gearbox

This is a clutch release bearing. Isn’t it interesting?

It’s out of a 1967 Triumph 2000.. and is the reason the car in question is sitting in my garage with its gearbox out. Some genius who shall not be named decided that furiously pumping the clutch after the car had been off the road for three years was a good way of unseizing the clutch disc. Unfortunately, due to the design of the early release sleeves, this can cause the slipper pads (the things that hold the fork into the slots in the side of the sleeve) to slip out completely, locking the sleeve wherever it may be.

The “fix” (aside from “don’t be an idiot with the clutch”), is to install the sleeve/bearing from a later mk1 / mk2 2000 – this uses square slipper pads that are much less likely to lock the sleeve up. They also don’t have slots for the pads – there’s a continuous ring round the sleeve. It’s a straight swap, but – somewhat obviously – requires the gearbox to be out in order to do it…!

By tedlit, ago

Perhaps a little too optimistic?

There are project cars, and then there are project cars. I’ve never broken a car, but I’ve had plenty of bits off of other people’s parts cars. This little beauty above isn’t really either of those things, but it’s much more of a project than anything I’ve attempted before – except for the Stag, but that kind of goes without saying.

It’s a 1998 Jaguar XJ8. It’s got 130-something k miles on it, and it doesn’t run. It has one of the more fantastic Jaguar quirks – a gearbox that’s stuck in fourth. The previous owner sensibly didn’t drive it like that, which is a rarity in itself – but unfortunately, it sat for a while.. and thanks to the awesome Northwest weather, the fuel tank got water in it. This means the entire fuel system got waterlogged, so it won’t even start now. Not that you could go anywhere in it anyway.

Aside from this (admittedly fundamental) problem, there’s very little wrong with it. The roof paint is a bit faded, but it’s such a weird colour I don’t think that’s an issue. It’s one of the first “pearl” paint finishes – Anthracite Pearl – which is really just “grey metallic”, but we’ll leave that one for now.

Anyone who knows Jaguars would know that 1998 was the first year for the v8 in the XJ – and the 1998-99 years also suffer from having Nikasil cylinder liners. I’m going on the principle that it’s survived twelve years without a problem, so this is likely not a bad one. That, and it’s not supercharged – which tends to finish the liners off sooner rather than later.

Onwards and upwards, eh.

By tedlit, ago

It’s SO UNFAIR!

I have a 1986 Jaguar XJ-S. I dragged it out of a hedge in Seattle in late 2008, where it had sat for a good few years. Someone had attempted to “upgrade” the headlights (to modern H4 lights) and had burnt out most of the front electrics… and inevitably lost interest in the poor car.

It’s only got 65k miles on it.. and drivetrain-wise, it’s all original.. which means a 5.3 v12 mated to a GM TH400 transmission.

It didn’t take too much to get it running – a new ignition amplifier, new rotor arm, and a good fuel system flush. It did, however, take *months* to track down a persistent misfire (note: a v11 doesn’t sound anywhere near as good as a v12), and a good bit longer to get the electrics working well enough that the headlamps work.

Unfortunately, after all this work, it turns out that the transmission’s toast – it reverses just fine, but slips horribly in any forward gear now. I managed to put about 500 miles on it before this manifested itself, so I’m guessing one of the clutch packs has just had enough. This is a colossal shame, and is hugely unfair.. but I guess I can’t really complain… or can I?

By tedlit, ago