Finally got the rear end back in the car, and machined a spacer to go between the tailshaft and pinion flange.

Thought I would start a new thread with the rest of the rebuild. Pulled the front end out and cut it open to see what was inside, god what a mess so cut the bottom off the subrfame - I'll send it for sandblasting then prime the inside and weld a new piece on the bottom with some modifications. There is no way for water to get out of the front and back sections so I will cut some channels to let the water out.

That gearbox jack was certainly worth the effort - it took me 15 minutes to install the rear end back in the car by myself.

 

I'm reluctant to cut into mine now that it's out of the car. I thought I would use the existing openings to spray a rust encapsulating material and then paint the inside. That should last for the rest of this lifetime.

 

EDIT -THOUGHT THE BIGGER PICS WOULD DO THE POST MORE JUSTICE

 

Somewhere I saw this before... I have to admit, your way of inspecting front end internals is a bit more sophisticated than mine, but at least I am done with it and you have all the fun ahead of you.

 

Thanks Jim big picsare good.

I did it for 2 reasons, I could hear the junk inside and the bottom had dents. When I cut it open the center support is bent and there is no way for the water to easily drain. It has to seep between the 2 bits of metal spot welded together. I will be cutting channels in the supports and rear to allow the water to drain.

It's then off for sandblasting and I will prime the inside before its powdercoated.

 

The dents would definitely justify replacing the metal. I'm lucky I only have a small jack indentation on mine that I plan to fill with metal. Jaguar should have posted a label on the bottom of the piece. "DO NOT USE AS JACKING POINT!"

 

Agreed - I am considering welding in a cross brace front to back to prevent this happening again. I must confess I have used it as a jacking point - that was before I knew how weak it was in the middle.

 

Just like it says "Do Not Push" next to hood latch, yet almost every XJS I looked at, has that corner of the hood, dented, or previously repaired. Saw one getting bent, right in the middle of Manheim car auction, when dealer was selling his mom's 87 XJSC, with 22K original miles. Auctioneer's assistant laid entire 250lb of his redneck body on that poor thing Too bad I did not take picture of the owner's face...
Long story short, idiots do not read.

 

You can take the man out of project management but you can not take project management out of the man. It's a curse being so **** (picky).

 

This is not what I hoping to see when I pulled the front calipers apart. I was hoping just to replace the seals clean them up paint and bolt them back together.

Considering that they are not that old I was surprised. Anyone had experience with Stainless pistons??

 

Check the specification for the caliper bolts, as you are not supposed to split the caliper in normal service. I suspect the old bolts are not reuseable because they are originally done up to, maybe beyond, the elastic limit.

 

Thanks, I'll. Check that out. The internal oil ways were totally blocked with gunk so dismantling was a good idea. Thinking about it I might just put new bolts in.

 

I used Wilwood aluminum calipers, much lighter weight, thet have stainless steel pistons. had to mill a set of caliper mounts tho!

drilled and chamfered rotors. adjustable proportioning valve. and aluminum M/C.

still fine 17yrs, YIKES does time fly! suppose time to flush and check things out.

had the car out for ride today,sun shining 72*F,, life is good, DARN what a nice car!!!!

 

Where I live you can not change anything from standard without having it engineered,so changing the calipers before it is registered is not an option. It really sucks, by the letter of the law I can only put wheels on that are 1inch wider than stock without having it engineered.

 

I suppose USA does have more freedoms than other countrys.

i can not ever remember NOT making some kind of improvements to every car i ever owned.
starting with a 1934 Ford roadster, in 1949 summer, paid $20. bucks US money.

i just had to have two carburators and two exhausts, influences from magazines!

every time i get upset with the government, i read about other places in the world.

 

JEEZ,, Australia would have a field day with my XJS, there is NOTHING standard left unmodified.

and like said , had it out for a cruise(with wife in left hand passenger seat), YES, it is a wonderful driving vehicle.

Ron

 

Regulations are state dependent. When I lived in Perth there was no road worthy checks at all. Now in Sydney annual insections and any modifications must be engineered. There are plans by the state to change the process so any mods need to be engineered and tested as per new car approvals. So any brake mods would have to be tested by an engineer with emergency stop from 160kmh this would require hiring a race track for testing. Let's hope the government do not get this through.

 

thats a sad shame!!

like John Lennon said "we the people, are the Victims of the insane"

 

We have no roadworthy testing of any kind here, which is odd, because I see some scary junk on highways here.
On the other hand, I can do anything I want under the hood and no one is to tell me what is stock and what isn't.

 

mish,, its called freedom of choice.
we sometimes dont fully appreciate our country, till we hear whats elsewhere.

but there are people in USA that want to stop all automobile modification!

i big help for us, is the SEMA organization,(specialty equipment manufactures association)
cheap to join ,like $25. bucks, they have large car & equipment shows at venues around US.