1972 Daimler Sovereign 4.2 Series 1

[grifterkid]

That is just beautiful...!!! You're doing a ruddy good job there sir so keep it up!

[XL391]

Thanks for the comments gents!

Just a quick update, managed to paint the head yesterday, all ready to be fitted back on today. I got this composite head gasket, the original was metal, from Jaguar Classic Spares, highly recommended. I applied a very light coating of copper slip to the long head studs to prevent corrosion.



Then I got the head ready with new manifold studs for inlet and exhaust and a final wipe over with white spirit...



Before lowering slowly onto the block...



And there we are! Also replaced the cylinder head dome nuts for some shinier numbers.



More soon.

[eternaloptimist]

Top work. Good choice to fit a proper sized rear number plate.

[Phil2600s]

This might be a coincidence, but did you buy the choke cable and AED parts from me...In Chesterfield? Stripped from a red car I was breaking?

[XL391]

Haha! How are you Phil! What happened to the red one?

[Phil2600s]

Not bad thanks! Your car looks ace...love it! My brother is breaking a white series 1 if you need anything?? My red one sold on ebay...was collected by an older gent who said he was going to restore it!

[dbdb]

What a fabulous car. I'm glad it is getting the skills and attention it deserves. My parent's neighbour had one just like this when I was a small child. I remember standing on a wooden box so I could look at the engine!

David

[XL391]

Thanks guys!

Had a good day today, pretty much everything refitted now. Only a few things left to do. The radiator not going back in was down to, annoyingly, the lack of 2x 10mm nuts for the new Kenlowe fan. I also need a new throttle cable and to secure the exhaust down pipes to the manifolds. After that it's oil, coolant and then a week of running her before changing the oil and filter again to get the last of all the crud out of the oil ways.

I'm going to change the cam cover nuts for some nice, shiny chrome jobbies as well, they look rubbish with the new head nuts.

Some pics:





Finish line now in sight! Should I leave the bonnet off?!

[XL391]

It’s alive!!!!!



Managed to get her started on the choke pretty much first time. With the auto choke (AED) on these there is a pipe that runs from the rear exhaust manifold, around the block and into the AED. Having replaced the auto part of the choke with a manual conversion I left the pipe off altogether. No issue at the manifold end but the AED has a pipe drawing air in. I stuck a crankcase breather filter on this and adjusted the cams on top of the plungers on the manual choke conversion to close the choke off completely when warm, the whole idea of losing the rubbish auto choke. I retuned the carbs when warm, took her out and......stuttered and spluttered around the test route at about 5mph, fuel starvation and/or blockage. At this point, after all the time, work and money spent, I felt like this:



As I crawled back to the lock up, swearing and considering washing it in petrol and drying it with a match, the old girl must have heard me and took heed. The blockage cleared and she took off like a stabbed rat! I decided to go back, grab some tools and go out for a run to see if it would come back. 60 miles and lots of juice later and she was running sweet as a nut! I had wired the Kenlowe fan up to the Headlights though...







So, needless to say, Oulton Park yesterday and despite my nerves, she never missed a beat. Did 160 miles in it, didn't want to put it away!





Got myself one of these too...



And all tucked up. What a shame Summer is nearly over!

[grifterkid]

What a truly awesome car... Just beautiful!

[Clement]

It looks glorious Good thing you didn't burn it down then!

[AtomicRooster]

This is perfection. I WILL own one of these soon...

[eternaloptimist]

Brilliant work, well done- enjoy it!

[DWDarkWheels]

I like the restrained way you've gone about updating this. The straight exhausts explain why the exhausts look different lengths in the early pics

[XL391]

Time for another update. Car has ran great since the head work was done, sadly didn't get as many miles on it as I'd have liked last year, except for a trip to Chesterfield to buy another XJ, but hopefully I'll make up for it this year. Managed to keep driving her right up til the end of November this year with the mild weather before she went into hibernation.













Winter is always a good time to work through the list of faults and this had some minor bits and pieces. There was a strong vibration from the transmission tunnel on left turns(??), a knock from the front and wooly steering.

The knock from the tunnel was the rubber cotton reel in the gearbox mount, the rubber having turned into what can only be described as some sort of crumbly cake. Easily sorted.







Me and a few of the other lads decided to get ourselves an early Xmas present, I'd have preferred a two post but it'll still make life a lot easier.





The next job to tackle with our new toy in place was the steering rack bushes. They lead a hard life on the XJ as oil leaks invariably destroy the rubber bushes and the steering feel becomes vague and sloppy. In light of this I decided to replace the bushes with a nice set of Superflex Polyurethane bushes from Jaguar Classic Spares and, wow, the difference! Well worth fitting these to your XJ, especially if you like to 'press on'.

These XJ's ride so well that it can hide the worn stuff quite well unless you go looking or drive a good one. I was truly disgusted at the state of the bottom ball joints and the anti-roll bar drop links, these were next for the chop. I went for 'sealed for life' ball joints and I was advised to stick with the standard bushes for the drop links as the Poly bushes for these are a bit on the harsh side.





The ramp makes these jobs so much easier!





The front shockers had also seen better days, well overdue replacing. I've decided to go for a pair of Gaz adjustables, again through Jaguar Classic Spares. Only fitted them yesterday, I'll have to wait for the weather to sort itself out before I try them out. They deffo needed changing!







So hopefully the old girl will be a fair bit sharper at the front end now. Set correctly, there is apparently no difference in ride quality.



Few things to do before Spring, the Kenlowe fan packed up just before she was put into hibernation, traced to a faulty Thermal Switch and thankfully not my wiring! I got a new thermal switch sent out under warranty, that should be fitted Saturday, new Rear Wheel Bearings for both sides, spare Brake Master Cylinder to rebuild, Auto box oil & filter change and other small bits and bobs. Few pics from last week with my mate's Supercharged Daimler Super V8.





I'm also on the look out for a rear seat in Tan (believe Jag called it Cinnamon) as mine is too far gone. Id consider a whole interior if need be?



Thanks for reading. I know it's not the most interesting thread, more a visual work diary for if I ever have to sell the old girl (God forbid!!)

[skoda_norman]

Lovely looking Jag. I think the DIY approach to such a beast is commendable too!

[XL391]

Jan 30, 2015 3:29:39 GMT skoda_norman said:

Lovely looking Jag. I think the DIY approach to such a beast is commendable too!

Cheers Norman! I was bricking it when I got it, I'd only worked on much simpler stuff. They're pretty easy to work on, space in the engine bay is great (6 cylinder cars at least), there is just a lot more bits to remove or refit and it pays to sort problems straight away before they develop into bigger problems!

[georgeb]

Jan 30, 2015 3:17:51 GMT XL391 said:

I know it's not the most interesting thread

Don't apologise, she's beauty and the post was worth it for the dashboard shot alone. Jaguar should have kept that until today. It cannot be bettered.

[MatsOldCars]

Beautiful car, and top work! I look forward to the day ours looks along these lines.

[Clement]

Stunning XJ, I'm in love with your automobile! Renewing suspension components is usually a messy job but it makes a world of difference