the cat is out of the bag . . .

[Homersimpson]

While it was apart did you measure the valve shims?

Its quite normal for them to have worn in the centre where they touch the valve and turning them over may be enough to bring them back to spec.

If not you can usually swap them around between valves  so you don't need to buy as many.

[Brigsy]

Its unlikely you will have bent any valves if it was a light touch. Shit happens, ive had p2v interface on a modern 16v lump and got away with it.

[Bfg]

  

On 4/24/2026 at 3:04 PM, Bfg said:

At least I spotted something was wrong with the #6 inlet valve bucket not being the same height as the rest, when the camshaft was off,  and I didn't just pass it by.  Somewhere I'd read about valve interference when building one of these engines, and the advice was ; to release each camshaft ..systematically easing their cap nuts looser until no valve spring is under compression.  I did that ..releasing the exhaust valve's camshaft bearing caps to allow it to back away .. and #6 cylinder inlet valve slammed shut with one hella metallic clang.  Thankfully the valve sounded as if it slammed squarely down into its seat.  Fortunately I'm experienced enough not to have forced anything ..but I did turn the crank using a 15" lever and working against valve spring compression does take a good amount of force.   As I say.. I can only hope I've not bent either of those valves. But until I try the car, I'll not know. 

Update : 23rd April ;  Removing the valve clearance shims and recording their thicknesses . . .

   

^ After the camshafts had been removed (see previous post) the tappet's buckets can be lifted / pulled out with the aid of a strong magnet.  ^^ inside the bucket I could see the shim, stuck with oil suction to its inside.  Fingered sideways, the shim pulls out easily.., although I wouldn't want to do this over the engine ..for fear of that shim disappearing down one of the camshafts oil return galleries.!  Those darn things are slippery when your hands are covered with engine oil. 

    

^ there are different size of Jaguar shims, according to which engine they're made for.  The later ones are a smaller diameter.  Those for the earlier engine / classic XK engined cars are around about 11/16" (17mm) diameter.   ^^ Switching to my more accurate digital verniers, I measured the shim's thickness.  Note ; If there's an indentation from the valve stem, then that needs to be taken into account.  Be wary of measuring across the centre of the shim ..because where there's an indentation - there may also be around it a raised crater rim ..which will confuse the measurement.  These were all pretty good but I reckon half-a-thou" indentation might not be far off.   

This shim is from No.6 cylinder inlet valve, and it measures 0.090" (ninety thousands of an inch).  The tappet clearance, measured with the feeler gauge, for this valve was written down (..previous post) as being 0.010+"  ..ie., it was a loose-fit 10-thousands-of-an-inch.  Jaguar's recommended clearance is 0.004",  so its clearance was 2½ times what it should have been = engine's tappet noise and the valve not opening fully ..by the 0.006" difference. 

To correct this ;  I need to fit a new shim 0.010" - 0.004" = 0.006" thicker.  There's presently a 0.090" fitted ..so I'll now need a 0.090" + 0.006" = 0.096" shim to replace it.    Those same measurements and calculations are done for each of the six cylinders' inlet and exhaust valves. 

NB. inlet valve clearances are 0.004" whereas the exhaust valve clearances are 0.006".  I believe these same figures apply to all but the very early XK120 engines, right the way through to the classic 3.4, 3.8 and 4.2 litre saloons and E-types, unless the engine is used for competition ..whereby an extra 0.002" was recommended by the factory. 

Without having a range of new shims ready at hand to fit, I'll need to reassemble everything, order new shims as required, and then pull the camshafts out again in a couple of weeks time to fit them.  Next time though I'll know what I'm doing ..and (hopefully) the same task might happen in quarter the amount of time. 

    

^ The shims (when new) were etched with a code referring to their thickness.  Different shims have different manufacturer codes but this one reads F ..whose thickness is 0.090" in the table above( which lists those codes in 0.001" increments).  Personally speaking I think you can ignore the codes, as some shims may have been sanded or re-ground to be thinner, for reuse when previously adjusting the tappet clearances.  Only a few of this car's shims still had their etched code.   Still., if nothing else - this relatively new shim did confirm the reading of my digital vernier gauge.    

Refitting the shims ..is not the reverse of taking them out . . .

   

^ The end of the valve stem is seen when the bucket and shim is removed.  ^^ Refit the correct shim into the recess in the valve-spring cap, and check that it cannot slip / be easily displaced sideways. The tappet bucket then sits over this. 

I've read that you do not oil the shims ..because that film of oil can effect measurements when you recheck the tappet clearances. But the shim had a film of oil sticking it to the inside of the bucket when I pulled it out. So, oil on it is 'normal'.  I didn't bother applying oil as I refitted them, but then neither did I re-measure the tappet clearance after I'd put the same shims back in their same place.   

I've also read that owners / mechanics carefully measure the tappet clearance and shims, do the simple calculation and fit new shims of the right size, only to find that the tappet clearance isn't exactly what they measured & calculated it should be.  I suspect this is because of a number of factors ; 

• Measuring the tappet clearance - using feeler gauges without the 45 deg bend in them.  Measuring with a flat blade feeler gauge may be inaccurate ..as the blade has to be bent to get under the camshaft.  It's also worth checking the thickness of the feeler gauge with the micrometer/vernier you measure the shims with. 
• Measuring the tappet clearance is subjective.  If a 0.010" feeler gauge fits in but it's a slack fit ..and an 0.011" feeler doesn't fit, then is the gap I measured a quarter, a half, or perhaps three quarters of a thou more than 0.010" ? 
• Likewise how accurate is the feeler gauge, the older-calibrated micrometer or vernier gauge, and the production tolerance of the new shim ? Perhaps one or more are out by just one quarter of a thou or more ?  If all three are out then the cumulated error might add up to a thousand's of an inch or more.
• Measuring the thickness of the shims, across their centre may be inaccurate ..if there is a crater rim around the valve stem indent.  
• Measuring the thickness of the shims may be inaccurate ..as the depth of the valve stem indent is also very difficult to accurately measure with home garage tools. 
• Measuring the thickness of any shim that has been sanded down or reground may be inaccurate ..if that reworked surface isn't exactly parallel to its back face. 
• 'Normal' oil film thickness, between the shim and the bucket has not been allowed for.  And then, if the new shim is put in dry.  

My thoughts on the matter are that 0.004" inlet and 0.006" exhaust tappet clearances are the very minimum.   If however they're half-a-thou or even two-thou more than the recommended .. then so what !   The engine will be heard to be tappety where double or more valve clearances are present (..as with this car), but I suspect very few owners could hear from 4ft away if a tappet clearance is just a thou too much.  And which of us can tell, in blind test, that one of these engines is a 3.4 or a 3.8, and which of those has 7;1 , 8;1 or 9;1 compression, &/or whether the upper timing chain has 3/8" slack or 7/16", or whether there's a just few thou more piston skirt clearance in the bore ..simply by listening ?  Someone who has worked on and listened to half a dozen or more 'good engines' would instantly know whether an engine is quiet, perhaps a little too quiet, or perhaps a little loose, but the rest of us are just talking..  Obviously just my opinion..and we all have one of those.!

Note ; There's easier access for cleaning up the rocker cover's gasket face ..before the camshaft goes back in.  This engine gasket face hadn't been properly cleaned of the gasket before last.  If bits of old gasket paper or a hard gaskets sealant are still on there - how can one expect to minimise oil seepage ?   

   

^ As I said previously...  "Somewhere I'd read about valve interference when building one of these engines, and the advice was ; to release each camshaft ..systematically easing their cap nuts looser until no valve spring is under compression.  I had done that ..releasing the exhaust valve's camshaft bearing caps to allow it to back away..  and the snagged #6 cylinder inlet valve slammed shut with one hella metallic clang."  And so now that the valve clearance shims had been measured and recorded, I could start putting things back together again.   

^^ The camshafts must go back in with the cut-out-notch in its front flange facing out ..so that the valve-timing-gauge fits on.  It's nigh on impossible to turn those camshafts, even just a little, once they are in and the valves are compressed. 

I use a 1/4" drive socket driver, with a long six-point socket (which fits over the rocker cover studs) to progressively tighten the camshaft down.  One of its cam lobes is face down pushing a valve open, and so when tightening the camshaft's bearing caps down, you need to take things a little at a time so as have the camshaft sit flat down into its bearings.  Using the socket driver (screwdriver handled) I turn half a turn at a time ..each of all the bearing caps.  I've read those camshaft bearings are easily damaged and so it's worth taking a few minutes to take the camshaft down smoothly and evenly.

   

^  there's also square edged load distribution plates under each nut (and a lock washer), and those plates need to be kept square.  If they are not - then you can tighten down on the corner of a plate which, with use, can settle into the softer aluminium of the bearing cap, with the result that the nut is not as tight as it should be.  ^^ The torque for those nuts is 15ft-lb.   

Again I progressively tightened them to 8ft-lb ..before going around one last time at 15ft.lb.  NB. I try where possible to do the last bit of torque tightening as an un-interrupted swing of the handle.  Otherwise I find that I've tighten to say 12ft-lb before having to turn the wrench back for more handle clearance / travel ..only to then find the torque-wrench immediately clicks, because the nut has already snagged on its threads.

   

^ Repeat of all the above .. removing, measuring and recording the exhaust valve's shim thicknesses, cleaning up the gasket faces, and then refitting the camshaft.   Note the rear end cap to the exhaust-side rocker cover didn't need to be removed. The camshaft's end nut fits loosely into it.

I'll break here and come back to the further reassembly in a while. 

Pete  

  

[High Jetter]

I can remember the mechanics at the dealer I worked for moaning about doing this on Jags and Rovers, glad you're able to sort it out.

[Bfg]

24th April - Carmen's Work In Progress - XK engine's Valve Timing . . .

With all the valve clearance shims measured and recorded, the rocker cover gasket faces cleaned up, and the refitting of the camshaft, the next task was to check the valve timing. As the upper timing chain was so loose beforehand, the valve timing appeared to be incorrect.  Stuart from the TR Register, who used to work on Jaguar engines tells me that some were deliberately adjusted slightly advanced (I think he said) to gain just a little more boost to performance ..for when an engine is singing.  I'll not need that for my use of this car, I'd just like it to be reliably correct and quieter. 

   

 ^ with the crankshaft at TDC., and the inlet camshaft at TDC, according to the valve timing gauge, and slack in the upper timing chain, I refitted the timing chain sprocket onto the end of the inlet camshaft and refit one of its bolts.    ^^ Likewise the exhaust camshaft was refitted using the timing gauge to set its position. 

   

^ Anyone who knows me, knows that I take the time to getting things as close to right as I can.  You can see here that the gauge's width position is set by the camshaft's diameter. and the level is set by the gasket face.  Rotating the camshaft - aligns its notch with the tool's peg.  That camshaft is now spot on for TDC valve timing with the upper timing chain and, via that train, to the crankshaft.   

Btw.   I was asked if my valve timing gauge / tool was an after market part ..because it's an odd colour.  I believe it to be an original tool, from a Daimler tool kit (Jaguar supplied them in black steel, with their standard tool kit, even though the Daimler V8 engine didn't use it) ..but it was covered with surface rust, so I cleaned it up and it's now painted with red oxide primer.   

    

^ Despite appearance the camshaft / timing chain sprockets and made in two parts - its centre plate and the toothed sprocket.  The centre plate has serrations around its perimeter, while the toothed sprocket has matching serrations around its inside.  The two bolt holes (four on later engines) in the centre plate are to align with the threaded holes in the end of the camshaft, while the sprocket's teeth are of course keyed to the timing chain, which in turn is linked to the sprocket on the crankshaft.  (..there's also a lower timing chain, but that simply conveys the indexing of the crankshaft sprocket to the bottom sprocket of the upper timing chain). 

To effect the valve timing ; the centre plate (and its camshaft bolt holes) is withdrawn and rotated relative to the sprocket.  The interlock of serrations both facilitate fine adjustment and secure rotational fixture of the inner and out parts of each sprocket.  The bolts clamp the centre plate and the sprocket longitudinally / securely to the camshaft. 

The valve timing is set after aligning the crankshaft and both camshafts to TDC.  The timing chain should be set to its correct tension.  ^ Remove the retaining circlip and withdraw the centre plate (pulling it forward) from the toothed sprocket to disengage the serrated plate from the serrated inner ring of the sprocket.  The plate can then be turned until its two holes align with those in camshaft.  Re-inserting that centre plate into the sprocket re-engages those serrations and locks the timing between camshaft and crankshaft. 

   

I don't know exactly what or how I did it ..but I needed to turn the crankshaft (with the sprocket engaged in the camshaft) to turn the exhaust camshaft ..to accurately align with the valve timing gauge / tool (ie., to set the camshaft to TDC.).  And when I climbed back under again to check the crankshaft's TDC - this is what I found...  It was 20 degrees off the mark  . . .  WTF.. !!

Thankfully my friend Rich had given me (aforementioned from the TR Register forum) Stuart's phone number.  I called him up, and he very kindly talked things through with me.  Again, it seems I had misinterpreted the workshop manual. I had it in my head that the timing chain's tension was to be loose when the sprockets were removed from the camshafts (WRONG) ..and then re-tensioned before setting the final valve timing (CORRECT).   I've subsequently checked in the manuals and I cannot now see where I'd read to slacken the timing chain.  Perhaps they'd said it in the YouTube video.  The manuals clearly and repeatedly say to set the chain to its correct tension and then to tap the sprocket off. 

Stuart strongly recommended that rather than turning the crankshaft back again, and risk valve interference (again) ;  I should slacken both the camshafts off (again) ..completely, to relieving the valve springs and close the valves   only then to turn the crank back to TDC .. and start again, but this time with the chain correctly tensioned. 

I did so.  Thereafter I decided the timing chain, as I'd set it, was just perhaps a tad too tight and so I slackened it off another tooth on the adjuster.  I say this only to illustrate that even with the chain a little too tight, the sprockets can still be removed and refitted (albeit with gently tapping, as suggested in the manuals) .. And there is no need to relieve the tension in the chain at all. 

How I got it so wrong.. I don't know, but it's knocked my confidence some.   Working on these engines is daunting enough, when you've never done it before, but how I misinterpreted the workshop manuals I really cannot explain.  That's not my dyslexia this is missing what was written and emphasised. 

        

^ After slackening off the camshaft bearing caps yet again ..to close all the valves, my reposition the crank back to TDC. and setting the timing chain's tension correctly, and the camshafts to TDC according to the valve timing gauge - I started again with the valve timing.  After withdrawing the sprocket's centre plate (one at a time) and turning it to align with the camshaft's bolt holes I finally reckoned the exhaust valve timing was about 3 degrees advanced, and the inlet valve timing ^^ about half of that.  I'd put in the first bolt into each camshaft, before then turning the engine back (anti-clockwise) to get to the otherwise inaccessible camshaft sprocket bolts.  But when I tried to put the second bolt into the inlet camshaft I found the centre plate was not sitting flat in the sprocket ..to engage with its serrations all the way around. 

The only way I could do this was to turn the engine forward again, undo that first bolt and then turn the central plate 180 degrees around to reverse the bolt holes.   I'd read to do this in the workshop manual ..but yet again I had misread it to read "turn the plate over".  I'd even discussed the matter, both with my friend Andrew who has a E-type, and with Stuart ..asking how on earth do you get the plate out, to turn it over   '..with difficulty but it can be done'.   In fact it's dead easy, withdraw the centre plate from the serrations in the sprocket ..and rotate it around until the other hole aligns.  With that done - it then went together beautifully. 

I checked the crankshaft timing yet again  ..which was my two hundreth press-up ..or so it seemed, to check its timing mark under the front of the engine.  And I checked again the chain tension. And I checked again that the valve timing tool now neatly and easily dropped over each camshaft.   Finally ! ..and I've only aged another ten years     

I know now.. when I come to replace the valve clearance shims, to have the timing chain correctly tensioned - and to not touch it again throughout removing and refitting of the camshafts.   And, in theory.. I should be able to remove and refit the camshafts without adjusting the valve timing at all.    

    

^ I couldn't find a recommended torque setting for the camshaft bolts so I used 30 ft.lb and again rewired them.   

^^ Valve clearance shims all measured and noted in readiness to order replacements.  Timing chain tension corrected.   Valve timing corrected.   Water pump replaced.   Engine block, radiator and heater matrix flushed of Fernox.   XJ6 fan found not to fit, so the original will go back on.   Rocker cover gasket faces cleaned. . . It's ready to go back together again. 

Pete 

[RayMK]

@Bfg I love the way you have sufficient confidence to tackle these tasks while learning on the way but not so confident that you abandon your careful, methodic approach, seeking advice where any doubt exists.  Your method effectively caught the misreading of the manual.  Undaunted, you went back several steps to rectify the situation.  Laborious, yes, but so much better than the much more common and potentially expensive 'wing and a prayer' approach.  I'm sure you will still check and recheck on completing the reassembly,  then  gently rotate the engine at least 360 degrees by hand maybe with the plugs out before eventually starting the engine (perhaps with some trepidation!).  A very nice car being made nicer.     

[Bfg]

25th April - Carmen's Work In Progress - Reassembly . . .

To recap, The timing chain's final adjustment is this..  With the crank turned clockwise (normal direction of rotation) the tightness in the upper timing chain is all on the exhaust valve side of the engine. Conversely the chain's slack is under the inlet camshaft's sprocket.  My prior experience with chains is mostly with motorcycles (both duplex primary and final drive chains). The primary (duplex) chains were slack to the vertical distance equivalent of one chain link ..as is shown above ^.   On the motorcycles ; the final drive chain was the equivalent the length of one link up plus one link downwards. 

Moving on .. you'll see that the gasket faces were cleaned and lightly coated with Wellseal.  I've used this product a lot and it's non-setting, but tacks off when exposed to the air for a few hours ..which in turn helps prevent it from squeezing out the sides.  This is what I've done here.  I came down in the morning, before even having a cuppa, and cleaned the gasket faces with carb / brake cleaner again, and then lightly painted these with the Wellseal, ready for my refitting the rocker covers later. 

Later on .. after a cuppa . . .

    

^ Even though the previous gasket hadn't been thoroughly cleaned off the cam cover's gasket face, the gasket itself had at least been replaced.  If it was to clean up okay, I was going to reuse it, at least until the new valve clearance shims were fitted in a couple of week's time.  This gasket although new had been goo'ed on with silicone or similar sealant ..and during fitting - beads had squeezed out inside the engine.   I've experienced this before, when I was professionally restoring Sunbeam motorcycles ..also with overhead camshaft, and had seen for myself a blocked oil-way to the camshaft ..which thereafter starved of oil was scrap.  Furthermore, the cylinder head had to go off to the machine shop to be sleeved for the camshaft plain bearings.  It was an expensive mistake ..to use such gasket goo.  

   

^ This, I pulled off just the inside edge of one rocker-cover gasket.    ^^ And this is what I pulled off both its inside and outside edges of that same (just one) rocker cover gasket.  Double that for two rocker cover gaskets, plus however much else has been used around the engine's timing case, sump, etc.,   

When a person tightens a gasket joint - the sealant will squeeze out, and that 'mechanic' cannot know if it has squeezed inwards or outwards, nor whether beads of this silicon-rubber might sometime become detached and be loosely pumped around the engine.   I cannot understand how anyone dares take the risk on what might only be thought of as 'an expensive bit of kit'.    But to say.. you never need to use such stuff in an engine, or gearbox, or overdrive - a non-setting jointing compound is always safer...  I'll leave it with you.

Camshaft back in and correctly torqued down, now for the other bits . . .

    

^ I pulled off the silicon sealant and replaced the damaged o-ring for the rev-counter drive. I'd also applied Wellseal around its face but only the bottom half of that bolts to the back end of the cylinder head. The rocker cover only touches / sits over the o-ring which I'd smeared with heavy grease.

    

^ I didn't have new copper washers to fit under the rocker cover's nuts, so for the time being I tempered the old ones with a blowtorch, to soften them for a better seal.  ^^ Again I cleaned up the gasket face with a fine scouring pad wet with brake cleaner - to help break down the chemical joint sealants and degrease it.  I also use a craft knife blade as a scraper ..but very sparingly. 

    

 ^  with so many nuts to do up, its quicker and easier to use the drill, set to a low torque setting.  Then I used the torque wrench set to 8 ft-lb before going around again at 15ft.lb. 

^^  I replaced the wrong / short studs which retained the crankcase breather vent for new longer one. These will work but are in fact a little too long. I wasn't sure what their length should be so ordered 1-5/8" whereas 1-1/2" would have been fine.   

     

^ I also fitted the correct crankcase breather gauze and gaskets (another job off my to-do list)    ^^ With the belt pulley and old cooling fan fitted to the new water pump, and alternator belt refitted .. I very carefully lowered radiator back into place. I don't know if it should be, but this one's a scraping fit between the front wings.   

^^ And while the front wing's cross brace was off, I replaced the bonnet latch spring with a much lighter-weight one.  I'm confident that it's strong enough to do its job, so why have a heavy / stiff pull on the release cable.? 

Carmen  back out in the sunshine .. with a big feline yawn   ..as I do a final engine-block flush and refit the hoses.  She's now refilled with Blue antifreeze.  

JOBS DONE  ..for the time being..  If I've bent a valve I couldn't tell when she restarted, or on the road.  I've only driven seven or eight miles and she starts and runs with lesser timing chain / water pump noise. Of course the tappet noise is still there ..and more clearly defined..  In due course, those tappet shims will be replaced and she'll be quieter still.  I'll also ask a friend with a lathe if he can make a fan centre to adapt the XJ6 fan to fit this engine's PCD bolt pattern.  It may add yet another tad of quietness.   Not that this car is anywhere near as quiet as Katie was on the road.  Carmen's tyre noise is paramount, but then there's also rear axle or rear wheel bearing to be dealt with.     

Still, we're moving in the right direction, and I've learnt a whole lot ..and the car is back on the road.   

Until next time, I bid you a very good evening,

Pete

 

 

[Bfg]

3 hours ago, RayMK said:

@Bfg I love the way you have sufficient confidence to tackle these tasks while learning on the way but not so confident that you abandon your careful, methodic approach, seeking advice where any doubt exists.  Your method effectively caught the misreading of the manual.  Undaunted, you went back several steps to rectify the situation.  Laborious, yes, but so much better than the much more common and potentially expensive 'wing and a prayer' approach.  I'm sure you will still check and recheck on completing the reassembly,  then  gently rotate the engine at least 360 degrees by hand maybe with the plugs out before eventually starting the engine (perhaps with some trepidation!).  A very nice car being made nicer.     

Thank you, high praise indeed ..probably beyond my deserve., But yes Ray I did check and then also twice turn the engine over, with the plugs out, with some delay inbetween, to bring the oil pressure up, before starting the engine.   

Trepidation ..you don't know the half of it !   I   Thankfully, I believe in a much greater power than me. 

Pete

[Bfg]

  

On 28/04/2026 at 15:46, Bfg said:

. .

     

^ The end of the valve stem is seen when the bucket and shim is removed.  ^^ Refit the correct shim into the recess in the valve-spring cap, and check that it cannot slip / be easily displaced sideways. The tappet bucket then sits over this. 

Tappet Shims ;  The diameter of the shims on this car are 0.680" = 11/16" = 17.27mm, and they sit (sideways locate) in the recess in the valve-spring cap. The diameter of these shims isn't a critical dimension, but how much slack is too much, after all the shim is sandwiched-flat between the valve stem and the cam follower bucket. 

I wonder what diameter the shims used in the Triumph Stag are.? 

Asking a Hillman Imp specialist engine rebuilder - Reg Patten, and he advises that those he uses for the Imp engine (which he says are the same as for Lotus) are +/- 0.625" in diameter (15.875mm).  

I wouldn't have thought so, but if I were to use these ..is their being slightly less than 1/16" (1.4mm) smaller in diameter, going to make any real difference ?   ...apart from in their price ?  £17.50 each from Moss, versus £2.50+VAT each from QED Motorsport. 

QED motorsport say of theirs ; Suitable for: Lotus Twin Cam, Lotus 900 Series. Diameter between 0.610″ and 0.630″

I have otherwise read that shims are now made to be 0.610" in diameter so they fit a wider variety of engine ..including  these old Jags, but then I've also read that the shims used with the Triumph Stag and the TR7 also fit, but according to Robsport - they're too large in diameter. 

So back to my previous question ;  Is being about 1/16" (1.4mm) smaller in diameter going to make any real difference ?  

Thanks, Pete

 

 

 

[Homersimpson]

I had an issue with a 1966 S-Type 3.8 where I needed thicker shims than available and used some others (possibly from an SD1) and it was always a bit noisy.

Unless you cant get shims in the required thickness I would just use the standard Jag ones.

[Bfg]

May 2nd & 3rd - Carmen's Work In Progress - rear Brakes . . .

Taking a break from engine rattles. . . a long overdue task on the list was to try and improve the brakes.  Although this car's main brakes worked very well ..with discs all around and a brake servo - they were slow to release after braking to a junction. This then necessitated more revs and clutch play when you wanted to pull away smartly. 

A car which free-rolls is something that many newer car owners take for granted, but with these older classics it's worth checking their free-roll (declutching and rolling along a flat road) to assess whether the car's brakes are binding just a little ..even if only for five seconds longer than they should after being released.  Not only are performance and fuel economy compromised but driving is actually harder work.  Judging by the variances in fuel mileages and feedback regarding driving experience ; I have to wonder if many an owner just assume there's friction in the gearbox, drivetrain, differential and rear axle ..and so that how things are. Whereas their car's brake pads (or brake shoes) and/or handbrake are also dragging slightly.?  

I suspected this car's brake lag was due to the vacuum pipe, between the servo and its reservoir, internally collapsing (..sucked in by the servo's vacuum).  I had this with Burble's (my Daimler 250 saloon) brakes.  I inserted a stent (tube inside that pipe) to prevent that from collapsing ..which sorted it out.   I tried the same last week on Carmen's vacuum pipe, but I'm not sure it made any, or much, difference.  Certainly it didn't cure the problem, but then this car's pipe between this servo and its reservoir is in three parts ; rubber +copper pipe + rubber, and I could only get to one of the rubber pieces.   

I also needed to address this car's poor handbrake ..and that would be at the rear discs.  So, before going any further, along the 'investigate-the-servo' route, I took the opportunity to delve-in under the arches.. I had other jobs to do while under there anyway, which I'll talk about later. 

 

^ Working environment, is outside the garage, amidst other people's garages and parked cars, so what-ever I do has to be respectful of their access, not too filthy, as well as putting the car away at night. 

    

^  First thing to check when buying into someone else's disc-brake work is that the brake callipers are evenly spaced to the disc. ie., the gap between the calliper bridge is the same on either side of the disc.  I could see that this was not ..it was a little too far outboard.   What the dimension was is not important, it's the difference in gap that needed to be known.  I used a stack of feeler gauges down the wide gap, and then tried the same on the other side of the disc.  The same feeler gauges only fitted, in the tighter side, without the 0.023" blade. So, the calliper is sitting half-that-thickness off-centre  .. ie., to one side by  0.023" / 2 = eleven or twelve thou".   

The caliper bridge is bolted to the axle's hub flange and needed spacing out (under it's bolt fastening) by that eleven or twelve thou"  ..which would move the caliper inboard by that amount and centralise it . . . 

   

^ I didn't have shimming washers to fit this bolt size, so I quickly made a couple from the lid of a tin, whose steel is 0.009" thick.  I would have preferred 0.011" thick but centralising the calliper within 0.002" will, I'm sure, be fine.  I left the one side with a tab extended ..for easier handling / fitting inbetween the hub flange and the caliper bridge (with the bolts through them). 

   

^ Removal of the brake pads revealed they were not many miles ago new, but already one of the back plates had come off.  It can happen when monkey-mechanics try and lever the pad out ..levering against that backing plate.  The surface rust on this suggests it had become detached some time ago. 

The Jaguar's caliper pistons have a flat-headed pin (like the broad head of a nail) which engages in the slot of that plate, which serves to withdraw the pad off the disc by a few thou" when the brake pedal is released.  Of course when the back-plate becomes detached - the brake pad's friction material is not withdrawn and its free to rub, perhaps even rattle / vibrate against disc.   

JB Weld  is simply an epoxy adhesive, and epoxy is pretty good at dealing with heat, and so after linishing the face of the steel backing plate, both to thoroughly clean it back to bare metal, and to add a little key to the surface bond, and doing the same with the friction material, within its horse-shoe like recess, I simply bonded the two pieces back together again.  Epoxy resin typically takes 24 hours to cure, at normal room temperature, and so I used a fan heater (very close but on its low setting) to accelerate the initial cure (so it could be handled carefully) and then, although refitted, I didn't drive the car for another 24 hours. 

The other pad's backing plate was still attached, but having moved the caliper closer to the disc by just 0.009", the pad was then too tight to withdraw from the caliper.  I had this before, on several cars, when new (thick) pads have been fitted ..the piston cannot retract deep enough into the caliper.  And so the brake pad is not withdrawn clear of the disc. This was the case here and so the caliper was unbolted from the carrier bridge ..to enable the removal of the pad.  I could then use the angle grinder's linisher to remove a mm off the pad's thickness.  That was enough, and it now works fine. 

A good thing about these old calipers is that they are bolted to the carrier bridge, but their brake fluid pipes are external ..meaning they can be removed from the carrier bridge without then needing to re-bleed the brakes.  Conversely, many modern callipers combine the caliper and the bridge, and have internal fluid routes.. so when you remove / split the bridge they do need re-bleeding.   

As with everything else on this car ; each of the bolts were fitted dry, and although the car has been most unused for many years, those bolts and the holes were corroded.  Not enough to warrant their replacement but enough to make every one a chore to undo.   They were all cleaned (power wire brush on the bolts) and put back together with Copaslip. Excess Copaslip was wiped away after they were tight and each bolt head was liberally painted over, to help seal the moisture out.  Like much of what I do, it takes a few minutes longer, but in the long term ownership it saves hassle in the future and the cost of replacement parts (which might have otherwise corroded and seized together).        

     

^ Handbrake mechanism on these Jaguars is very similar to the later ones (..as fitted to Burble, which was a 1968 car).  The main difference is that the later brake had a spring and ratchet arrangement for automatic adjustment, to take up wear, whereas this simply has a screw adjuster.   They work like pincers, hinged on through-pins at the top, and a high ratio pull-lever acting at the bottom (adjacent to the brake-pads) draws the offside pincer to the inboard one.   When the handbrake is released, the fork-tong spring, held in place at the top opens up to lift the pads off the disc.  It's very simple and, when in good order and lubricated, they can work very well indeed.   The issue with this car, was again .. lack of lubrication.  

   

You'll have noted previously that there's oil down the inboard pincer arm. It's not from a leaking bearing hub, but is where I'd tried to externally lubricate this mechanism from underneath the car. That attempt / the oil had been partly successful, but still the mechanism needed to be dismantle to lubricate the hinge pins and ^ the spring at the bottom ..within what looks to be a square box with the adjuster screw going into it.   That adjuster screw goes into a square nut, and behind that nut is a small but stiff spring. The nut has to slide (within the carrier) ..to ease the pinchers apart again when the handbrake is released, but it was hardly moving.  Perhaps I should have pulled it all apart, to clean out the crud ..but brushing oil in there and working it back n' forth freed the spring and the nut up sufficiently.  I then squeezed grease into it, for longer term lubrication.  

Clearly owner's / mechanics are (overly) wary of applying oil and grease around brakes and their friction material, but I've found mechanical parts which are supposed to move ..need lubrication ..both to prevent their seizing and limited length of travel (through corrosion and/or crud), and to facilitate a smooth action.  You just have to be careful not to have floods / runs of oil, or blobs of grease that can get onto the friction material or steel disc, and if it does then you simply need to clean them off again with brake / carb cleaner and a paper towel.

   

^ reassembly, and before those hinge pins are all the way in - the fork tong spring needs to be adjusted (bent with pliers).  Firstly, as seen from the side ; the ends of the spring should be bent to go squarely into the holes in the pincers.  And then from the end, with the pads are against the disc, ^^ the sprung forks need to be bent so as to be half a hole-width wider than the closed pincer's holes.   When the brake pads are eased away the prong spring is fitted which holds the pads away from the disc by about 1/16" (1mm) on either side.  The adjuster screw is then wound in .. just enough to allow the disc to turn freely by hand.  That's now correct and the hinge pins (which have been lubricated) can be tightened and their locking tabs bent to secure them. 

On either side, there may only be only a few thou" clearance between the pads and disc, but it's not dragging.  I lubricated the handbrake cable's return spring (I liberally paint over such things with clean gearbox oil, which is more viscous and feels more slippery than engine oil)  ..which takes up any slack in the cable outer and then again readjusted the cable under the car, where it connects to the handbrake lever. I sought to achieve just a little working slackness but not too loose. Close tolerances are important for short travel at the handbrake lever, as for the foot brake. After all the adjustments, the brake's disc can still be freely turned by hand, with the resistance only within the axle, diff and drive train. 

   

Before I put the wheel back on, I power wire brushed the surface rust off the inside of disc and gave it a quick coat of paint.  I did this because I don't like rust. Only later did I realise that you can see through wire-spoked wheels, so it brightens things up too.   NB. the plastic bag (held on by elastic) is just to cover the greased wire-wheel-splines, while I'm working under the wheel arch.  

- - -

That part of the job was done, on this side of the car, but while under there I wanted to check and possibly adjust the Koni shock absorber. 

      

^ While under there - its worth keeping your eyes open for other potential issues.  In this case the exhaust pipe with how much +/- from the damper.?   Yes, the damper does go vertically upwards when the car's back on the ground, but the exhaust is on rubber blocks and can wobble and possibly clonk. And similarly the axle is on springs, which are rubber bushed and it too can move sideways around a corner.  It's easy enough to sort out ..rather than be annoyed by an illusive clonk 'from somewhere under the back of the car, around left handers'.

^^ the bottom mount for the shock absorber, was caked in rust, so I'd painted it a week ago, with oil, in the hope that its split-pin might actually come out, rather than break off inside the hole.  Withe the rubber compression of the damper mount making things awkward (what with my only having two hands), I had to use grips to squeeze the washer in, and amazingly that pin did come out easily enough. 

 

 

         

^ Koni absorbers are made with one of three different means of adjustment, Their 'Classic'  is adjustable on the car, but you need to release the bottom mounting first.  ^^ Then you push the bottom of the damper all the way upwards and feel to engage internal teeth.  Once engaged you can turn the damper's internal valve for a firmer or softer rebound.   

I wound the damper screw all the way in (turning the bottom half clockwise) and counted just half-a-turn.  Still pushing upwards, to keep those teeth engaged, I turned it anti-clockwise a little more than three-and-a-half turns - where it stopped.  This damper was close to being on its firmest setting ..which is what I had hoped / suspected from the car's ride being jolting.! 

    

^ I turned the bottom half of the damper all but a quarter-of-a-turn anti-clockwise, to lessen its damping action, and after de-rusting the thick washer, refitted its bottom bush onto the pin.  Squeezing again the washer against the rubber bush with grips, I managed to get a straighter pin back in.  Another JOB DONE ..on this side of the car.        

Again before refitting the wheel, I painted copious amounts of oil into the rear leaf spring.. I'd done it before from under the car, but having the wheel off allowed easier access to do the outside of the spring behind the brake.  Sometime, I'll get spring covers to help keep the lubrication in and the dirt n' wet out.  The car cannot ride smoothly on its suspension, if the leaf springs are full of grit and rust, nor quietly if running dry metal on metal.    

- - -

Repeat on the near-side rear brake, handbrake and damper, 

    

^ the nearside brake caliper was already centralised to the disc, but once again.. one of the pads was too thick and it needed to be taken down a mm before it released fully.  The handbrake mechanism hinge pins were tightly locked in with crud or corrosion and literally had to be prised out.  After cleaning up, lubricating, refitting while adjusting .. it all went back together again, and the bolts then sealed with a coat of silver paint.  The handbrake cable underneath was similarly lubricated and adjusted ..with the disc now being free enough to turn by hand. Likewise the leaf spring was brushed with oil from underneath and from its outside. 

The bottom split pin, securing this side's Koni damper, finally cam out in five pieces.  Better not re-use that one !  And the damper was found to be already on its least firm setting. I matched the number of turns to the offside and put it back on.  

3-1/4 hours work condensed into eight sentences.!

- - -

I mentioned before about observing other things that might need attention or be kept an eye on. Here are a few examples ;

    

^ 1. Body to chassis mounts ;  This one is under the offside rear wheel-arch. That under the offside front wing has its shims similarly half in half out.  I'll not do that for the time being but they all ought to be investigated and corrected. 

^^ 2. Interference fit / chafing / scraping ; this being the nearside rear leaf spring rubbing on the chassis. The chassis there is double thick and the wear is possibly just 1/32" deep, so not critical at the moment.  I've slapped grease over it for the time being, but without dropping the spring, to reverse the bolt through the spring shackle, there not much else I can do.  Job for winter workshop time perhaps,

     

^ 3. Fuel tanks sender & its wiring exposed - under the NS wheel-arch.  This really ought to have a water tight cover over it.  Another task for the job list.  In the meantime, I wire brushed it off, liberally coated it in red-oxide primer, smeared Vaseline all over and around the wiring connections, and then painted it glossy black.  I'll make a cover for it sometime that can be glued to the side of the tank.

      

^ 4. Corrosion of Brake pipe connections. Likewise clutch and fuel pipe connections. and all the clamps that secure those pipes front, rear and at the master cylinders.  They're something that needed to be addressed when first fitted. I always use Copaslip on the threads and then paint over the tightened connection to seal it from moisture.   However now that they are fitted and already starting to corrode - as I work within reach of them ;  I'm either cleaning them up (wire wool works well) and painting over, or coating with oil or grease for attention later. 

And that's about it for today, I've noted surface rust / lack of paint / l;ack of wax injection within the chassis, which will be a lot more under the car, dirt in my face tasks for another day. 

Around the block test drive suggested the rear brakes are now not binding after being applied, which makes the car easier to drive smoothly when negotiating junctions.  The clutch pedal's long travel doesn't help, but we are moving in the right direction.  The handbrake now works and actually retards the car from 30mph (albeit slowly).  I know it can (and will ! ) be better, but that's from inside the car, where it has not been correctly mounted, or has sufficient clearance.   The rear suspension damping I couldn't really assess in suburban streets, but just possibly she does ride just a little smoother and quieter  ..which means I can hear the engine's tappets more clearly now 

They're all little steps in the right direction, both to be a nicer car to drive and towards reliability and longevity. 

The job list though doesn't seem to get any shorter though.

I bid you a very good day. 

Pete 

 

 

 

  

[Bfg]

4th May - Coffee and Classics at Needham Market  

   

 

    

Overcast but the weather stayed dry, there must have been over two hundred cars and a modest number of auto-jumbler stalls.  Eric came along in his Rover P6 V8, Dave who I went to Rickenshall with a few weeks ago was in his GT6, Martin was there in his beautiful blue Daimler 2-11/2, and my friend Andrew (who bought a Sunbeam S8 off of me years ago) came with his good lady friend. He has an E-type and lent me the valve timing tool to help me set my own engine up, and so we spent a good time looking at a visitor's gun-metal grey E-type.   

   

The gentleman had spent just 14 months restoring the car, to immaculate condition, including he doing his own preparation and paint (superb workmanship inside outside, under the bonnet and under the car too), but he also admits to spending nigh on twice the value of my XK150 on parts and consumables !  He's subsequently used the car for a 3000 mile tour of France and the Le Mans Classic.  

Andrew had hearm my engine run before I changed the water pump and adjusted the timing, and commented on how much better it sounded. His lady friend whose been around old cars all her life, likewise thought she sounded good ..that was until we asked the owner of this E-type (4.2 with long duration cams) to start his engine. which in comparison to mine purred.  Only then could she understand why I still felt the need to do more, correct the tappet clearance, etc.    That chaps was really down to earth to talk with but his car was up there with the best. 

    

I also had a chat with the owner of this Auto-Union, not least because my Dad had one when we lived in Nairobi, East Africa.  I was 10 years old when we came back in 1966, and I remember driving in that car to the beach at Mombasa, along a very long red dirt road.  As it turns out the car here also came from Nairobi. Apparently they were very common there as the, according to the chap who owns this car, the principle behind Auto-Union was Jewish, and they split off from DKW Germany for obvious reasons.  I'll have to look into that tidbit of history sometime. 

The Mk10 Jaguars, I love.  I wanted a Mk9 and nearly bought one before I had the Daimler, but for the fact I had nowhere to garage it.  The Mk10 is I think just a little bigger.  The old Fergi was ploughing the sunflower field. Steadily working back and forth it made a pleasantly relaxing petrol head sound. 

   

Graham is a classic Vauxhall man, he has a few and I suspect is an authority on them. He used to work for Catamole's Garage in Ipswich, which I used from my car's MoTs. Sadly that garage has now gone too.   The Opel Manta SR is in total contrast, but I've always thought they were really nice looking cars and an all round practical motor. I reckon I could be happy with one as a daily driver. 

    

^ very tidy indeed, if not necessarily to my taste, I'm sure it would look right at a race circuit.  Reaching to work on that engine would I'm sure pull my back.  Again a beautifully presented car. 

I'll leave it there, plenty more photos of all the cars on Facebook - Coffee and Classics group. 

I'm pleased to report that Carmen, after I'd spend quite a few hours over the weekend adjusting her brakes and rear shocks, rode better than she's done to date.  Smoother to drive, and a smoother and perhaps slightly quieter ride around the town and smaller country lanes.  There's still a long way to go, but she's getting there.   

Pete

[lesapandre]

A Vauxhall there for @eddyramrod

[Bfg]

7th May - Carmen - Work In Progress

Slow progress this week, but the tappet shims have been ordered, and I attended the local TSSC meeting at the Sorrel Horse, Barham on Tuesday evening. . .

   

    

  

Justine took the photo, and a few others were absent without excuse  so not quite a full house, but still a pretty good turnout.  There were also couple of other Triumphs as well, Brian's Spit-6 and a very nice Vitesse, but they parked at the front and I omitted to take their piccies.

- - -

Work In Progress this week was ; back to the brakes ..as they are still a little slow to release. Albeit far better than they were, but still not right, so this week I looked at the other vacuum pipe to the servo tank / reservoir, and also checked the front brakes weren't dragging. . .   

    

^ a prior owner had crudely cut these square holes, through the inner wing .. I presume to fit air intake rams for triple carburettors ..the file of receipts suggest he once tried.  Inside the rear-most hole is the servo's vacuum tank / reservoir.   

^^ The furthest pipe is part of the vacuum tube between this tank and the servo unit.  Still hoping the brakes not releasing immediately was simply the pipe collapsing.. I wanted to replace or else fit a stent up it.  You can just about see the underside of the jubilee-clip holding that pipe on to the tank - which is impossible to get to, without pulling a whole lot of very-awkward-to-get-at things apart.   

    

^ Looking at the problem from another perspective ( literally ) prompted the solution.  Jaguar provide an access panel, behind each wheel-arch. On one side there's the battery, on the other side there's the brake and clutch master cylinders, and the brake servo.   ^^ Looking up into that void there are the bolts for the vacuum tank (the Copaslip is my trying to curb corrosion)  ..and the other end of that vacuum tube.. the one I couldn't access from above.  It appeared to be in sound condition but, just in case it was collapsing further around the corner, I wanted to insert a stent. 

        

^ I undid the bottom jubilee clip and pulled the copper pipe down / off, and poked a piece of plastic pipe up inside the rubber hose until it hit the top end.  Marked to the bottom.  Deducted the length the copper pipe pushes in, and that's where I cut this tube.  It's a smaller diameter but for air movement that's not a biggie. Importantly its walls are too stiff to collapse.  Job Done. 

^^  on the top of the servo is the control valve which, actuated by brake fluid pressure, closes or releases the vacuum behind the servo's diaphragm.  On Burble, my Daimler, the valve had a steel pin which was rusty and binding.  Freeing that off sorted the servo's binding on.  Taking the cap off this one ; I found the valve to be plastic and free to move as it should.  The cap includes a spring and an air intake filter. Each were good to go and so they were clipped back into place. 

All in all.., I don't think there's a problem here, but I recall reading that some servos have an adjustable activating pin inside, which if not correctly adjusted can cause issues. I seem to remember that was for servos fitted onto the end of the master cylinder ..rather than the remote ones like this, but I'll dig out my books and check.   

_ _ _

Moving on. . .

       

^ Carmen's front brakes were upgraded to Coopercraft 4-pot front carriers in 2016, and the disc was clearly free of drag.  The pads are now probably a 1000 miles old and no attention appeared necessary. so I turned my attentions to the Koni adjustable front dampers ^^   The bottom split pin didn't want to come out and the rubber bush is perished.  I'll add those items to my job list ..but for today I just want to check the shock-absorbers adjustment and move on. . . 

    

^ Although the bottom didn't want to come apart I could work from the top.  I'd like to celebrate this photo ..as it is the first bolt I've yet come across on this car that was NOT put together dry.  Well done that anonymous mechanic.  May you be rewarded in heaven ..when the time comes, because unlike all the rest that one bolt came out with ease. 

^^ The means of shock-absorber adjustment is the same as previously described, close the damper until the peg engages Turn clockwise to stiffen the ride and anti-clockwise to ease it.  This damper was adjusted to its mid-position ..a little more than 1-1/2 turns out of 3-1/2 turns lock-to-lock (..so to speak).  I've now set it to the softest adjustment.  The NS front damper was already on its least stiff adjustment.      

   

^ With the wheels off I took the opportunity to clean and inspect the taper surface.  My concern here was that when I bought the car, the front near-side wheel was loose on its splines, and last week I happened to feel while driving, and then checked to find the front offside wheel was a little loose.  I'm pretty particular that wheels ought to be tight, but the spinner not hammered so much that its then impossible to change a wheel at the side of the road.  I carry the same lump hammer and block of hardwood in the car as I use when working in the garage,  This (offside front) taper shows rust pitting, whereas the nearside is shiny and smooth.   I'll send the photo to MWS (the manufacturer) and discuss the matter with them. 

That's it for today..  Servo's pipe is stented. Its control valve checked and found to be good. Front brakes checked and found to be good and not binding.  Front Shock absorbers are now adjusted to be the same and are on their softest setting ..which is now the same as the rears. Wheels and hubs checked. Various other bits and bobs under the front wheel-arches cleaned off, painted &/or lubricated to curb corrosion. 

If I keep on like this I'll run out of jobs to do ... in my dreams    

Bidding you a good evening and a pleasant weekend. 

Pete

   

[Bfg]

9th May - Carmen's continuing Work in Progress . . .

       

^ as bought the interior looks very nice, albeit with non-standard wooden dashboard, the radio, additional minor instruments, and the box over the gearbox tunnel.  What the picture don't really show is that the handbrake lever's travel is limited by that  box.   ^^ this is as far down the lever would go, because the box is in the way. 

Although beautifully trimmed in leather .. I don't like the box. It's an incongruity, an intrusion among the curves of the interior ..and also because it looks like something from a kit car. When you look at that, you might reasonably wonder if there's a Pinto engine under the bonnet.     I wasn't going to touch it for the time being.  After all - ripping apart an attractive leather interior is a drastic move.. but because of the limited release of handbrake and their still not being as good as they might be - I felt the need to tackle it now. 

        

^ That box wasn't going to come out with the dashboard, gear-change-lever and handbrake in place, but with the dashboard facia out of the way I managed to twist it out.   

     

^ "the quality in craftsmanship is more than skin deep" - whereas economy prevails in places that are out of sight.   As someone who lives at the muddy end of the financial ladder I can understand the need, especially when paying for a professional service.  I'm not sure it really matters ..but it would have to me.   ^^ Getting to handbrake lever's mechanism revealed its warning light was adjusted to suit the lever resting on the box.  The brackets for that switch are home made, but gaining every thread of adjustment did improved matters ..but not enough. . .

    

^ I don't know how the brake light warning bracket is supposed to be fitted but this one uses two pins. The larger pin is to the drop link, which goes down to the brake cables which run along the chassis. The second pin only serves to hold this bracket in place.  Unfortunately that smaller pin limited the handbrake lever's travel.  ^^ with it removed - the lever rested just above the carpet.  I marked the ratchet with the new range of travel.    

   

^ Comparing the marks from where the handbrake lever's lowest position with and without the pin showed three teeth / clicks on the ratchet.  That's a big percentage of its intended travel, and so the easiest way to 'fix' things was to ^^ modify the ratchet quadrant, to allow the pin (seen here beside the newly cut slot ) to swing lower.   That worked. 

    

^ some may recall my frustration, in a previous post, when I could not get the pin through the handbrake mechanism's drop-link bracket's ..through its adjustment upper hole 

^^ shows how close it was ..in the hole but not through it.  With it removed from the car, the hole was easy to drilled out to take the pin.   

    

^ the handbrake warning light switch limits the lower range of lever movement, but its now lower starting position gives the lever a greater range between off and on.  Mostly it'll be hardly noticeable, but when the cables are adjusted - those additional three extra clicks in travel will help lock the handbrake on.

Of course, the box cannot go back in ..because that also limited the lever's travel.  Neither can the handbrake mechanism remain exposed, next to the passenger seat, and so ..as I didn't like it anyway, I (carefully) pulled it apart. . .

    

    

^ the car's interior is trashed but for the time being, the leather is usable as a temporary gearbox cover until I buy new carpets to the original design patten. 

- - -

While ripping the interior apart . . .

   

^ the speedo had stopped working.  Even though its odometer was recording fine - the needle was bouncing all over the place ..rather noisily, and stopping at random speeds, and spinning around to click against the wrong side of the needle stop.  It had to come out to be repaired.  ^^ The replacement I fitted is very lightweight, but even less accurate, and not a very good match ..even to the magnolia minor instruments, but at least the ignition and main beam warning lamps are still functioning.  

- - -

Moving onwards and upwards to . . .

     

^  the next task is to replace these ..Williams SuperSport 4x3 Black seatbelts ( ECE R16 approved 3 point harness) for inertia reel types.  

The p[air of Williams harness are For Sale - if anyone is interested. According to the file + MoT records + my own recorded mileage they've not covered a thousand miles. So ; as new condition - Never been raced nor rolled ! 

Pete

 

 

[Bfg]

  

12th May - Carmen's continuing Work in Progress - Inertia Reel Seat Belts . . .

12 hours ago, Bfg said:

Moving onwards and upwards to . . .

     

^  the next task is to replace these ..Williams SuperSport 4x3 Black seatbelts ( ECE R16 approved 3 point harness) for inertia reel types.  

The p[air of Williams harness are For Sale - if anyone is interested. According to the file + MoT records + my own recorded mileage they've not covered a thousand miles. So ; as new condition - Never been raced nor rolled ! 

^ The new-to-me seat belts were bought via ebay, and were said to previously have been fitted in an E-type.  I didn't know how well they'd fit ..but that would apply to any I'd bought because the XK150 wasn't, as far as I know, factory fitted with them.   However, the box of files shows ; Derek Watson Jaguar specialist - invoice from 1996 which in included converting from Left to Right hand drive also says "Additional tasks included fitting the radio and speakers, and removing the existing seatbelts and fitting inertia-reels."  which suggest that were previous seat belts, of some kind, and that there were probably holes for mounting the inertia reels.  

    

^ Those on the top of the rear wheel arches were obvious ..as they still had seatbelt bolts through them, so their fitting was quick and easy ..although I was later to take them out again  because I didn't like the idea of those bolt going through a crushable sandwich filling of wood.  ^^ I removed the trim and enlarged the hole through the timber and replaced that with a steel spacer. Then I could tighten the bolts firmly.   I'd also used 2-1/4" (60mm) square backing plates for the wheel-arch side of the bolt ..as the previously-fitted washer was just an inch in diameter.   Arguably my collar bone couldn't pull a 1" washer through the steel plate of the wheelarch, but still, for piece of mind - I like seatbelt mountings to be secure beyond question. 

 

     

^ The outboard bottom seatbelt mount couldn't go into the sill, because these cars don't have one.  I could have drilled a hole through the floor besides the seat, but the Williams seatbelt was behind the seat in the kick up to the rear seat / luggage space. So I simply reused those, again adding big and thick backing plates.  

The mounting for the inertia reel was a compromise, insomuch as I didn't want to mount them too high and yet the chassis steps up over the rear axle as a slope, so they couldn't go all the way down.  There had been holes previously that had subsequently been welded closed, so I was free to choose.   These are slightly off the vertical ..as can be seen ^^ when the belt's run is compared to the door shut, but it is close enough to work smoothly. 

The strap doesn't recoil fully at the moment because the fully wound drum is rubbing on the carpet trim.  I'll give it a while to smooth off / settle down and, it proves annoying, then I'll just have to space the drum away from the wheelarch by an eight of an inch.

^ Under the wheel arch you can see the backing plates of these two seat belt mounts. Those plates were cleaned up and painted before fitting, the drilled holes were painted, and then after fitting they were doused in 1k primer again.  At a later date - I'll probably stitch weld these backing plates on. 

    

^ the positioning of the inboard seat belt mountings were restricted by the short length of its strap before the buckle.   I wanted the buckle to sit on the lap and not against a hip and so I estimated the position and compared that to where there are holes through the tunnel, from where the seat belts were previously fitted. ^^ The spike of the small screw driver blade marks that spot.  It was too far back and on too curved a surface for my liking. Second photo shows the chosen position, which is square to the seat's bolt hole and 3/4" (19m) upwards. The steel floor folds up 2" inside the tunnel and so, just there, the steel is double thick.

    

^ Yep, that'll work for me, another pair of big backing plates and we have the four seat-belt mounts in.   The box has been discarded and so you're only seeing its leather over the gearbox tunnel.  ^^ I've left the carpets out for the time being as I'm still playing around with seat positions and the tilt of the seats, and I'll be replacing the felt underlay for closed cell rubber.  I think I'd also prefer them to be cut in half and edge trimmed  ..so the footwell carpets can easily be removed for cleaning, rather than they being bolted down under the seat runners.  mind you I've not finally decided on that point because I also like the clean lines of continuous front-to-back carpets.   

Inertia Seat Belts - Job done, and (for two minutes) the car was back together again. 

- - -

But another little annoyance / minor job was to 'fix' the latches to the boot space hatch. . .

        

^ The hatch is an opening into the boot, said to have been to facilitate carrying long items like golf clubs. On the roadster the hatch is noticeably taller and more useful, but the Fixed Head Coupe has a parcel shelf above it.  I don't know, but I suspect, the reasoning is to make it the same in production as the Drop Head Saloon, when the structure across the back was deemed necessary for concealed boot's hinges, as was the shelf to fold the hood down onto.

On this car, one of the latches was really difficult to operate, and even then it would open itself,  and on the other side the latch didn't work at all.   I pulled them off and found them to be a simple slider bolt, but with a sprung ball which should have stepped into one of two indents in the backing place.  As with most everything on this car it had been fitted dry. There were also a burred edge around the indents.. Removing the ball bearing and greasing the spring inside, filing off those indent burrs and applying a smear of grease along the underside of the slider bolt, sorted them out.  That on the nearside still didn't lock because the leather-trimmed parcel shelf was holding it away from closing fully ..so the catch didn't reach back to the fitting on the inside face of wheel-arch.  Lifting the parcel shelf up, to clear the hatch door, sorted the issue, but the way the parcel shelf was fitted is a bit of a mess.  It's not urgent so just another job on the list.   For the time, all I needed to do - was to keep the boot space (and noise from within it) closed off. 

I removed one of the Williams upper seat bely mounting ring, but was left with a deep indent and hole through the trim, and through to the rear axle space, so I refitted it and it'll stay there ..pretending to be a tie-down ring (also useful .. should I ever get another dog).  

More Jobs done.  The interior is now a mess, needing professional carpet work, but it can wait until I get around to reworking the wooden facia. 

I have plenty of other tasks to get on with in the meantime, but I'm feeling a little close to burnt-out ..after three months of almost continuously working on the car.  I'd like to get the tappet clearances close to being correct (when the new shims arrive). And then I think I'll take a break. 

I bid you a pleasant good evening. 

Pete