What a relief.
Is your guy local to Portland?
Thanks,
Andrew.

 

About 50 miles north in Kelso, WA. Hart Radiator and A/C Service

Welcome to Hart Radiator Service, providing radiator, heater, R134 and R12 air conditioning, and cooling system repair services in Kelso, WA.

I've been doing business with them for many years; good guys.

Cheers
DD

 

Thanks Doug, appreciate the tip! Was just up there, at Avery's VW. A bit of a trip from PDX, but I'll keep them in mind.

Andrew.

 

Beautiful work Doug! Will have to get another Jag some day... Good memories here.

 

Another item checked off the list.


This is something that I neglected to address during the conversion process....when it would have been every easy. The correct drive and driven gears are readily available to make the speedo read properly. Since the drive gear requires removal of the tail section of the trans it would've been easy to do while the transmission was out of the car. Now that everything is together....not so much.

But.....

There's more than one way to skin a cat. I used a ratio adapter.

First I had to determine the amount of error. Using the "speedometer check" markers on the interstate I determined that driving 5.0 miles resulted in the speedo reading 6.0 miles exactly. Dividing 5.0 by 6.0 gives me .833

With some browsing around I found (in 10 minutes, lucky me) a GM angle drive adapter (PN 1565208) with a drive ratio of, you guessed it, .833 (see picture). What luck. GM used these ratio adapters for ages and ages in a variety of applications.

Cutting to the end of the chase, the adapter attaches to the transmission where the speedometer transducer normally fits. The transducer then attaches to the adapter. A bit of a squeeze within the confines of the Series III transmission tunnel, but it does fit.

There was a snag, though. The adapter I bought was lacking the inserts to accept the drive pegs. Took a little bit of research to get those....but that's another story.

Anyhow, the speedometer now reads accurately.

Cheers
DD

 

Another item checked off the list.

The car came with an elderly aftermarket radio/cassette player.....I betting 20 years old, at least....that was ugly, impossible to use, and only partially operational.

I hate the "Tokyo at Night" look/operation of most modern aftermarket radios.....flashing, multi-color graphics and such. And on many the vast array of controls and buttons are impossibly small. I was orginally searching for an OEM radio (from any manufacturer) but that became a little complicated. And shopping for a radio is truly case of "The Tyranny of Choice". That is, the vast number of choices becomes a mind-boggling frustration.

Cutting to the chase I finally settled on a Blaupunkt Liverpool. Not too flashy, looks good, minimal gizmos, and simple operation....at least compared to many others. $105 on Ebay! For that money I figure I couldn't go too far wrong....and I was right.


https://s3-ap-southeast-1.amazonaws....s/1249310.jpeg

This is not "high-end audio", obviously, but there's nothing wrong or bad about it, either. I am satisfied with the sound. It passed both my "1812 Overture" and "Frank Sinatra" tests. Not with flying colors, but it passed. I'm thinking some modern speakers to replace the 32 year old originals might be a good idea.

One downside to inexpensive radios is there is no capability to tie the display and backlighting into the car's panel light circuit for dimming. I haven't driven at night, yet, but I think the lighting will be too bright...and thus annoying.

Installtion was fairly staightforward. Single DIN radios are a bit small for the dashboard opening but I was able to shim the mounting to get a good fit. From previous rasio installations I has an assortment of masks to close-out the gap between the radio and the mounting face. Looks tidy in the car.

An oddity is that the industry standard for the red and yellow power supply wires is reversed on these old Jags. The modern standard is red=switch power and yellow=constant power. Perhaps the standard didn't exist in the 80s? I dunno.

Cheers
DD

 

In order:


1. Nice solution for a cable driven speedometer. I've yet to 'fix' my electronic speedo. It reads fast. I have the fix, but my task list grows as my energy diminishes. I did use my ancient TOtom GPS to recheck the error. My old method was one of those radar trailers that cops post from time to time, to make us more aware of excess speed. The GPS was within 10mph of the speedo, the radar more like 20!!!


2. I'm beginning to realize that older speaker cones tend to stiffen with age and non use. Using them, limbers them up and the sound improves. Not too HIFI, but OK. My Jeep has a "fancy" sound system, at least in it's day's standards. After laying about a while, until it got a new fuel pump, the sound went beserk!!! Bit, by bit, it's getting much better.


Odd, oh yeah....


Carl

 

Doug,

Car looks great!! Mark turned me onto this forum and great to see the car and restoration you are doing!

Joe A

 

One more item checked off the list....although I should mention that I have a new list in the making so the end really isn't in sight . Getting down to smaller and smaller items, though.

Anyhow, exhaust.....

The tailpipes are fine and I already replaced the rear mufflers some time ago. That left the main under-body pipes and mufflers...which were shot.

Had a local exhaust shop, which I'm impressed with, do the work. New pipes aft of the converters, an "X-pipe", and two glasspack mufflers. I think they guy did a nice job. I debated over the myriad of muffler choices and decided to just ry some old school glass packs and am happy with the choice. There's a modest refined growl tone...which is what I wanted... but no drone at all. The actual noise level in the cabin barely changed versus the original (albeit worn out) mufflers. I think the X-pipe helped the tone....which can be rather odd with the Jag V12 due to the design of the engine.

Mostly I'm just tickled to be rid of the exhaust leaks which sound very un-Jaguar like.

I attached a blurry cell phone pic. Later I'll post a video with sound

I thought the $337 price was reasonable for this day and age and for the sanitary installation. Oh, the system is flanged at both ends so it can be easily dropped down if the transmission ever has to come out.

Cheers
DD

 

Very interesting muffler configuration, Doug! I think I like it!
(';')

 

Doug,

Joe A from the old J-L list.

Very nice looking work and good to see!

Keep up the great work!

Joe A

 

Thanks, Joe.

"Restoration" is too strong a word in this case. This project is more like a 'freshen up'. There's a lot that isn't being done

Cheers
DD

 

Keep a bit for the future just to keep your hand in!!

Joe

 

Hey Joe, I wondered about you, the other day. Living with the hails tone dents in the truck ? And the historic V12 Jaguar.


Oh, and the knock off's sans ID, but with nice patina as desk ornaments
or,. paper weights with class.


One more ? Still flying?


Carl

 

Carl,

Yep still driving the Cummins with the hail dents in the top. Hey, the truck was free after insurance totaled it. Same with the V-12 but actually thinking ahead to retirement and may find a new care-taker for it, just need to down-size a bit when this happens.

Still have the knock-offs that I got from you... thats a retirement project!

Still flying, we got a brand new Challenger 350 in December and already have 200 hours on it, much of it overseas. Still living in Arizona.

Missed my old S-type so picked up a 2005 model a week ago and am back in love.

Take care and good to be back in touch!

Joe A

 

Great, Joe. Keep as many toys as you can.


He, with the most toys at the end wins !!!


My "newest is a Troy Bilt Super Tomahawk chipper shredder. Now I have
two. The smaller one on loan to a neighbor. They've been shredding over grown Ivy with great success ,


A couple of years ago, my son and I repowered it with an HF sourced
Predator. A Honda OHV "knock off", Easy start and lottsa power !!


Oh, the Super Tomahawk's B&S flat head is rated a 8 HP. I got it to
fire up. It sounds healthy !!!


Carl

 

Bought four of these Cerwin Vega 4" speakers for about $55 shipped

https://images.sonicelectronix.com/i...main/xed42.jpg

Installation was a breeze.

As with the radio itself these are obviously not high-grade audio. But, they certainly sound better than the old originals....at least on high end and mid-range where the sound is much more crisp than the oldies. Not much bass, but that's OK.

"Good enough for who it's for" as the saying goes.

For a mere $160 I have a reasonably decent stereo. Down the road I may upgrade to something better but right now I'd rather spend the money elsewhere

Cheers
DD

 

I'll know more in a few days but I think I fixed the problem by replacing the changeover valve.

I wrapped clean washcloths around all the joints, fuel pump, filters, air bleed valve, etc. and gave each of them the sniff test after a few days. The cloth wrapped around the changeover valve has a distinct gasoline odor. I suspect a minute weeping of gasoline through the joints of the metal body itself. In a small enclosed area that's all it would take.

I still have to give the carpeted trim a good scrubbing and let it air out, as it'll hold the odor for a long time otherwise.

Cheers
DD

 

Doug:


I like that set of pipes. Nicely executed. Something like mine but sorta reversed. I term the "back mufflers" as resonators. A PO had installed small glass packs there. Great, except that all joints, including the tips are welded????


The Jaguar "front mufflers" remain. They are healthy. My muffler guy installed the cats just aft of the transmission. Heat and transmissions don't get along. I note you don't need cats.


And, my "H" pipe is longish, and as such the pipes from the down pies go straight back. And as yours the joints are flanged. The thing can be dropped as a unit for transmission access like yours.


Glass packs just sound nice!!!!! One of the best set I've had over the decades was my "lumped" 51 ****** 4x4 pickup. It came to me with a 2 into one system. Son and I cut it out and eelded in two longish glass packs. Dumps in front of the rear wheels. No "X" or "H". Really "old school". Not noisy at all. Just a nice smooth purr.


OTH, a few years before, I made the same install on my 312 Tbird powered 57 Ford pickup. It was noisy, no doubt about it. So much so, that it flunked an LAPD roadside check. I just might have made it with a lower idle speed!!!


Joe:
Come on over and visit the new J-L. Much better format than the old one .


Carl

 

I'm afraid that planning for future transmission removal was actually a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The trans went kaput!

Actually it went kaput a month or ago but I forget to update everyone.

On the bright side it's nearly done at the transmission shop. On the dark side it blows me right past my $8000 project budget.

My plan was to remove the trans myself and have it rebuilt. As it turns out none of the guys I know that used to do this are still doing it. I guess they've reached a point where they no longer need to moonlight! It would've saved me a chunk of cash.

Oh well, I thought, I'll remove the trans and just take it to a trans shop for rebuilding. Not as inexpensive as having a moonlighting pal do it but still cheaper than paying the labor for remove-reinstall.

No luck. I called five trans shops and none would do a "bench overhaul".

So.....the car is at a transmission shop and I'm paying full bore parts and labor. That hurts ! It's like rubbing salt in the wound

A few pals were urging me to overhaul it myself but it just wasn't in the cards. I have no useful experience in this area and this isn't the best time to learn.....I'm swamped with projects at work and am in the midst of a remodeling project at home.

So, my $8000 budget cap....which I was perilously close to reaching....is now more in the $10,000 area.

On the bright side I'll be driving the Jag again in a few days

Oh, the root cause of the failure was a blown accumulator piston.

Cheers
DD