Indiana_Jones

One of us....one of us....one of us....

That's terminal British sickness, love it and look forward to the build.

Managed to get some work done on the car over the last couple of days, got the wire wheels out in the boot and surrounding area. Boot floor wasn’t looking too bad (not 100% done brushing back in the photo): Slapped some primer on it (there’s one little rust hole near the drain opening in the spare wheel tray, the cap that sat in there crumbled in my hand lol): There is a bit of rust around where the seal/boot lip runs along near the bumper in the middle, so to get a closer look I removed the rear bumper (came off surprisingly easily, after some of the horror stories I have seen/read about). Was a bit sad to see this rust here, next to the forward bumper support (similar on the other side too), so that’ll need to be sorted: Does anyone know how to get these brackets off? I can see some screws and nuts, but they look fairly rusted on. Likewise, any tips on how to remove the trim here on the C pillar junction, as to finish the survey of the rust in this area: It is a bit disheartening to find more rust, but not surprising, as that’s the nature of the beast when it comes to classic cars. The good news is that there are a few areas which will be hidden once done, so perfect for me to cut my welding/repair teeth on, onwards and upwards.

Another small update, got the fuel tank out today (decided I should remove that from the car before I start having sparks flying out). The Haynes book of lies said that you should drop the prop shaft to gain access to the two clips on the fuel line connection at the base of the fuel tank, was not keen on this idea, so I gave connections a wee bit of a tug and they came out. Tank has a bit of surface rust on it, so will get the wire wheel out and investigate further. On that note, what's the safest way to do this? after doing a bit of reading online, at this stage I'm leaning towards fill the tank up with water. (Discussion thread here)

Fun times today, got the rear screen removed. On first sight, it doesn't look as bad as I thought it might have been with regards to rust, but will get the wire wheel out on the weekend and start some proper prodding.

Brakes still giving my grief, so while browsing online I came across someone selling an apparently NOS accumulator (part No. JLM 11659), it was manufactured in 2000, according to the box. Grabbed it, because it was $50 and figured I might as well give it a punt. So got a chance this weekend to do the swap, removed the accumulator, valve block, pressure/charging switches and mounting bracket (items 1 through to 5 in the diagram below). Here's the old assembly in place: After it was removed (wasn't too hard to remove, just need to jack up the driver's side of the car, just remember to disconnect the electrical plug): Removed the old accumulator, was on fairly snug, so the method I used was to use a rubber faced mallet on the valve block which go it off. Got the new accumulator on, which I noticed was slightly wider in diameter than the old one and that it also had an adapter which went between the accumulator threading and the valve block's. This resulted in a tighter fit in the mounting bracket, but seems secure enough. Here is new assembly (gave it a bit of a clean up): And here it is in place: Topped up the system with fresh HSMO (Hydraulic System Mineral Oil), you can use Penrite LHM in place of the Castrol product. To get it into the reservoir without the Castrol bottle with the special tube, I used a large syringe with a small diameter hose/tubing (approx. 4-5mm) with a 15mm slot cut into the end going into the reservoir, as to allow it to push down the non-return ball and still be able to leave the piping (if you don't do this, all that will happen is that you'll build up a lot of pressure and the syringe end of the piping will pop off and green fluid will go all over the show, trust me, I know lol). With that all being done, I fired her up, wait for her to warm up a bit, checked for leaks etc. Got in, and drove her forwards and applied the brakes....and they seemed a lot better! also the low pressure warning only flashed at the very start when the engine just started (i.e. still building up pressure). So touch wood, the issue has been resolved, though I won't get ahead of myself just yet, as I need to do a road test, which I can't until I'm ready to take her for a WOF. Now the real work begins, as now I have no excuse to put off getting the rear window and fuel tank out, as to get cracking with the rust issues at the rear. I haven't decided if I can be bothered doing the screen removal myself or if I will get a specialist to come to me to do it. Any recommendations? Smith and Smith etc? So that's the latest, hopefully going into summer I will make more progress than I have been able to lately.

Thanks for that sr2, appreciated, will give that method a go the next time I get a chance. Also glad to hear that it should be separate to the booster system, as you do see mention of it, but by my logic that shouldn't be so.

Thanks for the input chaps. Yeah the method being done is where one person is at the brakes, the second person pumps up the brakes, holds the pressure. Then the person at the brakes opens the nipple, with the second person holding the pedal down. The first person closes the nipple off and then the second person removes the pressure on the pedal. I did give the MC a bleed before I proceeded onto the main system, but I'll double check. Also I saw Dicksmith had a vacuum bleeder on special, looked like a cheapie job, but given the price it might be worth a punt. Taistorm, yeah that's something else that had come into my mind, like the ABS system, but can't for the life of me figure out how one would bleed that (not in my workshop manual).

Hi all, Just thought I might pick some brains here, currently trying to sort out the brakes on the XJ40, which the VCM is telling me has low pressure and the pedal does sink down a bit. I've rebuilt the master cylinder (which the bore of looked to be in fairly good nick to me) as well as replaced the front flexi-lines. I've bled the brakes a couple of times, using the 2 man method, but for some reason, I still getting the low pressure. I've given the pedal on over night a whirl, but no joy. Given that I'm getting low pressure at the start and not after multiple applications of the brake, I would imagine that the funky hydraulic booster system (with the accumulator etc) isn't causing the issue. Any other ideas? Cheers

XJ40 forum you say? well I guess it is just a 2 door XJ40 puhuhuh

Did a bit more prodding around. Read somewhere online that leaving the brakes on overnight would work wonders in removing air in the lines, but I have my doubts about that claim, but figured at least it might highlight any weak spots / leaks in the system. The next day I took a look, the brakes were still sinking, but I did find a possible leak/source of the problem: the driver's side front wheel, there was a little bit of fluid there, though this may have came from the bleeding process (as there was an incident where the bleed line came off the nipple). So today, I got the engine warmed up and placed a locking plier at the top of the front driver's side flexible hose. Upon pressing the brake pedal, it felt like to me that there was a bit of improvement, so there's hope yet. Next logical course of action is to get a new set of front flexible hoses (will just do both sides for the sake of argument) and see if that helps things along. Of course in time, it'd just make sense to do the rear as well and remove that potential source of problems completely. Here's hoping I'm on the right track, would be nice to have a drive in the Jaaaaaaaaaaaaag again.

Here's the master cylinder rebuild: I won’t go into great depth of each step, as they are quite well covered by various workshop manuals (I referred to the Haynes manual, as well as the instruction from the rebuild kit for guidance). Here is the master cylinder in place in the car, of course to do the rebuild we need to remove it. To remove it, disconnect the brake lines from the master cylinder (I used some plastic bags and tape to cover the ends of the lines), but before doing so, remove as much brake fluid as possible from the reservoir (I used a syringe). To provide better access to the line in the middle of the master cylinder, I removed the power steering reservoir (only two bolts), that made life a lot easier. Then you remove two nuts attached to the brake booster and it should come away. Don’t forget to disconnect the brake fluid senor wiring. And here is the removed master cylinder and reservoir. Also, I thought I’d put a photo up of the kit box, just in case anyone is interested, also has the supplier’s details too. To remove the reservoir from the master cylinder, the holding pin needs to be removed (referring to the photo below, it’s in the bottom of the ‘V’ of the reservoir outlets). I found this extremely stiff and took quite a bit of effort from using a hammer to knock it out, you’ll also need a dowel or screw driver etc with which to tap it through the master cylinder casing and finally remove. My advice would be is take your time. The reservoir should then pull away with a bit of effort from the rubber grommets on the inlet ports (which in turn need to come out too). The next step is to remove the two pistons within the master cylinder, these are held in place by a pin that passes through a slot on the primary piston and through to the other side of the cylinder casing. The Haynes manual notes that a magnetic should be used, but the image shown isn’t very clear/easy to understand (well to me at least). To access the free end of the pin, you need a magnet that can fit into the inlet port, I did not have such a magnet (I tried a magnetic tipped screw driver, but this wasn’t strong enough). Not really wanting to get off my arse and buy a suitable magnet, I improvised, borrowing one of the magnets on the wardrobe door lock (the type that you screw into the top of the door and other in the door frame) and ‘attaching’ one of my socket drill bits to it. This worked nicely. With the pin removed, a gentle tap of the master cylinder on some wood and the pistons came out. Here is the disassembled master cylinder (note in this photo the piston locking pin is missing). As you can see, (an assumed) 33 years have taken their toll on the inlet rubbers. Here is what you receive within the rebuild kit, I used all the new parts, apart from the piston locking pin. The original one didn’t have the chambered edges and I preferred that. I inspected the bore of the master cylinder and couldn’t see or feel (as far as much fingers could reach) anything that jumped out at me as being suspect, so proceeded with the rebuild. Here the secondary piston is being installed, after the primary one. Care should be taken when placing the pistons into the cylinder, the instructions with the kit covered this well, stating that they should be slightly rotated combined with slight up and down movements (don’t want the spring to score the bore etc). Also of course, apply clean brake fluid to the pistons prior to installing them and also note the position of the slot on the primary piston, as to ensure that it lines up with the opening for the pin. And here is the master cylinder rebuilt, just awaiting for the reservoir to be installed. I don’t have a photo of the completed one with the reservoir in place, it must have slipped my mind, as at that point I really fancied a beer!

Fuck me it's been ages since I posted here, in that time I've had a few hoons in the Jag, but sadly she needs a bit of time off the road for some TLC. She failed a WOF around 10 months back on two items, play in the steering rack and soft brakes. There are some shims /spacers that apparently take up the slack in the steering rack, I installed those soon after the WOF failure, but haven't had a chance to test her on the road yet. The second one has proved more annoying, I have tried bleeding brakes several times, but no joy. The pedal has been going to the floor if I sit on it, this made me think it could be an issue with the master cylinder, so had a crack with a rebuild (will post pics), but again, no joy. Next plan is to check the flexible hoses and make sure it's not them (that said, I bet they old af and should just be replaced regardless). Also, while she is off the road, I will tackle some rust on her, namely around the front of the sills and around the rear windscreen. Have taken the plunge and have got myself a little 135amp mig welder and will have a punt.

Been a while, work and house etc getting in the way. Having issues with the brakes, VCM is saying low pressure and the pedal is sinking to the floor. I've bled the system and I'm fairly confident there's no air in it. I think the fluid is going down after using the brakes, but can't see any obvious signs of leaks under the M/C or from the pedal box (but will double check). Is this a Master Cylinder failure? or perhaps a failure in pressure switch where the brake booster/accumulator meets the brake lines? New accumulator sphere needed? Thought I'd post this here, to see if anyone else had any ideas, cheers!