Getting the Jag Fired up Again!

[ragtopday Johnna]

3) This may sound a bit odd, but what I REALLY need the most is a crew to give the car a good polish and a coat of wax on the exterior. I just don't have the stamina to get jobs like this done anymore, and I really don't trust the detail shops. (I did get it washed anyway, and it looks a ton better already!) But that can certainly wait till another time. Maybe we could do that on another MINI shop day?

I think we need to have a detailing day! I'm happy to help polish and wax, pick an overcast but dry day and we can Zaino it to perfection.

Anyone know of a good detail shop these days? The place I trusted is long gone and we had a bad swirly experience on one of the non-MINIs elsewhere.

[Minidave]

I think we need to have a detailing day! I'm happy to help polish and wax, pick an overcast but dry day and we can Zaino it to perfection.

Anyone know of a good detail shop these days? The place I trusted is long gone and we had a bad swirly experience on one of the non-MINIs elsewhere.

See, that's my problem too, I don't trust them. I know there's got to be someone out there who can/will do a good job, the problem is finding and affording them. I went with a friend to drop a car he was getting ready to sell. While I waited for him to come pick me up they started in on his car - they didn't even wash it, they just started rubbing wax on a dirty car. When he did pick it up they had waxed right over the bugs on the front of the car!

I read those detailing threads on NAM and M/A and they get $700 - $1000 for one of those! Of course the car looks almost brand spanking new, but I don't have that kind of dough-re-me.......

I'm up for a detailing day tho...I can hand out towels and cold drinks anyway......

[DA MINI]

Dave, I have a buddy in the BMW Club that does detailing. He does top-notch work. Don't know what he charges however.
PM if you want his info.

[BLUGOOSE]

David,I'll most likely follow Davester to your house with the intent of doing whatever I can. That is unless the grandkids need me also. In that case you don't stand a chance. -Frank

[Minidave]

Well, we wrestled that bad boy out. The differential is mounted to a large sheet metal carrier that has the springs, shocks, lower control arms and so on all attached to it, the brakes are inboard and mounted on the differential sides. It's a fairly major job to get it out of the carrier as all the other parts have to come out first.

This afternoon Davester, BlueGoose, and Boxer came over and we got the car up on stands and started unhooking the appropriate parts. A couple fought us a bit, but mostly it was a straightforward job. A little later Dimini showed up in the P'up, IowaM1n1 cruised in and Minicharged came by to drop off the club's pulley and tensioner tools.

By that time we were pretty much there, all we needed to do was lower the carrier assembly out of the car, which we did on my floor jack. There's still quite a bit of disassembly to do to get the third member out of the carrier and I'll do that over the next couple of days while I order parts and figure out who I'm going to use on the rebuild. I've decided to go ahead and change the ratio while it's out - the parts are standard Dana 44 - so the car will be less rev happy on the highway. Should make for a bit more comfortable cruising, and maybe an improvement to the 15 mpg fuel mileage. If anyone knows a top notch driveline shop, I'm open to suggestions....

Here's a pic of the diff and carrier assy and my poor Jag....the red rags are there to cover the splines that the wheels ride on, otherwise you will get grease all over you! Ask me how I know......no, don't....

After we finished that we jumped in our cars and headed over to BRGR in Corinth for a late lunch where a good meal and a good time was had by all! Thnaks to Boxer, Frank and Davester as well as all the other club members for coming by and helping, even if only to hang out and kibbitz. Glad to have the company!

[MiniManiac]

Strange. Those brakes are mounted like a HMMWV.

[Minidave]

On the Jag they're done that way to reduce unsprung weight, I expect they had a different reason on the Hummer, like protecting the brakes from contact with things they shouldn't be contacting - rocks and such......

Tonight I went ahead and blew the carrier apart, it's a lot of fiddly bits and pieces, probably far more complicated than it needs to be. Both the inner and outer control arms ride on needle bearings, for instance. Most cars would just have a bronze bushing in there and call it good. All those clearances are set with shims too. These were built in the days when labor was cheap and parts were expensive - now both are!

Finally I got the lump out, now I need to figure out who's going to replace the gearset for me.....unless I just go ahead and do it myself.

[minicoopers43]

I think we need to have a detailing day! I'm happy to help polish and wax, pick an overcast but dry day and we can Zaino it to perfection.

Anyone know of a good detail shop these days? The place I trusted is long gone and we had a bad swirly experience on one of the non-MINIs elsewhere.

I'm up for a detailing day! The last time I waxed a car it had swirls so I need someone to show me how a pro does it. I also haven't run a Q-tip through my vents since I got her just over a year ago so it's about time.

[Minidave]

Well........

I took the gearset out of the diff today, ring gear looks fine, wear pattern is correct, bearings are fine, backlash is good - most of the time, explanation in a moment.....

Then I took a look at the pinion, hmmmm nothing appears to be wrong, yet there's 1/4" of motion in and out - and there's supposed to be preload. Took the locknut off, took out the seal, tapped the pinion shaft out........crush sleeve looks................normal.?!!?!?! Shims are in place, bearing is fine, crush sleeve is fine........what the heck is going on here? Where is the play coming from?

At this point I can only guess that as I was assembling it all those years and miles ago something got trapped in the wrong place, and the sudden load of me getting the clutch plate unfrozen from the flywheel broke it loose to where there's now play that's not supposed to be there. It's just a guess at this point, but I don't have any other explanations.

I've wanted to change the diff ratio almost since I put it together all those years ago, so now's the time I guess.

[IowaM1N1]

TIMKEN roller bearings -- the pride of Canton, Ohio!

Got to tour the main factor when I was in high school as part of the local Boy Scouts Explorer Post for high schools students interested in the engineering field. I have a Timken pen & pencil set somewhere they gave to all of us as a memento.

We got to tour the factory one Spring night -- what a surreal experience. Had no idea what I was looking at back at the time, and would love that tour again as an adult. Huge blast furnaces with face-melting heat, huge buildings filled with all kinds of amazing massive equipment, noises and sounds of every mechanical variety. This was all back before electronic/digital controls, so it had a great 3rd world feel to it. Walk out of one building into the cool dark night, see the next building around the corner -- fire of the furnaces glowing thru the huge open doors. Fascinating experience for a 17 year old engineer-wannabe.

[Minidave]

I got to tour a big transmission mfr in Coffeyville when I was in college, they built trannys for earth moving equipment. It was an amazing experience too!

[Minidave]

Well, I finally figured out what happened to my diff, and it was my fault as I expected......

The forward pinion bearing was pressed into place, but the companion flange that is supposed to butt up against the inner race wasn't in it's place....when I popped the clutch the bearing slipped back and created the 1/4" of play that I found.

Tonight I dropped the whole shebang off at the rebuilder's and we discussed the details. I also found a really detailed technical manual online for the diff which I printed out and gave to him. Lastly, I found the final piece of the puzzle - on Ebay no less - the 26 spline companion flange. I'll order one tonight and then we can start on the set up and installation. In the meantime I'll need to get all the other parts cleaned up and ready to reassemble the carrier assy.

With any luck I may be putting it back in the car next weekend!

[LiLReD1]

Good luck Dave! Lookin' fwd to seein' it going!

I'm surprised a lot of you don't know that about the disc brakes on the Jags. They were known for this during the Hot Rod days. Wasn't uncommon to see them in a '32 Ford style rod. I'd be willing to bet Jag pioneered this idea. Hummers have them for less unsprung weight as well, but it's also to get them out of the way of any trail debree as well as with the planetary gearing on each hub.

I geek out on old sports car though Dave, this build is exciting.

[Minidave]

I think a lot of this old tech is being lost to time, since these cars are just not on the road much, about the only place you see them is in a museum or at a car show, or California. I prefer to drive mine when I can.....

So.........parts are ordered, new R&P, bolts, spacers, new bearings and the companion flange came in yesterday.....but, I don't know if it will work - it's a bit longer overall than the old one. If I have 1/2" of slide in the slip yoke on the driveshaft I'm good to go. If I don't, I'll have to do a bit of engineering. because the trans and diff are both solid mounted, the driveshaft only has a little bit of slip in the joint, as the diff doesn't move it only needs enough to be able to disconnect it. It may not be enough to recouple it when I try to put it all back in. I can machine part of that extra length off, but that will affect the setup......just going to have to see how it all bolts up during assembly. Always "fun" when you're working on old cars, as my son is finding out too - he's in the middle of a resto on a Fiat X1/9 and it's been vexxing too!

[Minidave]

Just got a call from the diff rebuilder and he's got all the parts and already has the pinion installed and is working on the carrier!

If all goes well I could get it back this weekend. I still have to clean all the other parts to get them ready for reassembly, there was quite a bit of old, thick, greasy oil on them, I'm wondering if it came out of the transmission or what? Always sumthin on these old cars.....

[Minidave]

Oh well, so much for that......I had to order some special shims from a Jag specialist out in Ca - actually the place where I got most of the parts when I did the rustoration, they had them of course 2 - .003" and 2 - .005" shims at $9.15 each!

I should have them by this Thursday or Friday, if his schedule allows it might get done by next weekend.

[Mach5]

So, what's the latest?

[Minidave]

Shims came in Thursday afternoon and I dropped them off, he's a fireman so I have to work around his schedule, but I'm hoping to have it back sometime this weekend......

[Mach5]

I fixed a bunch of problems on my car today; how about you? We had a good day today -- got the motor working correctly, got the headlamps working correctly, got some of the other little bits and pieces working correctly, and but the rear decklid back together (though it isn't yet installed). We'll get the windshield done this week and likely will get a bunch of the interior done thereafter. Also will finish the only remaining exterior bits to reinstall -- the outside rearview mirror, cowl vents, windshield washer jets, wipers, and the front grill.

It's looking really good now and I'm starting to get excited because it's looking like we might be getting close to the finish line (finally).

Oh, while the explanation on the timing is long, the short answer is that we were about 120-150 degrees out. It's a wonder the darn thing would run at all before. This time when is started it ran smooth and idled well.

[Minidave]

Excellent!

Why don't you put up a thread here? You can post pics here too...

Still don't have my diff back, he worked at the FD all weekend, maybe tomorrow.

[davester]

I'm sorry, but I'm lost. I don't remember seeing a post from Mach1 on rebuilding a MINI. It sounds like an interesting job to do tho!

[Mach5]

Not a Mini; I'm nearly finished restoring a FIAT X1/9.

I could understand your confusion. Minidave and I had a converstion outside the forum on the topic and I was curious about the status of his Jag and updated him on my progress here. It really was bad form on my part. Sorry.

But, FWIW, I need to do a bunch of work on my MINI, too.

[davester]

Still sounds like fun

[Minidave]

Mach 5 has an '04 JCW, and will be joining us from Phoenix at MITM along with his lovely wife and equally lovely 2 daughters......can you imagine making a 14 hour (1 way) drive in a MINI with 3 women, and all the stuff they need for a week's vacation?

Tonight when I got home the new and correct companion flange was waiting for me on the porch, so I grabbed it and took it over to Mike at JP-Evo where my diff was rebuilt, we pulled the other one off and installed the new one and I brought everything home - well nearly everything. Just as I started loading the diff into the back of the Clubby (damn that thing is heavy!) the skies opened yet again and almost drowned me. Consequently, when I got home I had a message from MIke that I'd forgotten the drive shaft shims, he said he'd drop them off in the morning on his way to work....

So, tomorrow I'll start cleaning up the rest of the carrier, axles, brake assemblies and so on, and this weekend I'll put her back together. Won't be able to drive it much as I still don't have insurance or a current reg, but I can get that sorted out next week, then I should be on the road again. The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter at last, and for once maybe it's not a train going the other way!

[Minidave]

Got to dig out my old safety wiring tool and try to remember how to use it, most of the major fastenrs on the entire diff assy are safety wired.

They look like this for those who don't know what these are.... you make a loop with the stainless wire, grab it and lock the plier onto the wires then pull on the chrome knob at the back and it spins the plier, neatly winding the wire up, then you loop it thru the next bolt and do it again, till you've daisy chained all the bolt heads together. Of course, you have to do it right so the wire pulls the bolt heads tighter, not looser.



This pic shows the wires on top of the carrier that holds the diff mounting bolts...



This was a common practise back in the day both for race cars and street driven ones, I think it probably came from the aircraft industry...

If you look carefully at the pics in my previous post, the three forward bolts that hold the stub axles in also hold the brake calipers on, and you can see the holes in the bolt heads for the wires to go thru. These are an absolute b**tch to wire since once the caliper is on you can't really reach them!