That's awesome. Amusingly, there's a woman in the PA Hillclimb Association who races one of these.
I wouldn't entirely dismiss the hard-piped vacuum lines as being OE. I've seen them on other LBC's.
That's awesome. Amusingly, there's a woman in the PA Hillclimb Association who races one of these.
I wouldn't entirely dismiss the hard-piped vacuum lines as being OE. I've seen them on other LBC's.
Love it.
In reply to Ian F:
You'd have to see this mess. If it's factory, they had better drugs in the 1960's than I thought they did.
Love the Mark II. I don't spend enough time looking for bargains.
A box from Summit arrived yesterday (digression: I seem to get a box from Summit at least once a month. Anyone else addicted to shopping there?) containing a bunch of rubber hoses, fittings, and stuff to set up a fuel pump regulator. Among many hacks the P/Os did was replacing the (likely failed) Lucas electric fuel pumps with aftermarket electric pumps. I'm sure they did this because the Lucas pumps run about $180 EACH for remanufactured units.
So...yeah. I'm not about to drop nearly four bills on fuel pumps, either. However, the SU carbs are notoriously finnicky about fuel pressure, and while the Jag ran, it leaked fuel abundantly from the carbs. Solution:
So the first project is to install that- and a gauge, so the pressure can be set accurately. Got the mounting bracket in last night. No pictures yet, but it found a nice home right next to the fuel bowl mounted on the right inner front fender.
As much as I have tried for over 40 years, and as much as I am seduced by the style of the cars, I just can't solicit any respect for British mechanical components.
Having popped my cherry on the chassis swap game with the Molvo, I can't help but want to chassis swap all things!
So....How about the Jag body on a Lexus chassis? The Jag probably needs extensive floor pan and arch rust repairs anyways
http://www.build-threads.com/build-threads/renault-espace-lexus-ls400/
In reply to NOHOME:
The underside being solid, and the suspension being all there, I'm more inclined to leave this one as-is. I'd also like to have it on the road sometime in the next month or two. 
With four wheel disc brakes, four wheel independent suspension, a 4 speed manual with overdrive, power steering and brakes, telescoping steering wheel, etc, it's not only more advanced than most cars of 1966, it's as or more advanced than some cars being sold today.
I'm hoping to get a chunk of tasks done on Saturday. I'll update on Monday and see if hopes became reality...
volvoclearinghouse wrote: In reply to NOHOME: The underside being solid, and the suspension being all there, I'm more inclined to leave this one as-is.
I agree, I would have a harder time cutting up a Unicorn.
Actually, that is a lie. Id kill that thing in a heartbeat!
Absolutely love this, Mk IIs are one of my favorite cars.
Okay, consider my arm twisted. Here's another story about my folks' mk2;
First off, Mom tells me it was Lynn Anderson who owned it, somehow it was traded as part of a divorce settlement, and Dad bought it for a grand from a studio musician in downtown Nashville.
So, one night, leaving work, Dad had to take the ditch to avoid hitting a drunk driver. The old man just swerved around the guy, and kept going, but it seems like the other driver took offense to the maneuver, because at the next stop light, he got out, wielding a billyclub, or some such bludgeon. He broke out the Jag's tail light, and the old man jumped out of the car. The guy swung for Dad's head, but he got his arm up in time. That's all of the story Dad would share with a 10 year old, but I distinctly remember the raised bruise on his arm. In retelling this story recently, Mom emphasized Dad was FURIOUS over the fact a replacement lens was 50 bucks from JC Whitney, and the blinker bit was only available in amber, not red, and so, they didn't match side to side after that.
SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: Absolutely love this, Mk IIs are one of my favorite cars.
This is a 3.8s, not a MkII.
@wheelsmithy:
I love the stories. 
Last night I got the fuel pressure setup installed, tried it on both pumps and saw 3 psi at the gauge. One of the SU carbs started pissing petrol out of its overflow (yes, British carburetors built by sausage grinder manufacturers have "overflow" tubes!) but that turned out to be a stuck float, which was easily fixed.
Progress...
Gawd is that beautiful.
Totally awesome.
True story: My neighbors have one.
In reply to D2W: The stock SU fuel pumps will last for decades and don't cause problems once you understand they require a little bit of maintenance. First pop the cap off by turning the thumb screw. you will see a set of points. Take a piece of fine grit(600 grit is my choice) emery paper doubled over about 3 inches long. Slide it between the contacts and pull it through. That should result in shiny points. Now put a drop of oil on each contact point on the springs (2 per side) it sometimes takes me as much as 3 minutes to do all that. If you do that at every oil change you will never have fuel pump problems (unless you get cruddy dirty fuel which no fuel pump will like)
In reply to volvoclearinghouse: If and when the brakes need work consider replacing the calipers with Wilwood. They can be simple bolt on and are cheaper and better than the originals.. You can also mix and match rotors and switch from solid non-vented rotors to vented ones..
Lol my wife would throw a fit if we passed up anything like that for beater kinda money.
She seems to enjoy collecting rust. Anyways beautiful car man, glad you got a deal on it.
wvumtnbkr wrote: Before throwing out the baby with the bathwater, put dielectric grease in every plug and socket of the wiring. Clean the grounds and add dielectric grease. Lucas stuff isn't bad, it just requires proper maintenance. Do the above tasks and I bet you don't have electrical issues for another 50 years. Great advice; Avoid the temptation to modify Jaguar wiring. First because you don't need to, in spite of Jaguar's bad reputation in this area the solution isn't to throw the baby out with the bathwater but do as you suggest (and make sure all the black wires {grounds} are solidly connected, screws tight. In my experience the assembly line workers at Jaguar must have awfully limp wrists. Also be aware that the fuel pump needs maintenance, clean the contact points and oil the spring at every oil change. Fuel pump issues will go away if done properly
Such a pretty car. I love the color and the transmission. If you picked that up for challenge car money I say well bought sir!
mblommel wrote: Such a pretty car. I love the color and the transmission. If you picked that up for challenge car money I say well bought sir!
Yup, right at challenge money.
The fuel pumps are already changed..there's some modern electric pumps back there in place of the stock Lucas units. They both work, so I'm leaving them. Yes, both- one per tank, two tanks (7 gallons each, one per side!)
The last few weeks have been solely dedicated to getting the 460 for our LeMons LTD done, but now the Jag is receiving some attention again. The driver's door never latched right, so I took the door all apart, lubricated everything, and spent what seemed like an entire evening shimming and aligning the latches so that they engaged just right. It has a nice, positive feel to it now, no looseness, no rattling, and no snagging.
The steering column is mostly back together, and I finished up the plumbing for the fuel pressure regulator.
I promise I'll update with more pics soon!
TurboFocus wrote: Lol my wife would throw a fit if we passed up anything like that for beater kinda money. She seems to enjoy collecting rust. Anyways beautiful car man, glad you got a deal on it.
Sounds like our wives could be sisters.
Very nice car.
Either a MK2 or a S has always been on my list of cars (after an E-Type of course). After that, perhaps one of the V12 XJ12C coupes. Beautiful car, well bought!
I'd been putting this job off on the car for warmer temps, due to the crawling-around-on-the-cold-floor nature of it. So last night, I swapped out all 4 of the front suspension mount bushings.
They were....rough.
No, wait, it gets worse. This was what the front ones looked like after unbolting them:
And then there were the rear ones...
So, yeah. The front suspension subframe was pretty much not at all attached to the rest of the car. It moved alarmingly when turning the steering wheel. XKS Unlimited had the bushings available for not terribly much money. So now, that's done. The back bushings are in much better shape, so we'll leave those alone, for now.
A few nights ago I got the power steering system back together, and the driver's door is fixed (the latch mechanism was inoperative). Just need to get the steering column back together, possibly see if the overdrive can be coaxed into functionality, and put the cooling system back in.
So...roadworthy in time for Spring?
Nice car!! I truly loved my '66 Mark X. Put a GM alternator on it and start looking for mouse eaten wiring. Those are among the worst enemies I ever faced with various British cars. Not counting the rust bug of course.
Enjoy it! don't try to make it yet another garage and trailer queen!! And for God's sake, don't dump a v-8 into it!!
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