Lump

I'll come along in the Jag if I can sort its fan belt in time

Yup petrol is awesome at shifting oil stains - don't use it on asphalt or tar seal though as it disolves the tar as well

Hi Guys I was just wondering if there was any way of testing alloy wheels that have been in an accident see below Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us Is it worth having them x ray checked (if that can be done in CHCH) or are they just scrap?

Something like this http://www.basisnz.com/product.pasp?cat ... ductid=189 I think they're called 'bump strips' and were usually fitted by the dealers as an extra, I'd hope you can find them cheaper than above

I once got 36 mpg out of my old 2500 TC with a manual overdrive box, that was on the open road during a Christchurch to Timaru round trip. As noted above the mileage drops considerably for round town trips and suffers alot in stop - start traffic. The fuel gauge in mine always seemed to be pretty spot on, but as others have suggested try refilling the tank from different levels to see what the 'real' reading is

Basically it lost all forward and reverse gears. I think the internal pump was the problem (fluid level doesn't drop when gears are selected). I already had most of the bits I needed for my engine swap when it blew so I didn't investigate it too closely

Sounds like the one. I was wondering just the other day how they were getting on with it. Did they fix the trans or just replace it.

Yup it was a 350 Chev. I sold it to a mate of a mate whose putting it into a J1 bedford

thanks for the suggestions guys, a few days after resetting the idle speed it stopped its surging behaviour. so i guess the ecu has figured out what its trying to do with the engine speed. Its still idling a bit high so I'm going to get someone to have a look at it this week. Big plus though it that it passed it cert test this week, so I'm just waiting for the plate to arrive to get a new warrant on it

I don't think its the wiring to the stepper motor as its all part of the the engine loom - which is nicely standalone on these vehicles. I set the base idle as low as possible this morning (about 1000 rpms - rev counter recalibrated, should be lower but it wouldn't go lower) but the single surge on returning to idle is still present There is another air valve on the inlet manifold similar to the stepper motor, it has two coolant feeds running to it which I assume open or close a valve depending on there temp. I can lower the idle by pinching the air hoses leading to this. I can't find this thing mentioned in the manual - does anyone know what its called? - and will messing with it help?

Where abouts are you? Automan Automatics in CHCH might be able to help.

Well I've had no luck finding any vacuum leaks - either just by listening or with a can of starting fluid , I've also cleaned out the idle stepper motor without any effect. I'll try re-setting the base idle and see if that fixes anything

worn cam lobes on the distributor or a bent distributor shaft, how reconditioned was the dizzy?

I'd probably suspect the points, I've had engines that just eat them for no apparent reason - often quite soon after installation, try resetting the gap and see if it improves Otherwise sounds like it could be water in the fuel

I've replaced the V8 in my car with a later model jaguar inline 6 (AJ6 from an XJ40 or XJS) I've got it running and have been for a few test drives, its runs great except for a few idling problems 1) Engine idles at 1100 cold and 1000 hot (the tach is calibrated for a V8 so I'm guessing thats about 1400 and 1250 actual - should be around 900 and 700) 2) When reved from idle the engine will return to idle then rise to about 1500 and then slowly return to idle again. If I disconnect the idle stepper control motor - the base idle will be 1500 but when reved it will still drop to around 1000 and rise back to 1500 and stay there. So far I've checked the throttle position sensor (OK) the throttle butterfly opening (OK) the MAF sensor (faulty and replaced but no improvement). The ignition is controlled by the ecu from a crank position sensor (could a badly positioned distributor cause this?) I have found out how to reset the idle speed but I get the feeling its a symptom rather than a cause - any ideas on what I should be checking out?

Cheers Guys, you're all right, I'd conected the ignition on relay for the ECU to the wrong point on the fuse box, so rather than getting a 'key on 12v' source it was getting an 'engine running 12v' source - so the ECU ignition on relay kept the car running on the power produced by the battery/alternator. I've got it hooked up right now and she starts and stops on the key. A bit more work and she'll be able to move under her own power

After much fluffing about I've finally replaced my V8 with a fuel injected Jaguar six cylinder engine (from an XJS) and got it sort of going I set the timing correctly (according to the manual) and finally got the engine to run today without backfiring out the intake manifold. It ran fine briefly, on starter fluid. When I reconnected the fuel pump and restarted the engine - it wouldn't shut down when I switched the key off, it did stop shortly after I tripped the fuel pump inertia switch to stop the fuel flow. Does anyone have any ideas why this happened? Is it possible the ignition on relay for the ECU got stuck in the on position?

'Occasional' rear seats

Nice car Apparently the Majestic Majors were pretty quick for a large four door, it must be crazy fast in a small fibreglass 2 seater

I'm nearly finished with a parts car I've got (engine, rear doors and boot lid removed etc.) and I'd like to get someone to remove the body for me. The thing is that one of the front wheels is locked due to collision damage and I'd still like to remove the rear suspension. So basically I'm left with a non rolling shell - who around Christchurch does these sorts of body removals?

Cheers, I'll drop it off in the next few days

I need to get my driveshaft shortened and have a different yolk added to it to suit my new transmission. Where's a good place to get this done in Christchurch?

Hi guys, I'm in the middle of an engine swap and I'm just working out how to get the speedo to work. I'd really like to keep the original mechical speedo as it matches the dash - other instruments etc, unfortunately the donor transmission (jaguar XJ40) doesn't have a mechanical speedo drive or an electrical one (the electrical sensor was on the rear of the diff on the donor car) I figured I'd use one of these to run the mechanical speedo http://www.abbott-tach.com/cablex.htm But I'll need to add an electronic speedo impulse sensor to the gearbox/driveshaft or wheel. Can anyone recommend where to order one for a good price.

Yup I used this to do the Jag seats and it worked really well. The trick is to remove as much of the old dye colouring as possible before starting to re-dye. (This is also a good time to feed the leather as the old dye, dirt etc can stop the hide feed from penetrating) Also thin the dye down and do multiple coats as thick coats are more likely to leave brush marks, scratch or stick to each other when the seats are reassembled. I'd try to spray the dye if you've got the equipment as it will give you a great finish in a short time. If you do get it order it straight from the states as the local suppliers mark up is horrendous edit: I used kit number 3 http://leatherique.org/detail.aspx?ID=32 and only seemed to use about 1/3 of the dye for 2 front seats and the rear set - but I used all of everything else. I did mine 2 years ago and its holding up well except for the drivers seat bottom but the leather there was past it (rock hard and wouldn't respond to conditioning)and should have been replaced anyhow.

Is it possible to buy adaptors to join two different diameters of flexible fuel hose together. I need to join my fuel tank outlets (3/8 inch hose) to a changeover valve from a later XJ (1/2 in hose). Is there a 3/8 barb to 1/2 barb adaptor available and if so where would I find one?