleaned the K&N filter.
Next chore is removing the front mufflers, finding a few odds and ends parts IE drivers inside door handle because the return spring broke, drivers door curb lap cover due to breakage. Red rim caps because it will match his deep red skin color.
Fritz gets looks and stares where ever he goes. For me he PURRRRRRRfect

Replaced front bearings, rotated tires, did minor tune (plugs, wires, oil change, air filter). Buffed her and gave her full detail for the show we went to on Saturday. (Friday, last weekend).
Next weekend, 9/14, our club has its Northwest CT Driving Tour and Vineyard Tour, up in NW CT, Torrington area. So she'll see a couple hundred miles of pure pleasure driving.

Drove to my vocational school today. Sure it was 24 degrees out, but I still had the windows cracked a bit with heater on high. Man I love cold weather driving. I just hate the snow.

Took the cover off and started her up. Let her run for a while. Did the same with Amelia, our MGB. Both are put up in the garage for the winter... although could be coaxed out of temporary hibernation with a nice sunny, dry road day. They use all sorts of snow and ice melting concoctions on the roads here in New England and when wet, they spray all up under the car. We know how British metal loves anything corrosive... Planning on a Leatherique or Color Plus application on the Jag over the winter. The Sprite and B are just waiting on more money to buy body panels and a wiring harness.

Talk soon,

Drove to and from work on a sunny day in Sausalito. Doesn't sound much but after having the distributor overhauled, the radiator re-cored, the fan clutch replaced, the fluids changed, valve cover seals replaced, new plugs, belts and injector hoses installed, it felt like a big deal.

After a routine oil change, new tires installed and the removal of the front mufflers replaced with straight pipes. I took Fritz the cat (Vanden Plas) for a quick ride down the highway. He just hit the 100K mark, and after several days of grey and rainy days, I took him for his hall mark bath.

Does looking at it, count?...

I just finished R&R on the rotors on my 2009 XK convertible. They were scored somewhat, so I removed them and had them turned. While at it, I replaced the front pads. Getting the rotors broken free from the hub started out as a monumental task. Using the short sledge hammer, and the acetylene torch was not working. I did a bit of internet research and found a simple method for removal. Using two bolts in the caliper mounting holes, this worked in 2 minutes, far less time than it took just to get my torch out.

S940061, a 1956 Mark 1...today, a week ago today, whenever...it's always something after two months in the shop, isn't it?...much work done there that req'd dropping the front suspension, hence a brake bleed, hence(?) the leak at the lf wheel cylinder (always check your fluids!) which looks to have been the result of replacing the bleed valve with a misfit. So...I have a spare lump ('57 S942330) from which I could salvage a proper bleeder and now, no leak.
Literally, no sooner than that was done, the pin that secures the shift lever to its swivel-ball broke into three pieces. This little section is not well-described in the parts manual, and I do not have a svc manual, so I had to deduce what broke and where from, with just the pieces, and more places to put them/it than they could fill. It looks like the lever has holes drilled at two angles to slightly set the lever this way or that way for the ease of the LHD or RHD models drivers (?). A stainless roll-pin was the option I found, and chose, and now I know that the stick was never supposed to be quite as sloppy as I had become accustomed to. At $.23 for the pin, it was a relatively painless pleasure to fix this.
The little things do add up, don't they, and every one knocked down feels good.
The pics are of some of the cars that attended the Jaguar Associates Group Crab Fest Drive from Palo Alto to Half Moon Bay, which our Jag escaped the cage (shop) just in time to join. Deeelicious.

I fired up my 1991 XJS convertible and she purrrred like the kitten she is.

Took the big cat to the Marin Cars & Coffee (parked between a lovely new Aston Martin Vantage and a beautifully restored/preserved Ferrari 330 V-12 and then brought home & replaced the headlamp relay only to discover a grounding problem & the flash switch is likely my high beam problem.