By Kenny Edgar
The recent (and some say continuing) plague has prompted many of us in the old car hobby to catch up on any projects of an automotive nature. I managed to get three cars painted last year and am now close to restoring my father’s old Ford Zephyr to its former glory – paint is done, now the interior. Plans were to tear down and repaint the ’77 MG Midget but that didn’t happen due to the arrival of a sickly 1973 Jaguar XJ6. Finally, my brother-in-law’s need to get his MGB project out of the weather (literally) filled up the last workshop bay.
We spent the winter and spring going back and forth between the ’73 XJ6 and the B, making slow progress. More immediate concerns would rear their ugly heads to slow things down even more. The TR7 needed a new speedo cable. Okay we’ll change it out and put some LEDs in the dash for the instrument lights. Somehow, in doing that the temperature gauge would now peg as soon as the ignition was turned on. What the heck? It had to be a dodgy ground. Well, the TR7 instrument cluster is powered by a printed circuit which had assumed the brittleness of the Dead Sea Scrolls and is made of unobtanium, like a good number of TR7 parts. Luckily for me, printed circuits can be soldered if you have a fine enough soldering iron. This, combined with a few strategically placed jumpers cured the dodgy ground and the temp gauge works as intended again. Of course, one LED will not illuminate now (not the bulb) and I still can’t get the clock to work (it never has). Fortunately, the three working LEDs give far more illumination than the original incandescents ever did. From what I’ve read a working clock is a rare thing to be celebrated and successful ministrations to revive one border on sorcery.
Hot on the tail of the Cluster Incident the ’85 XJ6 developed a cold engine stumble and numerous exhaust leaks. I had also intended to just replace the shocks but found all four front ball joints were shot. This was after an alignment shop told me the front end was in great shape. And my wife wonders why I try to do all this myself instead of farming it out…
I bit the bullet and replaced the entire exhaust when I found stress cracks in all of the welded joints. The stumble proved to be a dirty connection on the ECU, which is located in the boot. This required some contortion on my part. The AC system has fought being returned to service tooth and nail. I successfully repaired a crack in a 35-year-old evaporator core but the brand new AC compressor leaks at the shaft seal.
Minus the AC system the Jag runs quieter and better than it did, so I count that as a victory.
Immediately after buttoning up the ‘85 Jag my younger daughter arrived with her Teutonic engineering nightmare, aka a new Beetle. No AC, broken door handles and a jammed ignition key lock. I fixed everything but was left thinking who was the insane hoodlum that signed off on these engineering abominations? To understand that I realize it helps to think like a German engineer – how unnecessarily complex and constructed with failure-prone parts can we make this car? However, my daughter bought and paid for that car herself and she absolutely adores it. I guess I have no room to judge.
Despite the various diversions the ’73 XJ6 has been revived. A plethora of bodges performed by the previous owner had to be excised such as vacuum lines plugged with sticks, a solvent tin for an overflow bottle, and creative wiring repairs. A later XK engine was used with the original carburetors and accessories. Everything bolted right up. The engine harness was originally a head-scratcher as it was in poor shape and didn’t match the wiring diagram for the series. As it turns out the wiring in the engine bay is laid out like a Series II XJ even though this is a Series I. As soon as I figured that out it all made sense. A modern electronic ignition was fitted; we coaxed the fuel pump to life, pulled fuel from a jug in the boot and the old girl fired up on the first try - a definite victory. The car isn’t street-legal yet but most of the electricals work, the gearbox shifts through the gears without fuss, and the engine seems to have plenty of power.
Even with all this, I’m dealing with an itch to acquire a Jaguar XJ40 or X300. My long-suffering wife thinks I’ve gone mad; I explain that she has her modern appliance and I’d like something to drive that isn’t a project. I’m surprised she hasn’t summoned the nice gentlemen in their little white coats to the house with a strait jacket in their possession. She should consider herself lucky we don’t have acreage because I’ve seen some really cool earthmoving equipment for cheap money. So what if it was manufactured when Eisenhower was President?