Our front and rear windows have been packed up for about two years, but it’s now time to clean them up and get ready for the windscreen and backlight installation. The rear window is installed with the seal on the glass. The old seal was scraped off with a razor......
These days chrome, whether new or restored, is extremely expensive due, in part, to the environmental concerns about the chrome plating process (the EPA lists hexavalent chromium as a “priority” air and water pollutant). Fortunately, most of our Jaguar chrome (and there is a lot of it!) survived in good......
The Jaguar’s radiator was recored, according to the few service records available, around 1995. The recore process basically mates the original frame housing and the cooling hose connections to a new assembly with the coolant tubes and air fins. Visual inspection shows that the “new” core — now twenty years......
See also Smiths small gauges and petrol tank removal posts. In anticipation of the tank installation, the petrol filler cavity on the left rear of the body was painted with POR 15 and fitted with a new grommet. The POR 15 coating should withstand gasoline drips better than the exterior......
See also background information about Solex. The 2.4 engine has twin Solex B32 PBI5 carburetors (the 3.4 and 3.8 engines have different S.U. twins) that need to be rebuilt. Each carburetor has over 80 parts, some very small, so it’s important to keep track of how the unit is put......
The cylinder head sides were painted with the engine upside down on its stand. With the engine now right side up, we can address the top of the cylinder head. The 14 dome head nuts are critical to engine construction and can only be removed one at a time. Since......
See also earlier Crankshaft damper and Crankshaft pulley replacement posts. The crankshaft damper, positioned at the front of the engine opposite the flywheel to reduce torsional vibration, was manufactured by Metalastik of Leicester in the UK. Jaguar used several Metalastik parts for mounts and other applications where vibration issues required......
The last time we discussed the rear axle and differential, it looked like this: Since the axle was removed from the body, it has been power washed, blasted, and then painted with POR 15. A new cover gasket was fitted to prevent oil leaks, and the oil plugs were highlighted......
Today’s beautiful fall weather was perfect for rolling out the engine on its stand and power washing it. After the POR 15 degreaser and metal prep application, the engine was hosed off again and then left to dry in the sun. A few metal pieces were highlighted on the engine......
Replacing the crankshaft front seal, housed between the oil pan and the front timing chain plate, is the most involved task of our planned engine restoration. The challenge is the multi-step process required to access the seal … once reached, actually replacing the seal itself is trivial. Damper hub After......
