Update on my SIII, plus engine bay tidy up
 

Most of the minor items on my initial to-do list are now done:

- Sunroof now works. Connector block was detached at the switch

- Window slides are now improved thanks to dry lube-in-a-can (as reported earlier)

- Fuel caps now lock. Lock tumblers revised by locksmith to operate with the No. 2 aux key (door, boot etc.). Good value for $20.

- Drivers seat power raise now works after finding one wire detached under the seat

- Rear bumper wasn't bent after all, just the middle rubber section distorted. Removed and refitted the rubber by using new clips, now further revised by screwing the bottom ledge into the beam at 4 points, providing a more solid fix of the distortion

- Pepperpots cleaned up and refinished with 3 coats of VHT high temp wheel silver plus 2 coats of clear. Looks as good as original

- Will address handbrake adjustment when next in the shop on the hoist

- Discovered the reversing lights are not working. Suspect switch issue at the trans - could be they've never worked since the T700 unit was fitted. Will address when on hoist


Also tidied up the engine bay. No evident leaks and no real greasy residue, just general grime. Cleaned all I could reach without getting carried away (not after a mint/concours finish) and it looks much better. Touched up the cam covers and sprayed the manifold heat shield with engine paint. The BEST improvement of all was replacing the rather tattered hood liner - it lifts the whole appearance IMO. Sourced good quality self adhesive heat/fire/sound proof liner material from local Autobarn, cut it to size, and voila!

I know this is all minor tinkering stuff, but still very satisfying to get them sorted! Had a lot of fun so far and no doubt "meatier" needs will arise as time goes on. For now, I'm happy to get some driving pleasure out of her! :icon_steer:




Cheers,

Very tidy. I like the under bonnet treatment. I removed the "moth eaten bear rug" from mine. I had hoped to polish the paint to the gloss seen in the boot undersde.
No go, too far gone. I have a can of truck bed liner. Some day (?) I'll mask and spray it on to simulate the fuzzy stuff.


Good guess on why no reverse lamps. The switch left with the BW trans.
Jaguars with GM transmissions use a slightly different shift tower. It has
a bung to screw in a switch to operate the reverse lamps. I did
mine that way. It should have two micro switches at the front down low.
One as a neutral start switch and the other as the cruise interrupt.


Carl

Thanks Carl, I had a suspicion it would be something along those lines. Appreciate your tip, I'll get it checked when the car is in the air...

Cheers,

Liner looks the part, what brand was it? And cost if you don't mind saying.
A job I could get done before next weekends All British Day.

Hi Tony,

Nice work. Looks great.

I had the same problem with totally knackered under bonnet insulation.

Tufts of it were lodging in the engine bay.

I didn't want to invite splashed up water to penetrate under the adhesive backing of any material stuck to the underside of the bonnet so took a slightly different approach.

A light gauge sheet of aluminium with the insulation stuck to it and then located with the existing fasteners did the trick for me.

An added bonus is that the light reflected off said panel helps illuminate the engine bay at inspection time.

Paw prints have been mostly removed since taking that pic.

Cheers,

Nigel

Hi Clarke,

It's called Sound Shield Under Bonnet Sound & Heat Insulation, available at Autobarn. They wanted $79.95 and they knocked it down to $70 when I mentioned some cheaper options online. Or if you can't find it, the manufacturer is in Melbourne:

Soundshield Australia
6 Airlie Ave
Dandenong Vic 3135
Ph. 03 9792 2333

To be honest it grabbed me mainly because it looks very close to the original (what was left of it) in colour / texture etc. Dead easy to cut and stick.

Cheers,

Hi Nigel, Good one. I guess there must be 101 solutions, and anything is better than leaving the ragged old stuff in place!

Cheers,

I just knew that cover would never stay on :icon_playing: :icon_duck:

those are both great solutions to the under bonnet liner issue. i can't believe what a visual difference that makes.

one more thing added to the list!