Craig

no problem I suppose you have to be slightly mad to do one of these cars so anything is possible. I shout Jesus Christ many times but I am not religious!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ray M

 

Time to overhaul my new ( well actually about 50 years old) power steering kit. Bought this original Jaguar kit including reservor and all pipes last year and thought I should see what it was like. To my surprise it was in pretty good order. I will replace the rubber hoses as a matter of course on all the connecting pipes.

As always some pictures of my progress.

 

Finally moved on to the front axle and built this up with new Polyurethane bushes all over. Need to get new shocks next and then modify brakes to 4 pot calipers, but thats for next time.

Still trying to challenge myself not to set targets but hope to get on the road this year.

 

Hi Ray

Good work! Did you tight the lower fulcrum shaft bolt? I thought, that they have to be tighten when the full weight of the car is on the front suspension.

Regards,
Oliver

 

No I have not tightened this yet as I plan to do this as recomended when it is back on the car. I am sure the will be a lot of "tightening up" everywhere before I take it back on the road.

 

The next phase of the restoration involves installing the air con unit. I purchased this as a complete kit but the next time I will probably purchase as individual items as the fan was too small (12Inches) I installed a 14 inch fan , the condenser too large (20 inches wide) and mine was 14" x 16" and only came with a binary switch rather than a trinary switch. However as with all this project it is lessons learned and I am a lot wiser now!!!!!!!

Located the fan assembly main body under the glove box and the rest you can see for yourself. Main concern was to mount the drier outside of the engine bay so this is located in the LH wheel well. Final job is to install the compressor on a bracket on nthe engine and add a second pulley to drive this.

 

Now got round to having a trail fit of the interior to make sure everything will go where I planned it. Some issues have arose such as around rear seat and the gap at the wheel arch bit I am sure that I can sort this out.


Main outcome is that everything looks ok and I can now proceed with rest of car.


Next job on interior is to change the colour of all trim to be Black, will keep everyone posted on results.

 

Interior looks great Ray!
Lin

 

As always beautiful work!

I have been glued to this post ever since finding it and I am so happy to see how close you are getting to putting this beauty on the road.

 

Been a while since my last post as unfortunately my day job, that's the one that pays all the pays all the bills including the wife, has taken a priority.


Anyway have moved onto the doors now and I am in the process of firstly repairing all of them as they all have degrees of rust especially in the lower area as well as modifying them for the electric windows, central locking and now exit lights.


One of the first problems was to manufacture new door cards and used a piece of clear plastic to pick up all the old holes as my old cards were damaged beyond saving and could not even be used as a pattern. I then transferred them to a board, drilled and hoped for the best but it turned out fine in the end.


I have also decided to modify the stowage in the front door as the old flap solution to me was not functional so have made my own door pockets which will be trimmed up to match the rest of the car later.


as always lots of pictures of progress and I hope you enjoy

 

Moving on with the car and I have now created a "list" of the jobs remaining, it only has 137 on at the moment so I am nearly finished right????? however I am sure more task will appear as I make more progress.


Did a bit of work on the new interior I am going to install. As I am going to have a black exterior I also wanted a Black interior so bought a leather colouring kit from a UK company called Furniture Clinic, watched their videos and even attended a seminar on how this was done.


I know this is not the same as purchasing it all completely new but this would cost around $5000 and with the re- chroming required and the external paint job also likely to cost this amount and I cannot do these jobs in my garage I decided to give it a go.


Not for the purist but here are some photos of the progress as you know I have taken the seats from an XJ40, the centre consoles from an XJ6 and am making new doors panels and other interior panels myself.

 

Looks great!

It looks like that product is applied by hand?

 

This product goes on as follows.


Firstly you remove the old sealing layer off the existing leather with a special chemical that smells awful.
Next you clean off all residual with another chemical.
You then apply a couple of base costs by HAND
You then apply a couple of coats either with a small airbrush or for larger parts a normal spray gun
You then apply a couple of coats of new sealing compound and then the leather is changed in colour and as good as original

 

Once again a long time between posts but have not really had time to progress as I want to. Why do we always over promise ourselves as well as underestimate how long these things take to finish.


Anyway now moved on to overhauling the rear axle which included removing all old paint and rubbing down and repainting. Decided not to get this sand blasted as someone told me you can never get rid of all the sand no matter how much you clean it!!!! change pinion and axle bearings, overhauled the handbrake mechanism etc.


Only problem encountered was the remove of the calliper hangar bolts that need an oxy acetylene torch to heat them up to remove and the need to manufacture a tool to pull out the outer wheel bearing. Anyway as always lots of pictures


I am planning to upgrade the front brakes to 4 pot callipers so I have used the old front callipers and installed them on the rears with no problem. Pictures about the brake overhaul to follow later.

 

I've redone everything??? Durning the last 3 years {I've has this car since /84} I have noticed the front suspension is lacking in ride. I've replace the dampers & springs, but every bump is transferred to me! I cannot remember how the ride was years ago, but like gray hair, it creeps in. What more can be done to improve this ride?

 

It has been a couple of months since my last post to the forum as I have been either busy on the car or busy at work but at last have a little time to bring everything up to date. Getting ever closer to the day when the cat may purr again!!!!!!!.
As can be seen from my latest pictures I now have a front and rear axle installed and I enclose many pictures of this. The most interesting part for the rear axle installation was trying to get the torque arm bush installed. I have put on brand new rear springs and the only way I could achieve this was to mount the car on jack and then use a car jack in the trunk and a long piece of wood to push the car down to get the bolt in. As they say necessity is the mother of invention and I am sure there is probably a better way but at least this worked.


I have also updated the front axle by installing new front brakes by using the 4 pot callipers off a Volvo 240 and swopped the front brakes to the rear as they are slightly bigger, hopefully this will get rid of the fact that the Mark 2 went fast but stopped slow!!!!!!
I also modified the front axle to allow the fitment of the Adwest power steering box that was an option for this type of Jaguar in the past, this took a bit of working out but eventually everything is now installed.
As always enjoy

 

Ray,
Thanks for your description of the installation of the rear axle and suspension. The images were very helpful.

Within the next month, I intend to install the rear axle/suspension and front crossmember as well.

From your photos, I conclude that you mounted the panhard rod, the shock absorbers, the springs and the torsion arms to the body and that you "guided" these components into their proper place as you lifted the axle up toward the body. I assume that you then first mounted the axle to the springs, followed by the other parts.

This process, albeit with the help of the floor jack in the trunk, obviously worked for you.

I have seen photos in which the springs and torsion arms are first mounted to the axle and then the assembly is lifted to the car. My question - to those who have actually done this themselves - is: Is one method preferred or easier than another? Clearly both approaches can work but is one simpler or easier?

I am curious to hear from those who know.

Thanks so much.

Lin

 

RAY, I am installing a BW66 into my (LHD) MK2. The BW35 is similar. Would you kindly post a photo of the rear transmission mount. I will be using the mount from a model 420 which bolts up to the MK2 floor with the captive nuts that are there and appears to fit the rear of the BW66. I have yet to to install it.

Thanks
Bob

 

Although I do not have a pictur3e before I removed the grarbox here is a picture form the Parts manual

 

Finally got round to a big moment in the restoration - trying to get the engine back in following its overhaul. Because I have added a compressor to the side I was sure I need to do a little "metalwork" in order for it to fit. I installed the engine this time without the gearbox to make it a little easier to get in and out on my own.


Any way for the first time in three years the engine and body get to kiss each other and make up. As can be seen from the photos I need to manufacture a bulge in the inner wing to get compressor to fit in. These pictures are from the first try and I need to increase a little more to get clearance before I fit engine and gearbox back in for the final time. Good news is the new engine mount I installed a few years back seems to be in the right place as I got a bolts to line up - success!!!!!!



As always plenty of pictures showing my efforts.