Getting the Jag Fired up Again!

[Minidave]

Got some work done on the Jag diff today, got the brakes all cleaned up and all the fasteners safety wired up. Tomorrow I'll get some help to lift it off the bench and I can start cleaning and reassembling the diff into the carrier - then it's into the car and button everything up again. Gotta remember to put diff oil in it too!

[Minidave]

Getting all the parts cleaned up and accounted for, ready for reassembly. A parts cleaning tank and compressed air sure are a help for this job!

[Mach5]

Having a couple spare baking tins helps, too!

While I wish I could have stayed in Phx to work on the FIAT this weekend, as it turned out it was unsasonably cool. Right now is probably the warmest part of the day, and it's only in the 70s. Unseasonably cool. Most of today it's been in the low 60s!

Do you plan to get the diff back into the carrier today?

[Minidave]

Got the diff installed into the carrier today, got the axle assemblies installed, all the lower control arm bushings and pivot arms bolted up and the emergency brake linkage and brake lines installed. Tomorrow I'll install the four shocks (I've got new shock bushings to install in the shocks first) and then torque everything up, then it will be ready to install in the car.

Got to remember to fill the diff with oil too!

I'll post some more pics later, but I need to go mow my other property tomorrow if it's dry enough, and that wears me out pretty good so I may not finish the Jag tomorrow after all. If it's too muddy to mow, then I'll work on the car.

[Minidave]

Allrightythen.....

It's all together, next step is to slide it under the car and raise it up into place. Still gotta fill the diff, and while I'm under there I think I'll change the transmission fluid and reseal the drain plug - it's been leaking there slightly....

[Mach5]

Should be interesting to see how it drives with the new final drive ratio. As much torque as that six has, I can't imagine the quicker ratio will be missed much. It'll be more of a grand tourer now.

[Minidave]

Managed to get the assembly mounted in the car, it's a bit of a challenge doing it by myself, but once it's in place the rest is pretty easy.

I think i'm done for tonight tho.........I'm out of gas.....all that's left is to hook up the driveshaft, sway bar links, front control arms, brake line and em brake cable. Then once I've run it a bit and made sure all's right, put the exhaust back on.

[sh944]

This is such an awesome thread! Great job, Dave!

[Minidave]

Thanks sh944......it's getting there at last......

Are you and/or LMH going to Heartland Park with us tomorrow?

[Minidave]

Success!

Boxer and Dimini came over tonight and between us we managed to get all the bits and pieces back into place and tightened up properly. Once we got the tires aired up and had it down on the ground it was time to see if all our hard work would pay off. I hooked up the battery and hit the starter and the engine popped right off. The clutch worked smoothly and I backed out of the garage, put it in first and eased it off down the road. The engine ran sweet, although I smelled gas (maybe a stuck float or overflow?) and all the gears engaged smoothly. I was interested to see how different the taller ratio would feel and frankly I haven't driven it far enough yet to tell, but the engine's got plenty of torque and pulls smoothly from dead slow even in 2nd gear, so no worries there.

Still a few things to sort out, we couldn't get the rear brakes to bleed properly, and I noticed the red alternator light was on - I think I have a bad alt relay and I'm thinking of just converting to a modern one-wire alternator and be done with it. My dash lights didn't come on, but that could just be down to a switch that hasn't been operated in a very long time and has dirty contacts - or I forgot how to turn them on!

With half of the exhaust still off the engine really "barks" when you kick it! I'm going to have to pull the rest of the exhaust so I can drain the transmission oil, I'm half convinced it's got diff oil in it instead of 30 wt motor oil that it's suppposed to have, but the drain plug won't come out due to interference with the pipe. So still a few challenges left to overcome, but it's certainly getting there at last. I even took Dimini around the block in it, just to show him that it could - he's never seen it run before in all the years he's known me!

Thanks to Boxer and Dimini and all my MINI friends for the help and encouragement they've given - it's been a long hard slog but now there's fun ahead!

[Mach5]

Congrats. Did you get a current reg for it so that it's road legal?

So, let's see, sort the fuel leak, sort the electrical, bleed the brakes completely, new tranny oil, reinstall the exhaust, and then it should be road worthy? What about tires? I think I read somewhere that they need to be changed every 6 years regardless of wear, because they break down chemically and are unsafe after that.

it's almost like a mini-resto just to get it roadworthy again!

Glad it's back on the road. Now that you've got the taller ratios, next is the triple carb setup and tuning. And a decent back road to cruise along.

[Minidave]

Yep, still plenty of issues to sort out.....can't update the reg till I get it insured, couldn't get it insured without pictures and I wanted to get it complete before I did that - so I'll back it out this weekend and get some decent pics, then send them off to Grundy - once it's insured I can go waste a couple hours at the DMV, then it will be legal again.

Tires, the rubber still seems pliable, but you're right - I don't know that I'd trust them either, even tho they're Michelins. Since it's been in the garage it hasn't suffered from sun damage to the rubber, but still - those tires have to be at least 25 years old! The problem is finding replacements, they don't seem to make tthis size anymore - at least Michelin doesn't. I like the narrow whitewalls - they seem to fit the era this car is from, and they definitely don't make those anymore. I might go with redlines - those I can get in a workable size.

But, some of the spokes on the wheels are rusted, so I really should replace the wheels too........and on it goes.......

Naturally, the weather has changed overnight from nice, pleasant 60's to 90's and miserable high humidity - makes it tough to work on any car, and not much fun to drive a black/black car with no A/C that tends to run warm in hot weather anyway.....

Old cars can be a challenge...

[Mach5]

Old cars can be a challenge.

They most certainly can, Ollie.

Re the spokes...how deep is the rust? Maybe they can be cleaned up. Know anyone out there who can replace just the bad ones, clean and true the wheels?

I think Redlines would look cool on the black car. Personally, I never cared for the narrow white walls - on any car.

[Minidave]

The chrome has peeled off in a number of places on a number of spokes, and while that in and of itself probably doesn't compromise the strength, I can't see going to the expense of putting new tires on rusty spoke wheels. I bought some replacement spokes a long time ago in stainless thinking I might have a go at replacing a few just for the experience of it but I could not get them loose.

I haven't looked into getting all the spokes replaced and the wheels retrued because at today's labor rates I think it would be more expensive than buying brand new Daytons @ $350 each....that will have stainless spokes already in them. Been wrestling with this dilemma for a while now and I still don't have a decision made....

Last night when I drove it around the block just as I was making the last corner (which is a blind corner because my neighbor won't trim the trees and bushes there) there was a Prius on the wrong side of the road - I managed to lock the brakes as I was only going about 15 mph and stop in time, but as easily as those tires slid it tells me they must be pretty hard rubber. Left two good skid marks on the road too....but only about 5 feet long. Good thing I was going slow......

[Mach5]

Do a search on Youtube for "wheeler dealers e-type". They had the wire wheels on the e-type replaced, and I think paid 250GBP for the set. That's about the price of one Dayton. I don't think the spoke were stainless, though. Even if you could relace yourself, you would still have to take the wheels someplace to have them trued. As you will see in the program (I think it's in part 3, they cut the old spokes to get them out.

[Mach5]

Have you tried calling Victoria British in Lenexa? They might know someone who trues and relaces that is local and reasonable.

My other idea is to seach the classic motorcycle forums. Someone there should have a source for you.

I did a google search for KC wire wheel rebuilder/relacer, but didn't come across any websites. Surfing on the BB is less than ideal though.

[Minidave]

I may know a place or two that can do the wheels......thanks for the tip on the WD show, I never would have thought to take a bolt cutter to the old spokes.....truing them up isn't particularly hard, but it is time consuming and there's just a bit of an art to it. Plus of course, you need a jig that you can spin them on.

Old Mike Brewer's gained a few pounds, hasn't he? Show must be a success!

[Mach5]

So, any more news to report? Or has the project been sidlined for a while?

We hit a bump in the road on the FIAT (leaky heater and seemingly faulty brake master) and now its 110F during the day and I've lost all motivation to be in the garage.

The one nice thing about these FIATs is that they used parts bin parts from FIAT sedans. They are fairly common so finding spares for most things hasn't been too difficult.

I will have to make the effort to get it done, though, as we want to take it to the France and Italy show in Van Nuys in November.

[Minidave]

Not quite as hot here, only in the mid 90's but the humidity has come in strong and that's limiting my time in the garage too.

I think you should strongly consider finding a good used motel A/C unit, it will cool the garage and make it useable in the heat of summer, and if needed it can warm the garage in the winter too. Check Craigslist or the Pennysaver.....

[Mach5]

If you are talking about a window unit, neither of us have windows in our garages.

[Minidave]

So, you make a hole in the wall and there you go....these 220 units are usually bigger than a std window anyway.....

Just figured out that my brake bleeder (Motive power pressure bleeder) works perfectly with the Jag master cylinders - I was concerned I'd need a special adaptor to fit the master cylinder reservoir. We could not get the rear brakes to bleed out using the usual pump and bleed process, so I'm hoping this will work instead, but I'll need to get some more brake fluid first.....

[LiLReD1]

Now THOSE are spinners!

[Mach5]

A mini-spit system could work. They're a bit more expensive than a window unit, but I only have to drill a small hole, whereas with a window unit I'd have to install a lentil and hammer out a much bigger hole.
Still need the $ for the unit. I searched on CL and found ONE split system for sale used for $250. It was 10 years old, too.

I'm still not certain whether I can run both compressors on the same 220v circuit. My biggest concern is if both kick on at the same moment. The fuse would likely trip, which is mostly a PIA. But, I'd also want it to be to code in case I ever sell the house.
If I do the hookup (electrical) myself it will be far cheaper. But I'm not thrilled with connecting to a 220v line on the panel. I'm not fun of being zapped!

Anyway, I've completely hijacked the thread now. Going back OT, I suspect the rears would be difficult to bleed because you can't get good access without a lift, can't (or shouldn't) have someone in the car when it is on the lift, and if you jack up the rear only hogh enough to get access from below, then you have the rear too high, trapping the air at the caliper end and the fluid at the master/reservoir end. I presume there isn't an interior access panel that can be removed for this purpose?

It does seem like the easiest way to get air out of such a system would be to suck fluid in from the caliper bleed nipples, rather than pushing the air out with the peddle.

[Minidave]

Well, you're partially right - jacking the back up actually puts the bleeder above the master, which should help move the air to the bleed nipple.....the problem I have is that I have a problem lying on my back to work on anything, due to these heart meds I'm on.

My bleeder fits the master cylinder perfectly, so I think that will work out perfectly - I just need to run to the auto parts store and get some more fluid then I think I'm good to go.

Tying into the 220 is no biggy - just turn off the master breaker first so the panel is dead, then pop in the new breaker and hook up the load - good to go.

A home panel has two legs and a neutral (ground) - for 110v you hook to one leg and one neutral. For 220 you hook to two legs and one neutral, easy peasy. All you need is to know how many amps it pulls, then buy a breaker at least 10% bigger (ie: if it pulls 20A, buy a 25A breaker)

Cutting the hole is equally simple, just nail a header and footer where you cut the studs, make sure there are cripples under the ends and a jack above that to the header. It's just 2X4 chunks. You 'll need to make a support for the outer end as these units are heavier than a normal 110 window unit. Again, the big advantage of the "motel" units is they also make heat - not a biggy where you live, but once in a while in the winter it might be nice to take the chill off.

[Mach5]

My garage walls are block, not wood. So cutting is much harder than you describe. BUT, with a mini-split system, I should be able to hammer drill a small hole for the copper tube between the air handler inside and the compressor outside.

As far as adding another fuse to the panel, my panel is full. Which is why I'm looking at having to share 220v between the ac and my air compressor.