Paint it black

As I had some spare time left yesterday afternoon I decided to do a little cosmetic improvement. Both door window styles showed paint erosion. It's only visible from short distance but it's unnecessary patina in my opinion which can be easily upgraded:

I did not sand it beforehand but cleaned it thoroughly with thinner which even removed some more black paint. Then using scotch paint tape and old newspapers to cover off the other parts. I still had a spraycan of black matte paint. The job was done fairly quickly. And this was a money free upgrade for once. Unfortunately two small drips in the paint work, sigh. So I need to redo that next week as I still have the other door to do. To give an impression of both sides before and after. Click the picture to enlarge.

                                                                           Before

After

U-Joints propshaft replacement attempt - Part Two

Today I made another attempt to replace the u-joints as per previous blog:

http://erwinxjs.blogspot.nl/2017/04/u-joints-propshaft-replacement-attempt.html

I rented a carlift at a DIY garage very nearby to take care of this job

Again I was too optimistic as it turned out I had to dismantle the automatic gearbox mounting bracket. Meaning I also had to remove the exhaust etc. So I figured this is a job that's going to take up to much time and I don't want to rush it. So I now have made my mind up and will go ahead and order a carlift for myself.

In any case, I now had again a closer look underneath the car and checked the propshaft. I could feel only a very slight movement and now I'm still in doubt if it's the u-joint. But if not, then I consider it preventative maintenance and I can rule it out as a potential problem (for a very long time).  The backside is very accessible but it's the front that isn't.

I only spotted this afterwards at home when looking at the pictures. The first picture below is made with camera lighting. And you can see clearly it does have a fairly new single brakepad (shiny black). It's on the right side of the car, exactly where I sense the vibrations are coming from. I suspect this one must also have rusty pistons. I now think it's a combined issue of both U-joint (I suspect the front u-joint) and the right rear caliper that needs overhauling (or in fact both will require this).

I was hoping by removing the first cover plate I easily could access the front propshaft but that seems to be hidden under the gearbox mounting cover. This also requires to have the exhaust to be removed. I noticed two tiny holes in each of them (so I'm surprised it passed the MOT). And as can be seen they are quite rusty and also the silencers look and feel slightly poor. So perhaps have that replaced by new stainless steel ones. But first I need to have the propshafts fixed before moving on to other jobs.

I also checked the other parts and the steeringrack seems quite oily and with fluid drops.

And the same for the automatic gearbox:

It's not overly concerning and apparently standard practice for British cars as I have been informed.

I have to say that when driving the car today it felt actually quite good. I guess on the last ride I was slightly annoyed and very focussed on listning and detecting the noises and vibrations. Obviously it's still there but it felt less dramatic. I almost would say the long ride last time was a good exercise for the car. Clearly it has been ages ago before it did run such a long trip.

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U-joints propshaft replacement attempt

Well, I guess I was to optimistic about exchanging the u-joints. When jacking up the car I could get indeed easily reach the rear end. The front end however was mounted under a plate. Which I considered to much hassle to remove. Potentially the exhaust had to be taken off as well. So for this job a car lift is desired as well. When doing further checking I also found this interesting posting on the xjs forum:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/xjs-x27-32/transmission-grinding-rumble-120121/

Sounds like there is more inspection to do ...

Garage Peco - Airco specialist

Before my trip last Sunday I was already intending to visit Peco for a proper airco check up. I wished I had done that earlier as now the aircopump is trashed. By surprise I noticed today their FB update below. Apparently a XJS owner made an effort to come over all the way from Belgium. For my 400 I did visit them previously: http://erwin400.blogspot.nl/2014/04/ferrari-400-maintenance-ac-airco.html
And as a result now another 400 owner also ended up at this place as he was following my blog.

Well, I now need to hunt first for a new airco compressor before visiting them.

U-joint diagnostics - propshaft XJS

After some further thinkering I'm no longer convinced the rear calipers are the cause of these vibrations and noises. Although I'm pretty sure they will require an overhaul after seeing the state of the front caliper as per blog: http://erwinxjs.blogspot.nl/2017/04/break-caliper-overhauling.html

By now I also learned it's quite a task to dismantle the rear calipers only. Although it's seems to be possible as I read on this forum:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/xj6-xj12-series-i-ii-iii-16/replacing-rear-calipers-w-o-dropping-i-r-s-148245/

Also this link provides useful insight:

http://www.wedgeneering.co.uk/TVR%20390SE%20p11.html T

The best option is to remove the entire IRS (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguar_independent_rear_suspension). Apparently this is a job that can be done in about 2 hours. But for this I would require a car lift, which I don't have, yet. All in all it would be quite an undertaking. Which I'm surely planning to do as soon as I have a proper carlift.

But as said, I don't expect the cause to be stuck pistons in the rear caliper. Although it stopped the wobble at the right front. I think that wobble did mask these other noises and vibrations but they were present though. I now suspect the u-joints on the propshaft, especially the rear u-joint since the noise and vibes are coming mostly from the back. Other symptoms are the clunk when putting the car in reverse. But on the last drive I also heard occassionly another nasty sound when cornering. And the vibrations are mostly present when firmly accelerating. These are all hinting points towards the u-joints. The good news is; they are fairly cheap and should be fairly easy to access and to fix. So I just have placed the order at SNG Barratt and hope I can get this job fixed coming weekend. I also found some usefull tips to get them replacemed - There is so much available online so I'm not going to bother to put it here. So watch this space.

Wafting with the Jaguar XJS

As per blog: http://erwinxjs.blogspot.nl/2017/04/fill-it-up-and-drive.html

I have been making the first large roadtrip yesterday. I invited Frank for his helpful support on organizing all my magazine scans regarding the 400. Instead of visiting the Limburg border we now planned to visit Zeeland. An area I rarely have visited and it's a fair distance to make a proper testdrive. First of all we went through the carwash as I wanted a shiny car on the road and also make some nice pictures. And furthermore I had the oil and tyre pressure checked. All was ok so on we went around 10 o'clock. After about a small two hour drive we arrived in Domburg for which we planned to make a nice picture at the badpaviljoen and have a lunch as well: http://www.hetbadpaviljoen.nl/  Till then the car had driven and behaved quite well. However the car still remained to have these typical vibes and noises. Next to this the gasmeter developed a new issue. Now it remained stuck at 75% full without dropping. Typical. In the morning it was a bit chilly so turning up the temperature in the car, this didn't worked out either as no hot air came out, not sure what's the culprit here. And lastly a strange rattling noise was coming from the back. I figured out later that I didn't had the spare wheel in the trunk properly mounted, causing the rattle. So only two "minor" issue's added to the list. The airco was one of the oustanding items on my list to fix, so potentially that would fix the heating issue as well. It's a typical job I need to outsource as it's a specialist job and requires equipment I don't have. So time to make some nice pictures.

As it was parked on a ramp Frank used the handbrake to Ensure it would not move. This resulted in a new issue as apparently the handbrake remained stuck. The handbrake lever itself dropped and more or less was inoperable. I advised not to pull it again as I feared it would firm up the brake even more. My gut feel said that some kind of spring was broken (or rusted parts) and we decided to slowly drive the car and hoping it would come loose by itself. I found it remarkable though as the car was checked last month for the MOT, would they have overlooked the handbrake functionality check? The car was moving though with the handbrake on but at some point it started making a squeeking noise. So it was decided to park it to avoid any further damage. So for the first time in my life I had to call for road assistence (ANWB in the Netherlands). They showed up after 30 minutes waiting. We explained the problem and the guy checked the handbrake lever, pulled it up and pushed the button which released the brake. It was that simple. The embarrassment! The ANWB guy was gone in less then two minutes - he must have had a laugh on his return and likely broadcasted the message to his collegues for an additional laugh. Never ever did I feel so stupid. I hadn't used the handbrake so far, so I was clueless about this functionality. It makes perfect sense though as it will allow the driver easy access to and from the car.

As Domburg was really crowded we decided to drive to Burgh-Haamstede and get a lunch if we would spot something decent. After 5 min or so I smelled something strange but I couldn't identify it. Was it this old Opel Rekord driving in front of us? We stopped for a moment, was the handbrake perhaps somehow still stuck and caused overheated brakes and explaining the smell. The smell was definately not coming from the brakes so we continued. The smell remained and this time a new intermittent squeeking noise appeared. We stopped again but decided to continue again. But within the next minute we had to stop again as smoke came out under the bonnet. Frank struggled to get his seatbelt unlocked and also struggled to release the bonnet. Once opened up it became clear the aircopump belt was snapped. I suspect the aircopump must have locked up resulting in a slipping and snapped belt. Damn! Well, at least not a serious fire or such.

The belt was removed and we could continue again. I suspect it locked up as I expect there was no more refrigerant and oil in it. Meaning no lubrication.

Then we noticed the mileage counter remained stuck at 134999. It failed to turn over to 135.000, also the daytrip counter locked up. Which I was using to timely fill up the gas since the fuel gauge was still malfunctioning. After another 50 kilometer or so the counter started working again but the day counter couldn't be resetted. I guess I can have this fixed with some teflonspray. As this requires to remove the intrument panel again I can have another look at the light indicator bulbs and check all contacts and threat them with contact spray or such.

When we arrived in Burgh Haamstede we filled it up again with nearly 50 liters. I estimate we had driven about 300 km by then. This time the fuel gauge went up even higher (and remained stuck as well). We had a nice Italian lunch break and decided to drive back home via Renesse. For me Zeeland wasn't really an inspirational area to drive around. Adding the failures we encountered this resulted in a slightly dissapointing but remarkable day. On a more positive note I have learned more about the car again and feel it's worth while to continue to get it in a good working shape. The engine ran very smooth, didn't overheat after a 2h steady driving, oil pressure remained steady and ok. First items on my to do list will be to check the rear break calipers and to fix the airco system. So definately to be continued.

1975 Jaguar XJ-S | Project XJ21 then XJ27

I caught this interesting article:

Fill it up and drive

Tomorrow I'm planning the first long trip with the XJS since my purchase. Yesterday I ran out of gas just 50 meters before arriving at home - sigh! The fuel pump became very noisy beforehand, so that was a clear indicator. I filled it up with 5 Liter and today I have been filling it up completely. A total of 87 Liters went it to it. So yes, the gastank does have a total of 90 Liter. It was an expensive one as I used Shell V-Power. And now by magic the fuel indicator is almost working again. It now shows it's full for 75%  I would have at least expected the orange fuel indicator would lit up when completely empty. I did test that functionality on the last occassion.

I'm still not happy how the car is driving. I still sense these vibes and noises. Although quite less since the front caliper fix. Perhaps the rear calipers have stuck pistons as well? Or maybe it's the shaft propellor (worn CV joint). Or just the automatic gearbox (despite it has been renewed in the past).

In any case, I think a good long drive will do the car justice. We did plan a route on the border between Limburg and Belgium:

http://www.reisroutes.be/autoroutes/autoroute-drielandenpunt-182-5.aspx

But now it appears it's partly occupied due to the Amstel gold race. Sigh, I was looking forward to it as it appears to be a nice curvy and slightly hilly area. So now we maybe go to a different location.

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Brake Caliper overhauling

As per blog:

http://erwinxjs.blogspot.nl/2016/09/the-hunt-part-ii.html (item 4 on the list) and

http://erwinxjs.blogspot.nl/2017/03/mot-pass-apk-goedgekeurd.html

I still had this outstanding noise/wobble to overcome. Since the ball joints are fixed now I definately could rule that out. The wheel bearing can't be the culprit either. The wobble felt more like a worn out cross coupling (homokineet). But since this car doesn't have those on the front that can't be it either. I remembered from an old invoice that only the left side caliper had been overhauled - including new brakepads. Click the picture to enlarge:

This was done at the Jaguar dealer Kimman in Haarlem. So I figured that maybe the right side had one of the caliper pistons playing up causing the wobble.

As such I ordered an overhaul kit consisting of a seal service kit and 4 new caliper pistons. Total costs including VAT and shipping: € 86,-   I was not sure if this was going to fix it but then at least I knew the caliper was in an equal good state as the left side. The kit arrived earlier this week, turned out the seal kit was covering both sides, so I have got spare on my stock.

I also found this link: http://www.jaghelp.com/2012/03/1996-xjs-front-brake-caliper.html

Which was a useful resource. Especially for removing the brake pads first. I have to say this is nicely engineered. So removing the caliper was a piece of cake:

Remarkable to see this old skool protection used:

From the pictures it's clear this was a necessary piece of work to be done. The seals were completely dried out and damaged and also resulted in rusty pistons. I managed to get them out but one took a little more effort and I suspect that one must have caused an issue at least. I don't understand why they overhauled only one caliper at the time? So putting in the new pistons, seals and mounted everything back. Filling up the brake fluid and presto. Time for a quick test run.

Wobble gone now. So this did do the trick. I'm very happy with this improvement. Still there is some vibrations left but that might require balancing the wheels. Something I can look into next when I'm going to replace the rear tyres.

XJS graveyard East Sussex

This small article got posted in a Dutch car magazine. Apparently this is somewhere nearby East Sussex. Sad but true. Click the picture to enlarge:

I just did a quick check on Google and found this article:

http://www.abandoned-derelict.co.uk/jaguar-car-scrapyard/

Always good to know if you're in need of parts ...