So I picked up the 1973 xj12 from my grandparents house today and drove it home. Not gonna lie it was somewhat sketchy... yall can laugh but being the young buck I am, never have driven a car without power steering. More importantly I was having a hard time breaking. I was keeping my distance from other cars but when I would slam my foot to the floor it would just slowly come to a stop. When I got back home the rear wheels were smoking somewhat and smelt like burnt rubber. Any ideas?

A few other issues Ive noticed without digging to deep.

1. The body is in pretty good shape as far as rust goes except where it wraps and connects to the bottom. The bottom seems pretty well rusted too.

2. Fuel gage didnt seem to be working.

3. One of the doors didnt want to open.

4. A few lights (inside lights and running lights) werent turning on


But the pros:

1. It started up fine and I got home haha

2. Tranny seemed to operate ok

3. All the windows worked and most electronics

4. My grandpa redid the dash recently and looks awesome

Anyways pleast post some suggestions on the smoking wheels and difficulty breaking.

Ill post plenty of pics tonight for you guys so I can see all the goodies I got and pics of the car for you all.

Im not much of a mechanic but hopefully I will know this car and making it something before this is over.

 

Been there, more than likely the hand brake stuck on. Don't drive it long distance(or at all, maybe only a short trip to your mechanic) until that is sorted. Rubber smell my be seals in the rear calipers getting hot. Mine became a fire.
Could end up being a total rear end rebuild if it gets to hot and melts all the seals in the calipers and diff.

 

yeah im thinking its the hand brake too. does the hand brake have its own caliper that would be seized up? I looked under the car and there is a lot of slack in the hand brake cable. When I pull the hand brake in the drivers seat the cable tightens up but it doesnt seem to do anything. When I push the hand brake back in the line just goes to slack. How did you fix your handbrake problem?

-Other issues im finding. One of the rear doors wont open.
-A/C doesnt appear to be working
-Windshield wipers arent working. They moved a couple inches and stopped and havent moved since.

 

Did the series 1 jag ever have a luggage rack. I didn't think so but my uncle found one with the jaguar stuff and thought it went with it. See pics.

Also attached is the worst rust spots pics, hand brake cable, and seat pics.

 

Tried to start it up this morning but no success. The fan wwould blow and engine tick just seemed like the battery didn't have enough voltage. I'm going to clean up the terminals and put a trickle charger on it. Also going to clean up the ground. The ground was almost smoking? Thoughts?

 

Yes!!!


1. Poor ground. High resistance = heat.


2. Starter bit the dust. Locked. Been there. cooked the - post
on the side post battery!!


Carl

 

From here, your worst problem looks like all that rust in the rocker panels. Those are structural, and sort of keep the car from folding in half. Pull up the driver's carpet and have a look at the floor pan.

You *Should* have power steering too. In fact, you should have one-finger steering.
(';')

 

Yea I'll clean up the ground connection and check the voltage on the battery. You saying I probably need a new starter then?

 

Before you dump a load of time and money into that car, take all the seats and carpet out and take a good honest look at the floors and rockers. It's neither easy nor cheap to replace all of that, and every inch of it is critical to body integrity. I replaced a LOT of metal under my '74 and don't even want to think of what it cost. Be honest with yourself about your goals and abilities working with these cars.

 

Agreed I'm most worried about the rust. And your right I do have power steering however I noticed the belt is really loose. It looks like there may be a way to tighten this possibly

 

Curt thanks for the honest input. I honestly feel somewhat overwhelmed right now but I'm motivated to learn this car and make my grandpa proud. I feel somewhat obligated to do what he wanted for this car. Now it's just wants the cost and feastability of it.

I noticed your from charleston and I am as well. I don't know if you are open to this but I would love for someone else who is knowledgeable in these cars to take a second look and help me evaluate what I got and really what I am up against

 

Try cable cleaning and battery charging before convicting the
starter. Remember, both ends of both battery cables.
Oh, there is a ground strap down under. From the transmission area
to the chassis, Clean and ;lube both ends. It is a key to a lot
of weird stuff.


Jump 12v from the battery direct to the small post on the starter solenoid. Careful.


Only if these fail to get a healthy crank turn to a starter failure.


Don't spend a ton of bucks til you access that rust issue carefully.


Carl




Carl

 

Carl I appreciate the response I'll try some of that today. I was thinking it might of been the alternator as well. Maybe it wasn't charging the battery when I drove it over. And now the battery has just lost its juice. I'll be able to tell if it's the alternator once I start it up. But I was not aware of the second ground strap.

I took the rear seat and carpets out this morning to take a better look at the floor. There is rust but it looks but it doesn't look bad besides at the pedals of both front seats and in the cavities of the rear seats. The rest of the floor looks OK at first glance. I'm going to try and get someone else to look at this with me that has more experience to tell me an honest opinion.

 

my cell is 843 860 8353, I can come by and have a look for you.

 

Carl I tried charging the original battery and starting it again with no success. Took the battery to get tested and said I had a bad cell. I don't know if there is multiple issues going on but its still not working.


Im going to go clean up that ground underneath. Afterwards Im going to try to jump it off the starter solenoid. See what happens...


One of the bad rust spots is right on the jacking point. What other safe options are there for me to jack the car up from?

 

I like ramps or the front cross member with a trolley jack. Back up the latter with jack stands under the front suspension.


Chock a rear wheel as well. Care when getting down and under is everything.


Either a mate or a handy cell for emergency.


These critters can and have crushed folks!!!


Cal l

 

Couldn't agree more with you Carl. I usually slide the front wheels back in under the sills/ rockers/ chassis rails as well just in case. Belt and braces is the only way when getting under these old cars. Unfortunately I know of at least two fatalities involving poorly supported cars.

 

Thanks for the advice. Cleaned up one ground from the transmission to the chassis. The other one looked mangled up pretty bad.That may be part of the problem.

 

So I didn't do anything different tonight but jiggle the keys while starting it and it turned over. Everything is starting like normal now. The battery is reading 13.5 volts so the alternator is working, battery is fine and the starter obviously works. Must be some bad wiring or an ignition switch issue?

On a sad note I was jacking up the rear end on the cAR on the wishbone I think thats what it's called. The jack wasn't exactly centered and slipped bending the edge of the wishbone. The bend is not at any of the connections/bolt points on the wishbone so I thibk it's ok.thoughts? The bend is on the left side of the picture

 

It looks like you have just bent the tie plate, unbolt it and put it on the floor and hammer it flat again. It looks like mine has been a few times.

Cut a block of wood to fit the tie plate when jacking there. And as said above ,you can never be too careful when working around a raised car, safety first.