UPDATE 10/04/17: The vintage Jaguar horns have been unpredictable since they were installed in 2015. Every part of the circuit was carefully checked — the fuse box, relay, wiring leads to the horns, ground connections, column ground, and horn switch — and no defect was found. Except both beautifully restored......
Continue reading...Accessories
heater, window washer, window wipers, radio
Bar badges
About one hundred years ago, a group of British drivers formed The Automotive Association (AA) to figure out ways to mitigate speed traps set up by local British police. They employed scouts on bicycles to patrol suspected traps and warn AA members. The notion of marking cars who were AA......
Continue reading...Car cover
Preparing a classic car for winter storage typically involves a car cover of some sort. While deluxe covers sporting Jaguar logos, reflective welting, cable/lock and carrying tote cost up to $600, a simple grey lightweight cover provides good dust and debris protection (inside use only). Budge, a respected brand, offers......
Continue reading...Spinner tool sleeves
See also spinner tool enhancement post. The 3D printed sleeves work just as intended; they hold the wood “paddle” in place without hands so one can swing the hammer accurately....
Continue reading...Spinner tool enhancement
See also hub spinner tool overview. The polyurethane mirror finish on the wood spinner tool has kept its surface clean, but the performance of the tool hasn’t meet expectations. The problem is that once in position over the hub, the wood piece tends to move off the ears at an......
Continue reading...Seat belt re-webbing
In the United States, the first seat belts were introduced by Nash (1948) and then Ford in the mid-1950s. The public resoundly rejected these safety devices, however, and only a small minority actually buckled up well into the 1980s. In 1984, the state of New York passed the first mandatory......
Continue reading...Wheel hub spinner tool
Removing or tightening the wire wheel hub spinner is somewhat disquieting because the usual method is to whack the end of the spinner with a special copper/hide hammer! Even in a skilled hand, it’s hard not to dent and scratch the spinner arm. And the leverage needed to loosen a......
Continue reading...Seat belts and safety
In 1960, the Jaguar Mk2 was outfitted with lap seat belts (which were first offered as standard equipment by Saab in 1958). Incremental safety improvements since then include the 3-point belt (invented by Nils Bohlin from Saab, but launched by Volvo), high back seats with head restraints, airbags, collapsible steering......
Continue reading...Alpine DIN installation
The Alpine double-DIN head unit has several related components, including: microphone for hands-free operation stereo speakers backup (rear) camera radio antenna wiring connection to the reverse switch (triggers backup camera) wiring connection to the handbrake switch (safety precaution) A CLD swatch was rolled on to the back of the speaker......
Continue reading...Speaker mounts
Sometime in the mid-1970s, a Japanese radio and Pioneer speakers were installed in the Jaguar. The speakers were fastened to the side panels and positioned over the circular cutout in the chassis sheet metal. The 6 1/4″ cutout can accept modern 6 1/2″ speakers although the bolt pattern must be......
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