I fired her up today for the first time in 8 Very Long months, mostly out of concern for the AC compressor. I've killed a compressor by letting it sit too long without stirring up the oil and such, and I have NO desire to have to rebuild this system.

The front end is virtually finished. All that really remains for roadworthyness is the small matter of rear brakes.

When I was a kid we had a neighbor who merely pinched off the rear brake lines and drove his rig all over with only front brakes. Husband says I can't do that.

Bummer!

He's SO Mean!
(';')

 

Great to hear Lnr............long missed note I'm sure.
I am doing a list of electrical checks Grant was very kind enough to give me over the phone and hope to hear my cat roar today.

Jim

 

Must have been a relief to hear it start and not have yet another job. Good luck with the brakes, I hope that goes without too many surprises.

 

Jim: Thank you. Yes, a missed note. But I was most concerned about the compressor. No need, as she idled up, the inside was getting cold!

One thing I must warn you though, if you like the light steering of the S2 rack, learn to fix it when it dies, because the S3 rack is sluggish in comparison. I'm Seriously disappointed to find the steering, while still jacked up without even tires on, is nearly as stiff as Wart!

Steve: Oh, there's another job, alright! In the past 8 months the valve cover gaskets decided they might just as well quit holding hands with the heads. In Very short order the shop was Filled with oil smoke from the exhaust manifolds, and as the AC was set on AUTO the cabin was also filled with Blue Fog! It took an hour with all doors open and a stiff breeze to clear the air!

(';')

 

Thnx Lnr I'll certainly keep that in mind as my steering is one thing I love with this car.....the boot looks new for this vintage so I'm thinking maybe not too old.


Jim

 

I bet that was a sweet sound, just a little work to go and you'll be back on the road before you know it.

 

Thank you, Clarke,
It was a Very sweet sound, especially as I have known of engines sitting that long that developed Serious problems during their Long Sleep.

Husband informed me he has a pair of the correct gaskets "out there somewhere," which shouldn't surprised me because he has enough such supplies to almost build another complete car, but it sort of does.
(';')

 

Jim, I too loved the light touch of the steering. I could concentrate on other things (like driving) and not be fatigued from fighting the wheel like I have to with Wart. A couple hours in that van and I'm ready to put a bomb in the gas tank!

If there's a way you can do it, rig up a cooler on your PS system. Even the simplest one as shown in https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...-c00-l-144979/ post #20 will be better than nothing. It's a hydraulic mechanism like any other, and heat buildup is its Greatest enemy. A cooler on the return line will go a Long way to enhance its life span.

If/when you ever have to take the rack apart, the seals should be available at any hydraulic shop or repair facility. Heavy equipment repair businesses will be a source of information if not specific parts.
(';')

 

LnrB:


All right. Tis neat to have them fire up after being dormant for a spell.


There is a relation between the Jaguar rack and the GM pump. A matter of relief pressures. Some racks and some pumps match better than others. Andrew of jaguar-Specialties has written on the subject. On his site, I dunno. But, he is very helpful and might have some detail to revert back to the less effort feel of the S2 rack working with the GM pump. Great r source of parts as well.


The later GM pump on my LT1 matches the S3 rack nicely. Gave me a tussle with the hoses, though when I installed it.


Yeah, AC, I saved the GM Harrison from my original engine. it's AC was quirky, but working just fine when the DOHC engine had it's hissy. Gave it to a guy, only to find it had expired in storage apparently???


Way back my cars had lousy brakes if any at all. Only one of my mechanical braked cars worked right The others had impossibly hard pedals with little braking or grabbed really hard, one way or the other.


One "mechanic" I knew had an issue with a leaking rear wheel cylinder on his rather decent 39 Ford. Getting he hubs off those old fords was a war most of the time, even with a dedicated puller. No luck. So, he cut the hard line and hammered it shut. Two fronts and one rear???? Worked sorta on a small town streets. And, on long stretches of west Texas highway, just fine. Today, no way......


Good for hubby, doing his job...


Carl

 

Great news.
It's got to be so nice after all your work on the rest of the cat to hear it purr, or is that roar!

 

Thanks, Guys,

Carl: Thank you for that bit about the pumps being different. I think this might be almost Completely Unacceptable with rubber on the road. If I wanted Arm Strong steering, well, I don't want that in a car, especially one like this one, I had quite enough of that on the farm. Even grain trucks and such have a lighter touch than Nix does at the moment. The John Deere 7520 steers easier!!

But you know what this means, finding another pump, figuring out how to mount it, and doing all that without removing the radiator and trans cooler.

I wrote a reply to Andrew Lowe a while back, that when things start to go too well, I brace myself for when the shoes start dropping. I think this is another shoe.

anjum: It was a ROAR with the fast idle cam engaged (about 1000 rpm), the fan naked, the air cleaner off and the hood/bonnet over on another flat surface. But the fact it started at all, with no major leaks (I spilled the PS fluid while filling) and the compressor was making COLD AIR in the cabin were Massively Encouraging!! Until I tried turning the wheels, that is, and the smoke started filling the shop.

I'm going to try tightening the valve covers First before I even think seriously about changing gaskets, because that requires almost nothing as opposed to removing the compressor and its mounts (breaking into the system) to get the left cover off. As I've mentioned, I have NO desire to do that!!
(';')

 

Elinor:


It might not be that complex as to pump pressure vs rack needs. I have a vague recollection of the Saginaw pump. Used on Jaguars as well. So, the GM Saginaw that came with your SBC is quite similar, if not identical. Tis the relief valve atop the unit, as I recall that is the key to match one rack or the other to the pump.


Son has an ancient Case tractor. It works in spite of past misuse and abuse and bad fixes. he ahs fixed many of them. PS, naah, just a big wheel and a lot of mechanical leverage.


In early days of desert junk racing, some guys installed steering boxes and big steering wheels wheels to get mechanical advantage and move a big tire.


My 69 IHC Scout II had both. large diameter steering wheel and PS!! Both worlds.


SBC valve covers. Many tin covers were deformed at the bolt hole by over tightening. So, the gasket is not depressed well. And, some skip the little bars that go on each bolt to spread the "squeeze". If missing, replace. And snug plus just a tad. No "kill" the little fasteners, it is counter productive.


Jaguar starts and runs perfectly. working on new harness and relay for torque converter lockout. I am not sure it was ever connected properly. My bad.


Carl

 

"steering boxes and wheels from big trucks." Missed part of the sentence!!

 

Thank you, Carl,
I'll look at Andrew's site and see what I can find about the relief valve, because the way it is now, it sucks pond water!

I'm SO glad you've got your car running. SO glad!!
(';')

 

Well, ya see it's like this..............
The first time I fired her up, there was a lot of oil on the exhaust manifolds which I didn't notice, so as the engine heated up the AC was drawing smoke into the cabin. I got some Berryman's Carb Cleaner (now reduced to nothing more than lacquer thinner in a spray can) and cleaned the oil off the manifolds, and tried again.

It seems that over the Loooong layup, Nix's valve cover gaskets decided not to seal anymore, the longer it ran the second time, the more oil escaped. Oh Goodie.

Changing them will NOT be a simple procedure, because of all the SMOG crap tacked on the engine, but also because the compressor MUST be dismounted to get the left cover off!!

Not only that, the first time I couldn't let her run very long because of the oil smoke so I couldn't properly check out some of the other mods, like the Opticell. That works GREAT, but she ran long enough this time to open the choke fully, and reveal a Really Bad miss! Not wanting a cat fire I shut it off before finding which one isn't firing.

Multiple Expletives deleted.

The one true solace I had through this whole rebuilding process was that the engine was running Just Fine when parked last November, and I took comfort in the fact At Least I didn't have to mess with that. So much for that idea.

I am SO bummed! Most of the plugs and wires are inaccessible now that the cross member is back in place, so I don't know what I'll have to do to fix this. I think I'll have to walk away for a while and consider my options.
(';')

 

Keep smiling Lnr ........your nearly there.

Jim

 

wax on, wax off as Miyagi would say......Or Frankie would say Relax!



You are over the hump and nearly at the bottom of the slope,take a couple of days off and drink a bottle of something and carry on(I say this while I drive my jag).

Oh, and his name wasn't Frankie at all, it is Holly Johnson.

 

Jim, is that a smilie or a trip

(in the late 80's There were tablets getting around the night clubs with that face on them)

 

Whew, the unknown to me. Where I grew up it was just ordinary bars. Beer only. county was dry. Fancier (?) honkytonks had music and beer. And, weird buy a bottle next door, bring it in and buy "set ups". Big issue for those that chose to drink their whiskey, "neat".


Or, across the Rio Grande to Juarez. Real "night clubs". Piano player, mixed drinks.


Some say "little pills" could be bought. Not me. Not only didn't sound like a good idea, but doubted the source. Stuff or just an inert powder, aka "rip off". Just like
Mexican whiskey. Canadian club, supposedly really ggod stuff. In Mexico, probably diluted with rot gut.


Marijuana sort of available. never tried it and doubt that I ever will. Just don't see it. Quasi legality around here equals big mess. And, I hear expensive to the nth power.


Naah, in my youth, it was beer, whiskey or more likely tequila. Cheaper. And Bull Durham in Zig Zag paper. No more Tabaco, quit that dumb thing in 78.


Now, just a nice craft beer. Lots available at decent prices.


Don't yet get that IPA thing???


LnrB.


It will run, that is a lot. The rest is small stuff. The spark plug wires on my engne are even less accessible than yours. The OPTilte that functions as a distributor is on the nose of the cam, under the water pump. Pre factory, the wires are encased in clamp on holders. The manual suggest deleting them in whole or part as changing wires in situ is "impossible"!!!


I changed mine in situ. large error. Should've don that when the engine was on the floor in the open!!! Done on jack stands, lying on my back. Not much to see. Fed the wires through a maze and hoped they were in the right order. LUCK, made it and right.


I did swap in anew set of plugs on the ground. But one got busted. Not by me, I don't think, One of the few times, a "pro" worked on my car. Swapped in anew one. Access not easy. But, a length of rubber tubing made it possible sans a thread strip!!!


Good that plugs and wires are ready for the long haul. Longer than I am!!


Over my recent travails, I reminded myself of a phrase, "slow and methodical".
So far so good One more solder/splice job to do, maybe two. Both under the scuttles. One easier than the other.


Carl.

 

Thank you for the encouraging words, Guys.

Jim:
I would like to think I'm nearly there, but every time I've thought that before, another shoe drops. By this time I'm Sure I'm living under a centipede. I know I'll get back to it after a while, because now it's not only taking up garage space, but it's a black specter hovering over me. So, one thing at a time.

Clarke:
I probably need to kill one of these snakes first, and then there will only be a dozen left. If I do the Right valve cover (easiest one) maybe success will motivate me to do the other one. I'm thinking a liberal application of RTV here because I DO NOT want to do this Ever again! Next time it will be a New Engine!

I'm familiar with Mr. Miyagi but I have no idea who Frankie is or Holly Johnson.

Carl:
Yes, it runs mostly. It ran a LOT better before though, and I have no idea why. Investigation will be tedious but thorough. I guess that's the same thing, isn't it.

The Opticell I mentioned is the fiber optic light source, buried deep in the console, that illuminates the light switch, Ignition switch, and climate controls. I had to rebuild the socket and while I was at it I put in a 5 element LED, which I questioned if it would operate correctly. It does, even in daylight!

The compressor switch works and the modified pillar lights are Quite wonderful. I'll tackle the valve covers first, and worry about the miss later.

I'm glad you're closing in on your problems, Carl, I wish you success.
(';')