The Most Stylish Seventies Cars

Mostly all cars I like very much, except for the W123:

https://www.mrporter.com/journal/objects-of-desire/the-most-stylish-seventies-cars/544

upper and lower ball joints replacement

This old blog: http://erwinxjs.blogspot.nl/2016/09/the-verdict.html from september 2016 highlighted the torn rubbers on the lower ball joints. Which is a fail for the MOT. And last week I got reminded the MOT is going to expire by the 31st of March. So I had to fix this now. I thought it was going to be an easy task but it was still quite a bit of work. Eventually the whole arm with disc and caliper had to come off. It was a very heavy item. When I had it finally off I was surprised to see a completely different lower ball joint was fitted. The one I ordered superseded the old one. But I was unsure how it could be fitted as the arm was fitted with a special clip (spigot) to hold the ball. The new ordered ball joint is more sophisticated and more or less a fixed item. The old one can be completely overhauled and I found an online turtorial by someone. But clearly that is to much hassle. You can order the new replacement for only € 12,50. I thought I was clever by using the new one and tried to push out the spigot. This didn't work out and also resulted in damaging the rubber. Today I learned I have been a fool as the spigot was suppose to be pushed out the other way. In order not to damage the arm it was decided to cut it with a small grinder. This made it easy and the spigot got smashed out easily with a hammer and a spanner. Yes! As I had to order a new one I also decided to get the upper ball joints replaced as everything was off. This was a good choice as one of them was also in a very poor condition - see pictures below. Remarkably the upper ball joint on the other side was very good and I suspect it has been replaced recently. It makes me wonder why they didn't the replaced the lower ball joint. If you read the mentioned blog link you will also read that I have an invoice which states they had the ball-joint replaced, so it must have been this one. I wonder why they didn't do both sides and also skipped the lower ball joints. You can also see they had replaced the bushings for the "anti roll bar link". And also both brake discs and the brake pads are in very good condition. It looks like they have been replacement very recent. Perhaps this was also done by the previous owner but I don't have an invoice for that. One of the calipers was overhauled at least and for that I do have an invoice though. In any cause everything got mounted back. Once I had done the right side had fill up the brake fluid as quite a bit was spilled. Once sorted I took the opportunity to make a test drive. I could feel and hear a huge improvement. In the afternoon I fixed the left side but since it started raining I didn't bother to make another test drive. I also had to buy more brake fluid as more got spilled. So by tomorrow I hope to do some driving. Can't wait. I also updated the costs spreadsheets. On the right bar of this blog you will see a label called "costs" in case you are curious as well ...

More Keys

Recall this blog: http://erwinxjs.blogspot.nl/2017/01/keycode-tag-keyprof-luke.html

Due to my recent radio hunt I read through the owners manual again. I wish I had done that before. As to my surprise I do read about this specific key tag-plate. But it also mentions the car is supplied with three ignition keys! See snapshot:

As I want to be complete I just ordered an extra spare blank one at SNG Barratt. And it arrived today.

It looks like an Original WASO key but it's an immitation made by Silca (Italy). Now I need to make a good duplicate at the lock smith but it can wait.

Jaguar XJ-S for sale

Today my eye caught this one for sale:

http://www.marktplaza.nl/auto/jaguar/xj/Jaguar-XJ-XJS-69331314.html

I recognized it immediately as it was more or less the trigger for me on the XJS hunt. As per blog:

http://erwinxjs.blogspot.nl/2016/09/the-hunt-part-i.html

If I recall correctly it was for sale at the time for € 9.500,- When I contacted them I was told it was just sold to someone they often do business with. Apparently this person appears to be another car dealer. Currently it's not listed on their website (only this online advert), but I do see a very nice Fiat 130 Coupe for sale on their website: http://www.tenback.nl/oldtimers

Update 16-Feb-2018: Today my eye caught this advert and noticed it's the same car still for sale at the same company

Jaguar XJ-S Motorshow 1975

For those few among us who are totally committed to excellence in all things

Just another nice add

Jaguar XJ-S HE Electrical Fault Diagnosis Handbook - 12/81 29316

I got my hands on this booklet which might come in handy. Else it's a nice piece of documentation to be included with the car for completeness.

Jaguar XJS luggage set

Advert

There are so many cool adverts made about this car.

Auto Classic - Aristokatze mit kraft und Style

Now available in the download folder: