Lin Rose detailed his oil sump dipstick with nail polish … a great and inexpensive idea. Our dipstick was badly pitted on the stem, so it was first sanded and then sprayed with the cylinder block color to match the engine. The nail polish was applied to the recessed tip,......
The 2.4 liter model, unlike the 3.4 and 3.8, has a manual choke (Jaguar refers to this as “mixture control”) operated by a lever housed in the left facia board. In addition to activating the choke mechanism in the twin carburetors, the lever triggers a switch that turns on a......
See also engine front mount post. Aftermarket parts sometimes depart from the original manufacturer’s specification, as we’ve noted several times. Based on comparisons by Lin Rose, a second look at the front engine mount pads was warranted; two quality levels are offered by SNG Barrett, but we had already installed......
About a year ago, the air cleaner was removed, and today a repainted cleaner had its test fitting on the restored engine block. The colors have been slightly modified. The oil container rim, originally black, was treated with high temperature aluminum POR paint. The three side clips, also originally black,......
In 1922, William Lyons (then only 20 years old) and William Walmsley formed the Swallow Sidecar Company to build motorcycle sidecars. Walmsley sold out in 1934, and Lyons evolved into car manufacturing, introducing the SS Jaguar in 1935, a 2.5 litre saloon. The “SS” was retained from the Swallow Sidecar......
See also discussion of flywheel preparation. Lindskog Balancing has handled our flywheels for years, so they fine-tuned the Findanza flywheel and clutch assembly to make sure it was vibration-free. Even brand new parts need checking. In our case, there were some minor issues, mostly involving the friction disc. Lindskog added......
See also overview of the gearbox-overdrive restoration. The clutch slave cylinder should have an external spring to help bring the release bearing mechanism back to its starting (that is, clutch engaged) position. These somewhat delicate springs tend not to survive well, and ours didn’t. The spring attaches to a small......
See also prior discussion of clutch, flywheel, and starter motor upgrades. The primary impact of an aluminum flywheel is weight … a 50% reduction! So what does a 14 pound weight saving achieve? Flywheel physics is quite complicated. On one hand, the flywheel stores rotational energy which can be converted......
Back in December 2014 we assessed the gearbox-overdrive unit, and now it’s time to do the restoration work. The gears worked fine prior to disassembly in June 2014, so the internal mechanisms will be left untouched. There was so much grime that the integrity of the seals couldn’t be determined......
After cleaning and replacement fiber washers, hardware, and a yellow filter, the fuel filter assembly looks like new. Here’s the before and after comparison. The replacement filter is the long type with a spring on the bottom to hold its position. Since the filtering area more than doubles, this should......
