That's a good price on the shocks. Think I'll call them and see if they are in stock as my vendor told me today it would be another two weeks before they ship.

Thanks

 

I think the best option if you can is to pull the control arm that is still attached along with the knuckle and put it in a press to press the bolt end out of the knuckle.

You could also try heating it with a torch (meaning actual fire for our british friends) and pressing/bankgin it out with a new hand tool.

If all else fails you can always drill it out. I would buy a good $50 cobalt bit or else this could be like 12 hours of drilling.

 

The bolts will not come out, the problem is they are quite long and will be very badly rusted beyond the captive nut in the box section. You have a couple of options, dill out what is lift of the bolt and retap, or cut out a part of the box section and weld in a new piece with new captive nuts.


I tried drilling out the old bolt, I then taped it to a smaller size and screwed a smaller bolt into it in the hope that I could then screw the old bolt through the captive nut. However the end result was that the new bolt sheared off, so the old one was clearly not going to move easily.





Drilled and taped the inside of the stuck bolt.





Started to tighten up the new bolt,





Back to square one!





After more drilling the captive nuts broke free from the inside of the box section, they looked like this. That is the top of a broken drill bit poking out the top.










Plan B


Cut out squares from the box section.




Make up some captive nuts.





Tack weld them into place and check for fit.





Then fully seam weld them up.

 

Thanks for the pictures RaceDiagnostics. I am no welder. I'm wondering why a retap wouldn't work? Maybe drill out the old bolts and retap with one size larger bolt. I will try drilling it out sometime today and see what happens. Your welding with the captive nuts looks great.

 

It could work as long as the captive nuts don't snap off like mine did. I did so much during that job I cant actually remember the moment that the nuts snapped off or the exact trigger that caused it. Prior to that I had planned to drill and tap out the old bolt but the hole ended up off centre which will be an issue you will need to watch out for.


I only had flux cored wire for my welder back then and have since moved to a gas set up which gives much better results.

 

John55, Sorry to break the bad news to you, I called FCP Euro to see if they had the shocks in stock and they do not. It appears they are a parts forwarding house and actually order from other vendors. Anyway they could not give me a ship date either.

Soooo, I'm staying with my original vendor who said yesterday a week or two, wonderful world of sourcing Jag parts.

 

Ouch.

 

Found a pair on Craigslist for ya- (no affiliation)

NEW XK8 JAGUAR SHOCKS

 

Thanks for the find. FCP just emailed me this afternoon and said my shocks have been shipped. I ordered them on Monday and they shipped on Wednesday. Hopefully, they will be the correct ones

I got the upper arm ball joint out of the knuckle. I sawed of the ball portion, and then drilled thru the shaft. It took about an hour but finally success.

 

Happy to hear that, who knows, the guy I talked to this morning said no go on the shocks, maybe you got the last set they had in stock.

 

Ok, new question. I have most all the front suspension out and I am removing and installing new bushings and ball joints. I bought new tie rod ends. Problem is, it feels to me like the inner tie rods are very loose. There is no resistance at all. I would like to replace them, but the Jag book says they are part of the steering rack. Does anyone know if they are replaceable like most other inner tie rods?

 

Direct replacements are not available although some have used X type rods but these need to be cut down a bit to the correct length.


I swapped my tie rods from my leaking rack to a second hand one.


See here.

 

Thanks RaceDiagnostics. Great video. I have the rack loosened now since I am replacing the lower control arm bushings and ball joint. How much play was there in your inner track rod? Did it move very freely when the ball joint was not connected or did you feel some resistance? I am not sure how to tell if my inner track rod (tie rod) is ok or shot.

 

The side that had the leak offered almost no resistance to movement but there was no free play.


The other side which was still had grease in it offer a small amount of resistance but no free play.

 

Johns55, just starting my front end tear down this weekend. Where you able to get the rear lower control arm bolt out by just losening the steering rack? Did you have to disconnect anything on the rack?

Been considering doing the upper and lower seperately instead of taking everything out at one time. Just a little nervous about completely tearing everything out.

 

I have taken everything out. I took all 4 bolts out of the steering rack including the u joint bolt and cut the zip tie holding the hoses. The rack only needs to moved down a little over an inch. The bolt for the lower control arm came out without a problem.

Some pictures.


Boy, I wish I could get these pictures right side up

 

John55 you are so lucky you got your shocks. My vendor emailed me today saying Bilstein is now on back order until 7-21.

 

Are you serious? That is a long time. Sorry to hear that. I must have been very lucky. I have the shocks with new upper mounts installed. Everything is put back together. I am waiting on new inner tie rods as I have decided to replace those.

One problem I had was with the fulcrum bolt. It was in very tight and I had to hammer it out. Of course the spacers went flying from the inside of the upper control arm. I think I have them back were they should be, but I am not sure. Is it a must to get the alignment done at a Jag dealership, or are other places good at dealing with the shims?

 

Any good reputable alignment shop can do it, I would ask a couple of the body shops in your area who they use, lots of places do alignments a few places do good alignments. Good luck.

 

The suspension is going back in. Here's a shot of the right side installed. I painted the Rotor and the calipers while they were off. I also painted all the control arms with a black epoxy paint. Just waiting on a pair of inner tie rods to finish up.

My lower control arm bushing looked almost new. I ended up not changing those. Much more to do. I still have to drill out the broken Xbrace bolts, change most all coolant hoses including valley hoses, thermostat housing, coolant overflow tank, and water pump. Tensioners are here to be replaced. Transmission fluid and filter change. Some interior work and then a respray. I have a headache just thinking about it. I have not had much time because of work, but I must say, I am enjoying the frustration of getting this car in top shape.