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Indiana_Jones' 1987 Jaguar Sovereign (XJ40)


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As mentioned before, having some charging issues, righto, so here's the voltage reading on the dash I'm getting across the alternator with the engine warmed up (fuck I love that 80's funk dash, has really grown on me)

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And on a multimeter

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And here is the reading when the lights are on

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I'm doing some internet searches and so far given the symptoms it seems that the alternator may be on the way out, keen for any advice in this area (discussion thread here), before I shell out for a new alternator or have the current one refurbished, cheers. 

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  • 1 year later...

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.

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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.

8p6PNgr.jpg
 

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.

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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.

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  • 6 months later...
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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)

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Not having a great time with the paint, i don't think it has been matched quite right (left is new paint, right is old. New seems lighter) not sure if it's an issue with the clear coat (have wet sanded and polished). Might try a bit more polishing, but if i get no joy i might just suck it up and take it to a shop. 

Any recommendations for paint shops in Dunedin?

 

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Had another tilt at it following the helpful advice from others here on the forum, looked better, but not quite good enough, so have decided I've reached the limit of what I can achieve without spending decades on it, so will look to get her to a shop to get it finished. 

\Might actually get a chance to drive the bloody thing this year. 

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  • 1 month later...

Have got a painter lined up to finish my amateur hour stuff, but before I commit to pulling the trigger, I just wanted to take a look and see if there was anything terminal around the car.

Fuck me, what a balls ache it was to get one guard/wing off

  • Had to remove the bumper (which is surprisingly easy, two bolts and two clip release electrical connectors)
  • Then remove 16 million bolts from the underside of the wheel arch
  • Remove half a dozen bolts along the top of the guard
  • Remove the headlight (to get to two more bolts)
  • Then I had to remove the radiator overflow bottle (which lives within the guard cavity), as to access the two bolts that are behind it
  • But to get proper access to those two bolts, you need to remove the front wheel

But we got there in the end

image.thumb.jpeg.4273a31d75856639a2fe9862010bdd71.jpeg

 

Doesn't look like anything is too terminal, but there is a bit of rust at the base of the A pillar, doesn't look too bad from where I am poking, but now need to decide if I get the front screen out too now and get that tackled now while I'm here, or just rust covert it and then address it in a couple of years. 

 

image.thumb.jpeg.ca1a8684d861d09101f9b1df7050d5b2.jpeg

 

Or just get rid of the car.

Moral support or tell me I'm an idiot here

 

 

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Following up from Bing's comment, took a look at the car this morning and noticed a nice big whorey crack on the windscreen.

Don't have windscreen cover on the car (classic insurance), $870 apparently to replace from smith and smith.

Tempted to bail at this stage and get a newer car lol. 

Edit: instant windscreen quotes $490, so that's a bit better. 

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  • 3 months later...

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