the cat is out of the bag . . .

[Bfg]

  

28th February - 4th March ;  Carmen's  Work in Progress.

. . . With the coil out of the way I had clear access to the cold start enrichment device. . . 

     

The cold start enrichment device is actually a separate, and very crude, two stage carburettor with a solenoid which opens or closes the fuel-air mix passage into the inlet manifold.  The solenoid as standard was operated by a thermo-switch situated in the engine's water cooling system.  That switch was set to automatically switch off / close the valve as coolant temperature reached 35 degrees C.  However after so many years, it's no wonder that switches failed.  When it did - the enrichment device did not switch off, so it's now common practice to fit a manual switch to override that.  Carmen has such a switch, and the thermo-switch has been removed. Unfortunately there's no warning light to advise that the enrichment device has in fact been switched off.   

^ A single screw-down clip holds the solenoid's cap on, under this is just the two wiring connections. But the whole solenoid body is also loose.  As you can see the wiring was 'marginal' on the power feed connection.  I've now replaced that.  

    

The solenoid itself is a simple electrical-coil magnet with a steel-shafted bobbin pin that lifts or drops according to it being switched.  On the end of that bobbin pin is a simple valve which opens or closes the flow of air+fuel mix into the inlet manifold.  You can see the fine spring, which helps seat that valve was twisted around the brass spring plate ..because it had been fitted upside down. Fitted the other way around its edge lip contains the tail end of the spring.  That I've also now corrected.  

    

^ Inside the valve seat looked fine.  I added a smear of oil to the solenoid's bobbin pin but otherwise it's now reassembled.   The illustration on the right shows a cross-section through the enrichment device aka Auxiliary Starting Carburettor, showing the solenoid tower to the left ..and its closing valve, and a fuel-monitoring jet to the right.   I haven't yet pulled the latter apart because I don't want to adjust too many things all at once ..and that nut (#13) on top of the needle, is its adjustment.  As I understand it - the adjustment of that nut alters the fuel/air mix ratio.  And the needle lifts against the spring (#11) compression when there's more suction through at inlet manifold, ie., for faster engine revs / driving speeds when the engine is still cold.  By the way, its fuel supply is from the adjoining carburettor, which in turn is levelled by its float.

Moving on ...

  

The coil I've moved to placed it alongside the engine cooling fan's shroud.  There's a removable inner wing panel which is only used for access to the steering rack, so drilling and mounting it was easy.  It's now (mostly) out of the way when needing to access the distributor, but clears its wires off the engine, and also minimises its vibration. 

The wiring to the coil, or from the coil to the distributor didn't need any alteration. but the wire to the cold starting device did need extending ..with the old wire and its iffy connector being replaced at the same time. There are a few spare wires from the loom, from the cold starting thermostatic switch (no longer fitted) and from the originals horns, but the main loom to the front lamps is now back to where it was originally ..running along the top of the wing opening. The bonnet pull cable was likewise straightened out and routed along the top. 

     

^ while I was at it, I oiled the bonnet pull cable with 5ml of gearbox oil.  ^^ I also found a suitable square headed bolt for the air horn compressor pump, and mounted that low down on the inner wing panel out of the way.  Again I'm glad to be rid of its wires and air tube from where it had been mounted, by the distributor. 

Next up I wanted to fit some air filters.  I just don't like dust, pollen and cub-scouts being sucked into the carburettors.    I also wanted to introduce short ram pipes to smooth the air flow in.  I did this with both Katie and Burble, so clearly I think it's worthwhile.  A link to that is ; 

 

The information I base their worth on,  is from a book dedicated to tuning an MGA, which surmises their research into this chart  . . .

The rams fitted to Carmen were the equivalent of #4 and I'm changing to a cross between #8 and #11.    According to their research - the sharp edge of those bell mouths (#4) has a detrimental effect on flow efficiency by up to 5.5%.  Whereas fitting a short stack with a minium of 1/4" radius (in my case a short ramp pipe approximating a cross between #8 and #11) suggests a 5% improvement ..over just a hard edge hole in an air filter.  Critically for me is that I can fit a short stack inside an air filter, whereas at best the long bell-mouths has only a coarse wire gauze. And not even those were fitted to this car.   

^ These are old air filters from Katie, now being repurposed for use on Carmen.  In due course I'll buy new ones, but I do like the quality of these old ones better.  In the background you can see the different ram pipes.  But whichever I use, I first needed to adjust the fit of the short stacks to fit the carburettor. . .

     

^ One on the right I'd already modified to fit these carburettors. That on the left is marked to show where I'm to remove metal (best part of 1/8" on one side). Being aluminium they're easy to cut by hand ..well by cordless drill and bit, followed by sanding drums and flapper wheel. 

   

^ these short stacks are just £9.95 pr. off of ebay which are great value and an excellent starting point for final shaping and smoothing.  Of course, I needed to modify the air filters too, to take the short stack's outside diameter.  Incidently the outer rim size of these short stacks is exactly the same as that of the long bell-mouths that were fitted.  I yet need to get out to B&Q to get the rubber o-rings I use around the outsides ..to achieve the roll radius (minimum of 1/4" ~ 6mm) as recommended by the MGA guide. That ought to happen this weekend as I have a TR Register breakfast meeting to attend.  

   

^ metal shears were again used to open the air-filter's orifice ..as I don't want metal filings inside it.  

   

^ first trial fit of the Triumph TR4A filter plus short stack on the carburettor itself.  Getting the 3" long x 5/16" bolts in to the forward carburettor's flange is a bit of a fiddle due to the close proximity of the engine bay, but it's doable. 

Now to tidy the filters up, again as I had done with Katie's.     

    

^ Expanded mesh gauze, left over from when I did Katie's, cut to width, sharp edges removed, and wrapped around as before.   A little spray paint is more presentable than the surface rust on these old filters. 

I need to tune the cold starting device and check the balance the carbs before fitting, but overall this week - I feel as if I've made useful headway.    

The new paper element fuel filter has just arrived from Moss / Rimmers so we're ready for a restart. 

Pete

 

 

[Homersimpson]

Great progress

I recall reading that the XK engine having number 1 at the rear was a hang over from some of the engineers working on aircraft engines, not sure how true that is though.

[Westbay]

[Bfg]

On 07/03/2026 at 08:30, Westbay said:

As per the diagram from MGA research, long ram pipes work as long as they have a rolled / radiused opening. but (according to their research) no better than short tacks with a similar rolled / radiused opening.   

Although only subjective evidence, I'm sure I felt an improvement when I did the same to Katie, my TR4A, and even more of an improvement (engine responsiveness) when did the same to Burble, my Daimler 250 v8.   I would say though.. that replacement (new) air filters were used on both, and with the Daimler I discarded the original air-filter-cannisters in favour of the TR4A oval paper elements ..so they're not a direct comparison of with or without the ram-pipes.  Still, I want air filters on Carmen, and I was pleased with what I experienced with each of my previous cars, so I reckon it's a good as anything ..not least at their price. 

Pete.

 

[Bfg]

18 hours ago, Homersimpson said:

Great progress

I recall reading that the XK engine having number 1 at the rear was a hang over from some of the engineers working on aircraft engines, not sure how true that is though.

It may also be that early SS - Jaguar engines were 4 cylinder and later engines were 6 cylinder, so counting from the bulkhead forward is at least consistent ?  

[lesapandre]

The XK engine was developed in 4-cylinder form and various prototypes produced in the late 1940's - but was dropped in favour of the all 6-cylinder range. So again that would indicate some consistency.

Great work so far, by the way, sorting out these various niggles of a car that seems to have seen little use over many years. Usefully informative. 👍

[Bfg]

  Friday 6th - Carmen's Work In progress 

On 3/6/2026 at 1:44 PM, stuart said:

I think I said before how to tune the auxiliary starting carb but I think it got lost in the previous posts. The little brass plate on the bottom of the solenoid pin should be lapped flat to ensure no bypass leaking of air for one and to weaken or richen the mixture the adjusting screw on the jet needle needs to be screwed out for richening and in for weakening. Adjustments best done when engine is cold and it should be just rich enough to allow good pull away from rest but not rich enough to flood the front carb. As those engines warm up pretty quick as they're a big lump of iron it may take a few cold morning starts to get it spot on. I personally prefer the original "Otter" control sensor in the water jacket as opposed to a manual switch as when both carbs and auxiliary carb are tuned correctly there is a seamless transition through the cold start to hot run condition. (FWIW you always know when the auxiliary carb is working as you can actually hear the sucking sound it makes.)

Stuart. 

Thanks Stuart,  I had noted you previous advice about adjusting the needle's top nut, but you also added here about lapping flat 'the little brass plate on the bottom of the solenoid pin'.  Cheers for that. 

Perhaps fitting an Otter switch will be a good thing, together with the switch (and warning light) to add the belt to the braces.? 

_ _ _

Today I fitted the new petrol filter from Moss-Rimmers and then took off the carb tops to check a float hadn't sunk as you suggested, and while I was in there to adjust the float level.

   

The prongs were meant to be 7/16" dia bar above the lid's rim, ^ as per the manual , but they were wide open.  I carefully adjusted them down to 1/2" and tried it.. and fuel pee'd out all over the place, literally squirting out of the top of the auxiliary cold start carb's needle, and running out of both the carbs.   The fuel shut off valves and needles look new, in both the carbs, and the needles are of the Viton tipped type. The tip still feels elastic and there's no grit in there to hold it open.  I've reset the arms to almost as far as they were.  They're now over 3/4" (20mm) rather than the recommended 7/16" (11mm), and although the fuel's mostly contained there's still weeping from the carburettors. Probably I wouldn't see anything if the engine was running.

I've checked the (brass) floats and judging by shaking there's no fuel inside of them. I used a fine scouring pad to clean off any fuel residue, but really there wasn't much anyway. Despite trying to be accurate in the adjustment of each float-level fork ..after trying again ; the forward carb's float is 20mm below the bowl's rim whereas the rear float is only 16mm below the bowl's rim.  Accordingly, the rear carb is weeps more than the front. 

The floats both look a bit scratched from wear and very slightly indented ..but not so badly as to account for the flooding.  

Two things come to mind. The first being that the pressure from the electric pump is too much for the needle valves ..the other is that the carbs are a mis-match of body and float chamber, float &/or float chamber lid.  If it were the former (too much pressure) then I'd expect to see the bowl full of petrol when I take the lids off.   Regarding the latter (mis-match) I need to cross check each part in an original parts manual, which I don't have.  

If you have other suggestions then I'd welcome your thoughts. 

I know the engine is tilted up at the back, with 1/4" packers in each of the rear engine mounts, if that makes any difference.  Apparently the packers were fitted because the Mk.2 exhaust manifolds needed a little more clearance. I'll deal with that anon.  

Thanks again, 

Pete

 

    

^  AUC. 7801 with 7114 hand written above it.                                                           ^ ^ AUC. 957

     

AUD. 2284 

[Bfg]

Much conversation and helpful suggestions via the TR Register forum ..who every kindy still talk to me despite my no longer having a Triumph !  . . .

 

" Hi Pete 

l would suspect the float chamber needles aren’t doing there job they may look good but !! easy check assemble back along with float hold upside down and see if you can slightly blow through the pipe inlet . There is another option for the float jets available (Grose jet ) a tad more expensive but does away with the Viton tip so more reliable 

Chris 

- - -

" I found Grose jets to be significantly worse for leakage than the SU originals - which I reverted to. 

It's worth checking that the needles and jets are matched. They do come in a variety of diameters.  According to my catalogue the  XK150 should have AUC855 float jets with WZX1102 needles.  Unfortunately it doesn't list those float chamber lid numbers. 

Rob H 

- - -

Thanks Gents,

Neither the shut off valves nor the needles have any number / markings on them at all.  I thought they were bought in pairs valve + needle.   

I couldn't even say what these carbs are off, but a search on Burlen Carburettor website shows the tag number AUC 957 (from the banjo on the float chamber lid) lists the AUC 957T for a Pair of HD6 Thermo Carburettors for a Jaguar XK150 3.4L 1960-62.  .. listed as currently available

Carmen is a 3.8 ltr but that may just be a matter of jets fitted. The carburettor, according to that same website, should be AUC 985T  .. listed as Not currently available.

Pete

- - -

" For your float height setting to be so far out (3/4" instead of 7/16") I would think that you have a mismatch of parts or possibly somthing missing where the float chamber attaches to the carb body. The float chamber is clearly sitting to high!

Maybe there is an exploded diagram of your particular carburettor on the Burlen website 

George 

- - -

" Do the shut off valves have a fibre washer between them and the float chamber lid? This can make a difference to shut off height., Is the lever bent up or down at the short tag end that contacts the shut off valve?

Stuart

- - -

That was my thought Stuart, it's hard to judge from a photo but the top of Pete's float chambers appears to align'ish with the bottom of the dashpots. If the fuel level is to high at the bridge is it possibly the wrong floats i.e. to short have been fitted at some point?

George 

- - -

Yes the float chambers do come in all sorts of shapes, angles and sizes depending on application.

Stuart.

- - -

Maybe a photo via email and a follow up phone call to Burlen for advice, they are very helpful people 

George 

- - -

  

Saturday 7th ; 

Thanks Gents, i do appreciate your input and recommendations.. 

On 3/7/2026 at 11:41 AM, stuart said:

Look at the carb bodies and see how much lower the float chambers sit compared to yours .

The vertical dimension between the top of flange (see red dimension lines)  downwards to the rim of the float chamber's rim (measured without the lid on) is about 3/4" (19mm). 

You may recall my saying (yesterday's post) that the top of the float in the bowl (with fuel in after flooding) was about the same again below the bowl's rim ..for the front carburettor but 1/8" (3mm) higher level in the rear carbs bowl (which is flooding more.    

Not easy to measure while the carbs are on the car, below the level of the front wings but... the vertical distance between the top arc of the venturi mouth and the aforementioned top of flange (see red dimension lines) is about 5/32" (4mm). The venturi mouth is D= 1-5/8" (42mm).  

So, the fuel level in the carb is from that datum top of flange ; minus 1.5" (38-39mm) 

   .. the bottom of the venturi (where the fuel seeps to) is 5/32" + 1-5/8"  = 1-13/16" (46mm).    ie. 5/16" (8mm) below the fuel level in the float chamber. 

I do not know how high the bridge is within the carburettor's venturi, (I've not yet taken the carbs off).. but as the flooding has abated to just a dribble at this float level, then I'd guess it might be 7-8mm above the lowest of the venturi diameter. 

^ Here you can see the extreme bend in the fuel-shut-off-valve forks to achieve those float levels.   

     

^   the fuel-shut-off-valve & Viton-rubber tipped needle ..which each look brand new  ..measuring about 23/32" (18.5mm) from shoulder of valve body to the tail of the needle. 

There is no washer in the exploded diagram under the valve body, but adding one would certainly improve matters. Alternative a longer valve and needle would do the same.

Perhaps the issue here is simply that the aftermarket shut-off valve & needle is 1/8" too short ?   

Pete

 

 

[Bfg]

- - -

"  AFAIK the needle valve assemblies are all the same length Pete, and that one looks right to me - the needle has a brass body so that must be a WZX1102 since the others are aluminium or steel. 

Rob H 

- - -

Thanks Rob

Pete

- - -

" Adding washers under the needle jet will lower the fuel level by a lot more than the washer thickness, so worth a try

Bob (LeBro)

- - -

Indeed, but why should it need it ? 

Pete

- - -

" Do SUs not have a thick aluminium washer under the needle valve? Or is that Strombergs ?

I have just looked at the Burlen site and there does appear to be one in the service kit

George 

- - -

" I think this is the ring, I have a few in my carb bits tin but as I think they are from a Stromberg kit. 

I used one under a needle valve on my TR6 when it had SUs to get the fuel level right with the sloping engine and it solved the issues I was having at the time.

The only thing though Pete in your case is it may be a bit of a bodge to correct a fault caused by somthing else

George 

- - -

" I’ve followed your very well written posts and glad you’ve found an XK.

I’ve looked at your carburettor issue. It looks to me like the needle assemblies you have are of the hooked type which are designed to hook onto the floats, a type which you don’t have? I would say you might need the standard needle sets for your carburettors ( as Rob suggests) without the stepped recess and being sprung loaded. I think the length is the same, but the function is  different.

A stab in the dark but this may solve your issue? 

Kevin

- - -

  

Monday 9th March ;  Carmen's  Work in Progress.

Thank you Gents for all your suggestions.  Seems as if I've been chasing the fluffy white tail of a rabbit down a spiralling hole. . .

Joe Curto in the USA who specialises in SU carburettors was a mine of information regarding which carb, which carburettor float bowl, which lid, and which float shut-off-valve fork. . .

  

- - -

In brief,  Carmen ; Carb body # AUC 7081 hand-scribed 711H  (Joe explains why they were hand scribed). the float bowl is a AUC 2009 (14). and bowl lid is AUD 2284. 

The float bowl and lid number indicate that the carbs are likely to be two off a 4.2 E-type ..according to Joe (but he makes no mention of the XK150, so they may be correct), and the stainless steel shut-off-valve fork is correct for that lid, as is the brass float.  But, I do not know that the float bowls match the carb bodies.   Joe does discuss one float bowl (from a downdraught carburettor) that looks about 1/4" different in height, but he says it's a rare case.  I interpret that to mean that most others are pretty close to being the same height.  Bearing in mind I'm looking for a 3/8" (10mm) lower height ..to lower the fuel level by that amount ..I think I can rule out the possibility of E-type float chambers being fitted to some oddball carb body.  

Btw, there are no washers (intended) to be fitted under the shut-off-valve, on the HD6 carburettor.  I did however try one and, as Bob suggests, the thickness of that washer is magnified by the fork's dimension to the float.  So, for example ; the distance from the fork's hinge-pin to the shut off valve is 1/4" and the distance from the hinge-pin to the contact point on the float is x3 that ..then as an approximation ; the thickness of the washer x3 = the lowering effect of the float level.  In this instance I fitted a 0.5mm thick washer ..and the float-level dropped by 1.5mm.   That's not nearly enough to make much impact, when those forks had to be bent to 20mm to stop the fuel flow, when it should be 11mm. 

So, here I am assuming that the mismatch of carburettor parts is less likely, and that ..whatever the issue is - I need to lower the fuel level by 3/8" (10mm). 

And here's some viewpoints that you don't often see. . .

        

Where my head, or even my camera cannot fit, the phone did.   What I'm looking for here was whether the float bowl was somehow mounted too high relative to the carburettor body.?  Bearing in mind that I'm unfamiliar with what the bottom of a classic car's carb looks like, I might just consider it part of my learning curve.  Of course the float-bowl clamps onto the bottom of the carb body, so whereas it's possible to pack down / lower the float's bowl, it's a flipping sight more impossible to having it (and the fuel level within) sit too high.  Thank goodness - earth's gravity works in a pretty consistent direction, otherwise I'd be right flummoxed !       Anyway, having gone through the exercise - I can now rule out the possibility that the bowl is sitting too high. 

What's left ? ? ?

? ?

?

Well my next check might have been done before, but I'm still on a learning curve so please bear with me.. 

     

^  Off the internet, which confirms the logic of my own thoughts  ..that the float bowl's maximum fuel-level should be just below the venturi's bridge.  The author suggests 1/8" below, but I would have thought double that (ie., 1/4") would be safer for normal road use ..for when the car may be parked on an inclined driveway or hill.    

    

^ Dashpot removed..  Residual petrol was still in the venturi after a weekend with the garage door cracked open for ventilation. The fuel level in the float chamber has evaporated.  The bridge is higher than I'd expected in these carbs.  ^^ (2nd photo) I used paper towel to mop dry the venturi. 

 

   

^ now we're using the diminishing ol' grey matter.  With the venturi dried I poured fuel into the float bowl. The brass float duly floated to 3/8" ~ 11mm below the rim ..and no fuel came up through the main jet.  Non flooded out over the bridge. All was fine.  You recall - previously the carb was flooding when the float was 3/4" ~ 20mm below that rim level.  So I filled the bowl up ..until the top of the brass float was level with the rim (2nd photo) and still no flood.!   Half-an-hour later and still no sign of any fuel seeping its way outta the main jet.  

. . . If I ever catch it..,  I'll be eating rabbit stew while wearing a funny looking fur hat with a fluffy white bobble !  Viton tipped needles in the shut-off-valves clearly aren't up to the task. 

I'll now look into these electric fuel pumps and how to limit their pressure.  For the 3.8 litre engine, a good flow will be necessary, but that doesn't necessitate excessive pressure.

Lesson learnt (well perhaps, this part of this lesson) !  

Pete

 

  

 

[Bfg]

- - -

"  I ran MK2 and S types as road and race cars for years with those SU pumps and never had any problems like you are encountering with yours, set float height, wind jet down 2 1/2 turns run up till warm and with a bit of tube in the ear get them sucking the same and off you go to just check no pinking and that was it, occasionally check plug colour and adjust jet up or down a tad and check with lift pin. FWIW if you think your getting too much fuel pressure then I have a brand new Malpassi pressure regulator if you think it would help.

Stuart.

- - -

"  Are you sure that you have an SU pump Pete? If so is it possible to tinker with them to increase the pressure which some misguided previous owner may of considered as an upgrade 

George 

- - -

"  SU pumps come in low-pressure and high-pressure varieties; I wonder whether someone has fitted the wrong type ?

Rob H

- - -

"  Just a thought. Is the float chamber vent open?

George 

- - -

  

On 3/9/2026 at 5:09 PM, harlequin said:

Are you sure that you have an SU pump Pete? If so is it possible to tinker with them to increase the pressure which some misguided previous owner may of considered as an upgrade 

George 

Yes, judging by the colour of the label it's an SU, but I don't know which model. 

I spoke to Chris at Burlen today, and he says they are not adjustable.  He added that the pump's pressure wouldn't over-come the shut-off valve.  When asked he didn't think there was a better option than the Viton tipped needle, but cited an example of the Viton tip getting distorted through non use (18 months) where the bowl's full level was full.    

He suspected the brass floats must be less buoyant (leaking), but I've tested one by submerging it in a cup of near-boiling water and no bubbles came out.  I turned the float over , just in case air was trapped on the underside, but still no bubble came out.  The cold air within a leaky float expands in hot water and so would bubble out.   

In any case, they have no floats in stock at the moment (until at least the end of the month) but suggested VintageCarbFloats.  I've used this company before, seven years ago, when I needed a new float for my Sunbeam's vintage Amal carburettor.  Their product was good but the design of the Amal was marginal, and so I upgraded to a later type / a concentric Amal carb for those bikes. 

On 3/9/2026 at 5:45 PM, harlequin said:

Just a thought. Is the float chamber vent open?

George 

Too obvious George !

. . .but maybe you've hit the bull's ..... ?

The breather vent to these carb's float bowl is through the slot across the hole in the lid + the vent fibre-washers (seen above on the overflow pipe). Together they let the air into the overflow pipe's banjo.   When I started off one of those washers was missing, and being otherwise ignorant of the type, I fitted a plain felt washer.  WRONG ! 

The other pipe had that vent washer but, I've just tested it and., the overflow pipe was 97% blocked.  I know I checked one of these overflow pipes ..days ago, and found it clear of obstruction ..but I don't recall checking the other.   

As presently dismantled on the shelf ; that the blocked overflow pipe and the plain (unvented fibre-washer) were on the same lid ...but I have to concede that bits have been swapped around, so there is a possibility that no washer, or the plain fibre-washer I fitted, prevented one float chamber from expelling its air (as fuel was pumped in), and the other's blocked overflow pipe did the same. 

If that were the case, then how the car ever ran during my pre-purchase test drive is a mystery ? *  Conversely if just one carb vent was blocked then the car would run as badly as it did when I brought it from the storage to here.   

* There is the possibility, nay probability, that in the course of my checking things and finding many of the car's nuts n' bolts one flat (1/6th turn) loose..  I had pinched the lids up tight. That would account for them breathing (through loose lids) for the pre-purchase test drive, but then driving like a sick dog after I'd pinched them up.  

I've cleaned out the blocked overflow pipe, and I've found a vented fibre washer in my box of bits ..so tomorrow I'll refit them and let you know. 

Either way . . . Well done George.  The obvious is indeed often overlooked.  And I've just learnt why some carburettors have those odd fibre-washers. Of course if they're already on the carburettors and things are working fine, their purpose isn't even thought about.  I thought they just had a slimmer footprint (surface area) for localised sealing without such clamping force.  Every day is a school day at my age. 

Pete.

 

 

[High Jetter]

Fingers X it will solve it, Pete.

[Bfg]

11th March - Carmen's Work In Progress

I was hopeful that George was to win the coconut ...not least because I was fast running short of ideas as to what else it might be.! 

So.. I reset the fuel cut-off-valves forks to 1/2" (12.4mm) rather than the recommended 7/16" (11mm), put things back together again ..making sure the float-chamber vents were all correct and clear.. but I left the forward dashpot off, so that I might more clearly see what was happening inside the carburettor. . . 

I turned the ignition on and let the pump prime to pressure and float bowl levels.  The fuel level within the venturi was within, very nearly to the bridge, over the top of the main jet (within the venturi) with just a little surge of overflow, which might be attributed to having no needle in the main jet .

So I took the caps off and did it again . . .

 

" I reset the fuel cut-off-valves forks again.. this time to 9/16" (14.3mm) between the fork and the rim ..rather than the recommended 7/16" (11mm), put things back together again.  The consequence was direct, the fuel level had dropped by that 1/16" and was now just filling the main jet.   

I've said previously that I'd like the fuel level 1/4" below the level of the bridge, so the carbs don't flood if when parked on an incline, such as my friends steep driveway. . 

. . . But I was getting there and so George wins a fluffy white rabbit with a carrot up its jacksie !     

Neither float bowl was breathing, on one because there was no vented fibre washer, and on the other ; because the overflow pipe (..which looks like it's copper but was rusty inside) was mostly blocked.  My pinching up the nuts securing the lids prevented all ventilation, so as fresh fuel was pumped into the float chamber, the air inside it couldn't escape. The pump action simply pushed the fuel already in the bowl directly through the only escape route ..the main jest and the cold start device. Consequently petrol flooded all over the place.

Now, with that resolved ..and having no carburettor flood, I spotted the next minor issue . . .

^ Dribbling of petrol onto the chassis. It's not from overflowing carburettors, so I suspected the cold start enrichment device.  Feeling around under that,. and nope it wasn't ..it was the fuel feed pipe. to each carburettor.  I checked the unions, but nope.. it wasn't from those either . . .

     

Take the pipe all the way off and the underside of it has a hairline split.  It looks as if this pipe has been weld repaired (..almost but not quite).  I thought the pipe was brushed stainless steel but it turns out to be plated ferrous steel.  I didn't happen to have another sitting around on the shelf, but I did have an off-cut of the stainless sheaved rubber pipe, which will do until I go through all the fuel pipes again for ethanol resistance. 

    

^ Two inches or thereabout of the 'repaired section' was cut out and replaced with the flexible pipe.   

- - -

Assuming the above pipe to now be petrol tight, I still have the issue of ; too high (for my liking) a fuel level in the carburettors. 

I gather from the tag on each carb - that they are from the Jaguar 3.4 litre XK engine.  The number of the carb body I haven't yet identified.  The carb's float bowls and lids, according to Joe Curto (Youtube video) are from an Austin Healey BJ8 or a Jaguar 4.2 E-type.   But without access to an SU Carburettor parts book,  I don't know what float bowls should be fitted to these carb bodies, but the peculiar fuel level being experienced does sort-of-imply that these float bowls may well be mismatched, and so could be the cause of mismatched fuel levels.?

How to resolve it,?   Well, until facts become clearer - I can live with it.   Too high a fuel level is unacceptable because they leak &/or perhaps encourage too much fuel passed the main jets, but the forked arms were bent down before, and so they can be again. 

    

^ with a copper washer under the shut-off-valve (to lessen the extent of bend in the fork) and then the forks carefully adjusted to 11/16" (17.5mm), the fuel level should now be 1/8" (3.2mm) below the level of the main jet, which is itself about 1/16" (0.060" ~ 1.6mm) below the level of the bridge within the venturi.   I would have liked 1/4" but I'll give 3/16" a try.

    

^ removing the dashpots certainly helps clarify what's happening, and when the ignition / pump was turned back on there are no leaks, and no flooding,  The fuel filter bowl indicates all is working well with (with a new paper element filter and the pipes swapped over). 

- - -

  

^ I lifted the needle out of the cold start enrichment device, but cannot yet fathom out the adjustment via the top nut, because there's only very light spring pressure to hold it in place (to prevent it unwinding more) if it's not pinched up.  I'll have to look again at Stuart's advice, and the manual, and the exploded diagram from the parts book, to see what I'm missing.  Certainly the brass needle is well worn, so perhaps it's just that the adjuster nut is likewise loose in its thread.  For the time being I've put it back together as it was.   

- - -

   

I also pulled all the spark plugs.  Naturally they were all sooty from having been run with floody carbs.  I've cleaned them all off now, gaps checked, and refitted.  Otherwise they look almost new.    At the back of the cylinder head there's a raised pad with a number EP940 stamped (rather than cast) into it.  Anyone know what it means ? 

- - -

Back together again, and I drove to the filling station to lighten my wallet.  From there I took a quick blast down two miles of dual-carriageway ..to the roundabout and back again to Tescos ..to use Carmen for grocery shopping.  She looked tiny in the car park, somehow even more so as a fixed-head-coupe that Katie did with her Surrey top.   

The driver's seat is horrid, with regard to lack of lateral support, but then there's no seat belt in the car, so it felt unusual anyway.  There's now plenty of leg room. I even had to adjust it a notch or two forward.  The very low clutch pedal (long travel but short release) and brake I knew about ..and are awful ..in need of immediate alteration.  But she ran, started and stopped, negotiated petrol stations and car parking, roundabouts and dual carriageways, traffic lights and town traffic ..and got me home again without issue.  She is 'interesting' to drive.   

Clearly very powerful, mechanically noisy + some creaks from under the car.  The suspension is a bit firm (as presently set up), and her steering is very different.  I had Katie sorted out to the extent of my happily flipping her quickly through roundabouts,  Burble my Daimler 250 was top heavy and with exceptionally comfortable suspension ..so she rolled if you tried to do the same.   Carmen, doesn't feel like she's rolling, in fact she feels more upright and solidly grounded (..is wider tracked) than Katie,  but at the same time she doesn't feel nearly as nippy.  That may be because of the long engine and bonnet, whereby you feel as if you're sitting in the back seat and the whole of the car (..or the horizon) turns before you.   The 17" steering wheel adds to experience of turning the ship from an aft helm position.  In this day n' age of front wheel drive cars, I think she'll be fun. 

I don't yet know how accurate the speedo and rev counter are ..other than the car's speed being compared to other cars on the dual-carriageway. An indicated 70mph reads 2,400 rpm in overdrive.  Leading back into town (30mph limit) we were quietly tootling along at traffic speeds, in overdrive top at 900 rpm. 

I'm glad to have no fuel leaks, and no apparent flooding.  The car stank of fuel immediately after I filled her up ..so I need to investigate where the tank's breather pipe goes too.  The smell cleared quite quickly and so, because of that, I don't think there's a leak from the fuel filler pipe ..although I've not yet investigated further. Possibly the ignition is a little too advanced.  I need to drive with the engine under load and listen for pinking.  Otherwise, now she might be used ; the spark plugs will give me a fair indication of tune.  Disappointingly I cannot use my carburettor flow meter to balance the carbs because there's not enough room between carb and side of engine bay. When I was buying the car, I anticipated a year to sort her out.  I still think that's about right.  

So, there endeth our first drive (aside from collecting her from storage) and first impressions. 

Hopefully, from now on, we might enjoy a little more rolling/driving recommissioning, rather than my pottering away like Q in the back of a garage. 

Thank you all for your support and advice. 

Pete 

 

 

 

[Homersimpson]

On the HD6 carbs I've had on various S-Types and MK2 I've found a couple of things relating to fuel leaks:

1. The gasket on the float chamber lid needs to be in place, without it you get leaks that look like leaks from the incoming petrol pipe.

2. The brass floats are prone to leaking and filling with fuel causing the fuel level at the jet to be wrong and fuel in some cases to just pump continuously into the carb.

3. Some of the reproduction brass floats are too heavy and cause the fuel level to be wrong, this might be why in your case someone has bent the forks to try to overcome this.

[Bfg]

  

On 12/03/2026 at 11:40, stuart said:

Pete with regards to the starting carb, if you watch the needle when you energise the solenoid you will see it wacks down on its seat really quickly and as soon as its switched off it again rises with the spring, it needs to be a light spring as its only floating in the up position, you can when its up just push it down with very little effort. Until the solenoid is energised there's nothing going on there. The brass plate on the bottom of the solenoid needs to be a good flat seal to the base of the carb to prevent any air flow through which would try to suck fuel in hence why I said to make sure its lapped flat. Adjustment is as I have already described by the stop nut on the needle.

Stuart.

Yes, I see the needle wacks down when the cold start is energised, and lifts up when switch off.  It is a very light spring, and as you say unless the solenoid is activated to allow flow through this auxiliary cab the needle does nothing, as is evident when pushing the needle down to its seat and there's no effect whatsoever. 

I have removed the solenoid's bobbin with the brass plate on the bottom, ensured it was flat and smooth but rubbing it onto 1200 grit wet n' dry followed by polish to a shiny brass finish.  Apparently it was fine but now it's shiny inside too      The needle on this carburettor is very worn, and the one shown on the Moss website is said to be for the XK120.  No mention of it under the 150,  Would you happen to know if they are the same ?

On 21/02/2026 at 16:45, stuart said:

To make the choke work slightly less aggressively you tune it by screwing the nut down under the main needle to the point where the car just starts nicely and pulls without hesitation. Always done when cold for best results.

The nut is screwed down tight.  It's still very fast running, but the engine warms up to above 30 deg-C pretty quickly and so I then switch it off.  Now the carbs aren't flooding, the engine ticks over easier. I've slowed that down to 500 rpm by screwing the air screws in. I started off at 2-1/2 turns as suggested but they are now down to about 3/4 of a turn above their closed position. 

This weekend I got to run the car, so I can now check the spark plugs for colour, but I think I'd better also check for leaks into the inlet manifold.

 

On 13/03/2026 at 07:55, Homersimpson said:

On the HD6 carbs I've had on various S-Types and MK2 I've found a couple of things relating to fuel leaks:

1. The gasket on the float chamber lid needs to be in place, without it you get leaks that look like leaks from the incoming petrol pipe.

2. The brass floats are prone to leaking and filling with fuel causing the fuel level at the jet to be wrong and fuel in some cases to just pump continuously into the carb.

3. Some of the reproduction brass floats are too heavy and cause the fuel level to be wrong, this might be why in your case someone has bent the forks to try to overcome this.

^ Checked both floats in near boiling water to check air leaks.  Dropping the cold float and holding it under water leads the air inside the float to expand and if it can escape as a stream of bubbles. Turning the float over and repeating it's dunking ensures no air is trapped.   As you can see the float sits surprising high in the water. No issues here. 

I might only conclude the odd bend to the float bowl's shut-off-valve forks is down to the carb bodies and float bowls being from different models .. 3.4 litre and 4.2 litre cars respectively.     

Many thanks for your advice. 

Pete 

[Bfg]

  

12th March ;  Carmen's  Work in Progress - Air filters

On 3/6/2026 at 12:48 PM, Bfg said:

Whereas fitting a short stack with a minium of 1/4" radius (in my case a short ramp pipe approximating a cross between #8 and #11) suggests a 5% improvement ..over just a hard edge hole in an air filter.  Critically for me is that I can fit a short stack inside an air filter, whereas at best the long bell-mouths has only a coarse wire gauze. And not even those were fitted to this car.   

^ These are old air filters from Katie, now being repurposed for use on Carmen.  In due course I'll buy new ones, but I do like the quality of these old ones better.  In the background you can see the different ram pipes.  But whichever I use, I first needed to adjust the fit of the short stacks to fit the carburettor. . .

     

^ One on the right I'd already modified to fit these carburettors. That on the left is marked to show where I'm to remove metal (best part of 1/8" on one side). Being aluminium they're easy to cut by hand ..well by cordless drill and bit, followed by sanding drums and flapper wheel. 

   

^ these short stacks are just £9.95 pr. off of ebay which are great value and an excellent starting point for final shaping and smoothing.  Of course, I needed to modify the air filters too, to take the short stack's outside diameter.  Incidently the outer rim size of these short stacks is exactly the same as that of the long bell-mouths that were fitted.  I yet need to get out to B&Q to get the rubber o-rings I use around the outsides ..to achieve the roll radius (minimum of 1/4" ~ 6mm) as recommended by the MGA guide. That ought to happen this weekend as I have a TR Register breakfast meeting to attend.  

   

^ metal shears were again used to open the air-filter's orifice ..as I don't want metal filings inside it.  

..following on with fitting TR4A air filters, with the short stacks inside to Carmen . . . 

    

^ As I'd done with Katie's air filters,  I cut the wire mesh for around the outside of the paper element.   I gave these old filter cases a light coat of paint to make them even prettier, and then fitted the short ram pipes with rubber donut around the outside of the stack pipe ..to complete their rounded section with minimum 3/16" (5mm) radius.  I used CT-1 sealant/adhesive to hold the rubber in place and smooth over any gaps.  Despite looking a right mess it assembled much easier than I might have hoped and the excess was soon wiped off all around.   I left them clamped together overnight for the CT-1 to cure before further handling / fitting. 

    

  ^ They look almost deliberate.   The original air filter was below the carbs with a cast aluminium downpipe to it. I don't have those parts and to buy them carries the Classic-Jaguar fashion tax.  I'll keep my eyes open for them to appear in an auto-jumble sometime, but in the meantime these will help keep the dust out of the carburettors.

    

^ Fitting them was fiddly but doable. On after I had them both on the car did I realise that I have the slant of the wire mesh the other way around from one to the other.  Rowlocks, I'll have to take one off again and reverse it.   I wanted to move the clutch fluid reservoir up to besides the brake reservoir, but as you can see that would be even tighter to get the filter's 3" (75mm) bolts in.    

Anyway filters in place, and the car one step closer to being on the road.  

Pete

 

[Bfg]

Saturday 14th March '26 - Carmen's first run ...

I bought the car on 15th January and two months later I'm about to go out in it for a first run away from home.  I'm anxious but the fluid levels are checked, the wheels are on, the tyre pressures are fine, the fuel flooding + leak appears to have been resolved, even the engine oil leak from the crankcase breather seems to have mostly abated. The weather forecast was saying it would be cool 8-9 degrees but mostly a nice day, with 30% chance of showers in the afternoon. 

I need to do some miles in the car to become familiar with driving it ..and to listen, feel or see any other issue that needs attention / recommissioning / fixing / modifying.

   68,414 miles on the odometer, oil pressure over 40 psi and the coolant temperature rising.

Destination ;  Framlingham Castle .. just 16 miles away. 

^ The little red car in the car park ..1960, well travelled across America.  The backdrop castle c.1170 hasn't moved more than a few inches.  They each cost about the same in £-pounds 

After a winter of relative inactivity, and many afternoons working on the car,  I just needed to get out and go for a walk.  Framlingham Castle is an attractive destination, with a good coffee shop, and in the spring sunshine a nice place to go for a walk. 

    

    

I'll not bore you with historical background of the Bigod family ..save that they came across from Normandy with William the Bastard in 1066.  The old man was one of the lesser knights but apparently served well and was rewarded with estates in Norfolk.  His ambition led to inroads in Suffolk and his grandson eventually manoeuvred himself during the period of Anarchy (contest for the throne between Henry I only legitimate heir, his daughter Matilda, and his nephew Stephen who had usurped the crown ..and its treasury) to become Earl of Norfolk & Suffolk, in exchange for his fickle promises of loyalty.   The Bigods ruled contested East Anglia with castles at Eye, Framlingham, Haughley, Norwich and Walton. This one, at Framlingham, was originally a timber structure, and then a timber structure with a stone built great hall, which then was encased by the thirteen towered defensive wall and deep earthworks.

     

The mere was not only a defensive barrier to the outer bailey but also a crucial supply of water to the well and food (wild fowl as well as fish and eels) for the table.

    

The expanse of water used to be larger, but as you can see its still pretty extensive, and a very pleasant place to enjoy a little light exercise while at the same time taking in the changing seasons.

    

What was formerly a poor house (in the c.17th I believe), now is coffee shop, shop and museum.  The inner bailey, often used for events is at this time of year a nice garden to sit within and enjoy cream and homemade scones and good cup of coffee (they do have a kitchen for hot snack meals too). 

 

Rain showers as forecast, which were quite heavy at times.  I miss Katie's bonnet bulge, but I'm sure this old six cylinder will make me smile as well. 

Carmen drove well.  Started easily and stopped fine, although there's a slight lag before the brake servo releases.  I had this with Burble my Daimler 250 and it was a pipe collapsing between the vacuum tank and the servo unit.  That was an easy fix.  Suspension is a little firmer than the original examples I've experienced.  It's often a compromise when owners want a fast road car setup, but it may simply be that the Monroe dampers are either stiffer than standard or they've have been adjusted to be that bit firmer. I think I'll leave the front ones as they are, but I pull the rear ones and see if the unwind a little.   Her steering is getting better with familiarity, and is quicker than I have first thought. It's really very good with the front anti-roll bar keeping the weight of that engine in check.   

Mechanical noises appear to be as much from the overdrive &/or propshaft, rear axle &/or rear wheel bearings .. as there's reverberating and what sounds like diff whine at certain speeds / engine loads. I've had all but one wheel off. I'll remove that and check its seated well on it splines.  Of course as soon as you lessen one noise, such as the carburettors induction, then you hear the next.  Tyre noise &/or wind noise is intrusive above 60mph.  I've removed most of the door seals, because they were all too hard, which necessitated forceful slamming of each door.  I have soft rubber to fit in its place.    Lot's to keep me busy, but hopefully nothing likely to imminently fail. 

Successful - Here endeth the first outing, of around 35 miles round trip, this time via Aldi supermarket for other groceries.  Some forum contributors have suggested that they wouldn't leave such a car as a Jaguar XK150 unattended, but if I'm to use the car then that's exactly what I must do .. 3-1/2 hours while I was in and around the castle and then in the local Aldi car park on a Saturday.  Btw the boot space is very long way to the very back (full tank under than over the rear axle) but it's also very shallow, whereby I have to lay the shopping bag down on it's side.  

My confidence in the car has appreciated.   Next time we'll try a little further afield.

Pete 

    

 

[High Jetter]

Have you considered secreting a tracker, if it might be left unattended?

[captain_70s]

While these are valuable by the standards of Autoshite they aren't that valuable by the standards of opportunistic car theft. If somebody nicks it from a supermark the goal is probably to rag it around and then burn it out. You're better off immobilising in as simple way as is convenient. I remove the rotor arm on the Dolly. Very few junkies carry a pocket full of BL ignition components.  

Generally classics stolen for order/resale abroad tend to get lifted from their usual storage location. They'll work out when you probably won't be home and then rock up with a flat bed truck and be gone within half an hour, and they'll probably know where to look for and how to disable a tracker.

Of course it probably will get bashed up. Every car I've owned has had doors opened into them or the edges scuffed by passing vehicles, or they've been keyed if street parked. Ironically quite a bit of damage has occurred at car shows, where the general public are very keen to poke/prod at bits and will think nothing of sitting kids on the bootlid or letting them run around hanging off door handles or wing mirrors....

[Bfg]

Sunday 15th March '26 - Carmen's 2nd run ...

Encouraged by Saturday's run without issue, the weather forecast for Sunday was for sunny weather until mid afternoon and 90% chance of rain by 5-o'clock.   Again I need to become familiar with driving Carmen so that I might begin to trust her in any situation and for distances away from home.  The TR Register club meeting I attend at the Cricketers, Eight Ash Green, Essex is over 30 miles from home and it's annoyingly common-place for the A12 to be closed on the way home, in the dark, with redirections through Colchester and along the back roads via Manningtree.  

Carmen is not quite like any car I've previously driven, and perhaps that's a combination of the straight leg driving position, the engine's power with an awkward clutch pedal and it's long travel but then abrupt release, together with the treadle type throttle pedal ..which is less easily monitored than the pendulum type of pedal.  I changed that in the Daimler ..and it made a world of difference. I'm sure I'll be doing the same with this car. 

Destination ; Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum, Flixton, nr Bungay, Norfolk. . .  38.5 miles away. 

 

 ^ Looking through the windscreen is different to having just the header rail of the open top Triumph, but as the air was rather cool, I didn't mind being inside.  My 'modern' car is a 2010 Peugeot 308SW with a glass roof, so even though it's closed it's also very light n' airy.  I was surprised that despite no sound deadening on the bulkhead, the interior of the Jag wasn't so warm.  After working out where the heater control was (..it's where the indicators used to be on the early model) I reached for a little boost to the temperature of my feet, only to find the control was seized  . . .hey ho, another little job for the list.

I travelled up the A12 and passed amongst many others in head on traffic) a very tidy looking Jaguar Mk2 in gunmetal grey metallic, a Ferrari 316 red of course ..which is a car that was quite common at one time but now is a rarity to see on the road, and a grey Maserati Merak (..I think) c.1980 ?.   We then cut across country on the A144, to Bramfield, and Halesworth and passed the former RAF base and airfield, which was home to the USAF 56th Fighter Group, the 489 bomber Group, and the 5th Emergency Rescue Group during the 2nd W.W.

      

^ Carmen attracted positive response from the volunteers who invited me to park her next to their centrepiece Hawker Hunter FGA.9 ..as an added visitor attraction. 

    

^ She's not a shy car, but I did move her. out of the road to the car-park ..to the other side of the aircraft,   This particular Hawker is from 1956, and so just 4-years before this Jaguar ..albeit a jet age on from the incredible Hawker Hurricane that played such a decisive role in the skies above Britain during the 2nd W.W.  

 The museum has changed a bit over the past couple of years. On Sunday the Volunteer in charge, Martin if I recall, was formerly an RAF Buccaneer pilot.  He and his good lady wife (sorry but I've forgotten her name) are now active in the museum. I think he said they come up from Colchester. Theirs is the very nice VW Golf 4-door with recently refurbished Pirelli wheels.  Apparently it's of high mileage but, I can assure you that it looks spotless even when close up.  The good lady wife is presently in the process of reorganising what used the be the exhibits of Air-Sea Rescue and Coastal Command.  It was tightly packed but much of that has gone in archives, so for the time being there's a more dedicated, and more organised display of Coastal Command craft (well.,  models and displays of those . . .

   

Nicely displayed with clear notices and line drawings as a backdrop.  There are dozens of others, as well as original artifacts.

    

Exchanging exhibits with Duxford, Flixton now has their own Jaguar ( a 1972 Sepecat Jaguar GR.1)  taking centre stage within the main hanger.  All around the museum has had a reshuffle and tidy out.  There's still a bit of juxtapositioning, as is inevitable in any museum where space is very limited, but a lot of the bits inbetween seem to have been cleared away so the displays are clearer to see.  I can only image they must have a huge warehouse somewhere, where all those bits have gone to.  

   

There's such diversity throughout the collection, with a commonality of it being local history .. local (Norfolk & Suffolk) people and their stories, local crash sites, aircraft that were based in the region.  The nose cone above was restored in their own workshop, and it's believed to be the last remaining substantial part of a Felixstowe Flying Boat anywhere. This one was built in 1918 and this nose section later saw service as a garden potting shed.  I was told their timber structure had a working lifespan of around 7 months.   In a side room the Wallis collection, including his Gyroscopes have been moved downshed to make clear display room for their Boeing Stearman PT-27 Kaydet and their Boulton & Paul P.6 replica. 

There are so many exhibits that I could easily have taken 200 photos,  but they're waiting for your own self to visit and take interest.  Let's take a step outside . . .

Civilian and transport aircraft, along with Cold-War jets and a missile launcher.   There's also a display of engine's from downed aircraft that have been removed from farmers fields. 

    

On the opposite side of the driveway are huts dedicated to local RAF Bomber Command and another for the Royal Observer Corps.  Behind the main hanger is a restoration and repair workshop where they are presently restoring the main spars of a Hawker Hurricane. 

    

In short the museum is changing, A long strip of adjoining land has been bequeathed to the museum, which is to become the new car-park, which then leaves the existing space (alongside the main hanger) for future building / display hanger extension. 

The museum used to be free to enter but now they have a £10 entrance fee for adults (£20 for a family) both of which by filling a simple form extends to unlimited entry within 12 months.  The museum is a great destination, which includes a private country riverside walkway.  It deserves public support. 

The drive back in Carmen was thankfully uneventful, aside from a poorly signposted detour to prevent me getting back on to the A12 near Woodbridge.  I didn't particularly mind as driving was what I was there for. and it did prompt me to plug in the Tom Tom navigator.  Interesting to see that the speedo is under-reading what the GPS was telling me by 4-5mph.  So when I said in a previous post that 70mph (indicated) read as 2,400 engine RPM, it should have read 75mph   ...always useful to know when there are so many speed cameras around. 

Safely there and back, with a total (according to Google maps) round trip of 97 miles.  At 4:30pm it spitted with rain but the heavy rain held off until after we were home and Carmen was tucked away in the garage. No issues with the car, but for the seatbelts. The car is fitted with Williams harness but I was using it with Just one strap over my shoulder. I have inertia reel seatbelts to now fit, which I hope will be more comfortable and easier to use.  What's a pair of, as new, Williams harnesses worth ?  

All in all another successful and most enjoyable day out. 

Pete

 

 

[Bfg]

18th March - Carmen's Work In Progress - Dashboard wiring 

 

    

Carmen's dashboard is not standard. The photo on the right is close to standard, aside from the radio, with a light grey leather covered centre console.  My issues with Carmen's dashboard are ;

• I don't know what three of the four switches are for, on the lower console,
• two of the three lower instruments don't work
• also the non-standard oil temperature gauge (top centre), doesn't work
• and the cigar lighter is an odd (larger) size than the usual cigarette lighter. There's no centre to that, and being too big means that USB adapter plugs don't fit it.   
• Above the facia there's the heater control (on earlier models this was where the indicator switch was).  That heater control doesn't work. 

I decided to tackle the cigar/cigarette lighter ..because I use my Tom Tom GPS navigator quite a bit and it doesn't work for long without being plugged in to a USB power supply . . .

    

^ The Daimler 2-1/2 rolling body shell I'd bought to restore Burble, has been sold but within it were the wiring and instruments.  That was a mistake on a prior-owner's part because when the body shell was sand-blasted, dust smothered everything and permeated even the closed spaces that had been 'covered over'.   Still, for the time being, all I needed was its later (smaller) type cigarette lighter. 

    

^ Even the cigarette lighter had sand inside of it.   After cleaning up though - it ought to work.      ^^ out with the old.. it's a Smith's Accessory, possibly original to the car.  It's fixture and fittings were different to that from the Daimler but at the end of the day it's just got to be secure in the dashboard, have a fused power supply and an earth. 

However, what was happening with those and its wiring connection I couldn't see, and so somehow that instigated the next step . . .

After the wooden facia was dropped, along with the radio and lower console instruments and switches I was faced with this.  Looking akin to a single seater aircraft instrument panel, it is mostly standard to the Jaguar XK.  I'd seen photos before but I'd never ventured to see one in person.   To my surprise the wooden facia is actually wood.  I wasn't sure what it was made of but to my eyes it looked more like wood-effect kitchen vinyl.  But this is veneer which has been poorly varnished (on its face). 

Having got this far it was only four small bolts to release the instrument panel itself.  I could see under-bonnet that the wiring loom had been replaced, I wanted to see

• what sort of electrical connections had been made in places which were out of sight. 
• what those lower console switches were for, and possibly ascertain why the instruments didn't work  
• I also wanted access to the heater control, in the hope that I may get it to work.
• I wanted to learn the car's wiring.  It doesn't follow the later standard wiring colours.  The under-bonnet fuse-box has seven green wires and so I wanted to know what fuse, and which wire served what purpose.
• I also had great difficulty seeing the indicator idiot lights, so I wanted to swap those bulbs out for LED's.   

        

^ crazy bastard Pete, what are you doing ? You've just got the car running and usable ..and you're taking it apart again.   Bird's nest tangles of wiring don't impress me at all.  I've got some checking to do (wraps of electrical wiring tape are suspicious), tracing of wires, cleaning of contacts and preventative smear of Vaseline on those connections. The wires are covered with dust and grime so I've got some cleaning to do as well, and I can now access the heater control ..to check and lubricate that.

..a little while later . . . 

   

^ The dashboard instruments are illuminated by a number of bulbs situated around the instruments, which have a translucent ring around them. They were dirty and so a little moisture on cotton-buds brightened things up a bit.  I've decided not to swap those bulbs out for LED's for the time being.  ^^  but I did swap the direction indicator warning lights for LED and again reach into the instrument with a damp cotton-bud to wipe over the inside of the instrument's lens.  

    

^ Detail photos help me keep track of where wires go, when I move them around &/or simply clean and check and lubricate.  ^ ^ Already it's looking tidier ..and more understandable 

    

^ cross referencing the fuse box, the XK150 wiring diagram, and my notes of colour coded connections along with my own behind dashboard photos - I've now learnt that what I have is mostly, correct.  There are discrepancies because my car has no fog lamps (#1 fuse far right) and the original dynamo has been replaced with an alternator, and the starter motor is a high-torque type and the starter solenoid has no push button, and then there's another (blue) wire in with the green ones ..which has been taken for the air horns .. but all in all it's now making sense and all in pretty good shape ..which again translates to confidence to drive at night and further afield. 

    

My own notes may not be as neat as the official wiring diagram, but they may be more intuitive to follow.  Starting from the fuses (across the top) I then follow each wire (colour coded) and note where it goes to.   I'll draw it up more neatly in due course. In the meantime the image is recorded on my mobile phone along with the official wiring diagram. I hope to never need it when out and about, but it's like having an umbrella in the car.

I'm getting there with the standard instrument panel. . . 

3-1/2 hours yesterday afternoon + 3 hours this morning sitting at my desk to work out (understand) the standard wiring diagram + 2 hours this afternoon ..to get this far.  I'm pleased it's making sense and is mostly in very good condition.   I now have to do the same with the wiring to the lower console instruments and switches ,

Lunch had, now it's time for me to get back into it . . .  

Pete

[Bfg]

Peter on the TR Register forum reminded me that these original cigar / cigarette lighters were probably designed for + ve earth, and that USB devices expect negative earth.  I replied ..

Cheers Peter.     Tbh., I hadn't thought of it.  Thanks.

My car is with now alternator and negative earth.  Power to the centre pin is +ve and the steel instrument panel is negative.  The cigarette lighter from the Daimler (1962 car) does work although the connection is a bit iffy.  I've tried both the car cigarette-lighter plug supplied with the Tom_Tom and an cheapo cigarette-lighter to twin USB and the LED's do illuminate.  I presume they wouldn't if the polarity happened to be wrong.  

Instrument panel is now back in place. Refitting the oil pipe to the pressure gauge took a lot of patience, as it's a hard pipe with almost no tolerance to its length from the bulkhead.  I hope I don't need to bleed it (I haven't read the manual but I guess I'll check it in the morning. 

I finished cleaning up the translucent instrument-lighting panels around the clocks, checked the car didn't burst into flames when I reconnected the battery and turned the ignition and lights on, as well as the indicator tell-tales ....and am now I'm good n' ready for a nice cuppa.  

All the best, 

Pete

  

 

[Bfg]

21st March - Carmen's Work In Progress - Lower console & Front of Car Wiring 

Through my pragmatic tidying up the wiring behind the original dashboard instrument console - I was learning my way around this car's wiring colour-coding. 

Clearly the Lucas wiring colour standards I'm familiar with, from cars and motorcycles of the 1960's, was happening but not quite finalised.  For example, I'm used to PB (purple wire insulation with black streamer) to be for the horns, whereas on this car it was GB (green + black).  PB on these cars is for the interior light.  And the light-grey coloured insulation (called Slate on the wiring diagram) was avoided on later cars, presumably because in a dimly lit garage it's very easily mistaken for white.  On this car S (slate is used for wires to the overdrive switch, or else from the throttle switch for the automatics.  Green insulation signifies ignition-switched-fused live power feed, but to use that (green devoid of tracers) on nine different circuits is a little confusing. 

Anyway, with the wiring behind the dashboard instrument console checked, and a good number of those connections cleaned and reassembled those with a liberal helping of Vaseline to keep oxidisation at bay, it was refitted and I could focus on the home made lower console's wiring.  But somewhere along the line I'd lost the horn working and also the indicators.   

    

^ This particular car has six fuses ; 6. Switched Live,  5. Non-switched Live, 4. Dipped beam Headlamps, 3. Main beam Headlamps, 2. Side Lights, and 1. Fog Lamps (option).   So I guess I was a little surprised to find the W (white) unfused Live feed  from the ignition switch, which goes to the starter button, ignition coil, and fuse 6. (Switched Live.. thereafter the bundle of green wires), also going unfused to the electric fuel pump.   I can see the sense in retaining the car electrical mobility, even if the fuse for another circuit blows, but I would have thought the fuel pump might have been independent fused.  As I have no fog lamps on this car perhaps I might use that spare for that, or else I'll later fit an in-line fuse). 

In the meantime I lifted the two white wires Live switched  (but unfused) to the coil and fuel pump,  out from the fuse box ...so while checking the wiring of other circuits - neither of those were active.  The continuous clicking of the fuel pump is a useful reminder that the ignition is turned on, but I don't like the idea of continually pressurising the fuel to the carburettors when the engine's not being run ..while I'm checking other electrical circuits.  

The (cheapo) air-horn relay had pulled out of its plastic cover and two wires had come off.  Bearing in mind its wiring are not to Lucas standard colour codes, the internet helped me understand what was which connection.   

I found the Green + Black wire from the horn push on the upper steering column. A stray Purple + Black wire implied they were previously bullet connected.  The horns now worked again.    

       

The radio is a Kenwood KDC-W311 with no aerial, and whose digital display only ran through its initialisation program until I inserted a CD. It worked, although the sound quality wasn't impressive.  I've seen photos of this car with huge speakers with inset sub-wolfers sitting on the back window shelf.  Those speakers had gone before I bought the car but the row of screw block connectors suggested the wires were still leading somewhere.  I downloaded the radio's user manual off the internet, so hopefully I can now turn it off.  But my focus was more on the prior-owner's lower consoles mysterious switches and added magnolia instruments. 

The first switch for me to figure out was the white block of a switch with the green wires going to it. I traced one of the (hand wrapped in electrical tape) wires to under bonnet ..to then lead along the wing passed the fuel filter and through the wing, heading off to under the front valance panel and no longer fitted fog lamps. The wires terminated in a wrap of electrical tape down under the front bumper irons.  I'll not be needing them and so I pulled the wires out. 

     

I'm guessing the prior owner must have owned a fibreglass car at some time - because there were numerous earthing wires running back (from under the front bumper) along the (long) length of bonnet.. to a home-made plate on the bulkhead.  The plate isn't square, nor symmetrical, nor smoothly edge finished but someone's gone to the trouble to have it nickel plated.  Looking at photos of other XK150's .. I see that three of the bolts were used to mount the dynamo's control box to the bulkhead, and that control box had a nickel plated cover.  The yellow wires which previously went to the control box (when this car was converted from dynamo to alternator) just terminate behind the fuse box in a wrap of electrical tape. 

Under the front of the car, I found two more horns, after-market 'Ring' branded horns that sound as if they belong on a moped.  Home electrical tape wrapped wires led through grommets to the aftermarket air horns.  . . . But hang on those air-horn trumpets have a pipe from their compressor ..so what's those wires going to ? 

   

^ Removing the steel boxes / covers, onto which the air horns trumpets are mounted, I discovered bullet connectors for the headlamps, front side lamps and indicators, and horns .. and additional earthing wires lead all the way back to the bulkhead.  Judging by the captive nuts and the period look to this arrangement, I gather these boxes and the straps holding the x5 bullet connector are original to Jaguar. It's a tidy solution to avoid said connections being exposed under the car or to under the wheel-arch wet and stone blasting.

I've presently removed 175" (4.45m) of electrically tape wrapped heavy duty (Black) earthing wire leading back to the bulkhead and, although the lights worked fine and bright without them, I added a 4" long earth wire from the bullet connector to the body (under one of the fastening nuts).  I also removed 118" (3m) of heady duty wire for the fog lamps (despite the correct fog lamp wire already being in the loom to those front bullet connectors).  To me every electrical tape wrapped wire taken out of engine bay is tidier, and removing every wire not being used - leaves the remaining wiring loom clearer to follow and understand.   

The Indicators not working the power was simply a poor connection.  They were soon working again, but aside from the tell tale lights in the rev counter being barely visible (hopefully much better now that the inside of those lenses have been cleaned and those warning light bulbs swapped to LED's) the indicators were noticeably slow paced.  I'd bought a set of LED bulbs for Burble, my Daimler, but had not yet fitted them. Those bulbs I could use on Carmen.  Starting off with a two minute job .. to change the front indicator bulbs for LED. 

Ha ha .. a two minute job ! 

         

^ with the bumper in place, even with my laying on the floor - it was impossible to get a screwdriver in to unscrew the lamp's chrome bezel, to change the bulb.   I didn't want to do drop the bumper off right now, nor would I ever want to do it at the side of the road or in a campsite when I'm touring ..so I opted to shape a bent screwdriver from an old Allen key.  ^ ^ Crudely cut with an angle grinder, it wasn't elegant ..but it did the job.

    

^ The screw fought for every half turn, and as the screw unwound the distance between its head and the bumper diminished, so I had cut this screwdriver even shorter, and then also grind away the back face of the arm . . .

    

It was over half way out before I could finally turn it in my fingers (painfully though.. trying to grip the hard edge of a cheese headed screw which was chrome plated, and so slippery to grip).  Even when fully turned out ..it rested on the bumper.!

   

I looked on-line and although most photos were un-clear in this detail, I did find one where the screw hole was angled down but also towards the outside. I decided that was the way to go.  I redrilled the holes in these (aftermarket) fittings and painted the back sides with red-oxide to help preserve them.  The difficulty in getting the screws out was because of its inaccurate (aftermarket) tolerances meant the screw was being chewed up where it contacted the back plate.   This sort of thing will always happen when the manufacturer of replacement parts has no direct contact with / is not responsible to the original manufacturer, or any end-user mechanic (who singularly has no voice).  Only through the influence of clubs.. whose members buy these parts in useful number, might things be improved.  It's worth supporting your marque's club in this respect.  Unfortunately, that only happens where the club's members actually work on their own cars ..which is not something most Jaguar - Daimlers owners do. 

Personally, I'm glad that parts are still available for our 60+ year old low-production-volume-cars,  even if their production departments lack design appreciation or quality control .. I locally ground that backplate away and painted over it.   

    

The glass lens, complete with Lucas lettering, was at least glass, but it was not amber. It was a clear glass which had been amber-painted over the inside.  That works as long as you're careful not to scratch it.  I had noted the lenses were loose in their chromed lamp bezels, and I reasoned that if loose - they were not water-tight.  I removed the lenses and found the manufacturer had in fact fitted flat rubber rings, but they were totally infective ..and so I fitted o-rings between them and their bezels. 

Unfortunately, the return / inward roll on the bezels were not of an even depth, and so to have an O-ring big enough to seal the lens, meant the lens was too far back so I tried cutting the captive nuts down to a minium height.  That didn't work.  Upon investigation it became apparent that the useful o-ring pushing the lens too far back also part covered over the bezel's screw hole (blue arrow). 

I found a couple more o-rings with a smaller cross section, so the screw then tightly fits ..but the lenses are still loose.  I wasn't go to win this one ..which is why so many restorers / owners end up using good to try and keep the damp out.   

 

   

^ the redrilled and swivelled around back plate, works on the LHS indicator ..to get a screwdriver in from below the bumper.  But because of the shape of the car's front wing &/or bumper on the RHS, getting a screwdriver in from underneath didn't work.  Still when assembled with Copaslip on the thread - I could at least wind its screw in two-thirds of the way, and then from the side it was easier to see and use my bespoke screwdriver to tighten it up further. 

Overall the front indicators proved a frustrating and somewhat disappointing conclusion, but with Vaseline now on the electrical contacts and the LED bulbs fitted - Job done for time being.  I haven't given up - I'll look out for some larger section O-ring rubber in soft neoprene. The O-rings I tried were obviously not soft enough to allow the lens to sit forward.   

If in doubt ; If you ever faced with the choice ; restore the original parts, including re-chroming old fittings ..because they work !

Pete

 

To be continued . . .

 

[Bfg]

21st March - Carmen's  Work In Progress - Lower console & Front of Car Wiring - pt.2

Inbetween times, for example while waiting for the paint to dry.. I removed the non-standard earthing plate off the bulkhead and swapped out the indicator relay . . .

   

As I said beforehand - that bulkhead 'earthing plate' was horribly crude, neither square or symmetrical, nor edge finished, but it had been nickel plated after it had be drilled.   ^^ The indicator relay had screw-on connectors. I don't know why, as anywhere else on the car Lucas and Jaguar would have used spade connectors, but clearly the connectors are part of this replacement wiring loom, and I've seen this type of relay before, so I'll assume they are original spec.  Of course.., the new LED indicator relay, to be fitted, takes spade connectors.

Rather than alter the three connectors, I drilled the spades (on the new relay) to take the screws.  Despite looking shiny and bright, the spades were made of brass which drilled easily and took the thread of the same little screws (which screwed in as if they were self-tappers).

       

^ Before .. and ..                                                                                              ^^ After         ..and yes there are still four earthing wires to the bulkhead. 

I think it looks neater.  I haven't yet swapped out the rear light bulbs to LED, but this relay flashes faster than the old one, which I feel is more appropriate for modern traffic conditions where everything likewise seems to happen so much faster.  

- - -

I wanted to swap out the front wing's side lights too, for LED's . . .

      

This one was easier, because the screw was from the top, but having removed that - it still didn't want to come out.  What I didn't initially realise was that I needed to turn the inside framework by 45 degrees for its lower tab to pull through a relief in the flange.  It did come out but the bulb was BA15 (unlike my TR4 and I guess the Daimler which used BA9), so i'll need to order new ones in the larger size.  I put it back together again.  Before doing so I was wiping around the inside of sidelight's raised brow with Copaslip and found this clip loose in the bottom. I'm sure it's meant to be securing the little red tell-tale lens, but that feels solid without it ..so I've remove the clip for safe keeping until some plonker pushes the tell-tale light in and I have to fix it. 

- - -

 I was keen to use the car on Sunday, and in particular to use the car after dark for the first time (albeit only locally) and so I've temporarily refitted the wooden facia / lower console ready for that.  The reasons for it only being temporarily fitted is that there are tiny little screws which secure the switch's knobs in place and I didn't want to fiddle with each of those when I knew I'd not yet finished with that wiring ..whereby that console may have to come out again.

- - - 

Another little job I wanted to attend to was nothing to do with the car's electrics, but the fuel tank breather.  As I drove back across country last weekend the fumes of petrol within the car had become so stinky and cutting into the throat that I needed to open the window.  Before I used the car again, I needed to find out if the filler pipe was leaking or whether it was the tank's breather. . .

       

^ Inside this very nicely trimmed boot, I pulled away a corner of the lining besides the fuel filler.  These car's filler caps were originally within a box, with a fuel filler flap / lid over it.  This car has been changed to a Monza style (sic) filler and the fuel tank breather pipe simply comes up into the boot (where my finger is pointing to).  Just a 5/15" dia pipe directly into the car.    I didn't have much time but I pulled it back out of the hole, under the rear wheel arch and poked in to it's end another (mostly interference fit) but of old plastic fuel pipe into it.  Taking the end of that breather back to the rear wing's side mounting stay.  It's a temporary fix but better than venting petrol fumes into the boot of the car.   Black gaffer tape is a temporary hole filler from the wheel arch into the boot, and a second piece for another larger hole just behind the fuel filler pipe. 

Btw these some irony in that this Monza style filler is very slow to fill. It's too small to allow the rush of air out of the tank when your filling up. 

Carmen was (I hoped) ready for her next run. . . 

- - - 

 

 

[Bfg]

Sunday 22nd March '26 - Carmen's third cross country & our first night run ...

68,537 miles on the odometer, at the filling station two and half miles away.  Destination is my local c.12th castle at Orford.  It's only 17 miles away and I've been there on a number of occasions but the run is a nice across country and the river is pleasant to walk along on a nice day.   Today was hazy but warm. . .

  

A clear fast country road and good car with plenty of power ..what's not to like ? ..whatever the badge ..whatever the year of build. 

    

There's not much left of the castle, which fell into disrepair many years ago, but then its keep was part restored and maintained as a family lodge. The engraving by Samuel and Nathan Buck, dated 1738 illustrates parts of the outer curtain wall, the remains of an inner building, and the port below.  The remaining curtain wall and inner building, and much of the bailey grounds, were subsequently dug as a quarry and taken away. Presumably supplying raw materials for the town's buildings and quay.  Once one of the busiest ports in East Anglia, long before ships could sail into wind, it had fallen into disuse ..as local politics changed and because places like Ipswich had a very much busier road network.  Droving animals across to the coast, to be shipped to London towne was one thing, but traders of higher valued or perishable consumables demanded safer and quicker access to their market places. 

   

^ Beyond the line of farm building are what used to be salt marshes. They provided a natural defence, and when the castle was built c.1165-72  there was water access to where those buildings now are.  There was a fishery and a mill, and in the town they reclaimed the salt and used it to preserve meat and fish. But in thousand years.. times change.  The land was protected by a sea wall and eventually used for farming.  Still off the beaten track it's a pleasant place to forget the hussle and bustle of an often silly new world. 

I took the time to walk a way along the river's protective wall, seeing the castle's keep from afar. . .

   

I stopped to have a chat with a gent and his good lady wife, with their 2 ltr Vitesse.  Steve, I think he said his name was, is a member of the TSSC but I hadn't seen him at our local meeting (first Tuesday of the month at the Sorrel Horse, Barham, just off the A12).  I invited him but I gather its a good distance from where he lives.  An open top Vitesse is a nice car to drive around in. I only ever drove the 13/60 herald but I liked it as a spacious and comfortable car which was easy to work on.  Steve has another 2 ltr, an early model which he says is in much better condition. Either way.. Nice people. 

I was only out for the fresh air and a little walking exercise, and with the ulterior motive of driving back home after dark.  I went across to the Sorrel Horse for a Sunday evening meal. . . 

 

From Orford, I took the longer route ..so another 30 miles to the trip.  I drove with side lights on,  just as a first step to monitoring battery charging, and all was well ..but for the power lead to my TomTom is flipping useless by design.   Next time I'll consider a Garmin, if they're sensible enough to not use a micro usb type connector for its charging.

Along with a pint,  I treated myself to a sizzling steak n' chips.  It was excellent. 

The drive home was interesting insomuch as the ammeter (after market magnolia instrument in the lower console) had never seemed to register anything before ..but with the headlamps it was reading a hefty discharge.  The voltmeter (magnolia item in the lower console) generally reads around about 13 volts, and this dropped to 12v and then crept up a little, perhaps to 12.3v where it stayed. 

I'm used to the ammeter on my Sunbeam motorcycle, and that on Katie registering positive charge while the engine's spinning along and perhaps dropping down to a negative reading when sitting at traffic lights with the headlamps on.  Rev the engine up to 1000 rpm and the reading would move to positive charge.  So Carmen's ammeter reading negatively is of concern.   

I spoke with Rich C-R this afternoon and he advises me that this subject has been covered here on the TR forum, and believes it comes down to what or how the instrument has been wired, ie., whether charge from the battery or charge from the generator.   I'll search the forum for that information tomorrow, as I need to know the charging is more than capable before going out (60 -65 mile round trip) on Thursday evening to the TR meeting @ the Cricketers, Eight Ash Green .. returning after dark.   

It's 11 miles from the Sorrel Horse to home, which even in light traffic is 30 minutes of small town speeds and traffic junctions.  So if the battery is not its usual 12.85 volts then I'll need to find out why. . .  I've just checked it now (24 hours later) and my digital test meter shows a very healthy 12.85 - 12.9v. which implies the battery wasn't discharged in that half an hour drive home.  That's most encouraging.  I would however very much like the ammeter to read more logically .. the balance / the sum of power in versus power out.  I've never had a volt meter before so I really don't regard it as useful unless the engine is reluctant to start. 

- - - 

Otherwise ;  petrol fumes inside the car have all but gone.  I did whiff them at one time but then they soon disappeared and I never noticed them again. 

Indicators are now seen when flashing, although still not in you face ..literally. The rev. counter, the indicator tell tales are within, is on the passenger side of the car.  

Left hand headlamp is adjusted too high. 

Brake servo lag is noticeable, and I'd like to deal with that sometime soon.  And occasionally the back end of the car will judder and the brake pedal would then be high. That's interesting and new to me !  The handbrake works (better than Katie's ever did) is not as good as Burble's ..after I had adjusted it, so Carmen's may well need a little time spent.   

Sounds from under the rear is reminiscent to the noises under Burble ..which went away with a spray of penetrating oil into its leaf springs.  I should think the rust with Carmen's springs is mostly ground into a fine powder by now, so repeated squirts into those should help clean them out before I lag them.  The diff.. or overdrive .. or rear wheel bearings .. or propshaft, is noisy at around 50mph as if it reaches a harmonic frequency. 

There's absolutely no sound deadening, aside from light carpet underlay, or panel anti-drum in the car or under the bonnet - so mechanical and tyre, and wind noise (now that I've removed the door seals) are more than just apparent.  The Daimler was a total contrast .. it had 1/2" sound absorbing felt fitted into every corner.  But even with most of it removed it was a quiet car.

- - -

Odometer now reads 68,593 miles, which is 56 miles more than when setting out (stopping for fuel 2.6 miles from home).  Google maps say we've travelled 16.8 + 29.9 +10.8 - 2.6 = 54.9 miles, so ; even though the speedo under-reads by 3-5 mph (10% at 30mph) - the odometer is just 1.1 miles out (under-reads) in 56 miles. That's just 2%.  But then I don't know how accurate Google map's mileages are. 

The odometer read 68,396 when I collected Carmen from the storage barn and brought her home, so we've now driven almost 200 miles since the 26th February ..almost a month.  That compares favourably with the "just 335 miles between 2015 MoT and when it was being advertised by Runnymede Motor Company on 29/11/2024.   My confidence is growing one trip at a time. 

Wishing you a very good evening, 

Pete  

And you imagined the jaguar to be a big car. ?

 

[Bfg]

24th March - Carmen's Work in Progress - Ammeter not working correctly

In reply to the previous post, in which I express concern that the Ammeter reading was not making a lot of sense to me, Rob H of the TR Register forum helped me out . . .

 

    "Pete - no need to search re your charging, I expect Rich means this :

https://www.trforums.com/index.php?/topic/84514-ammeter-wiring-and-operation/

The ammeter should be wired so that it only shows current going into and out of the battery.  There should be no loads fed from the battery side of the ammeter except the heavy starter feed. 

The headlights should be connected directly to the alternator output, in which case the ammeter should never show any reading for them except when the engine isn’t running - in which case there would be a drain shown from the battery.

I suggest a simple test -   leave the ignition off and turn the lights on.  The ammeter should show a discharge of around 18 A.

If it does, the wiring is correct.    If it shows a charge instead, the ammeter is wired the wrong way round.

If it shows no reading, the lights are wired to the battery instead of to the alternator.

( It is possible  you have both errors as that would best accord with your observations I think) .

Rob.

- - -

 

Thank you Rob for the link to your excellent illustrated post regarding "Ammeter wiring and operation."  That was very useful to understand the principles.  ..And to Bob for your explanation that two wires should be going to the positive side of the battery.   

I'm obviously pretty dim as applying the principles to the rats nest of wires is another thing altogether.  Perhaps if I write it out, it'll clarify my thoughts. . .

• one 3/16" dia brown wire comes from the alternator.  
• two 1/8" blue wires wires comes from the alternator.  These run in parallel until the both connect with a single yellow wire.  This goes to the Ignition-warning-lamp.  The White wire, from the other terminal of that warning lamp, then goes to the Starter button and to the Ignition switch.   This I believe is correct 
• I have one 1/4" Black wire coming from the +ve terminal of the battery to the Solenoid.
• To that same Solenoid +ve terminal ; I have three other brown wires attached.  One is 3/16" dia which comes from the alternator. *  Then there are x2 others of 1/8" dia. 
• One of these 1/8" brown wire goes to the ammeter. 
• And the other 1/8" brown wire goes to the fuse box.  After the fuse are x2 brown+green wires which are for the interior light and the cigar lighter.  These are independent from the Ignition switch, and is correct 
• two 1/8" wires are connected to the other side of the ammeter, the brown+white that originally came from the control box. And the brown+blue which goes to the light switch.  

* I figuring to correct things ;  the brown 3/16" dia wire from the alternator should be going to the Ammeter,  and not to the Solenoid.  From that same terminal on the ammeter ; the brown+blue wire should go to Light switch.  The other terminal of the ammeter should go to the Starter Solenoid and from there to the Battery.   The brown+white is to be unused ..it have been superseded on this car by the 3/16" dia brown wire comes from the alternator.  ? ?

Thank you for your invaluable advice,

Pete 

- - -

 

Rob replied : 

Yes - as you say that sounds as though the alternator itself is connected to the wrong end of the ammeter Pete.  That would explain the odd discharge reading from the lights as whenever they are on the current always gets pulled through the meter.  Also you would never see any charging current after starting. 

One fuse  goes direct to the battery, for the cigarette lighter and maybe interior lights so that is right.  Any other fuse(es) should get their power from the alternator on the downstream side of the ammeter. 

Your remedial plan should do the trick. 

- - -

 

Thanks Rob,

"Also you would never see any charging current after starting." would account for the gauge apparently not working. 

I committed and cut the wire from the alternator and re-routed it to the ammeter and soldered a bullet connector so that it would tie in with the bullet of the lighting circuit. 

So wired up ; the car hasn't burst into flames and the ammeter now appears to be working as I would expect it to, both when ignition is off and the lights are turned on, and with the engine running and revved to bring the charge back to the positive side of neutral. 

In short ; It appears to have worked.

I wouldn't have known how to do this without your guidance. Thank you so very much.  I can now try the car and again be more confident that I'm going to get home again after dark. 

I took the car out (at night), just around the block and to the local grocers, and I'm very pleased to now have instrument readings which make sense to me.  That Ammeter's needle is a bit sticky, but it does generally work. 

Pete

 

 

[Bfg]

24th March - Carmen's  Work In Progress - Rear lamps' LED's

Swapping out the rear light bulbs was supposed to be just another 5 minute job !  In fact the plan for the afternoon was to swap out the rear lamp's bulbs and then to check the spark plugs again to see if the carbs needed adjusting ..as I suspect the engine is running a little too rich.  

I removed one of the rear light lens and changed the bulb to an LED, but when I wanted to compare the LED bulb's brightness compared to the original - I found the brake lights were not working.   

Naturally, after having been pulling out the wiring over the past week, I assumed I've inadvertently pulled a connection off, or even worse cut out a section of invaluable wiring.   The first thing I checked was, of course, the fuse.   Nope, the live feed to the brake lights was simply one of those nine green wires from the fuse box, and the fuse for everything else was good.  Next up .. check the switch on the brake pedal ...  'scuse me where's the switch ? 

Inside the car is just a pedal coming through the bulkhead. There's no sort of bracketry inside the car whatsoever.  The brake pedal mounts on a chassis bracket, with the master cylinder being down there too.  Crawling under the car I find no sign of a brake light switch on or near that bracket or master cylinder.  I checked the workshop manual.  Similar to what I found with the late model Triumph TR4A, the manual covers the previous models ..in the case of the Triumph ; the TR3 and TR4, but has poor coverage of the TR4A.  I might only guess the TR5 owner uses both TR4 and TR6 manuals.  In the case of the XK150, the manual was written for the XK120 and Jaguar Mk.VII ..and barely mentions the later model.  On the XK120 the brake light switch is screwed into the end of the master cylinder.   I crawl under the car again with a  torch and.. nope there's no switch there.

Okay, the clue is that the XK120 has a hydraulic pressure operated switch, so it could be that this has later been placed inline, in one of the brake pipes.  I cannot see it on the driver's side of the car ..but then I remember - this car used to be Left Hand Drive.  Found it. . .

   

^ down in the dingy depths, beneath the alternator, exhaust manifolds, and (aftermarket) remote radiator header tank on the front LHS of the chassis. There's the five way brake pipe connector with the pressure switch.  With the test meter I find that the live feed is good, and with a piece of wood holding the brake's pedal down + test meter.. I realise the switch is defunct !   My pulling the dashboard out, and my pulling out 4m of wires from under the front of the car, had nothing at all to do with it. !    

The last time I checked the brake light's operation, was just before I brought the car from the barn's storage to home ..a month ago (26th Feb) ..since when I'd driven 200 miles.  I might idly wonder when the switch failed. ?

   SMB 423 ..also known as 542-110  or  C16062A

Isn't it wonderfully amazing that, for an unusual car made in 1960, as a LHD and shipped to America .. you can today look on the internet and identify a switch that is likely to fit (..for an MGB or a classic Mini) and then call up the local car parts shop in Martlesham, Ipswich .. which is just 2.7 miles away - and they have just one in stock    

 

    

I did have to roll the car, on full lock to one side of the garage, with her tail out through the up n' over door opened (..and pinned in the door post - so the wind couldn't crash it down on the boot lid) to get the wheel off and crawl in under there ..and to think people pay to go to a gymnasium for this sort of exercise ! ..

The new brake light switch worked. I had capped over the brake reservoir with a plastic bag, under a lid to prevent the down-draining of brake fluid, and swapped the old with the new switches very quickly ..to avoid much loss of fluid, and it worked. That is the brake lights now works.  I haven't yet driven the car to know if the brakes now need bleeding, but as there was some seepage out of the five-way connector - I hope not.   NB., That spill was quickly washed off the chassis with a liberal spray of carb cleaner.   

            

Reflective light against the inside of the garage door .. LED versus tungsten side light bulbs.   This Jaguar is a small car (as you might have noted in a previous photo.. alongside the Triumph Vitesse) with small lamps by today's standard, and I feel it wise to have adequate luminosity for other road users to even notice me.  I don't have a photo comparing the brake lights but their difference in illumination is similar.  Of course., the secondary reason for the change is to minimise the electrical current ..through the wiring, connections and switch, and particularly crucial - the current draw should I break down at night - I'd rather the battery didn't flatten while I'm otherwise sorting things out. 

   

^ The Jaguar's rear number plate light plinth is a mighty heavy lump, which is odd because it sits on an aluminium skinned boot lid.  It includes the number plate lamp, the reversing lamp, and a boot light.  It turns out that I didn't need to lift it off (just four bolts) to replace its bulbs, but on this occasion it did help me to understand what was what and to pull each wiring connection and Vaseline those against oxidisation  . . .

   

^ There are two (smaller) number plate lamps and the 20w reversing lamp aside from the boot light bulb.   These have now been swapped out for LEDs, with the equivalent of a 80w reversing light bulb ..as I like to see what I'm about to reverse into. !

 

   

^ The reversing lamp (which only draws 0.7 amp) is very bright indeed and is a cold light .. but again I hope it will be useful not only to myself for parking, but also as a visual warning to anyone behind (..a pedestrian in a car park perhaps) that I'm coming backwards.   ^^ The LEDs in the rear sidelights look yellow in the photo but I believe the brake + side bulbs have red LEDs so in reality are seen as red. The twin number plate lamps are perhaps rather too bright.  I'll see what they're like in a night-time pub car-park, as I may consider changing to not so bright bulbs.

I didn't get around to checking the sparkplug's colour (..richness of the carburettors), but I can do that today.  I hope to get to the TR's East Saxon group meeting this evening at ; The Cricketers, Eight Ash Green, nr Colchester, Essex,  so it would be useful to have those plugs cleaned before a 75 mile round trip run. 

Our first long run at night .. perhaps you might wish us a safe journey without breakdown or incident, or the all too commonplace A12 diversion via Colchester and Manningtree ..and a speed camera van, on my way home. 

Next weekend the clocks change. Summertime is on its way   ..when the LED lights will not even be noticed ! 

Pete 

p.s. I did place tape over the headlamp glass just to try and limit the spread of light.  We'll see tonight if it makes any difference. 

I also swapped the feed to the electric fuel pump and coil live feed wires to the spare fuse (originally designated for fog lamps), so they now have their own fuse and it's easy to lift that fuse out of circuit  ..to isolate those items as I continue to work on the this car's wiring.  

 

 

[Bfg]

 

27th March - Carmen's work in progress + First longer distance night run. . .

 

 

   

Yesterday, I pulled the spark plugs to get an indication of the carb settings after 200 miles of trips out. and the front appears to be fine but the rear carb is running too rich. With a common manifold that effected, by varying degrees all but the front cylinder. 

    

As a consequence I've adjusted again to slightly lower the float level in the rear carb and adjusted the height of its main jet.  I took the dashpot off each so I could see and, using the general purpose verniers, measure what effect the mixture adjustment screw had (seen above, just to the side of the rear carb body). One complete turn (unwinding) raised the main jet up by 0.5mm (relative to the venturi's bridge.  The two carbs had been set the same (by measurement) but I left it there to try it ..and to see if that corrects or over corrects this carb's running richness.

Last night I went down to the TR register's East Saxon monthly meet at the Cricketers, Eight Ash Green (..photo upon my arrival, parked next to Rich C-R's lovely TR4 ).  Five or six other TR's showed up a little later. Ten or eleven cars is a good turnout considering the clocks haven't yet changed and it was dusk as we arrived.  For me it's a 70-75 mile round trip ..most of which was at the legal speed limit along the A12 dual carriageway.  This morning ; I checked the spark plugs and their colour indicates both carbs are now adjusted to close-to the correct mixture. They now need adjusting for rpm & air balance tickover, but I'm pleased not to be wasting an excess of fuel.  Speaking of which. . .

To date, I'd only filled the petrol tank to approximately 3/4 full, 30 ltrs at a time. For the first time yesterday evening I filled up ..to start recording fuel consumption .. and petrol poured out under the car, over the forecourt.  What could I do ?   I got in the car and drove off. I went to the pub 30 miles away. 

Well, there was nothing I could do there & then (at 5pm) on the garage forecourt.  I didn't have a catch tray and I wasn't going rip out the boot's lining, nor jack the car up to investigate things in my tidier clothes and in the diminishing light.  Having previously driven 200 miles, I assumed the fuel would leak down until it wouldn't leak any more.!  I just hoped that a seam hadn't burst !  The minimal stench of fuel within the car suggested it wasn't as if the filler pipe had come off and the boot / spare wheel well was now flooded with petrol. My guess is the fuel tank's breather tube is not tightly sealed with the tanks take-off pipe.  

Aside from that ...Thankfully Carmen's first longer distance night run was a success.   The ammeter registered my turning on the lights but once engine revs were above tickover the gauge barely moved. The voltmeter was reading a charged battery and again that didn't alter.  The oil pressure was up there 40-50 psi, and the water temperature at its usual 80+ degrees.  Headlamp scatter was a little better with the masking tape, but to have dipped beam a good distance ahead on the road, the high beam illuminated the trees. far from perfect but certainly liveable with.

It's me taken a long month (32) of afternoons, working on the car to get to this conjuncture.. where I can now use the car for local club meetings, and there's still a list of immediate tasks to still work through.  One might idly wonder how much it would have cost an owner would cannot work on his own car ? ..and how many times he or she would have needed to 'take the car back to the garage again' ?    I guess the same would apply to any classic or later car that hasn't been tested and fettled after restoration or long term lay-up.

The job list doesn't seem to get any shorter, but progress has been made. 

My thanks to all who have offered advice and moral support in helping me get this far.  

Pete 

 

 

       

 

[Bfg]

28th March - Carmen's work in progress - Fuel spill

On 27/03/2026 at 10:05, Bfg said:

To date, I'd only filled the petrol tank to approximately 3/4 full, 30 ltrs at a time. For the first time yesterday evening I filled up ..to start recording fuel consumption .. and petrol poured out under the car, over the forecourt.  What could I do ?   I got in the car and drove off. I went to the pub 30 miles away. 

Well, there was nothing I could do there & then (at 5pm) on the garage forecourt.  I didn't have a catch tray and I wasn't going rip out the boot's lining, nor jack the car up to investigate things in my tidier clothes and in the diminishing light.  Having previously driven 200 miles, I assumed the fuel would leak down until it wouldn't leak any more.!  I just hoped that a seam hadn't burst !  The minimal stench of fuel within the car suggested it wasn't as if the filler pipe had come off and the boot / spare wheel well was now flooded with petrol. My guess is the fuel tank's breather tube is not tightly sealed with the tanks take-off pipe. 

I suspected the fuel tank's breather tube had leaked because it was insecure or cracked. I now believe that assumption was incorrect. Indeed I may have caused the issue myself. . . 

     

^ under the rear left-hand wheel arch there was no obvious signs of the flood of petrol deposited on the garage forecourt.  But the breather tube was clearly old and the top half was devoid of its cloth covering.  Access to the jubilee clip, for this tube onto the side of the fuel tank was awkward because of the close proximity of the chassis' rear leg.   ^^ The gap between the side of the tank and the chassis was difficult enough to see into ..let along get any tools in.  Still I've come to accept such under-the-car-gymnastics as being good for my health, in terms of useful exercise and maintaining agility in my old age. 

    

^ it was a sad looking bit of rubber breather hose, but the clamp was tight, the rubber wasn't cracked, and when I tried blowing into it (with a finger to seal the other end) and likewise sucking (to create a partial vacuum) it appeared to be perfectly sound.  The pipe out of the side of the tank measured O.D. 3/8" (10mm) and the only petrol tube I had was 8mm.  I had to find a smaller jubilee clip too ..and then .. getting that 8mm onto the 10mm spigot, working within such a tight confines with finger tips only ..was 'an opportunity to excel.'   I have exceptionally strong hands, at the moment, but It took some determination to get the replacement breather tube on. 

      

In concurrence, I wanted access to the fuel filler pipe ..both to see if it showed evidence of the leak, and because I wanted to determine what the present fuel level was, so that I might guestimate how much fuller it had been 70 miles ago when I'd filled her up.  I tried a rod down the filler pipe but there was no direct line of sight and therefore no way to get a dip-stick down into the tank.   Out it was to come. . .

    

^ Again no evidence of it having flooded this way.. With the fuel filler tube off I could dip-stick the level.  3-1/2" down from the rim, and the bottom of the tank was 15-1/2" down. The tank's said to be of 15 gallon (68 litres) capacity.  Bearing in mind the length of the tank's filler pipe, the present fuel level was perhaps 1/2" below the top plate of the tank. I could reach it with my finger.  With the breather pipe in through the side of of the tank I was lucky not to have incurred another flood when I took that breather tube off.!   

I had an idea what had happened on Thursday.   Yes.. it was my fault, a silly mistake ..but then I never was as clever as my Dad hoped I might be. . .

    

^ a week ago on Saturday, to quickly 'fix' the smell of petrol fumes into the car, I pulled the breather tube out from poking through into the boot of the car.  And rather than just leaving the pipe open under the wheel arch (where grit flies and water splashes around) I poked other tubes into its end, to bring it back down to just behind the rear leaf spring was.  Any grit or road spray would have to find its way around the end of that leaf spring and up that length of smaller tube before it could get anywhere near the fuel tank.  Sounds sensible but...

I suspect what happened on Thursday night was .. I filled the tank up to where the garage's pump's trigger stopped the fill.  I repeated this several times, using the garage's pump to trigger stop filling (this was to be my datum fill level ..to record the car's fuel consumption over the next couple of hundred miles).  But in filling up I had filled the tank to above its breather and.. although the breather tube went upwards, to a couple of inches lower than the underside of the wheel-arch, it then came down again ..to below the fuel's level.   As I filled the tank, and the breather pipe, the repeated waves / surge of fuel must have spilled over the tube's apex and thereafter started a petrol siphon ..all over the garage forecourt.   

Most likely, very soon after I drove off and went around roundabouts - the fuel in the tank surged to the other side ..which allowed air in to the breather tube ..to stop the siphon. 

All in all an odd sequence of events, starting off years ago with a previous owner swapping the fuel filler to the Monza style and not doing anything else with the breather tube than to leaving it poking into the boot of the car. 

^ the new fuel tank breather tube now goes up, and its end now stays above the top level of the tank, so fuel cannot now siphon through it.  I've run it forward (anti-clockwise) so road grit and tyre splash would have to do a u-turn to get up it, and anyway I've used a duck-bill on its end to minimise its opening.  The lower security clip I reused. The upper clip utilised a screw hole which was already through the wheel arch. Black gaffer tape temporarily closes over other spurious holes I noted.  

I've learnt a lesson ..watch out for the possibility of siphoning, and thankful for not finding a hole or cracked seam in the fuel tank, I can now (hopefully) move on . . .

     

^ While I had things apart, I decided to shorten the fuel filler pipe by 1-1/2"  ..and, as we do with boat's through-the-hull fittings, I fitted two clips.  There's a strip of inner-tube rubber under each jubilee clips so that its tightness is applied more evenly to clamping and sealing the pipe.  I don't think it leaked before but I'd rather do it once than have to revisit this again.   

The pipe fuel-filler tube is noticeably straighter, and there's now line of sight into the tank from the cap ..so I hope filling-up will be somewhat quicker than it was. 

You'll also note that there's a gap in the boot floor, around the tank's fuel filler pipe. This again was open to elements under the car / under the wheel arch.  Usually there's a large rubber grommet or diaphragm to seal a boot's floor, but because I don't have one .. I made a substitute. . .

    

It's thin sheet reinforced rubber, simply cut with scissors, taped in place along its split edge and clamped upon around its perimeter by the trimmed aluminium cover. 

    

All back together again..  another five minute job (hopefully) now done. 

Bidding you a good evening, 

Pete

 

 

[Bfg]

Sunday 28th March '26 - Carmen's fifth cross country & our first run in the rain ...

Happy summer time ! 

Destination ;  Hadleigh Castle, Essex (nr Southend on Sea).  Estimated round trip of 125 miles.  I invited others but two members didn't want to miss the AGM and two others were otherwise not available ..so Carmen and I went alone.  That didn't stop me meeting me myself and I for a late breakfast at the Harvester, Stanway, Colchester.  Excellent value @ £12.48 ..including x2 sausages, bacon, x2 eggs, x2 toast, beans, tomato, mushrooms, black pudding and a mug of real coffee and VAT.  

Before I left, I filled the fuel tank to the brim again, at the local Tescos (2.6 miles away) ;  11.17 litres - 2.457 gals (Imp) @ £1-52.9 / ltr.  So.., 75 mile round down to The Cricketers, Eight Ash Green, on Thursday night @ 66-70mph up n' down the A12 equates to 30.5 mpg ..disregarding the fuel spilt over the forecourt.  It may be a 3.8 litre straight-six but its economy lies in its motorway gearing ..pulling-with-ease 70mph in overdrive-top at 2,300 rpm.    If the current fuel consumption test reconfirms that figure - I'll be very pleased. 

   

My route today was from Martlesham, over the Orwell Bridge and down the A12 to Stanway, Colchester, then following the B1022 to Maldon, before cutting across on the A414 and B1418 to South Woodham Ferrers, and then down to Hadleigh. 61.4 miles (1hr 36mins without stops).   The trees buds have now unfurled and the stark silhouettes of the past few months have taken on vibrant springtime hues.  There's no car park for the castle ..just the end of a lane.  

Hadleigh in a Anglo Saxon means 'High Clearing'.  The stone castle was built after 1215 by Hubert De Burgh but was extensively refortified by King Edward III., during what we now refer to as the Hundred Years War (a ongoing series of conflicts between England and France mostly between 1337 to 1453).  It became a favourite retreat for the King and so one might only presume how lavish it once was.  From what I understand., long before De Burgh, it was a hunting lodge.  Positioned high, it has panoramic views over Canvey Island and the Thames Estuary across to Kent. It would have been a wonderful place to sit in summer time to watch the trading ships coming into, and departing from London. 

    

^ a doodling by some chap call John Constable (c. 1829)  and . . . .   ^^ from much the same vantage point ; a photo by yours truly (c.2026). 

         

^ views towards the postern gate.  I think that chap Constable captures the rugged endurance of the panorama better than I did, but click on any of these photos to see them at a better scale, and you begin to realise the expansive views. On a clear day it's fantastic. On a warm day, with a sunrise or sunset, it is very pleasant indeed.   

As for me, well I'm an design engineer and so I like to study the structures, how it was built and how it was used . . . 

        

It's not only the craft of the stone mason, but the sheer audacity to build such a heavy structure on a very exposed and a crumbly hill-top ..and for bits of that to still be standing 700 years later.!  I wonder if these were built not only for defensive purpose but as a grasp for immortality ? 

        

^ Building in ..not only multiple chimneys into a 14 foot thick solid wall,  but also poo shoots ! ^^  Both symbolic of luxury.  Apparently these towers had ornate ceilings on each floor and chandeliers. The site has extensive kitchens a great hall, and of course the king's private solar. 

^^^  And at the same time I'm fascinated by ancient graffiti .. who has stood here, long before these old ruins were recognised as 'heritage'.  I see one date 1849 and another 1899 ..fifty years apart but both from when Queen Victoria was on the throne.  Edward III to Queen Victoria linked together in a pile of old stones.

For the journey back home I took the A12 north to Ipswich and then back across the Orwell bridge.    127 mile round trip according to Google maps.  124 miles according to Carmen's odometer.  The last 40 miles in drizzling rain so wipers and headlamps on.   And the speedo has stopped working at the shock of it all .. potentially embarrassingly reading over 70 mph .. let's ignoring the fact that it was under-reading by 5mph and assume it had a last moment ping. 

The combined use of windscreen wipers + head lights + for a short while the heater blower.. didn't blow any fuses and the battery came home charged.  It was interesting to note on the wet roads just how noisy these tyres are on different road surfaces.  There's more tyre noise than wind noise at 70mph despite the quarter light seals having gaps and some of the door seals being missing.

382 miles in one month, well since 26th February, is a good result when recommissioning a car that had only driven 300 miles since 2015.

I hope you also had a good day. 

Pete

 

 

 

[Bfg]

1st April - Carmen's Work In Progress 

Happy Summertime, and the 2nd quarter of the year.   The end of the first quarter is always a good time to clean the house after winter's hibernation, to back up photos and computer files ..just in case, and to take stock of where one is hoping to be in six months time.  Workshop / work-in-progress then ..there's not a whole lot to report from this week.  I've some bigger jobs to do, but the icy chill has me more pottering about ..sorting out some niggles rather than actually doing work. 

       

^ The first of my pottering.. was to 'fix' a crack and then a pin-hole leak in the radiator's filler neck.  I might only gather, the separate header tank is a modification fitted by the prior owner, not least because the pipe from the radiator filler looks to home made for a professional restoration concern.  Part of the issue was that this copper overflow pipe was far too long for the strength of its soldered joint.  Secondly, the contact area of that soldered joint was so little.  And so., whenever the pipe was touched, perhaps when reaching passed it to the crankcase breather or the alternator's wiring, its leverage easily cracked the joint's solder.  Mind you, it might already have been broken before I bought the car. ! ? 

Whatever.., the consequence of the cracked solder was a fine mist of coolant squirting over the adjoining rocker cover, front wing, and ..carried by the air flow from the cooling fan.. to blow all the way back to the bulkhead. Not enough to note any serious loss of coolant but enough to make a mess ..and know that things wouldn't get any better.. In fact the pipe might come out all together. 

I had tried to re-solder the joint (twice) but failed, possibly because the surfaces were contaminated &/or because it's not easy to solder under a pipe when the radiator is in place. . . 

     

^ I replaced the copper overflow pipe, and its soldered joint, with a screw fixing ; a (plated) steel threaded tube. I cannot remember what the fitting came off but it may have been a drawer or cupboard knob.  Well., I didn't have a tyre valve and this was the best thing I had to hand, which was approximately the right size.  The thick phenolic / fibre washer needed reshaping, from flat to the curve of the filler neck, and I bedded it onto HT silicon sealant, I used Loctite on the inside nut, because I'd rather it didn't fall off inside the radiator.  The spigot, as it now is, only about protrudes 5/8", but that is just enough to get the rubber hose and jubilee clip on. . .

        

^ I'll give it a try.  If it doesn't work then I'll take the radiator off and get a short pipe brazed in place. 

- - -

Next up, was also related to the radiator ..well its ducting / cowl and cooling fan. . .

     

^ the issue here was that the fan blades would occasionally catch on the inside of the cowling.  Those fan blades, because they are flat, do tend to flex.  Possibly the engine moves a mm or two on its rubber mounts too.   The cowling is again an aftermarket part, that's not an accurate reproduction of the original (square cornered) shape.  And the square ended fan blades are now inside a rounded (for ease of manufacture) and possibly thicker fibreglass cowling.   

I was hoping to avoid having to take the radiator out, to get to the cowling and fan, but there appeared to otherwise be no adjustment to be had.   But then I realised... it may be possible to tilt the radiator and its cowling forward a little ..away from the fan blades.   It's obvious when you think about it, in retrospect, but at the time my focus was on the blades and the cowling.  The resolution came from simply releasing the jubilee clip of the top radiator hose, and without the radiator's side stays on, the radiator was easily tilted forward at its top by 3/8" (10mm). 

The top hose jubilee clip fitted was a size too small anyway, and its thread was only just gripping, so I swapped that out for another.  I slotted the holes in the radiator's side stays to clamp everything in that forward position.

^  Blobs of old Blue-Tack sitting on top of the radiator and its filler cap were to check that, after tilting the radiator forward 10mm, it didn't foul the underside of the bonnet (as it would with Katie's on the TR4A). 

Job done. 

- - -

Other little jobs included ; understanding how the heater worked.  That may seem simple enough but for those of us not familiar with such old cars - there's a little learning curve to be had.

For example, this car's heater never seemed to work, and so I investigated why.  The heater was ..according to reports, 'much improved' on the later XK150  (..so I'm rather glad to not have experienced how pathetic it might have been on the XK120, 140, and earlier 150s).  The heater matrix and fan blower can be seen (in the first photo of this post) on the left-hand-side of the bulkhead.  The valve is stiff but operates by hand, even though the heater control cable doesn't push very well. 

   

^ The owner's handbook / workshop manual says to open the 'wing vent' for the heater to work.  I interpreted the 'wing vents' to mean the vent flaps on either side of the heater's footwell plenum (above the gearbox tunnel)  ..but that I believe was incorrect, as the heat coming through it - was at best but a whisper.   

    

^ These Jaguars don't have a scuttle vent for taking air into the heater, nor do they appear to have ducting (at least it's not through the engine bay, nor is it under the wheel arches). but they do have an opening flap, side vent into the footwells.  ^^  Although awkward to reach, there's a simple spring loaded lever on the inside of the car to open and close them.  Most likely, when the inside of the car gets hot during the summer, they offer a little fresh air ventilation up your trouser leg.  Higher speed = quite a draft I should imagine ! 

What hadn't clicked with the old-grey-matter was ; the passenger side is somewhat different. . . 

      

^ although the air intake vent looks the same ..from outside the car - it's panelled over on the inside / closed to the footwell inside.   I haven't yet tried it but I now realise that this is the 'wing vent' the manual refers to.  I look forward to a little more warmth inside the car.  Note the trimmed-over triangular block in the top corner of each footwell.  This is a bridge-like body-structure from one side of the car to the other ..to avoid scuttle shake.  There's a similarly robust beam across the back, which the boot hinges bolt on to.  Certainly they work .. the car feels rock solid and reassuring.   Triumph might have learnt something if they'd looked closely at the Jaguar's structure.    

Of course, the operation of the heater's side wing vent is quite impossible for the driver ..without stopping the car, going around and opening the passenger door, and reach into the footwell to operate it.  So I now carry a stick to reach that lever.   ^^ Similarly reaching the flaps on the heater's footwell plenum, way down there in each footwell, so I've added a loop of cord to their handles, which again may be reached and operated by said stick (..when stopped, not while driving).   NB. the radio and lower instrument console is non-standard. Its wiring (as caught by the camera's flash, seen when the door is open) is presently untidy.  A simple folded aluminium cover would hide the gubbins.  The underside of the dashboard does has a trim panel to tidy under there (..presently removed for working access).

- - -

Another task which I'd been looking into was door seals.  The rubber seals around the quarter-light windows have been replaced and are very hard. I don't know if there's anything available to soften them without their becoming soggy or sticky feeling, but I shall try rubber grease to at least allow the windows to slip over the seals more easily.   The door seals were terrible, with (as bought) the doors only shutting when slammed hard. 

    

^ I've removed the edge trim with bulb seal (that had in any case been mostly cut away) completely, because even as just as an edge trim it stopped the door from shutting.  The outer seal which follows the door skin down the B-post (except at the bottom), is still there ..but again it's too hard. 

^ The edge seal will be replaced with Furflex (this time without the seal) which will be covered in a moquette / brushed velvet style material, but for the seals themselves I'm trying sticky-backed household draught excluder in soft neoprene.  I bought four sections to try, but one came in brown which isn't what I wanted.  The flat neoprene is to be used as a packer for when the other seals are not tall enough.   The D-section I've used as it came double width. The P-section I found was too lightweight and tore into two halves while I tried to fit it. . .     

    

^ The Double D-section down the A-post (open and closed door) works well.  The quarter-light frame sealing against it at the top, and the door trim panel sealing against it at the bottom.   In the middle though, at the bottom of the windscreen's corner post.. the quarter-light frame stops, so I added a strip of neoprene for the door skin to shut against.  I think though, it may scuff off as the door shuts sideways.  The door skin follows outwards to the rounded shape of the front wing, and I'm not sure the draught sealer would remain in place there either, so for the time being I've not fitted anything.  One step at a time... fitting, trying, feeling for drafts and listening for noise, before I add the next.  It's ongoing work in progress.

Tyre noise is intrusive so I need to add some sound deadening under the wheel arches soon.  I'm thinking rubber sheet up the bulkhead under the wheel-arch. 

These are slow but steady tasks, but I feel as if I'm making progress.   

Wishing you a happy Easter weekend.

Pete