The battery is now strapped down to the battery bracket. Rather unnecessary if you ask me (I know, no one asked) with an AGM type battery – it can be mounted in any position, and there isn’t anything to leak out in the event of an accident.
The parking brake now works on both sides – this design has additional calipers on the rear discs on both sides, with a wire leading to the emergency brake handle in the car. With 2 tonnes to stop in a potential situation, both calipers really need to do their job in order to have any chance at stopping the car.
The speedometer is working now, it turned out that the generator or elbow angle was not working correctly. We tried hooking it up directly to the output of the transmission and suddenly everything worked.
Although it appears that the speedo, while working, is showing the wrong speed – 100km/h shows as about 60. Could be that one of the poles of the generator isn’t working as it should. Time to order a replacement.
I actually remembered to take the car to it’s M.O.T. review (biannual road-worthiness check performed on all vehicles in the EU and Europe) within the deadline this time.
Getting there early, I chatted with a mechanic as I watched several cars come in, go in to the shop and up on the lift for their check.
Thus my consternation when the guy who was slated to check my car got in, fired her up, and then went out onto the street and floored it, rapidly disappearing in the distance. I casually asked the service manager if this was standard procedure when performing the check, he seemed surprised and shocked himself and just said “no….” (the dots were his).
Thankfully my car came back after a few minutes, the mechanic sitting behind the wheel with a largish grin on his face. I guess the car passed that part of the test…. (my dots).
Everything checked out ok with a few exceptions. He said the car seemed to be in really good shape and condition overall, and was surprised it’s as old as it is.
To fix:
Rear wheel bearings, driver side. I’ll do both sides to keep things balanced and even. Will have to find someone to help, as this is a job requiring both special tools and a workshop (lift, compressed air, hydraulic press, and more). Not to mention experience. The QP3 rear suspension looks an awful lot like a Jaguar, I’m pretty sure they’re identical. Of course, *which* Jaguar, I don’t know. Still, the inboard brakes, anti sway stags and other telltale components, all mounted in a self contained subframe riding on bushings, pretty much gives it away.
Looks suspiciously Jag to me. Can anyone reliably identify it? (photo: William Abraham)
Parking brake – is only working on one side. Needs to be adjusted. Another typical Jaguar rear suspension detail (inboard brakes in the rear, with separate calipers and pads for the hand brake).
Battery – the battery tray has a small metal clamp that holds the lip on the base of the battery. Except that many modern batteries have no lip for it to grip. In the event of a collision, the battery can fly forwards, tumbling around in the engine room (right above hot manifolds). He suggested tying it down with a strap or similar.
Battery needs to be secured
Speedometer. My speedo wasn’t working when I got the car originally, and the state inspectors went over the entire car before approving it as road worthy when I imported it. They seemed to think it was ok without a speedo then (everyone has GPS anyway, and it’s more accurate), but this guy said I need to fix it. It’s a VDO, same as used in Porsches in the 1980s. I had hoped that when I restored the sending unit connected to the transmission’s output shaft, it would work. No dice. Cleaning the contacts and molex connectors hasn’t helped either. I pulled and checked the speedo itself, but it shows no obvious problems like a burnt component or broken solder joint. I did find, however, that a gear had turned all gooey and crumbled up. I guess that explains why my trip teller and odometer had stopped working, but still doesn’t explain the speedometer itself. The other instruments all work, so I’m tempted to rule out a bad connection, because the wires are all bundled together.
Broken gearVDO gauges
I’ve ordered parts for the wheel bearings and will need to find someone who can do the work, and have had several attempts at fixing the speedo. Not sure what to do, if I should buy a new speedometer, sending unit, or both. Bought a nylon belt with fastener to take care of the battery, and will need to have a closer look at the parking brake assembly soon.
Deadline is end of June to have everything fixed and approved.
The car was sold as a “rolling restoration”, and had been extensively restored and cared for by the BPO (before previous owner). As far as I know the PO mainly just enjoyed the car (as have I, thus far).
It runs, in fact it started up on the very first attempt after 3 months of waiting at the docks, shipping to Europe and waiting to be picked up. As the seller quipped, “I don’t know of any other 30 year old Italian exotic that could manage to do that”. Good point.
That said, it does have some rough spots, and needs more than a little TLC to bring it back to looking and running its best. While the engine, suspension and parts of the drivetrain have all been carefully restored, the transmission hasn’t been touched. And the paint is showing it’s age, with a hint of a few small rust bubbles here and there on the wheel arches and lower door panels.
I went over the car when I received it and started making a list of things I wanted to address. After having had and used the car for a while now, I’m probably going to change this list somewhat, having learned to live with some things as idiosyncrasies and others as being more important to fix.
In no particular order:
transmission & torque converter rebuild
bare metal respray (eliminating rust spots, smoothing out the bodywork, remounting glass and chrome, polishing same)
fix radio and antenna (this is way up high on my list!)
fix sun visors (they sag)
restore/condition leather interior
restore/replace cracked wood veneer on dashboard shelf
check fuel pumps, change filters if necessary
replace fuel filter/regulator
replace spark plug wires
repaint cam covers
go through wiring to get all courtesy lights and stuff working correctly
fix speedometer (probably pulse send unit or toothed gear on sender)
buy a scissors jack that will support the car and fit in the trunk
possibly, maybe, remove US emissions stuff from the engine
rebuild/lubricate windshield wiper motors
rebuild/lubricate electric window motors
replace rubber sealant around trunk
remove all sound isolation material, replace with non-flammable and non-hygroscopic alternative
re-fabricate rear trunk panel, the one that hides the gas tank
There’s more, this is just off the top of my head.
Any help or advice that can be offered on any of the above points is greatly appreciated!
