A doodle...

Not a Jag, but this is an example of some of the stuff I doodle in notebooks... Usually during meetings and stuff. :)

Got the bug back...

I finally decided to face facts a few weeks ago and confront my poor old abandoned Jag. She'd been parked up in a side street ever since her last visit to the college when two slow punctures were sorted out among some other bits & pieces (like completely replacing the front brakes!). 

I hadn't sat in her for around 4 months, let alone drive anywhere. The reasons? Well, lack of mojo brought about by rising repair costs, potentially crippling engine issues, and what I perceived to be a dearth of results from recent repairs. I just parked it - and ignored it. Now I understand why cars lie in barns for decades, under tarps in people's driveways, or buried beneath the detritus of family life in a dusty garage. It's really easy to forget you're responsible for that vehicle and what becomes of it. 

Unsurprisingly, 'H9 WAP' reacted to the abandonment by draining her battery. She was sleeping and there was no way she was moving. With the help of classmates from the college we managed to jump start her and begin the warming up process. A couple of problems became apparent  - there was a horrible noise coming from the power steering pump, and the battery was toast. The pump noise was quickly cured with a top up of fluid and we found that the brakes all worked (nothing seized thankfully), so with a bit of gentle manoeuvring the old girl eased from her place of rest. The big cat became Nyan Cat though, leaving a rainbow trail of leaking fluids in her path...

Nevertheless, I shifted her to a new parking spot closer to home so that I could keep a better eye on her. It also gave me the chance to remember why I love this car in the first place. The ride, the power, the presence  the looks... As soon as I sat in her again I was grinning. I had been silly to ignore its pull.

As with anything that isn't used regularly, 'H9 WAP' had developed a couple of problems. The power steering fluid top up didn't stay where it should and the brakes were crap - spongy and dead. They worked though, but by the time they did my foot was nearly out the floor! After a short run around town to blow off the cobwebs (literally), we parked up with a plan to come back later in the week to sort the PAS issue and get things back on the road. I wanted to get the rear brakes replaced using the spares I'd bought months ago, and I also wanted to get things moving on replacing the holy back box. 

So, in the next update, I'll explain how all that went, and where we are - a year after I started a Jaguar's Tale.  

    

No Mojo...

I haven't driven the Jag for nearly three months now. It has sat parked up at the side of a quiet road, away from passers by, just mouldering. The battery has gone flat from it being sat so long - a fact I disappointingly learned when collecting some stuff from the boot. What's really sad though is the fact I haven't missed it... It's not that I don't enjoy driving it, I do, but recently the noise from the timing chain tensioner and the spongy brakes have put me off using it. I've gone without and almost forgot about it.

Realistically though, the actual running costs have been more of an eye opener and a mojo killer. Looking back at my outgoings over the last year or so it has been clear that I was haemorrhaging money on petrol. In fact, I must have spent upwards of £600 a month during the summer. It didn't help that the Ka failed it's MOT and that I had to buy the Almera. That expense really left me broke. No spare cash means no money for spares, no money to use towards petrol, and no money to use towards restoration work on the big cat.

So now I'm at a bit of a fork in the road... Keep it, or sell it? Put it in long term storage and accept the fact that many more things will go wrong the longer it sits, or run it once a week where funds allow until the tax and MOT run out in March? I'm not sure what to do.

Bangernomics & EV's...

Drafted a couple of months ago...

I'd like to put another big 'Thank you!' out there for Rob Jenner of the Jaguar Enthusiast's Club, who has once again supplied me with parts to keep the Jag roadworthy. This time it was a complete rear brakes set-up: callipers, carriers, pads, discs, shoes and their fitting kits. All for beer money.

The parts need cleaned up but I can do that in the college, or hopefully when it's quiet at Mulsanne. Fitting them will be done at the college after the timing chain tensioner/rattle is sorted. I won't be mucking about when it comes to doing that particular job. New bits are the order of the day there. With a JEC and possibly a trade discount too, a new tensioner, dampers and gaskets shouldn't break the bank. Which is just as well because I haven't been in full-time employment for over 2 years and my money is running out!

I should explain why that is actually...

Just over those 2 years ago I was working full-time at The University of Edinburgh. It was a management position worth a good £25k per annum or thereabouts and seemed to be a suitable evolution from my previous, similar roles with BSkyB and Motorola. I hated it though. The machinations of being a team manager, plus the stress of the office politics that come with it, had just wore me out. As I looked at my career, I realised I'd steered it down a dead end. To use a modern analogy it was as if I'd been using Apple Maps the whole time.

An opportunity arose to leave the University with a redundancy payment in hand, so I took it. I decided that I needed to take a chance and make a change, to do what I should have done when I left school. To that end I applied for motor vehicle courses at all the local colleges as I wanted to train to become a Mechanic, and waited with baited breath for a reply. Thankfully I was able to enrol in Jewel & Esk College on a full-time course, plus I was awarded a bursary. The financial support meant that my lump sum from the redundancy could be stretched out considerably longer. What would have been six month's wages was now more like ten.

There came a point though when those funds were drying up. Just before they did I was fortunate enough to receive a successful PPI claim for a sum of money roughly the same value as my original redundancy payment. I used some of it towards paying off old debt and clearing my feet to reduce my monthly outgoings, then I bought the Jag, and ultimately the Nissan when the Ka bit the dust. It is the remainder of that fund which is currently running out.

There is a Scholarship available at the College though that will pay the bills and which will open a few doors for me if I am successful in my application.

The College are looking to employ an assistant on their EV Project. This is a sustainable, zero carbon transport initiative piloted by Jewel & Esk which sees them using a fleet of electric cars instead of the petrol/diesel alternatives for day to day inter-campus commuting and deliveries. The data gathered so far indicates that the EV's are mainly used for short, stop-start journeys and that you can travel 18000 miles in an electric car for just £630 in charging costs.

The enterprise is really beginning to take off as the fleet of cars is expanding and the extra data gathered needs to be analysed, interpreted and presented to demonstrate the usefulness and viability of the EV's. For instance, one thing that someone (hopefully me) will need to do is find out just how far you can actually go on a one way trip using one full charge - and how that range is affected by your driving style. Once the values for those are known they can be collated with the rest of the data. If someone then wants to know whether or not an EV will get them from Midlothian Campus to Dunbar, we will be in a position to tell them. The aim of the project is to switch attitudes to EV's and demonstrate to large organisations how they could use them. In doing so, they would reduce their carbon footprint and save money. If the vehicles are charged using renewable means (eg. solar or wind turbines), the organisation's carbon footprint would shrink even further.

We need to demonstrate that the EV alternative is practical though and that's where I hope to be able to make a difference.

Check yo'self...

While 'The Beastie' is resting, pending new bits, I have focused some attention on the Almera. An opportunity arose on Thursday afternoon to bring it into the college workshop so that I could try and track down an annoying 'clonk' from somewhere in the front. It's quite apparent on uneven surfaces, or when turning right. Given that a lot of Edinburgh still has cobbled streets the noise is beginning to annoy me.

There wasn't a free ramp to begin with during the class so I initially popped the car up onto axle stands at the front so that I could have a good poke about underneath. First impressions were good in that there wasn't anything loose or bushes that were obviously split. One thing I did notice though was that the trailing edge of the front bumper on the nearside was flapping about because of broken mounts. Thinking that might be the cause of the noise I set about repairing it. I used pop rivets through the plastic to secure the bumper ends to the arch liner. It isn't elegant, or permanent, but it will do for now.

Nothing appeared to be amiss under the Nissan so I dropped it back onto the level ground & began checking the fluids while a classmate did the tyre pressures. I'm glad I did the check because I found out there was nearly no oil in it!

Apparently, the garage who sold me the car had checked all the fluids before sale. If that was the case and they were all fine, then the Nissan is either burning oil or losing it some other way. I certainly haven't noted it marking its territory as the Jag normally does so that could indicate the oil is being used by the Almera's gutless 1.5. I fired in a litre of 10w40 to bring the dipstick level up to a more acceptable place then put the car onto a free 2-post for further checks.

Once again, there was no odd suspension travel apparent, no wear or play, but I did see a potential oil leak from around the top of the pump. One to keep an eye on then. I also discovered that the rear gearbox mount is a bit worn which could account for the judder felt while using reverse.

Other than those wee things the Almera is looking good. The 'clonk' seemed to be a wee bit better on the drive home but it was still there. I suspect there's maybe another loose bit of trim or something I'm missing. It might even just be the motion of the heavy bonnet bumping against its stops. My partners old Ka was noisy like that. In any case I'm pleased that the levels & tyre pressures were checked. If they hadn't been it might have led to expensive damage. Just goes to show how important the seemingly mundane checks are. When was the last time you checked your car? :)

Diamonds are forever...

When new, my Jag was fitted with Diamond Turned 20-spoke alloy wheels. They were the same as the normal Sovereign wheels but, instead of a painted finish, the spokes received a gentle grind from a diamond equipped tool which brought out the naturally shiny glow of the aluminium alloy used to make them. A lacquer was then applied to stop any corrosion. Sadly, over time, the lacquer can crack and allow moisture in, which is exactly what has happened to my alloys. They look awful.

I had made some enquiries about refinishing the wheels but people were saying it isn't possible to get them back to the original state. I'd have to settle for a painted finish. It's either that, or choose a totally different type of wheel altogether. However, I might have found a place that can help. It would cost a bit of money, and I'd need replacement wheels to use while mine are sent off, but it does seem possible that the Jag's boots will gleam again. Here's what they should look like... I'll keep you updated on progress.

  

Do want, x4 please...

Anchors - Day 2...

Picking up from where we left off yesterday, my classmates & I began putting the Jag back together. Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of any of it because the pressure was on to get the job done and get the car out of the door. As Hagrid would say, "Sorry 'bout that!".

First things first, we refitted the rear wheels. All punctures & leaks had been sorted so they were good to go back on. Although I noted yesterday the rear pads and discs are worn out, they still work, and are going to have to keep on working until mid next week when I can get hold of replacements. New parts are out of the budget range so hopefully the bent 4.0 Sport that donated its front components will also donate its rears. And bumpstops too. Maybe.  

Once the rears were refitted we moved onto the front of the Jag and focused out attention back on the brakes to remove the old callipers. I had been down in the workshop earlier in the day so that I could spray even more WD40 on everything which meant that dismantling the old gear was a lot easier. Their flexi's needed to come away and we aimed to cannibalise any good parts from them, like unchewed bleed nipples and rubber covers. 

Incidentally, here's a top tip I learned while disconnecting the flexi's - have a set of blank ends you can screw onto any brake pipes you cannot clamp, so that fluid loss is minimised. To make them, simply create one end of a replacement brakepipe as you normally would, but instead of putting a union at the other end, hammer it flat and fold it over. Cheers to Billy for that one! As we didn't have any of those to hand, the new flexi's were temporarily fitted then clamped while we tested the new callipers before they were bolted on. 

While one team got on with that, I set about putting new ends on the ABS earth wire for the OSF which had come adrift at the calliper. I had hoped to re-crimp the original ends of the wire however there wasn't enough time, so non-original generic ones were used. The attachment bolt was pretty rounded but I was able to shift it using an Imperial socket ever so slightly smaller than the 8mm Metric socket that should have fitted. To make sure it was securely on I gave it a wee tap with a hammer - which can also serve to 'shock' the threads a bit, releasing the hold any corrosion might have on the part. This is also a good way to free up stubborn brake nipples too. A golden rule there though is simply never force it and don't get angry - that's when you break stuff or inadvertently punch something hard, like a subframe, when the threads finally release. Just soak it in penetrating fluid & try again in a bit.  

Moving back to the replacement callipers, they were confirmed as good. We later found out the brake circuit rig was filled with green LHM instead of Dot 4 fluid which would mean a really, REALLY thorough bleeding after fitting the callipers as the LHM is not good for their seals so needed to be flushed out. All the parts went back together, torqued up to the settings from Autodata, then we bled the front brakes, making sure that the fluid coming through was clear and free of bubbles. The brake fluid reservoir was filled up to 'MAX' then it was simply a case of refitting the front roadwheels and torqueing them up too. The Jag came down off the ramps and it was time for a road test.

Now I must admit, 1st impressions were not good. The pedal went almost all the way to the floor and the brakes felt horrible. Before the job I would say they had a typical Ford feeling, in that there was a positive action, a firm pedal, and a 'bite' point probably halfway up. As I backed out of the workshop though they were just 'mushy'. However, as I drove the car the action of the brakes improved. The pedal movement was still odd but the pulsing, juddering, pulling to the left, drone when coming to a halt from high speeds, and the high speed wheel-wobble, had gone. A quick visual check confirmed no brake fluid leaks so there must be some air still in the circuit somewhere. I would like to  re-bleed the entire system, rather than just the front callipers, and triple check that all unions and hoses are tight. That's a job for Monday lunchtime at Mulsanne.

So, mission accomplished for the brakes. If the re-bleed doesn't cure the softness I may have to live with it. The brakes do work and the spongy feeling may just be down to the new flexi hoses having a bit more 'give' under pressure than the original (and expensive) Jag bits after all. And anyway, the new brakes still need to 'bed in' a bit. 

The next job - before anything else - has to be the upper timing chain tensioner. To do that I will need a few hours to remove the cam cover and replace some of the guides (if accessible) as well as the tensioner itself. I'd rather fit a Type 2 one but in the absence of that a Type 1 will do. The latter are easy to swap out at a later date. This forum post covers the whole procedure and the details exactly the symptoms I've been experiencing. http://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/xj-x300-xjr-26/note-redesigned-upper-tensioner-x300-can-also-fail-61698/

That's for another day though. Tonight I'm celebrating another job done in the restoration of this fantastic car and I'd like to thank, again, everyone who has done anything to help out with the project! :-)