Congratulations the engine sounds great, repaying all that work you did on it. How was the cooling?
The car sounds and looks wonderful. What did Madame think of it, assuming that shapely foot was hers?

 

The cooling was rock steady, even while sitting at a rail road crossing waiting for a train to pass. The electric water pump is impressive - it lets the car quickly get to temperature and then holds it there within a few degrees. The after run feature is very nice too. Next year we'll see how well it handles the extra heat load of adding AC but I am not expecting any surprises.

Madame was impressed that it ran and was eager to get behind the wheel, but I told her to let me fix a few items first.

 

Ohhh, that sounds nice!!
Congratulations on another job well done, and another Classic back on the road where it was intended to be!

Ya know, Thomas, it's just too bad you don't Enjoy doing this. You're just so GOOD at it!

 

I took her out today for a little drive but had to cut it short. This car looks incredible going down the road.


I had to cut it short because of this piece of cable that connects the throttle linkage on the firewall to the throttle shaft on the carbs. It's purpose is evident in this picture; it allows for movement between the engine and the firewall.
The problem is that there is a lot of slack in the piece of cable, and the clamps often rotate on the shaft. The slack in the cable, or the unwanted rotation of the clamps cause the same issue - the transmission (courtesy of the throttle valve cable) thinks the throttle is at one position while in all actuality it is less. This is bad for the transmission as it will burn up the clutches. I need a better solution.


I can use an Oldham coupler to allow for the misalignment, but I fear that I am asking it to do too much. The ones that I linked only allow .0008" of parallel misalignment, albeit at 4,500 rpm.

I'll spend some time on Summit Racing tonight and see if I can find a way to fab a cable system.


Next up are the fuel pumps. These are positioned above the center of the fuel tanks and I think they are loosing the fight against gravity. I think I am going to move them to the trunk floor so they have less vertical distance to pull.

 

Congrats Thorsen. Another job well done. When the bug bites again, we'll see what you have in store for us.

 

I'm starting to wonder how many more of these I have left in me, Sanchez. I still need to get myself into an XKE at some point in time but I have some long-term plans for this one...

 

I was able to confirm my theory tonight. On this morning's drive I had put a GoPro camera in the rear window; the fuel pump noise was audible since the camera was right over the speaker grill and directly over the fuel pumps. I had accelerated hard and you could hear the fuel pump giving it all it could. When I felt it running out of steam you could still hear the pump clattering away. I had coasted about 500-700 feet and when I stopped you could hear the fuel pump catch up and go back to a tick every second or two.

 

I think fuel pumps of that type need gravity feed Thorsen or burn out is a distinct possibility. Definitely move them lower, say I.
Totally agree that a cable system would be far better for the throttle.

 

I need four AN hose ends and I will be able to finish replumbing the fuel pumps. I wasn't super happy about having them under the car but from a functional standpoint it was the best place for them.



Tonight I think I found the source of a moderate but persistent ATF leak. I believe it was where the throttle valve cable enters the transmission case so I pulled it out and add some sealant to the o-ring. I'll let it dry tonight then refill it with ATF tomorrow.

 

Another busy night in the garage but much was accomplished. I was able to complete the re-plumbing of the fuel tanks and I am happy to report that both pumps now prime quickly and easily.

On to the throttle linkage, I bought a 36" accelerator cable but was surprised to learn that someone started measuring by the length of the inner cable, not the outer cable. I'm not sure who came up with that great idea but that's going back to Amazon.

What was delivered was an (on the left) and a (on the right). I had high hopes for the flexible coupling joint but it had an extremely limited range of motion.



I was able to disassemble the flexible coupling joint and bolt the Oldham coupler in the middle.


This gives me the range of motion I need with no slack action. It's very smooth and works well.
I did need to extend the shaft by about 2" but that was easy enough. I'll test this out for a few miles and if I don't like it I'll move on to the cable idea.

 

Nice work as always, Thomas!

Would your father be willing to divulge what products he used when refinishing your wood pieces? I've got to do this in my S-Type and I'm trying to decide how to remove the old finish and what new finish to apply.

Cheers,

Don

 

I'll ask him the next time I talk to him.

 

A question for everyone reading....

I'm to the point of the project where it's time for seat belts. I picked up a pair of 3-point belts and a pair of lap belts. There are two threaded holes in the B-pillar that I could attach the shoulder portion of the 3-point belt to. Or I can simply go with lap belts. I lean more towards the safety of the 3 point belts but I also wonder how much time they spent in 1955 to design the B-pillar to withstand those forces.

What is the consensus on 3 point seat belts in these older cars?

 

The B pillar will be plenty strong enough! Lap belts are dangerous as the body lurches forward, hinging at the waist, in an accident. Your diaphragm tears so you cannot breathe and your head hits the wheel or dash or windscreen.

Lap belts ceased to be fitted OEM in the later 1960s for these reasons. Also, to make readers more worried, the above is what happens in aircraft crashes too; which is why all military transport airliners have rear facing seats.


The coupler looks terrific, by the way; but how do you know about such things??

 

Dad asked me the same question last night and I didn't have an answer. I think I saw a video showing one once and filed it away.

Thank you for the info on the seat belts - that makes a lot of sense to me.

 

Dad said he is just using Minwax and #0000 steel wool to strip the old finish and then is just using polyurethane on top of it. I'll try to get some picture of the actual product. He did say that it all depends on the condition of the veneer and he fully expects he will need to re-veneer some of the wood. He is excited about that.

He said he doesn't like the Minwax as much as he liked the old Formsby's; apparently the Minwax takes longer and requires more applications.

 

The better strippers used to contain methylene chloride, which was very effective, but some states have outlawed it due to its neurotoxicity and possible carcenogenic effects, and the new "safer" formulations do not work nearly as well. If he can find a product that contains methylene chloride, it will work better, but he should wear chemical-resistant gloves and a respirator.

 

Thomas, your instincts have been Right On to this point.

Even if 3-point belts weren't OEM, the mere increase in safety would be worth risking upsetting the OEM gods, much as several other things are updated on Classic Cars in the interest of Up-To-Date safety.
Who of us would hesitate to update a Driver from Ancient, troublesome mechanical brakes to hydraulic ones, if not state of the art discs?

Only the Rabid "Originalists" ones who insist on 1955 air in the 1955 tires and 1955 gas in the tanks.

I agree with Greg. Make the thing SAFE as you possibly can! You've come this far....
(';')

 

The Jaguar mark VII and all 1950s and early 1960s hard-topped cars were heavily over-engineered compared with today's 'value engineered' lightweights! think of the weight of the back doors the B pillar carries.

 

The oldham coupler lasted all of 2 miles before the center section fell out and left me with an engine that would only idle. As luck would have it I was about a mile from home so I adjusted the idle screws to 1,800 rpm and limped home on the shoulder. I pulled her right into the garage and converted to a cable pull.

After making sure everything was adjusted correctly I went out for a drive. I got her out on the highway and she didn't want to go past 60mph. I suspect fuel starvation because she will happily rev to 4,000+ rpm around the city. I'll have to do some more testing on that tomorrow.