Congratulations, Pete!
Feels Real Good, doesn't it.
(';')

 

Very well done. My hat's off to you!

Cheers
DD

 

Congrats! Great result, great car! great fun to read and watch! Thanks al lot.

(Mine is nearly finished as well)

 

Rob, that's a nice looking car! Give us a thread with more details!
Oh, wait, you already have one, I forgot! I just need to brush up on my Google Translate skills....
You'r doing a great job on your car, and on the thread, too. I hope you are getting your running problem solved.

 

Nobody likes to make a mistake. And even more so, nobody likes to admit it! But as our little XJ6 refurbishment has gone along, we've purposely been pretty open about our little mistakes along the way. We figure that other amateurs and multi-marque mechanics like us can benefit from them, and hiding them only takes away from the reasons to do this thread. (By the way, who am I kidding, we say "we" a lot in this thread so we don't have to bother explaining what I, Peter, did vs what Jamie did, but I'm doing most of the wrenching and therefore I'm making basically all of the mistakes.) So, that said, here's yet another confession:

Following our master cylinder resleeve and rebuild, we couldn't get the front brake circuit to firm up. Bleed, flush, bleed, the pedal would still slowly flow through the front m/c circuit and solidify on the (much less useful) rear brakes. Dammit, what now? I've reassembled or rebuilt many brake m/c's on many different cars; surely I haven't messed this up. Issue with the sleeving? (Heck no, I'm sure Apple Hydraulics would say!) Incorrect positioning of the piston/pushrod and seals? (Oh, come on! I'm not a newbie!) Damaged seal upon assembly? (I was really careful!) Sigh, let's take a look.

(And by the way, if we have to bleed these rear brakes more than one more time..., so help me, as my mother would say)

We (yes, both of us) stared at the service manual and stared at our m/c and postulated various causes. The rear brakes seemed to flow and bleed fine, though clearly only after pushing through the front circuit in the cylinder (which is, for those who don't know, the rear section of the cylinder, 'first hit' by the pushrod from the booster.) I was pretty darn sure the piston assembly and seals were correct. We thought maybe, just maybe, the front-brake circuit wasn't getting any fluid. So, we decided to pull the reservoir fluid feed cap for the front brake circuit from the top of the master cylinder. This is a little tricky because the Phillips screws holding the cap down are inverted without much space underneath, but a flexible screwdriver extension made it possible, and a gentle vice grip pliers on the feed line minimized the amount of fluid loss (after much loud cursing). Good news, at least fluid was certainly getting to the cylinder.

Then, while I observed the 'feed valve' underneath the cap, Jamie slowly depressed the brake pedal. Oh oh, brake fluid up through the feed valve! That, my friends, is not right.

In retrospect, we could have fixed the issue while leaving the master cylinder in place. Hindsight being 20/20 and all. But we didn't realize with certainty the cause of our issue, and we decided to pull the master cylinder and check everything.

The piston and seal assembly were all correct. The cylinder itself still looked great (thank goodness). We then focused on the feed valve. And found our problem. The seal on the feed valve plunger (I am, like, totally making up these part names) was not in the right position. This is where Peter says, "oops, my bad." I didn't have the seal on top of the main lip on which it needs to sit. Silly mistake.

However, upon realizing that neither the factory service manual, nor any parts manual to which we have access, clearly shows how this feed valve is supposed to be set up, we thought we'd take the opportunity to help out anyone who tackles one of these for the first time. It's hard to describe, so we drew a picture! But here are the words, anyway:

Fluid comes via gravity feed from the remote reservoir to both the front (rear section of the m/c) and rear (front section of the m/c) brake circuits. For the front brake circuit, the fluid enters via a valve assembly. Basically, when the brakes are "off", a lip on the m/c piston bumps up against the bottom of a plunger on the feed valve, cracking it open and allowing fluid to flow into the cylinder if needed. When the brake pedal is depressed, the lip moves forward, the plunger straightens, and a rubber seal on the plunger presses against a plate above to stop any fluid (now under pressure) from flowing back UP into the reservoir. (It's easy to look at this and think that the seal is there to stop fluid flowing DOWN into the cylinder, but it isn't. Up is the issue.) To accomplish this, the plunger is secured from above with a spring above the plate, locked in place with a little circlip. The spring ensures that the plunger doesn't fall too far into the cylinder, and that it returns to a fully vertical position, and that the rubber seal on the plunger initiates contact with the plate above it to initiate a fluid seal. The resulting seal is strengthened as brake fluid pressure is applied.

But, as I didn't seat the rubber seal all the way home, so that it was fully encasing the lip on the plunger, there was really no rubber seal against the bottom of the plate. Brake fluid, under pressure, happily squeezed by to return the reservoir rather than, say, heading to the front calipers to stop the darn car.

The picture on the left shows the seal in green, in the wrong place, and the picture on the right shows it in its correct location.

All better now. And back to what we think is our final chapter.

 

Candor is Always appreciated, Peter, it increased credibility.
Good catch.
(';')

 

This has been a fun little project, and while there is no such thing as "done" we have just about completed what we set out to do.

Here are some of the details we've worked on lately:

• Antenna: We determined that the car never had an electric antenna. So, we bought a typical manual retractable antenna and combined parts to make it mount securely with the pretty XJ6 antenna trim.
• Radio: We really didn't like to see the somewhat modern Sony stereo in the car, and even more so didn't like that the stainless trim plate behind it had been cut to suit. So, we bought a nice uncut plate and am now hunting for a good period AM/FM radio.
• Heater fan: Frequently, upon turning the HVAC fan on high, it would stay on, even after shutting off the car. A quick look at the wiring diagram identified the relay in question, conveniently located on the left side of the firewall in the engine compartment, right above one of the fans. A tiny tap with a tool and it would shut off. Unfortunately, the base of the relay was cracked so it wasn't worth just cleaning up the contacts. We ordered a NOS one with the same markings on it.
• Visors: Well, we tried spray foam in one and aren't happy with how it came out, so now we think we'll replace it if we can find a better one.
• Spark plugs: We've been running on the plugs that were in it when we first got the car. We pulled the plugs at that time, and we noticed that the #3 plug looked a little fouled. We theorized that it might be caused by the dashpot oil leaking from the front carb, and naturally running to that cylinder due to the normal incline of the engine. Now, with the dashpot o-ring replaced and just a few hundred miles, all the plugs look clean and consistent. But we replaced them anyway, of course.

Today was bath day, having got caught in a little inclement weather last week.

 

Your trunk lid stays up?!?!
You Lucky dog!!
My hinges were making ominous grinding sounds so I looked closely, only to find shiny dust in a pile under each pivot. So I liberally lubricated them, and now the gronchy sound has stopped, but the lid won't stay up (almost didn't stay up before, had to hold your mouth just right)!

I made a nice round stick the exact length (broom stick; some would call it appropriate), painted it BLACK to prop up the lid when needed.

But the hinges aren't self-destructing.
(';')

 

I think Jamie made the right radio choice! We looked at vintage British Leyland-branded radios, but in the end went with the modern-retro Retrosound unit, and it seems very good. There are a number of cosmetic options, and we chose the chrome head/buttons, and then black knobs with chrome rings. Adjustable posts, so easy to make it fit with the stock uncut trim plate. Hidden cable to the auxiliary jack. Nothing fancy, and inexpensive, but decent modern functionality that looks period correct when turned off.

 

What a lovely example, my favorite color!
Let me know if you are intending to sell, I would love to purchase it!
Roy

 

Well, the post from "Roy" above is a somewhat prescient, as Jamie and I have decided to put the XJ up for sale. You'll see it listed on Bring a Trailer sometime soon.

Thank you to the forum group for following along and offering words of advice and support for this brief little project. We're enjoying following all the other threads here in the Classic XJ area, and are already thinking about our next project... Meanwhile, did I mention he bought yet another Land Rover? Crazy...

 

Congratulations on a great finish, Pete,
Since you're selling it anyway, I hope you ask *Enough* and get it.
(';')

 

Congratulations! I can't wait to see it on BaT!
Thanks for the heads up!

 

As said, great job!
Experience tells me you will maybe regret...selling it.
These S1's are about to follow the E's. (they are soo beautiful..especially in todays roadtraffic)
But I do understand.
When my project is finished, I always try to stay calm for a week but mostly then become in need another project:-).. (have no room and $ to keep them all)

What will be your asking $ for this super well preserved motahcahr?
It should be starting with a 2?

(note: mine is road legal again since yesterday after 10 years of barn-sitting:-), so it will not be until next week before need another project)

 

Me too!!


But, mine has been in the garage since last October. Far less time.
But, now registered and legal and road ready. Large hurdle other than mechanical or electric to get there. Oh and $'s as well!!!


Not for sale though. Still my "pet".


Carl

 

Thanks for the nice comments.

Rob, congrats on getting that pretty car to "legal!"

And yes, of course we're going to regret the XJ6 sale! I can't speak for Jamie, who typically keeps his forever, but this will just be another addition to the long list of cars I regret selling, but do anyway. So many cars, so little time. But I'd like my true '67 Porsche 911S back (I'll give you what I sold it for in the 90's)... And maybe the recent XKE... And that cool little Lancia Scorpion... And so on...

As to value, who knows? All of us on this forum think these cars are special, and we certainly think these Series 1's have a lot of growth potential. Hard to find a decent original one, as you all know. But will they pick up soon? I think there's a forum thread on the subject, right?

Anyway, we're just going to set this cat free into the wild, and let the market decide. We chose BaT because we are long-time followers and feel it's a good site for enthusiasts that appreciate cars like this. It'll be interesting! I'll have a drink in hand as it nears the end...

 

We've been busy preparing for the listing:


(Jamie is the masterful director, by the way.)

 

I watched the whole video! soooo relaxing perfect match with music!

I suspect you will get fair results on BAT. I tried selling a car on there and found the whole experience Toxic way to many opinions who have no real intention of buying, yet it is where an XJC went for 103,000. so who knows?

The video you have created will certainly help.

Good luck!

Rusty

 

Thanks Rusty.

Yeah, definitely have seen some BaT listings go off the rails. It's a shame when it negatively impacts an undeserving car. I sold my last Spridget on BaT (listing here, with another fun video!) just before we found this Jag. It was a positive experience, although unfortunately the car didn't get much attention and the sale price (to a nice gentleman in Florida) fell well short of my wishful expectations.

 

For those interested to follow along, here is the Bring a Trailer auction for our XJ6.