Thank you, Clarke,
It seems, as with any other internal injuries, it takes a while for the full extent of the damage to become clear.

Among other things, the impact caused the engine to shift so abruptly (Really good thing the mounts are new) that it loosened the upper radiator fitting which then sprayed Green coolant over the front of the engine (already fixed), and seems to have caused the high pressure pipe on the back of the steering pump to break part of the pressure relief fitting well inside the outer nut.

Impact also loosened the ground wire on the coil (the arrangement of which is Not one of GM's better ideas) leaving me dead by the side of the road Monday morning, and the need to call for a Flat Bed ride home. (It was not until this time all the steering oil became evident.) The coil is now repaired too.

We're off to the wrecking yard today for the pump and high pressure hose from that '83 we took the IRS from. Then, a job I truly dread, I have to take the pump off Nix, replace that valve assembly and reinstall it and Hope that takes care of the shower of steering fluid (under pretty good pressure, mind you) that soaks the whole engine compartment (spread around by the fan) and leaves Pools of oil on the ground.

Later today I'll post a side view of the Underside of that cross member to complete the set. You'll Love that picture!
(';')

 

Wowee, what a mess. and, all because of some lout's failure to secure his/her load!!!


Well, at least no ne hurt, and that is what really counts. That chunk of iron through the windshield.........


Buy Rhonda and bring her home.....


Back in 2001, when my DOHC blew up circa Stockton, I coasted off the freeway and into a station. Too bad, minimal services only. No real problem, My car was beyond minor help!!!! But, the junkiest truck I've ever seen pulled in dragging a set of doubles. a dirt hauler. He was adding air to a reservoir in the cab. Air brakes????? Wow, can't depend on then onboard compressor to keep the pressure up!!!! CHP truck inspector, where are you????


How in GGE did he avoid the weight stations????


CArl

 

LnrB, I would seriously get a front end alignment done after a hit to the crossmember like that.


My old boss had his XJS written off for a bent crossmember that did not look too much more damaged than yours.


I run with a dash cam, and am seriously thinking about starting my own utube channel ( The F*ckwits Of Croydon ) Not just about drivers, about pedestrians as well.

 

Good luck today Elinor......especially with the fluid leak!

 

Carl:
Although Rhonda was listed on the yard's website this morning, she was already taken to Jaguar Heaven when we got there today. In fact, her whole row was gone. Of course she may have been there yesterday, we'll never know. We're certainly glad we got the IRS.

Andrew:
I think this is beyond alignment.

Jim:
At this point I think the fluid leak is the least of our problems.

Enormously disappointed that Rhonda was gone, we went in search of other models (husband made a list) that used that specific PS pump, which spanned across 1975-79 and some 1980 GM, Volvo and some Fords, both passenger cars and medium pickups. We found only one in the correct span of time, a Toronado. It was easily accessible so we thought we would take it apart.

The flare nut had to come loose with a hammer on the end of an 8 inch end wrench and I'm sure it had never been off before today. NO WAY had I put that much torque on the nut in Nix's pump!! The Large fitting in the pump body, however, was astonishingly loose (doubtless helped along by the hammer on the small nut) and had no O-rings and no check ball.



There seems to be a brass insert in the middle.



THAT'S ONE HEAVY FITTING!! I can't see Any Way to actually Break it with a mere end wrench! None! So the mystery continues. I'll probably learn when I take mine apart.

While we were wandering through the medium pickups and finding Nothing usable, I mentioned, "There's always David Bodger," so that's what we'll do.

In the meantime, in the cold light of another day, I can't imagine this damage to the cross member isn't fatal. Husband says, "Oh no, it's OK, it'll be fine. The back is straight, don't worry." But I can't imagine at least the lower fulcrums will Not be perpendicular, and even the uppers may be compromised. Just Look at the wrinkles!



I think it's dead, Jim.
(';')

 

WOW!


That last photo either makes it look a lot worse than it is, or the previous photos do not show the true damage!


You seem to have been very lucky?!? in the lack of other major damage!


Hands up to you for keeping NIX shiny side up/ greasy side down, could have ended up a lot worse for the pair of you.

 

Geez! That looks very bad indeed....a few parts to check and repair or replace I think. I guess the bright side is you weren't hurt as that was one hell of a hit. After all that work and time off the road you certainly deserve better ....parts from David is probably a good idea if nothing local.

 

Previous pictures do not show the full extent of the damage. I did my best this time to show exactly how it looks under there in real life.
Upon further reflection, Andrew, this is quite enough major damage, but yes, I missed the oil pan (easier to fix than the cross member) and the tires (Definitely easier to fix than the cross member!).
Thank you, but horizontal stability was never in jeopardy as long as I stayed away from the steep shoulder. I knew under heavy braking I would never make it if we hit that soft edge; we would have rolled and been a 10 second squib on the Evening News; "...A classic Jaguar driven by a 33 year old woman hit an unknown obstacle on the cross-town freeway late this afternoon, lost control and rolled down the embankment between these off ramps...".

Tomorrow is another day. I'll go to work and run off some of this frustration, and maybe kill some weeds (I always feel a lot better after I've killed something). There will be more damage assessment (waste of time I'm thinking) and waiting for the new PS pump husband just ordered from David Bodger.

The mood is rather somber here at the moment.

Yeah! I was there! I *Knew* it was bad!
I have to keep this in perspective, Jim, it's just an old car, well kept and pretty to look at, not to mention a Lot of fun to drive (when I get to drive it) but an old car just the same.
Husband ordered a pump from David this evening. That should take care of the pump problem. I, of course, have NO idea what it will take to make this car truly drivable again.
(';')

 

Ouch, that is a lot worse than I first thought. Hope you can source all the parts required to keep your fine lady on the road.
Good luck to you both,and glad there was no injuries.

 

If I were you I would just replace the crossmember.

If you were a bit closer you could pick one up here, got lots of parts over here..

 

Ugh, yeah, further pictures sure do show more damage to a very hefty chunk of steel. A few thoughts:


1. Looks awful, but cosmetic only. Measure of caster, camber and toe. if still in tolerance, it is Ok to use as is.


2. Not good enough. it must look good as well. Not looking right isn't right. tolerance level here...


3. Pump on the way from David. Yup, a great option. Or. a similar one via Rock Auto or the like?


4. Rhonda is gone, too bad.... Search for another tired old lady and add her...


5. A bit of sleuthing. Chunk of iron recovered? Any clue as to what it was and a such from whence it came? If just pure scrap, what would be the logical destination? Nearest place to sell the stuff. With a time distance calculation, might they have enough to track who delivered that load to them? CSI stuff can be fun?
That guy/gal oughta be held responsible.


6. Bright (?) side! You know how to drop the thing, strip it and redo a straight one. And with clean fasteners, not rusted shut stuff, a whole lot easier... And, no nagging as to it isn't right....


Carl

 

Clarke:
Thank you.
Husband insists it's not as bad as I think it is. It will take some Strong convincing to get me there.

Wilfred:
I understand these are probably more plentiful in your area than in mine, thank you for the kind thought.

However, since they are neither plentiful nor easily accessible when they do turn up, we'll probably try fixing this one if that's possible. Husband thinks it is, so I'll let him worry about it for now.

Carl:
If I had a measurement of the distance between the forward horns of an undamaged Series II cross member I could check if it IS as bad as it looks or if it only Looks bad. Black Rust-oleum covers a Multitude of sins.

While it's jacked up now, it won't be too hard to put a Big Crescent on it and straighten out the forward lip. It hadn't been aligned yet so we have no baseline. It didn't drive all that different, but I was pretty rattled right afterward, and distracted with the steering oil leak after that.

We're heard from David, the pump will arrive here whenever it comes. We've has similar negative experiences with Rock Auto as some other members, not getting exactly what was ordered, rear calipers for example, we received calipers for an XJS! It's like they're only a drop shipper. We have better results with Amazon, believe it or not, or eBay.

Traffic was so heavy at the time, and I was so rattled, I didn't even think of stopping to look for the piece of junk. I'm sure it was fabricated at some point, but the truck wasn't familiar to me, and of course I didn't see any logos. I am glad it exited out the side of the car, and didn't fly into the path of drivers behind me. I did catch a glimpse of it rolling down the embankment as I was checking for fluid loss but I haven't seen it on subsequent trips through there and I'm not even sure exactly where it was.

I'm not so concerned what parts look like when they're out of public view as long as they work as intended. So that's the Big Question now; Is the damage only visual, or is it functional. The investigation continues.
(';')

 

Thank you all!
Yep, I mailed that pump out today by Priority Mail. Should be there on Monday...

I just sent out one of the front crossmembers last month... Although it looks like a big bulky piece, it's only 55 pounds when everything is removed from it... Nothing but thin-ish hollow metal...

Cheers
David
shop.everydayxj.com

 

David's steering pump did in fact arrive yesterday as promised. It looks really good! Thank you for your promptness, David.

However, during the intervening days, when things had got a bit quieter around here, and I could go to work so I could THINK (I do some of my best thinking while driving a rake!), it occurred to me the Only thing changed on that end of the steering system was the high pressure hose, which husband had custom made at a truck stop hydraulic shop down the line on I-5. We thought it was a good idea, sort of local, nice guy, helpful and apparently knew his stuff.

The hose went Right on as it should have following its natural curl, almost like it was planned that way. But ever since that time, that fitting has leaked out the back of the pump no matter what was done to stop it. So yesterday evening after work I got curious/suspicious, yanked the end of that hose up where I could get a good look, and what did I see?? A NICK in the flare!!

It's tiny, but under pressure, Quite enough to cause the dripping I've experienced. The copper washers helped for a while but being soft and insufficiently tightened, they soon deformed again. With this impact, now they're Really deformed and I'm not at all sure that fitting can be made tight enough without heroic measures like the hammer it took to get the Toronado fittings off. I'm prepared to do that, but there's a question in my mind if the fitting in the pump is scarred up because of this nick before I put any washers in it.

I need to give this further thought, unless some of you have experience fixing this sort of fault. I'm open to alternate suggestions.
(';')

 

I got the trans cooling line fixed last week, no more leaking trans fluid. YAY!!

I had to dig out some of my jewelery making tools to fix the ding on the flare but I got it smoothed out this morning. After a thorough cleaning of the inside of the flare I threaded it back onto the back of the pump and tightened it with a soft blow hammer. Not as absolutely tight as it would go, no point in wasting my bullets, but tighter than I could make it by hand.

Then I wiped down the underside of the car, so I could actually see what might leak, put oil in the pump, started it up and held my breath.

After several minutes and turning the wheels stop to stop, there is NO LEAK IN THE HIGH PRESSURE FITTING!! Then I let it idle until it got hot. Still no leaking!

To say I'm a bit jazzed about that is a Massive Understatement! This means that tomorrow I can take her to town and try it all over again.

This gives me just short of 2 weeks to have her aligned and work some of the other kinks out before the last Jaguar Club trip of the season (it's been almost exactly a YEAR since we took one of those!), from Winters (on I-505) to Calistoga (North of Napa), over highway 128. Google Earth shows this as a Malaria Germ road that traverses part of the Coast Ranges following game trails.

I sort of thought it was a good idea to have the steering working and reliable before joining the other members. Isn't Pre-Trip(race) week always like this?

I'm off to give Nix a much needed bath before letting her feet touch the floor.
(';')

 

Great to hear Elinor, looks like a nice run on the map.

 

Great news Elinor, enjoyment ahead: Take#2!

So, windows up and no stopping on the malaria germ road? We live and learn, I never knew a malaria risk existed in northern Calif.

 

Perhaps I should have been more specific.
Malaria is NOT endemic to Northern California nor is there any risk from it.

The road LOOKS like a malaria germ! Sort of a private joke I suppose, from a song of my childhood, the name of which escapes me now. It's a humorous reference to twisty mountain roads, suitable for 4 wheel drive, that make some with weak constitutions nauseous.
(';')

 

What a relief - no wonder I'd never heard of it! Those roads are fun (for some!).

 

Great news Elinor, I hope the last Jaguar club run of the season is good to you.
Enjoy.