- 1. Ronstoration
- (Updates)
- ... which I have dubbed "Ronstoration". Ron is one of the Jag Boys. He sold used cars for over 40 years. "Paint it black and put it back" sums up the caryard approach. So today I took Rob's car up to Jaag ...
- Created on 25 July 2015
- 2. Why having a car professionally restored costs so much.
- (Updates)
- ... it only took about an extra hour. On to job number 3. The boss cost nearly $AU200. For that you'd expect perfection. But no grub screws were provided to attach the horn push. The threaded holes were ...
- Created on 25 May 2015
- 3. Torsion bars
- (Updates)
- One side of the silver 4.2 sits lower than the other so time to reset the torsion bars. As usual about 10 min each side to correctly calibrate the bars. Pity it took about an hour a side to get the bloody ...
- Created on 12 April 2015
- 4. Engine and JT5 gearbox installation
- (Updates)
- ... back onto the yoke and the IRS reinstalled. Although it sounds complicated the removal and replacement of the IRS took about 20 minutes and was unavoidable. When we fitted the engine steady bar it ...
- Created on 23 November 2013
- 5. Shimming the tappets
- (Updates)
- Setting the valve clearances on the XK head is a time consuming process that requires patience. I have finished mine. It took me about 4 hours, never having done this before. Each side had to be pulled ...
- Created on 26 October 2013
- 6. Got the IRS in.
- (Updates)
- A hoist, a trolley and a little help is all that's needed. This time I took advice and filled the diff with oil and pre-bled the calipers before installing the IRS unit. ...
- Created on 22 September 2013
- 7. Electrical fettling
- (Updates)
- ... a damn sight harder than it looks and took up a few hours. Cleaning, painting and generally fettling the other bits and bobs whiled away most of the rest of the day. ...
- Created on 05 August 2013
- 8. More little bits and pieces.
- (Updates)
- ... the elephant away and restored the plug. Took about an hour and a bit of Araldite. ...
- Created on 07 July 2013
- 9. Engine machining
- (Updates)
- ... service took 12 days. Needless to say, when the 2 cam followers arrived, they were the wrong ones. See the miniskirt? So another pair of the right cam followers was sent ...
- Created on 03 July 2013
- 10. Coupe update
- (Updates)
- ... and took the car back to see John Hurley. The problem turned out to be that the piston in the middle carby was sticking because the jet wasn't centred. John sorted this out and tuned the car and it runs ...
- Created on 12 May 2013
- 11. There's always one little tiny problem...
- (Updates)
- ... have cut the air with a knife. But happily all went well. In the end all 3 took about 15 mins including pressing the locking pins in. Flushed with success I moved on to the IRS. ...
- Created on 02 February 2013
- 12. Here we go again...
- (Updates)
- It's fun when finally the time comes to begin turning piles of parts back into a car. Yesterday I put the carbies back together. As it is with these things, the first one took me about an hour, the second ...
- Created on 27 January 2013
- 13. At the body shop
- (Updates)
- ... and today Ron and I took a couple of bonnets down to Ross at the body shop. When we got there we found Ross has been busy with the tub. Sexy original lead. So ...
- Created on 08 January 2013
- 14. Running in
- (Updates)
- 250 miles on the clock now and it has only broken down twice. Well 3 times. Actually 4. No. 5 if you count frying the rubbish SimonBBC dizzy as well, although that only took 30 seconds and the car ...
- Created on 23 October 2012
- 15. Newer is not necessarily better
- (Updates)
- ... up my bumpers from Carl the Idiot tomorrow. Only took him 4 1/2 months. ...
- Created on 17 October 2012
- 16. Back together...but..
- (Updates)
- Having reinstalled the seats yesterday only putting the speedo in and the bonnet back on remained for today. After an initial successful start of the engine I put the speedo back in. Took a little while ...
- Created on 14 October 2012
- 17. Pop the carbs back on, Sir?
- (Updates)
- ... weren't going to peel off easily either. Eventually it took me about an hour with scrapers, razor blades and a soft wire brush to get the manifold clean, but in the process a lot of crap had found its ...
- Created on 07 October 2012
- 18. Engine's in!
- (Updates)
- The "boys" arrived bright and early and it only took an hour to get the engine in. Looks fabulous! ...
- Created on 20 September 2012
- 19. Engine's out
- (Updates)
- It took a few hours but removing the engine was pretty straightforward. The job I was most worried about was getting the torsion bars out. Fortunately the last person to remove them must have put ...
- Created on 14 May 2012
- 20. Fine Tuning
- (Updates)
- ... After discussion I took John my old Lucas distributor. He checked and calibrated it and deemed it satisfactory. Needless to say, the car runs beautifully. The SUs do seem to provide more ...
- Created on 04 April 2012
- 21. On with the SUs!
- (Updates)
- Today's work was to install the new SUs, and reinstall my newly painted, non emission controlled exhaust manifolds. I also took the oportunity to clean and paint the sides of the block, and to install ...
- Created on 18 March 2012
- 22. "All the leaves are brown.."
- (Updates)
- ... a slow but straightforward process. Locating and removing the dozens of completely invisible nuts concealed under the manifold took a while. So did understanding the baffling arrangement of studs that ...
- Created on 17 March 2012
- 23. Mea culpa
- (Updates)
- Today I took the car to the Dept of Transport to be inspected for road worthiness. I had heard many horror stories about the DoT inspectors and inspections and consequently I was not confident and a ...
- Created on 08 March 2012
- 24. Finally....
- (Updates)
- ... degrees, do the screws up again and it's done. It really is that simple and took 5 mins. To celebrate, I gave the old girl a nice wash. She looks great. ...
- Created on 29 January 2012
- 25. Tanked
- (Updates)
- ... on the most inaccessable mounting bolt hadn't been broken off in the past. In the end I had to drill the top off it which took about an hour. Tank removal otherwise took around 15 mins. I have fashioned ...
- Created on 14 January 2012
- 26. End of electrics
- (Updates)
- The last 2 days have been a blur of rewiring. The eventual arrival of the rest of the wiring loom meant that Martin could come back and finish the job, and finish it he did. The whole job took him around ...
- Created on 06 January 2012
- 27. Bye bye IRS
- (Updates)
- Today 3 men came and took my IRS away. I wonder if I'll ever see it again... ...
- Created on 15 November 2011
- 28. Clutch
- (Updates)
- In my neverending quest to purge the hydraulics of evil, I finally took the clutch slave off today. It doesn't sound much but it's in a bugger of a spot to get to and I had half convinced myself that ...
- Created on 09 November 2011
- 29. Front suspension finished for now
- (Updates)
- ... so Koni's it is. I have put on a different set of tie rod ends. These are supposed to be the ones for Series 3 cars, but do match what I took off. The only major job left is the dash ...
- Created on 29 October 2011
- 30. Cooling system v1.0001
- (Updates)
- I managed to finish work early today, and despite it being the middle of winter the sunshine beckoned. So I rolled the old girl out onto the back lawn and took out the radiator and the water pump. Lots ...
- Created on 23 August 2011
- 31. Them's the brakes...not
- (Updates)
- A very busy week at work has prevented me from any play in the shed. Rob rang me yesterday; hadn't heard from me; was I dead? Back brake bleeding commenced and took under 30 mins. Shock removal ...
- Created on 20 August 2011
- 32. Bleedin' brakes!
- (Updates)
- ... fit into the hole in the base of the IRS so I could jack the car up on the diff. This took around 90 minutes of welding and machining until it worked as I wanted. I finally got the bugger jacked ...
- Created on 13 August 2011
- 33. Paint everywhere, Sir?
- (Updates)
- Note to self. Do NOT store paint in plastic urine specimen bottles; they dissolve and paint goes everywhere. First SNG Barratt order in by phone. Took 25 mins for 5 items. Lots of being ...
- Created on 12 August 2011