Mk2 custom build https://youtu.be/ljWQJv1-pwY
Mk2 custom build https://youtu.be/ljWQJv1-pwY
With work travel and the Independence Day weekend, last night was the first time in about a week I got to get back out in the garage.
Both front rotors have been replaced. Boy is it a mother to bolt those things back on the hubs. It's like fighting with a hard, slippery, 20 pound banana covered in axle grease. One cannot really get too much purchase on the head of the bolt, and the new rotors don't have the bolt head capture casting feature on them like the OEM ones did. A 5/8 open end wrench and a pair of vice grips and a big arse breaker bar on the other end, a lot of cussing and sweating and some grippy gloves finally got it all there, though.
Imagine the right side to be the mirror image. 
It was ticking along towards 10:30 by the time I cleaned up, but I wanted to get the hydraulics all hooked back up again and verify that the brake pedal existed again....which it did....and that nothing was leaking....which it wasn't. After a brief happy dance, I washed up and went in. Tonight I'll bleed the suckers, knock on the knock-offs, and maybe get her out for a test drive.
In the meantime....these were the brake pads that came off the driver's side. 
Scary
Last Friday I was really jonesing to take the Jaaaag out for a spin. A guy I work with was playing sax at a retaurant nearby and I figured we could celebrate my 42nd b-day with a cruise down there for some drinks + desert.
Welllll...the Jaaaag started, but soon after started fumbling about at idle. A quick inspection underhood showed the aft carburetor spitting 87 octane out of its overflow. I yanked the top off the float bowl and found a partially-sunk brass float, with some liquid inside. I'd previously soldered a pinhole, and it must have held for a bit, but was leaking ever-so-slightly again.
The evening's plans scuttled (Mrs VCH wasn't really in the mood to go out, anyway) I ordered some new, Nitrophyl float's from British Parts Northwest. They arrived last night and I cannot wait to try them out...
Tis a beaut! The 3.8 S Type is my favorite Jag saloon. The classic Mark 2 grille, but with a useable boot. I almost bought one a couple times over the years, but each time I felt I could afford to restore it to the standard that a Jag deserved.
In reply to swampyankee :
I don't completely understand the dislike of the rear re-styling that happened in transforming the MkII into the 3.8S. If anything, the elongated trunk helps balance the front-rear styling of the car, and the larger trunk (sorry, "boot") is a real plus. Mrs. VCH was surprised at how large it was- although, as I pointed out, it's long, but not very tall.
All that and IRS to boot. What's not to like?
Despite the heat, Saturday I replaced the two carburetor floats with the new and improved units. Saturday night around 9:30 I took her out for a spin. Much improved. Idle was spot on, no petrol spewing, and throttle response was right there. The newer front tires made a marked difference in handling too- she feels much more composed and predictable, tight and seems to ride better, too. I'm running the Jaguar-recommended pressures of 33 psi front, 30 psi rear. Braking is even and up to what I'd call modern car standards. Very excited to have what appears to be now a sorted driver-level Jag.
As far as "the standard that a Jag deserved", I guess that's a matter of situation and opinion. This particular Jag had been sitting around for years, idle, untouched, and with no interested buyers. It very well might still be in that same suspended state had I not brought it home. From where it was 2 years ago to now, I've improved it in every regard- mechanically and aesthetically. It's not a perfect car, and I'm keenly aware of its shortcomings and issues. But none of those problems are immediately life-threatening, nor do they prevent full enjoyment of the car as-is. At some point in the future I, or somebody else may address them. For now, as long as I maintain it, fix problems as they arise, and, most importantly, drive it, then as far as I'm concerned that's a standard that _any_ car is deserving of.
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
I’ve restored a few Jaguars to a very high standard and the cost of doing so always forces me to sell it before it starts to deteriorate.
What really amazes me is how careless and cavalier the new owners are to a very expensive car.
Today I’d buy just as you did and just keep it in driver condition. Wax and polish periodically but mainly just drive it.
Let me start off by saying, Happy Birthday, "frenchyd"! I happened to click your profile this morning and saw July 25th, 1948. Well, you're over a year younger than my father. Hope you have a good one.
Today was the day- the first time I drove the Jaguar to work. It's about a 45 mile drive each way, so not a trip to be taken lightly. After a quick pre-trip inspection, we were off. First stop: gas station. The tank took on 2 gallons of 87 octane, which may have slightly confused the attendant on duty, but no matter. With only the one 7 gallon tank online, every drop counts!
The trip was going without issue for the first 20 minutes or so. At that point, the temperature gauge, which had been behaving itself by staying locked at 70C, started climbing. It got up to about where I'd say 80C was, when I decided to jump off the highway and motor along the surface streets for a bit- both to see if it would cool off, and in case of emergency, it would be easier to stop and park the car than on the highway.
After 5 minutes or so of driving at 40-50 mph, the gauge nosed back down to a hair over 70. At that point I had to merge into the outer loop of the Baltimore Beltway, and cruising in the right lane, in OVERDRIVE, at 65 mph and 2000 rpm, the gauge stayed right around 75 or so.
For the last 10 minutes of the journey I had to thread through city traffic, and here the gauge got very unhappy, spiking up to about 90C, but at least staying put there. When I got to work and shut it off the gauge was still at 90, the electric radiator fan running, but the engine idling OK.
Anyway, it made it. Phew. But why so hot?
The other issue it was having was that if I took my foot off the accelerator with the transmission out of gear, the engine would idle somewhere between 1200 and 1500 RPM. But, if I blipped the throttle, it would settle back down to a more normal 800 or so. It did this every time. I had previously tightened up the throttle return spring, but this did nothing to help the problem. Not sure what's happening here. I suspect its something going on with the SU carb linkage.
Why so hot? Isn't that like 190f?
Isn't that normal or even a bit cold? That's less than atmospheric boiling temp. Does this have a pressurized coolant system?
If so, water shouldn't boil until like 230 which is what, like 110c or something. Off to the Google machine...
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
Thank you. While my body knows how old I am my soul insists on being much much younger.
Jaguars are tuned for octane higher than 87. I realize your compression is only 9-1 in an Aluminum Hemi head but to extract more performance the timing is advanced. Now you can retard the timing a few degrees and see if that helps your higher RPM running, use 92 octane, or double check your cooling system. I assume you are using fresh 50/50 mix anti freeze etc. the water pump belt is tight, and it’s Properly filled. Some Jaguars can be tricky in that regard I know the XJS and XJ12 are. If you take the cap off the radiator water will seem full but it’s not, you have to check it in the holding tank. To fill it the back end must be higher than the front end.
Yes 90 degrees is fine although a bit closer to trouble.
90c=194f seems pretty good to me?
Congrats on the first drive! That's awesome, and probably a little scary.
frenchyd said:In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
Thank you. While my body knows how old I am my soul insists on being much much younger.
Jaguars are tuned for octane higher than 87. I realize your compression is only 9-1 in an Aluminum Hemi head but to extract more performance the timing is advanced. Now you can retard the timing a few degrees and see if that helps your higher RPM running, use 92 octane, or double check your cooling system. I assume you are using fresh 50/50 mix anti freeze etc. the water pump belt is tight, and it’s Properly filled. Some Jaguars can be tricky in that regard I know the XJS and XJ12 are. If you take the cap off the radiator water will seem full but it’s not, you have to check it in the holding tank.
Yes 90 degrees is fine although a bit closer to trouble.
My dad says the same thing- he thinks and acts like he's 40, but his body scolds him back occasionally. Like you, though, he's active and in generally good health. My mom tries to keep him that way. Though when they come down for a visit we've been known to tip more than a couple together. Much to my mother's chagrin. Ah well. I suppose this is why married men tend to live a bit longer than their unmarried counterparts, and why married women, on average, tend to live a bit less long than their spinster sisters.
You all are correct on the C to F conversion; I guess I was just alarmed that the engine had seemed to stabilize at 70C and then began creeping upward again. But it did not get over 90, even idling in traffic, so I guess that's a good thing. It was only about 70F ambient this morning; this afternoon when it's 85 or so outside will be the true test. I do prefer to run my older cars at 180F or so.
I thought perhaps the fuel octane could be an issue; tonight when I top it off on my way home I'll add some 93. I do run 93 in some of my older stuff, just so I can advance the timing for a bit better throttle response. But I had just retarded the timing on the Jag to correct a pinking issue under hard acceleration.
No overflow tank on this- and the radiator cap is on a little neck that sticks back towards the engine, cantilevered off the radiator a bit. So if the coolant isn't in the neck (it is; I checked it last night), it's tricky to know how much is in the engine. I did just flush the cooling system last year or so, fresh hoses and t-stat. It didn't look particularly cruddy or anything inside. I don't recall if I had the radiator flushed or not. But the coolant looks nice and green.
Tonight (or sometime this weekend) I'll conduct a post-trip inspection, check all the fluid levels, and report back. You're right, java230, it was a little scary. I'm reminded just how impatient and indifferent rush hour drivers can be. Some lady in a newer Mercedes was tailgating me and throwing her hands in the air- all because I had to audacity to leave 3 or 4 car lengths between myself and the pickup truck I was following. As she zoomed past me I could see her car was riddled with dents. I have noticed you can tell a lot about a driver by the condition of their vehicle.
Just checked the coolant level and it was "in the neck". The oil level was about 3/4 of the way up the hatched mark. I know frenchyd told me to run a bit over full on these, and I think I haven't changed the oil in about a year anyway, so maybe I'll do that sometime this weekend.
IIn reply to volvoclearinghouse :
20W 50 oil. I’ve always used Castrol and Jaguar is very big about suggesting Castrol
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
Hey, I forgot to tell you. That engine holds a lot of oil. The first ones held 22 quarts later ones held 18 quarts. I don’t know how many the 3.8S held but it’s not going to be 4 plus one for the filter.
Well, the car actually looks fire and I hope it turns out to be an amazing car. However, I've never been really a big fan of British car design, they are too much rounded as for me.
frenchyd said:In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
Hey, I forgot to tell you. That engine holds a lot of oil. The first ones held 22 quarts later ones held 18 quarts. I don’t know how many the 3.8S held but it’s not going to be 4 plus one for the filter.
Don't worry, I always fill to the dipstick. And I have changed the oil in this car before. I think it holds something like 6 or 7 quarts. Not sure why a 3.8 liter engine would need 18 or 22 quarts of oil. My old 7.3 diesel only used like 2 gallons.
Well, the drive home was...worse. Ended up getting stuck later at work and by the time I left It was about 85F ambient, and I got stuck flogging through surface city streets and then the expressway was a parking lot. The temp gauge went up to 90C and stayed there for awhile, and then started creeping up. By the time the expressway finally opened up it was nudging close to 110C, which is the far right end of the gauge. It didn't steam over, and the radiator cap didn't seem to pop, but it was running hot.
I stopped about halfway home at the grocery store, both to get food and let the car cool off. It dieseled something fierce when I shut it down, like 6 or 7 seconds of running on. I puttered around the store for an hour or so, came back out and it fired right up. The temperature showed about 70C. But as I sat at a couple of stop lights waiting to get back onto the expressway, it crept up again, briskly, until it hit 90C. Once on the expressway and motoring along at 65 or so in overdrive, at 2000 RPM, it stabilized at around 105C, but would not go lower. There's a long downhill at the end of the expressway, and I figured maybe that would help it cool off. I stuck the transmission in Neutral, let the engine idle, and coasted down the hill- the temperature stayed at 105.
Running as hot as it was, the engine would pink under moderate low rpm acceleration. I kept the revs up and used a light foot to save the pistons. I think the pinking was a result of it running hot, and not the other way around. I had set the timing to not pink at "normal" operating temps. And timing that's too far retarded is more likely to result in overheating. The distributor is a new Perktronics electronic unit and I've checked the timing- both at idle at at "full advance" and it seems to be good.
It made it home, hot but otherwise seemingly OK. It dieseled again when I shut it off- this time I put it in gear and let the clutch out to "kill" the engine.
So, yes, it is running hot. Apart from running 93 octane and switching to 20W-50 oil (both of which will probably not hurt, but aren't likely to completely solve the problem), what else is going on? No more driving to work until I figure this out, that's for sure. 
running lean?
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
To condense, you retarded the timing, are using 87 octane when 92 is called for and your fuel mixture is?
There are several old school ways to check.
Read your spark plugs,
Do the lift the lift the damper trick
Smell the exhaust.
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
The XKE of that era used 18 quarts. That large amount was a oil cooler of sorts. The aluminum oil pan had cooling fins on it.
I think the sedans were smaller though because they weren’t driven as sporty.
frenchyd said:In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
To condense, you retarded the timing, are using 87 octane when 92 is called for and your fuel mixture is?
There are several old school ways to check.
Read your spark plugs,
Do the lift the lift the damper trick
Smell the exhaust.
But other than that, how was the play, Mrs Lincoln?
I've never had SUS run lean. At idle it smells a little hydrocarbonny. And throttle response is excellent. So I doubt that's it.
I can't recall if I had the radiator flushed when I had it out back when I first got the car. I should have (the same shop that does gas tanks does radiators) but I can't recall. I need to keep better notes now that I'm getting into my dotage.
I did replace the fan belt and the electric fan is working. Herm.
I’m enjoying the Jag story very much, nicely written and documented.
I brought a 20 year dormant TR3 back to life 15 gears ago, and still have it to enjoy.
Couple things re: temp rise.
Make sure the radiator is the best it can be, has it been rodded out? If you have an IR temp reader, shoot a spot by the thermostat, and compare that to the gauge. On my (rebuilt) non-electric ether-filled temp gauge, it reads 185 and the IR reader shows 177, so a little wiggle room.
Makes you quiver, though, when the gauge rises.
VCH, keep the updates coming!
This weekend: drained the radiator by removing the lower hose. Orangish-yellowish-brown liquid spewed out. Herm. I know I'd drained and filled with fresh coolant back when I had the radiator out....2 years ago? Stuck a garden hose in the radiator cap hole and let it flush - nice clear water eventually flowed out the bottom. Let that all drain, hooked up the lower hose, parked the car with the nose uphill (and on some ramps) and let the engine idle whilst filling with a special proprietary mixture consisting of:
I wanted to achieve about a 70/30 water/antifreeze mix, since water cools better than antifreeze, but still wanting to keep the freezing protection of the antifreeze (though it rarely gets lower than about 10 degrees F here even in the dead of winter) The water wetter also claimed to perform better on lower concentrations of antifreeze. With the car on the ramps, I was able to "burp" the cooling system and get it nice and full.
There was a spare oil filter on hand, so I drained the oil while I was at it, changed the filter (a maddeningly complex task for something achieved with such simplicity by....every other car on the planet built in 1966) and filled with 6.5 quarts of Castrol 20W50 conventional oil. This got the oil level just a hair over the FULL mark on the stick.
While idling after the fluids change, I discovered the problem with the slight throttle sticking- there's a return spring on the accelerator linkage, and another on the SU carburetors. Because of course there is. The one on the SUs was all sorts of kinked and stretched out, so I fixed it up and now the engine returns to idle properly.
While idling in the sun on Saturday, in 90 degree ambient air, the gauge went up to just a tick over 70C and stayed put. I didn't get a chance to drive it, and its still slurping down whatever 87 octane horse piss is left in the one tank, but next time the Jag does go out the first stop will be at the high test pumps.
While mixing up the special coolant formula, Mrs. VCH caught me in the kitchen filling the Prestone jug with our drinking water. She started to ask why, and then interrupted herself with, "Oh, nevermind....it's because it's a JAAAAAG, isn't it?"
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
I second the need for an IR temp detector. If you own a British car it’s the best $20-30 you can spend.
It will tell you all sorts of things about your coolant system in just a few minutes without even getting greasy.
Then you can use it to have the brakes talk to you. Again without getting dirty.
It also helps find bearing issues, not just engine but U Joints, wheel, differential, etc. ( but to be fair a lot of those are detected with you crawling on the ground, and yes if you are like me you will get dirty)
Finally you can detect issues with your tune up.
Between a stethoscope and an IR temp sensor sorting out Jaguars sure has gotten a lot easier.
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