Nah . . . doesn't work Clarke, so be careful what you wish for . . .
Itchyback . . . what a great job.
Thanks for sharing pics and . . . great to explain your Member's Name!!!

Best wishes,

Ken

 

Some minor progress, I was not happy with the front cross member having some previous accident damage, It was not really visible inside the engine bay but the wheel well, minor but I want this car to be great so I made a new one cross member. Its out of thicker steel and welded attached in more places so will provide more structural support than original.

The engine bay is also completely repaired and waiting paint.

I dropped off the front suspension for new powder coating, its all shiney and black and beautiful! Its almost a shame to put it back in the car. Now I’m part way through replacing all the rubber bushings with polyurethane and new ball joints and bearings. The brake discs are below spec so ive ordered some sporty slotted discs which will look fantastic and stop better too. Funnily while putting the front end back together I misplaced a bump stop, I spent an hour looking for it and had resigned myself to cleaning up to try and find it when I thought I would just buy a new one, but ouch, $60! Saves cleaning though, then lo and behold, after getting off the phone I walked back into the garage, moved the other brake disc and what should appear, the missing bump stop! Thanks Doug from JagDaim for cancelling that, man did I feel like a fool, good thing only we know . Now, save for the bump stops which are just fine, everything on the front suspension has been repainted, replaced and is brand new! I put every nut and bolt and bracket in its own labelled bag and putting it back together has been a breeze as a result. The observant among you will see the wheel hub is back to front, minor mistake but I was reading the manual!

I needed to make a rectangular spacer for some new parts going in. I new buying the size I wanted would be expensive so I used what I had. My son and I built a crucible (an old gas tank) and furnace (a hole in the ground) in the backyard and melted some scrap aluminium I had found to make the piece I needed. It was pretty fun. It only cost $10 for cat litter (that my cat has now used) and $27 for some bbq coal. Everything else I had lying around.

Still enjoying it!

 

Great work!
Fabrication has always fascinated me but I simply don't have the imagination.
(';')

 

Elinor:


1. I sure hope you get out early and get your work done before the temps get really high. And, now, even more so. Humid. After going to market yesterday, I started to finish fixing one of my chippers. Nope, Coco, we are going in. Stifling. I know better.


2. You have demonstrated skill with that MIG. Big step forward. Gather up some scrap metal. Beware some is really dirty and defies nice welding. An extended speed handle for NIX's scissor jack. Washers, steel rod and rubber hose section. Think crank handle.


And/or under the bumper fog or driving light mounts for NIX.


Or decorative posts along your drive for solar powered lamps. I made two. But of wood from my tree chopings. Guides to assure that I back the Jeep as close as possible to one side and allow room to clearly back
the Jaguar out of it's garage. Shared with me as a shop.


In older days, I'd look to metal. But, now, I'm working in wood. Lots of raw material .


The imagination is there in all of us,. It merely needs to be awakened.


Have fun...


Carl

 

Yes, Carl, I got a Way early start today, as I don't work on Fridays except on my own place. But it's been Start Early End Early all week. I've been hugging my AC no later than 1pm!

Except for yesterday when the Ditch Tender called me to open my vacationing neighbors' irrigation valve before 7:30am, and after I got home theirs was finished so I opened mine. Finally finished up around 4pm.

Even playing in the water it was Brutally hot! Thermometer read only 103F but humidity about 65% and dew point is somewhere in the 50s!! Water ran off me (not through me) as fast as I drank it.

Thank you, Carl, but the sort of fabrication I mean is the stuff Glen is doing; REAL fabrication not merely repairs (which I'm able to do when called upon), but Making something from raw materials.

NO driving/fog lights for Nix! I don't like the look of them in the first place, the car is too low in the front in the second place, and my Pencil Beams work Just Fine as driving lights in the third place. We seldom have fog out here during Nix Driving Season anyway.

I rather like our long, DARK driveway. You can't see this place from the road so no one who doesn't belong knows we're here. Close neighbors, UPS and FedEx are exceptions. -- I guess it follows that they belong, doesn't it.

Not a problem here, Carl. Trimmings are chopped up and canned immediately (I have 10 cans), taken out for Green Waste Pickup every other Thursday. There's plenty of space to store the cans in the meantime.

Thank you, Carl, you're too kind.

Oh yeah!!
(';')

 

Elinor:


Handling it very well. Great.


1. Ditch tender. You have irrigation!!! Slick. Our first house, a cracker box, had a ditch along the back lot line. Alas, we did not get the "water" rights". So no benefit. But, a decade or so later, we rented a place in Phoenix. It was irrigated. All around the house, a few inches deep. The Bermuda grass flourished. A challenge to my mower!!! The ditch tneder was known as a Zanjero.


2. I meant transfer of your welding skills from repair to creative. My old office has a hook that I created decades ago. An electrified "oil" lantern hangs from it. Alas, it is decorative only. I never hooked up the wires.


3. From time to time, I watch an HGTV show. "Forged in Fire". Blacksmiths compete in forging cutting instruments from raw metal. Red hot forges. Hammers, hand and mechanical. Grinders. Quench tanks.
Best seen on a cold winter day....


Or "A Craftsman's Legacy". The host visits various craft persons. Wool from llama to yarn. Fishing pole from bamboo to laminated rod. Raw leather to finished saddle. Chunk of walnut to a gun stock for a real black powder fired long rifle.


4. A plumber's pot would be neat to cast in lead or alloy.


Carl

 

Thanks for your comments.
More creative fabrication will come, its easier to start on the small stuff.
I've ordered some new discs for the front and thanks to some help from Doug at Jagdaim i've going to be finishing rebuilding the suspension this week hopefully!

Tonight i finished installing the power windows.
Theyve been sitting, painted, re-greased, ready to go in for months but i was put off by the fiddly-ness of the job and more interesting jobs i'd rather do. Tonight i bit the bullet. It almost started with a tantrum, i couldnt make it fit so i had to read the manual like a loser to find out how to get it in. Then when i did get it into place, the bolt holes didnt line up with the original holes
*** tantrum buffering***
did i have the wrong parts? did jag change something mid series, what has happened!
turns out there are 8 holes for the window regulators, four for the manual system and four at a slightly different orientation and spacing for the electric regulator (in the front). in the back, the regulator goes on the opposite side of the door!

All done now, happy lad. Jaguar are weird for making so many different parts and mounting spots.