Thursday, July 22, 2004
Long rest coming
RS200 arrived for our trip to the Le Mans Classic. Looks like the Jaguar won't get to go overseas this year.
Sunday, July 18, 2004
Classics on the moors - Heartbeat country
Up early with coffee and toast while I detail the car again. We got caught in showers coming up to Yorkshire yesterday. Meguiar's Quik Detailer Mist and Wipe is brilliant for this kind of job.
Arrived at Goathland station around noon for the North Yorkshire Moors Railway Vintage Vehicle weekend. Classic cars on display at each station along the beautiful preserved railway line. Spent an hour or so chatting with the very friendly, hospitable organisers before heading off to Grosmont.
Grosmont is where my dad was born and he worked on the railway in these parts, so it's a sentimental journey for me.
We left Grosmont for Egton Bridge then on to Rosedale, grounding the exhaust downpipe on a particularly savage moorland road that just catches out the suspension - slow down! Up the imposing Chimney Bank and on to Hutton-le-Hole.
The Jaguar is really running sweetly and only that irritating vibration at 65mph and the lack of overdrive to spoil things. She might even be up for the Le Mans Classic next weekend if we have to.
Arrived at Goathland station around noon for the North Yorkshire Moors Railway Vintage Vehicle weekend. Classic cars on display at each station along the beautiful preserved railway line. Spent an hour or so chatting with the very friendly, hospitable organisers before heading off to Grosmont.
Grosmont is where my dad was born and he worked on the railway in these parts, so it's a sentimental journey for me.
We left Grosmont for Egton Bridge then on to Rosedale, grounding the exhaust downpipe on a particularly savage moorland road that just catches out the suspension - slow down! Up the imposing Chimney Bank and on to Hutton-le-Hole.
The Jaguar is really running sweetly and only that irritating vibration at 65mph and the lack of overdrive to spoil things. She might even be up for the Le Mans Classic next weekend if we have to.
Saturday, July 17, 2004
North again
Got up early to prepare the car for the trip north. Wash, towel dry, sprayed tyres and cleaned interior using Meguiar's car care products.
Replaced the speedo with a similar reconditioned item I'd picked up at a Jaguar Spares Day a couple of years ago for just £15.
I also rigged up my 240V inverter to run from the cigar lighter. I bought the inverter online for about £35 and it's perfect for powering the mains adaptor for my laptop computer. This allows the kids to watch a DVD (Stitch! - The Movie) while Laura and I listen to Jonathan Ross.
New speedo and odometer work perfectly. Heading north on the A1 we hit queues at the roadworks near Newark but the temperature gauge held steady, despite the fact that the viscous coupling on the fan still hasn't been replaced.
Replaced the speedo with a similar reconditioned item I'd picked up at a Jaguar Spares Day a couple of years ago for just £15.
I also rigged up my 240V inverter to run from the cigar lighter. I bought the inverter online for about £35 and it's perfect for powering the mains adaptor for my laptop computer. This allows the kids to watch a DVD (Stitch! - The Movie) while Laura and I listen to Jonathan Ross.
New speedo and odometer work perfectly. Heading north on the A1 we hit queues at the roadworks near Newark but the temperature gauge held steady, despite the fact that the viscous coupling on the fan still hasn't been replaced.
Friday, July 16, 2004
New blood
Practical Classics's deputy editor Ben Field and I drove out to the Practical Classics workshop to change the oil.
Rolled the Austin Devon project car off the ramp and stuck the Jaguar in the air. Dumped the hot oil and removed the filter housing. Cleaned up the housing and inserted the new filter bought at Beaulieu in May. It wasn't possible to fill the housing with oil due to its horizontal mounting and slow -turn bolt securing. Left the rubber seal in place because it was hard to get at. I've kept the new one in case it starts leaking.
Poured in 8.25litres of lovely golden Millers Classic 20/50 semi-synthetic oil. Ben removed the coil/distributor lead and I cranked the engine to get oil moving again. Dipstick level perfect.
Started the engine and watched for the oil warning light to go out. Pressure gauge needle rose steadily. Engine sounds much quieter.
Rolled the Austin Devon project car off the ramp and stuck the Jaguar in the air. Dumped the hot oil and removed the filter housing. Cleaned up the housing and inserted the new filter bought at Beaulieu in May. It wasn't possible to fill the housing with oil due to its horizontal mounting and slow -turn bolt securing. Left the rubber seal in place because it was hard to get at. I've kept the new one in case it starts leaking.
Poured in 8.25litres of lovely golden Millers Classic 20/50 semi-synthetic oil. Ben removed the coil/distributor lead and I cranked the engine to get oil moving again. Dipstick level perfect.
Started the engine and watched for the oil warning light to go out. Pressure gauge needle rose steadily. Engine sounds much quieter.
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
Rattly engine
Drove the kids to swimming lessons and thought how rattly the engine sounded. Back at home I added about a litre of water to the header tank and filled the overflow tank halfway. Is that core plug leaking again? No sign of it.
Oil level is good, but it's very black.
Oil level is good, but it's very black.
Sunday, July 11, 2004
Overdrive's out
Put car on axle stands to check the overdrive. The switch is OK and so is the feed through to the solenoid, so that's where the problem is – the electrical actuator at the back of the gearbox. The wiring gets warm when the power is fed to the solenoid, so I've disconnected at the unit and the switch on the gearstick.
Monday, July 05, 2004
Don't miss the odometer!
Going to meet friends at the Birmingham branch of the Classic Car Club. They're heading north in a beautiful Mercedes 350SL for a few days. I'm going to see them off and chat with the CCC guys who often help us at the magazine.
Nice gentle drive but overdrive has stopped working again. May be the faulty switch. Must check it out.
On the way home on the M6 the odometer rolled over to 00000 again. That's 200,000 recorded miles with one engine rebuild around 170,000.
Road being straight and traffic being light, I grabbed a snapshot of the speedo, only to discover the odometer had stopped at 00000! Even a significant mileage reading can make something go wrong!
Nice gentle drive but overdrive has stopped working again. May be the faulty switch. Must check it out.
On the way home on the M6 the odometer rolled over to 00000 again. That's 200,000 recorded miles with one engine rebuild around 170,000.
Road being straight and traffic being light, I grabbed a snapshot of the speedo, only to discover the odometer had stopped at 00000! Even a significant mileage reading can make something go wrong!
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