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I remember the mesh style seat cushions that my grand parents had in their cars in the late 1970's. I also remember the wooden bead seat covers that were popular in the late 1980's; those were marketed as being "NYC Taxi cushions".
I remember the mesh style seat cushions that my grand parents had in their cars in the late 1970's. I also remember the wooden bead seat covers that were popular in the late 1980's; those were marketed as being "NYC Taxi cushions".
I believe the wooden bead ones came from Korea. That's the first place i remember seeing them.
Tonight I was able to resolve the issue with poor fuel delivery from the left tank. After hooking my backup pump directly to the tank and observing low fuel flow, I decided the obstruction was internal to the tank. I disconnected the feed pipe from the tank and ran a section of weedeater line through the pickup line in the tank. At first it would only go in about 12" but after working it in and out a few times I was able to feed in about 2 feet. I think there was some of the tank liner obstructing the pick up tube because when I knocked it free I suddenly had strong fuel flow.
Interestingly enough, I blew air through the pick up line when I got the tanks home and there was no noticeable obstruction.
I took it for a high speed 15 mile drive on the tollway and I no longer have fuel starvation issues. This problem is solved.
Good find. Can we have a photo of the throttle cable setup please?
The car looks absolutely magnificent; it is so pleasing that people recognise it as something special. It does, of course, show just how bland modern cars have become; in effect they are just bigger domestic 'white goods'. Utilitarian; but utterly devoid of style, aesthetic qualities, and thus quite unable to inspire people's sense of value and art.
Preserving such a car is an important contribution to people's lives in an intangible but important way. Man does not live by bread alone; something our modern world has started losing sight of, to its detriment.
Good find. Can we have a photo of the throttle cable setup please?
The car looks absolutely magnificent; it is so pleasing that people recognise it as something special. It does, of course, show just how bland modern cars have become; in effect they are just bigger domestic 'white goods'. Utilitarian; but utterly devoid of style, aesthetic qualities, and thus quite unable to inspire people's sense of value and art.
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Re repainting this project car
In 1974 I had a black 1954 MK7 manual with overdrive. The car was still in very good order, but the paint was getting thin with the original grey undercoat starting to show through.
I was living in Townsville which is in North Queensland and well and truly in the tropics
I wrote to Jaguar with the body number and engine number explaining the problem and requesting details of the original finish.
I received a letter in return advising "two coats of Brolite synthetic enamel - colour Arabian Black".
I was able to secure this paint and subsequently repainted the car in a metal aircraft hangar which could be closed after each coat and the tropical sun sure heated the hangar and the enamel to a baked finish.
It was so good that when I sold the car in 1979 the new owner thought that it was factory original paint until I showed him the tiny run on the rear of the right-hand sill.
It was so good that when I sold the car in 1979 the new owner thought that it was factory original paint until I showed him the tiny run on the rear of the right-hand sill.
To many people with unhappy experiences of Jaguar's quality control in the 1950s and '60s that would confirm that it WAS a factory finish!
Good find. Can we have a photo of the throttle cable setup please?
Because I needed to keep the geometry of the TV cable for the transmission, I simply replaced the pushrod along the firewall with a cable. In this picture, the push rod on the right side of the bell crank goes down to the accelerator pedal and the left side is the new throttle cable.
This is the other side of the engine compartment. It's tough to see but the right side of the picture is where the outer cable starts. To the left side is a spare section of outer cable to keep the inner cable from sawing any wires or hoses.
I mounted a simple bracket to the intake manifold and the outer cable attaches to that. The inner cable attaches to the throttle shafts
Thorsen, after you read the JC info on TV cable connection compare it to the proper diagram for geometry and let me know what you think. Some dimensions missing on that diagram btw and are critical. I couldn't find one easily, used to be one on bowtie overdrives but no longer, have to search.
@slofut I've been meaning to get back to you on this. On the Mark VII it's hard to measure angles but I ended up doing three things First, I measured the length of the throttle arm - from center line of the throttle shafts to to the center point of where the cable attached. I made sure that measurement was the same as the difference between the pivot point of the bellcrank and the TV cable attachment point. This assures you have 1:1 motion between the pedal and the TV cable.
Second, with my wife pressing the gas pedal all the way to the floor I made sure that there was no pull left in the TV cable. Then I had her press the pedal about 90% of the way to the floor and confirmed that there was still some travel left in the TV cable. This ensured the TV cable was set as close as I could reasonably check.
Finally, the test drive is where you see how you did. If the transmission shifts early and soft, you have too much slack in the TV cable. You're looking for firm shifts and a down-shift that can be triggered by an aggressive throttle opening.
I'll be interested to know how it works out after some miles Thorsen. I think I remember you have a few r4's under your belt and I'm sure you've got this down, I've only had experience with a couple and found the tv cable hard to get right. I think I've been overthinking it
A short night in the garage tonight, I replaced the muffler I put on last month with a Flowmaster dBX. I did not buy a dBX originally because I thought the price was ridiculous - so I went with the cheaper option. The cheaper option had an annoying drone at highway speeds but the Flowmaster took care of that problem.
The plan for the next 5 days it to keep driving her and see if any other issues arise. If I can add another 200 miles without issue between now and next Tuesday, she'll be coming along on the road trip from Chicago to the Gulf Coast. Is anyone else here going to the South Alabama British Car Club's festival in 10 days?
Thorsen
Just keep an eye on the oil consumption/oil levels while on your trip. These early XK engines did use a fair bit. That they didn't have any valve seals may be one reason.
I think the British "Autocar" magazine suggested 1300 miles per gallon of oil when new.
I drove MK7s as daily drivers for 15 years and just accepted the high oil consumption as normal.
I'm up to 524 miles on the car, including almost 200 miles I put on her today with a beer run into Wisconsin.
She's running great and that was my last test before I leave on my road trip Wednesday. Bad weather or a catastrophic failure are the only items left that can scrub the trip.
British cars always look beautiful, even sitting broken on the side of the road
Things were going well for about 300 miles today until there was a deep knocking. A quick look under the car showed the flywheel was wobbly. Currently waiting for the tow truck to deliver the car to Dad's house but only 1 of my British cars will make it to the car show this weekend .
