Appreciate the comments, guys. Haven't had much time to work on the car lately, but managed to cross a few items off the list. There was no room for the XJR overflow tank so used an aftermarket bottle that should do the trick - it's just outboard of the electrical and ABS box that's housed in the drivers side wheel well.

On the passenger side we were able to fit the stock air filter box and intake - the top is bolted to the square tubing that frames the inner fender cutout and radiator, and the bottom unclips and drops to change the filter. Unsure whether to use one of those oiled fabric filters like K&N or stick to a paper element - I wonder if better breathing means more crap gets through. By cutting down the XJR windshield washer tank about an inch it will also fit into this space - not certain if glassing the joint will work with this plastic but we'll give it a shot. The OEM pump is far superior to the aftermarket tank I purchased and it has an integral float that signals low fluid level at the dash. I'll plumb a fill spout and cap to the forward hood opening since the tank will be inaccessible.

Despite all the planning it's amazing how much gets overlooked and comes back to bite you. I forgot to mount the metal lines that run from the transmission around the block to the cooler in the radiator before installing the engine/trans. With virtually no clearance that 5 minute job took half a day. I also never bothered to fit the power steering lines during mock up and now discover I have a clearance issue where they connect to the rack. On suspension compression the sway bar fouls the lines. It looks like the easiest solution will be to have a new bar fabricated, so now the question is whether to go to a larger diameter bar. If anyone has any experience and recommendations I'd appreciate it. Until next time.

 

I have done mechanical work building engines etc for more than 40 years so can speak

With some assurance when I say to you K& N wash able filters will pass more perfectly

Clean air when dirty than ANY paper element you can name when new and if the filter

Does get very dirty then that is a maintenance issue not a filter issue so go ahead and

Buy one and the small and very cheap kit to clean and lubricate the element and never

Buy a filter element again for that particular car


As for the sway bar bigger is always better but it is also stiffer to ride in the original

Was the factories compromise between handling and ride comfort so if you do highway

Driving stock is adequate if you want rally driving go aftermarket just remember the

Thicker the bar the stiffer the ride

My recommendation would be to drive it and see what it is like then decide if it needs

To be stiffer or not

Regards emma351

 

The new sway bar turned out to be a simple fix. The XJR transmission left plenty of clearance for a straight bar between the frame mounts versus the curved original. I'm assuming the shorter bar length will stiffen the bar somewhat so we stayed with the original diameter. Thanks for the info, Emma.

We tucked a remote oil filter just behind the front cross member where access for filter changes should be good. The wiper washer reservoir was plumbed to a fill at the front of the engine compartment, again for easy access.

I had planned to have a shop fabricate all the AC lines once the car was a driver until I discovered there was no way the compressor line connections would be accessible. This required removing an exhaust downpipe and the steering rack at this point in the build. I couldn't locate o-ring fittings to fit the XJR compressor, condenser, drier and evaporator to fabricate custom lines - the only original line that fit was the one from the compressor to the condenser. For the others I was able to cut the aluminum tubes close to the original fittings and have hose crimp connections soldered on. Other than evacuating and charging the system the AC is all buttoned up.

I located a NOS late Series 3 XJ6 wiper motor - this is the final and best motor in the series that used the push-pull cable drive system since the '50's. The motor was a tight fit behind the passenger air bag (no room in the engine compartment!). With the rubber mounting and some insulation I'm hoping the installation will not be too noisy. The brake booster and master went in and that system is complete except for the front flexible hoses which I have to order. The fuel lines are complete and except for a couple of hose connections on the vapor recovery system the fuel system is done.

Next we'll plumb the cooling system and install new serpentine belts, and then it's time to install the wiring harnesses. Till next time - Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone.

 

my pleasure to return the favor

Thanks emma351

 

Doug,
in the 11/21 shot of the rear end, I noticed the "line comb" on the right side of the picture. Is that a XJR piece, or did you source it elsewhere? looks cool & sanitary.


as always, great build!


Regards,

 

Clyde, those are clips from the XJR.

Can anyone recommend a source for stainless flexible brake lines?

 

Oops. I used Classic Tube, but upon reading more carefully, I see you said "flexible."
Lin

 

The little details seem to take all the time these days. The fuel and brake lines weren't installed when the exhaust system was fabricated, and sure enough there was a clearance issue around the driver's side cat. With the lines rerouted it's still a tight fit and I'm hoping some insulation will keep things from vaporizing - I guess we will see.

The rear sunroof drain tubes on the frame had to be modified due the curvature of the roof - these lines were run into the boot and out the tub behind the wheel wells. The front drain tubes had to be stepped down in size to tuck into the A pillars - I didn't realize how minimal the wood trim pieces are that cover these - these lines drain into the engine compartment at the front of the foot-wells.

The wiring harnesses are almost installed - so far this has been mostly place and plug, though a few sections will need to be extended to fit properly. Hopefully the beast won't go up in smoke when first energized.

I took advantage of some unusually mild weather here in the Northeast to strip the interior wood. It was in typical shape for a long neglected Mark 2 but perfectly salvageable. Unfortunately the previous owner sanded the dash top at some point and managed to destroy the veneer. You'll see where he removed the burl at a few points, ruining the straight lines where it meets the cross banding. I need to re-veneer the gauge, center and glove box panels anyway due to modifications, so we'll match the dash top burl while we're at it. If you're refinishing your wood please use a mild stripper and fine steel wool - varnish is very fragile and comes off easily. Don't even think about sanding the finish off.

The rest of the wood will be fine after some minor patching and gluing. Does anyone know what species was used for the cross banding? It almost looks like a mahogany species but I don't think that's right. After veneering the plan is to use a dye stain on the burl and shoot a urethane clear and wet sand and polish.

The XJR gauge cluster has circuit boards and harness plugs below the gauges which requires the unit to be located rather high in the dash panel in order to clear the large steering column. With the dash top overhang I'm hoping the upper portion of the gauges isn't obscured too much - again we will see. Until next time.

 

Doug,
Great attention to detail. I jumped back to your beginning to see your start date. Three years goes by quickly. I always have to laugh at the TV shows, wondering how many people are really behind the scene.


I always dread the "smoke test" - seeing if I let the smoke out of the wires when I connect the battery. I go through several pre tests: 1) test light in line between the end of the positive cable and the battery. It should not light. Although alternators will some time make them light. 2)Spark test - tapping the cable to the terminal. 3) amp drain in combine with test (1).


Looking forward to your next progress pictures.

 

Concerning the cross banding, I've never been able to get a straight answer from anywhere.
Some say box wood and others say it's black walnut sapwood. I'm betting it's sapwood from English walnut trees; English walnut has a finer grain then American black walnut, almost looking like mahogany. Unfortunately finding some English walnut veneer is probably next to impossible, they're not allowed to mill it anymore because it's very scarce now, at least in the UK _ don't know about here though.
If you do find some, it will probably be from stock that's been lying around for the past 40 years.
Some boards of black walnut have this very light grayish grain in it, that's the sapwood, sometimes it can be found in sections of veneer.
The industry doesn't care or pay attention any more about what goes into walnut veneer. Sometimes you will find the sapwood in a section and sometimes you won't.

And yeah, don't you just hate it when the handy-man gets a hold of a job like this.
He wants to do a really good job sanding and make it perfect.

Not even the guys at Rolls Royce are benign though, I redid some door cappings out of a Silver Shadow, and after stripping I could clearly see in places just how thin the cross banding was here and there.
I could almost start to make out the mahogany core underneath.

 

The JCNA judging guide says the wood is "Burled Walnut veneer with light Birch trim". I can't say how the Birch veneer striping looks, but that is what I am going to try with my next pieces.

 

I removed the veneer from a dash section and saved a big piece of the cross banding, I'll post it when I get a chance.
I suppose it could be birch, but the colour has oxidized in to a mahogany colour _ it's extremely difficult to tell what it is.

 

Here are the some pictures of a section of cross banding _ I suppose it could be birch.
If you Google birch veneer, the grain is similar.
The sample has been sanded quite a bit to remove any glue and as much oxidization as possible.
There are a number if coats of lacquer applied with some light passes of super fine steel wool in-between.

 

yep- that looks like the pieces I have. The dark flecks in the grain is what stand out to me. I think of veneer as lighter, but it must have been brushed over by stain.

 

Nope, no stain, it's just been wetted by a clear lacquer.
It was sanded with a 220 grit before I sprayed it, so it wouldn't go to dark.

 

I found some veneer that is a close match for the original cross banding. I did have some old birch veneer that was a decent grain match but it has a green hugh that I wasn't sure could be bleached out. The new veneer was identified by the seller as "blonde mahogany" but he admits it could be any number of species. In the comparison shot with the veneer and the side panel of the original gauge panel you'll notice the grain pattern is very close while the color is a bit off - I suspect the original darkens with age but not certain? I do like the warmth of the new veneer but we may have to use stain to reduce the contrast a bit with the burl.

Unfortunately I don't have a vacuum press so applying the cross banding to all the angled and curved edges is a bit of a pain, but it can be done. In the case of the gauge openings this involved cutting over-sized discs and chamfering the circumference to provide a clamping surface for the cross banding. The cross banding itself was cut into 1" radius sections and joined with veneer tape to keep the grain running perpendicular around the circumference. You have to be a bit of masochist for this kind of work but with patience anyone can do it.

I'm waiting for the burl to arrive. This will have to be softened to conform with the curved dash top and concave sections of the dash panels. Will post some pictures of the process in case there are other idiots out there who want to restore their interior wood without spending a small fortune.

 

That's really a nice job on hat edge banding ! Very finicky work indeed...
There are some bits missing here and there where the edges join, are you going to fill this or add some bits of grain ?
Looking forward to some more pictures.

Here's some more pictures for thought.

Jaguar MK2 Reveneering Project.

In the first link it looks more like satin Walnut then birch, or as I mentioned before, walnut sap wood.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=satin...w=1536&bih=755

When I do mine, I haven't decided to stick with the original cross banding or do something really off-the-wall, like zebra wood, or more conservative ribbon grain mahogany.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=ribbo...w=1536&bih=755

https://www.google.ca/search?q=zebra...w=1536&bih=755

British Autowood > Dashboards

Some of these really do look like ribbon grain mahogany, either Honduras or Philippine _ I'm beginning to think it doesn't matter ???

http://www.goldenwood.com/ang/produc...=Mahogany.html

 

I believe the original crossbanding was holly. I recently had my S Type dash reveneered and the cabinetmaker I took it to had some holly and the grain matches quite well.

 

Can I trouble someone to post a picture of where the bonnet release cable comes through the firewall? A pic of the interior mounting bracket would also be appreciated. I lost all trace of this with all of my bulkhead mods. Thanks.

 

Not sure if an S Type is the same as a Mk 2, but my bonnet cable comes through the firewall right under the wiper cable. On the right side, outboard side of the battery.

The interior bracket of the S Type. It's on the right side of the car.


If you need a photo of the engine bay side, just let me know.