not going to waste my time repairing these. got a much bigger upgrade planned.

 

Finally got the stereo finished today.
man its good.
still gotta install footwell lights, dash cam and put all the interior back together.
so not quite finished

amp takes optical digital input from my headunit and is all full DSP tuned from my laptop.

 

So just a small update.

so got my car back today after getting the wrap replaced on the boot, roof and bonnet due to some wear and tear and damage.
they also tinted the tail lights for me.
Had a bit of prep work to do as after removing the old wrap could see where there was previous partial repair due to clear coat cracking and peeling.
(pics to follow)
fitted brand new (yes brand new oem) boot badges.

got my ac regassed. Little bit messed around but eventually all good.

last week had to install a new upper radiator hose as it cracked and spat coolant everywhere

and also update on the jobs from earlier this month.
stereo install all done perfect .
repaired / modified/ upgraded lumbar pumps so they work and don’t leak.
installed ignition surround light
installed footwell lighting so they come on when door opened.
Installed dash cam with front, rear and interior camera,
customised and installed rear centre console.
also improved my automatic boot opening spring setup

in short the car is looking schmick atm!!!!

 

Long time, no see. I haven't posted much because my son has been driving Ruby the last few years and most of the repairs and maintenance beyond oil changes he has been taking to our local shop (rear brakes and suspension refresh and a power steering pump.)

So the last few weekends we did a valve cover gasket and the (insert horror music) the Medusa coolant hoses!


One week on the new gasket and cover shows no weeping.

Also plastic welded the throttle cable in the lower center

The yellow/white plastic throttle cable grommet had completely broken and I'm glad I spotted it. I used a soldering iron and a white ziptie to weld it. After a week it seem to be holding:


Repair to throttle cable after a week of driving.

Here is everything I used to change the Medusa:


Everything I used to replace the hose... well except for the bag of kitty litter.

Out with the old, etc, etc,...

The old girl hasn't had the easiest life the last 5 years, but she's been pretty reliable and is still one of the best looking "beater cars" I've had. Despite worn paint on the roof, she still draws compliments at the gas pumps.


Still a great "20 Footer"

 

Bled the brakes for the first time in almost four years. I only bought 12 ounces of fluid, which was just enough to suck out and refill the reservoir, and to push slightly cleaner fluid to each corner. A full pint would have been better.

Since my socket set was stolen a couple months ago, I figured I might have a tough time getting the wheels off, what with having to extract the lug wrench out of the spare well and such, but I have a deep 13/16" spark plug socket that worked well with my breaker bar and torque wrench. I use stock lug nuts with the stainless domes removed, so they accept 13/16" or 21mm drive, under the Solar hubcaps. The bleeders, on my car at least, take a 9mm wrench.

 

spent the day f***ing around swapping bonnet, bumper, front guard from old gold (parts car) onto my baby to get the repairs under way.
took me way too long to get the bonnet lined up to a point where I am happy with it.
will finish up tommorrow and then gotta sort out getting a couple tiny little dents out of the bonnet and then organise to get her re-wrapped.
repairs coming along nicely.

I know I made the right choice getting the parts car as I have already needed a few things I would not have bought.
one of the front bumper mounts was broken.
one of the bolts in the bonnet snapped.
so was greatr to know "it does not matter, i have spares"

 

So i got all the panels on.
car looks all repaired now.
just got to get a couple hail like dents (marked with masking tape) pulled from the bonnet and then get the car re-wrapped.

took me absolutely forever to get everything lined up to the point i was happy.
there must be some small amount of damage behind throwing stuff out of allignment. Could not see any damage. Everything looks nice and straight.
took a lot longer than i wanted it too.

** note some spots where I have done some sanding where there were paint chips to smooth it out ready for wrap.
some sanding on the bumper and a few spots on the bonnet and guard marked with black paint pen

 

If I may ask, in what way was the A/C not working? My compressor clutch will not engage and was wondering if this could be my problem as well.

Thanks,
Jerry

 

I replaced the driver side door cable and had the AC recharged. Ready for the next summer heat wave.


No wonder I couldn't open the door.

 

I removed the front brakes from my '95 XJ6
Only to find more things to do in that area.
MORE FUN

 

The car was running well but thought I would do some PM work before winter comes. So I cleaned the throttle body. Check out the before and afters.

 

The clutch only in theory can be changed on car with the compressor still on car

The clutch coil is cheap and avail at a local auto parts store as a common to all car makes and a Denso manufacture as the whole
system

Keep the belt installed to be able to break loose the center 10 mm bolt

There is a climate control panel bite test that may show compressor clutch fail

 

finally got around to replacing the Alternator belt, and the A/C belt and pulley.
no more belt squeal.

 

Finally changed the ambient (exterior) temp sensor. The temp reading had been intermittent, sometimes normal but often reading "--" or -40. I had read that the usual fix is to clean and refit the bulk connector near the marker lamp, but no joy from that.

The used unit I put in read about 1400 ohms. The one I took out was dead open.

 

@SparkyGage your post made me smile.. My sons and I have a "Ruby" that we work on, too

Haven't posted anything in a while, but took it upon myself to re-solder the ABS module pins. Forgot how much fun it was to get at the t-20 torx screws on the underside... sheesh.

Module cut open, re-soldered, jb welded back together, and ABS light for Ruby Tuesday is off, hopefully for good.

Upcoming trip to Texas to do the on-site warranty service for my mom and Ruby Monday. Dad passed away a year ago, but he got to drive the car quite a bit before passing.

Cars that transcend generations mean something, these days. @Parker 7 you are always an inspiration.


ready to re-assemble w JB Weld

ready for the Dremel!

Top off... whew

re-soldered pins visible above the green-labeled computer chips. Had to scrape off the clear rubberish coating.

a little heat gun action to help the JB weld along

 

If it is your first parts car take everything. I am on my 4th and kick myself every time I needed something and left it on the older car. I am taking everything this time to include the suspension. If I had taken one differential I would have saved myself a lot of money

 

plan to keep the car itself for as long as possible.
hopefully i can maintain the space to do so.

 

Finally fixed minor issues like the trunk interior lights (hot glued the retainers and fixed the broken wire at the hinge), opened the door internals to replace the speakers (nothing extreme just 40W Rockford Fosgates as i've decided to give stock radio a chance) and parallel did a handle gaskets (were torn), left passenger end switch (wasn't triggering the lights on door open), replaced some door trim clips, fixed the torn insulation, installed inner waist seals on two doors, and more of all fixed the seat memory (thanks to @nileseh for his potentiometer repair kit and the forum for the TSB) and lumbar support (replaced the hose). Night has stopped me from digging under the passenger seat (no front height adjustment just actuator sound and lumbar failed too) so tomorrow maybe. So major issues left for now is idle shake on park (checking the trans connector and some other approaches didn't help so waiting for the reman oem injectors and low mileage oem coils to be delivered - still have 4 oem coils installed so prob will have some spare from the kit of 10) and the radio (installed one is with leaked display and weak and distorted sound on three channels and spare one is with broken encoder waiting for replacement from mouser so if i have it running then will install the Bluetooth/handsfree adaptor and try to marry it with oem jaguar microphone). Also clock display fix and some burnt backlight bulbs to replace.

 

sounds like a busy day....
i can never seem to get that much done in a day......