Lazlo Woodbine

Thanks. To be fair I have seen a similar thing done to headlamps so I can't take full credit. But I've not seen sealed units like this opened up to do it before. I'm really hoping they don't look rubbish on the car, I don't know yet because it's tipping it down here. Hopefully it either stops raining soon or I stop being a wuss and go out in it. The smell of araldite had faded just in time for me to get it out again to fill in some little holes I missed, the last thing I want is for moisture to get in there.

That bike cleaner is notorious round here, well in our little mountain biking circle anyway. Just don't leave it on anything too long, I wasn't joking about the anodising. I suppose it says it all that when I want to remove any finish off anything I think of the pink terror.

To re-attach the lenses I coated the cut edge of the lens with just a smear of epoxy knowing that the majority of it wouldn't touch the main part of the unit. I placed the lens face down on a rubbery mat and placed the main part on top then weighed it down with a box of cat food (it was heavy and to hand). Where there was a sizeable gap between the edges I put a wedge under the lens to exert more pressure on that spot to close it. My epoxy is the quick stuff so after half an hour it was as stuck as it would ever be. I then mixed up some more and started filling in the gaps all the way round. It's messy stuff and actually the standard rather than quick drying epoxy would be much better for this as you wouldn't have to rush to use it up before it hardens. This is probably the slowest part of the job and it stinks. 

Here's the seam that is visible within the boot aperture.

Once the gap is filled completely I could sand off the excess glue but as these are the first attempts I will opt for reliability over looks and leave it.

These spare lights weren't immaculate to begin with and I did actually manage to put a small crack in one of the lenses so, assuming they work, one day I'll do another pair and use what I've learned this time to make them neater and better.

One thing I really want to improve upon is cutting them open. Melting my way though is messy and inaccurate and so if I can find a tiny hand saw that would cut this stuff I'd rather take the time doing it neatly. A miniature jigsaw might work if such a thing exists.

The weather's drying up now so after lunch I'll go and fit these things.

I always prefer an understated look with cars, lots of chrome just doesn't do it for me. What has always really stood out to me on my S-type is the rear lamps, they just look a bit, cheap, maybe even chintzy.

What I've always liked is the STR units, I've only ever seen them in photos but they have that dark look to them. However, I'm not prepared to pay the sort of prices they seem to go for when that money could be used to make my car go/stop/handle better. What I needed was a cheapskates alternative, and I think I've found it.

I got a pair of spare standard tail lamp units off a scrap car and went about trying to figure out the best way to tint them slightly darker. I hate the completely black look and peeling paint or film just looks rubbish so I needed a subtle, durable solution. I figured getting rid of some of the chrome inside the unit was the way, after all it is this you can see through the lens and is what gives the lamps that light, shiny look. The problem is that the lens is heat-bonded on to the main part of the unit.

Drastic action was required.

The problem with cutting ABS plastic is that it melts so easily. I started off with a slow speed to try to avoid this but it still melted, and clogged. I ended up on the highest speed and melted it purposely.

Once I'd been all the way round the lens prised off, be careful though as the plastic is brittle.

The lamp unit is made up of three major parts as seen here.

It's that part in the lower left corner that I'm going to make black.

I'd considered paint but then there's the risk of runs and it not sticking properly. On the back of this part there was some chrome missing, and joy, it was black! All I needed to do was remove all the chrome.. Enter a bottle of poundshop bicycle cleaner.

This stuff will take the anodising off aluminium and the skin off your hands, in fact I'm not sure it's bicycle cleaner at all.

I applied it to the part and stuck it in a carrier bag to stay wet and get to work on that chrome. Had I had more, or was able to go get it today, I would have emptied a couple of bottles or so into a pan and submerged the part in it, it's only £1 a litre after all and probably still fine to use on my bike afterwards.

After repeated sprayings and baggings the chrome just rubbed off with a rag. Some bits were a little awkward, mould lines and some acute corners needed a bit more elbow grease.

Here's a freshly de-chromed one compared to the standard finish.

Here it is sat in the main part of the unit. None of the reflectors have been touched and the operation of the lamps will not be affected in any way.

I've now glued the lenses back on both units with 2 part epoxy resin. The house will still stink of it in the morning. Whilst the seam is of course visible it will only be when the boot is open, no big deal to me. These are my first set and I'm sure improvements can be made and incorporated into the next pair.

Tune in tomorrow for pictures of the completed units in the car and comparisons with the standard ones.

50/50 shield has rotted at the mounting tabs/pop rivets have rotted.

The rivets are pretty big at 6mm and most rivet guns won't take them. I've seem a nut and bolt used instead but it's not good practice.

The shields are available pretty cheap.

Once they're loose the movement will fatigue the other tabs quite quickly so it's worth sorting.

Thank you. I will set the tracking and see how many miles I can get out of the rear tyres, about 3k miles I reckon, one has slow puncture though.

I paid £92 delivered for the bushes from http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/222206363126?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

As I said in another thread I waited for a month for Racing Green to show some small degree of customer care before giving up and getting these instead. They arrived in five days, no messing about.

The track-rods came from d2pautoparts10 on eBay. The chap was very polite and apologetic when I called about the failure so it's only the product I have beef with so far. Unfortunately a lot of the time the majority of examples of a particular component are off the same production line with different brands stuck on the box so it's difficult to know what you're buying. Had just one failed then I could have put it down to a single manufacturing error but both of them are bad so I'm more inclined to think that they're just rubbish. The exacerbated wear did cross my mind but then even if it had reduced their life by, let's say, a ridiculous 90% they would still only have a life of 30k miles and that's still rubbish.

No chicken about it, it's a big proposition for a lot of people. I could not have even attempted it without quite a lot of tools, space and time, all valuable commodities.  If I earned even a half decent wage then it wouldn't have been economically viable to do it myself. Not that that would have stopped me, no I like doing these things myself and above all learning and gaining experience.

One mistake I have made in this thread is in the title. I put XK instead of XF, is there any way to change it?

Fitting the new bushes was dead simple, "reversal of removal" as Haynes say. Again no pictures as such but there wasn't much to see, the purpose made tools were the important bit. 

On fitting the re-bushed arms today I found that the slider pins on one rear brake caliper carrier were seized solid. Some wrenching about in the vice freed them and they were put back together cleaned and coated in CV grease.

More worryingly there was an awful of of play in the inner end ball-joints of both rear track-rods which I fitted brand new this year! They've done probably 3k miles at the most, absolutely shocking. The supplier offered to replace them but they're out of stock and I think I'll be calling back tomorrow to ask a refund instead of another set! I thought the wobbling was getting worse a quite a rate and these would be why, there was a good 5 degrees of free play in the toe of each rear wheel. I replaced the old ones because the outer bushes were worn out so I've reused the old inner ends with the new outers.

All the suspension bolts came undone with no fuss save for the bottom of one drop link but even that was no real problem.

The damper and the three bush bolts which are a mix of 21, 18 & 19mm. The drop link was a 7mm hex on the pin and a 15mm nut. Annoyingly the brake caliper an its' carrier have to come off to allow the outer bush bolt to come out, there's only an inch in it but it has to be done.

The spare arms with two nice new bushes and one original, Well, two outta three ain't bad according to Meatloaf.

Front inner bush.

Outer bush, rear inner bush, drop link & damper. 

Fitting these arms is an easy job, even on a gravel driveway. Probably half my time was spent messing around with the other problems that I found along the way.

The new bushes come with washers to pack the outer one out to fit. For some reason the original outer is about 5mm longer than the inner rear one which is otherwise identical. I'd imagine the after-market don't want to tool up for two different bushes, hence the washers, that's absolutely fine with me.

I will set the tracking properly once I have new rear track-rods and a front track-rod end.

Already the ride and handling is transformed from the level of a Ford Zephyr up to at least a Sierra and once I have done the front lower bushes and set up the entire geometry it should be really good! As little as I like having to replace suspension parts I do find a silver lining in the promise of a nicer, more involving drive.

I finally got some new bushes for the rear of my car and set about fitting them to the spare lower rear arms I had for just this porpoise.

I replaced only the pillowball type bushes (31Av & 31AW in the diagram) which go in the rear inner and outer registers on the arms. The inner front (31AU) is a solid rubber bush which seemed to be perfectly serviceable on both arms.

Diagram:

The first job was to make a tool to push the bushes in and out with. This is a piece of 1 3/4" water pipe. Inside it is a piece of aluminium to make it a snug fit on the seal lip of the bush purely to locate it centrally.

. 

This tube is to support the arm and allow the old bush to pass through as it came out. It's a piece of old steam pipe from the railway, it was probably around when Dr Beeching was in short trousers. You can see where it's been machined out to allow room for the bush without needing pinpoint precision.

Here's one of the old knackered bushes. All of them were loose from wear but at the same time unable to rotate axially as they were designed to.

I didn't actually take any pictures of the bushes coming out. Once it's all position it's not really the time to stop to take snaps. Suffice to say I stacked up the steam pipe, then the arm then the water pipe, line it all up and press. There was no real drama, they all let go quite easily and the tools did their jobs.

One arm sans bush.

The registers were cleaned up with a sandpaper drum(?) in a electric drill. This was just get rid of any corrosion present.

One thing which you must be aware of is that only one end of the register is machined flat and at right angles to the register itself. This is the side that must be down on the bed of the press to get the bush to go in straight.

I did purposely push the insides out of one of the old bushes to have a look.

An interesting design but I really think the sealing should be more robust. All of the seals were in tatters, much the same as the ones on my car.

Here I press out the hub and ball-joint from my spare o/s front suspension upright ready to fit new parts. It's not a complicated job as such but you do need the right kit and the ability to hit things really hard without breaking them.

This is a basic diagram of the front suspension

:

The home made press frame which utilises a porta power hydraulic chassis repair ram.

Here's the upright in the press. I loosened the four bolts but left them in an equal amount so I could push on them all at once to start with rather than the centre of the hub. This lessens the chance of the hub going out of alignment and damaging the upright:

A clearer view of the back of the hub:

This hub came out with barely any pressure, unlike the ball-joint which was stuck so very tight:

Setting fire to it didn't help.. I cut the pin off as it makes it easier to push, hammer and generally abuse the joint.

Eventually the ball-joint let go. It took two of us, a lot of heat in the upright and lots of hammering to get it to move. Once it moved a little getting it out the rest of the way was easy.

I did the other side last year and in contrast the ball-joint was dead easy whilst the hub put up a real fight and took over 12 tons to push out. I actually prefer that it that way around because getting the upright correctly set up in a press for the ball-joint is very tricky. The upper end of the upright is right in the way and as you can see there's very little meat on the upright around the ball-joint to get a purchase on. Having anything even a little of centre is not an option, you have to be spot on with these sorts of forces involved and the consequences of distorting the alloy parts are pretty big, especially if it's your cars original one.

All in I would say that this is a doable but awkward job with many variables relating to the corrosion holding onto the hub and ball-joint. It could be easy, it could take you all afternoon. Personally I wouldn't tackle it with the original upright from my car, only with a spare one as I did here because if it goes wrong then you aren't stranded with no car and no spare upright. I have heard of them being scrap because the hub is stuck so tight..

Fitting the new hub is easy as it's not a true interference fit, just snug. The ball-joint is different. It's purely interference and the same things that make it awkward to remove in a press make it a pain to fit. I will be exploring different options and will update as and when I do it.

Thanks for this. One of mine on my S-type rounded yesterday as I torqued it up, but it was late and a cup of tea seemed like the best option.

The first thing I did when I got my car home was throw the locking nuts away, the ones on my previous car cost me many hours of my life. I really wasn't expecting this kind of nonsense with the standard ones! Give me rusty, unsightly nuts any day, as long as they work.

Don't be too pleased about tyre fitters using torque wrenches. The ones I've seen just use them to check the nuts are at least tight enough, which of course they are when they've been put in with an impact driver. They don't check that they're actually at the correct torque, and none of them have ever asked me what that figure is.

Tyre fitting is one of the few jobs I don't do myself but at this rate I'm going to get my own fitting machine.

I haven't actually done anything to the car as such. However, I do now have a pair of lower rear arms sat in the shed with new outer and rear-inner bushes having pressed them in myself on Monday. I was tempted to change the front-inner bush as well but it's solid rubber and seemed to be in good order on both arms so I left them. Plus I need to budget for new front lower arm bushes which I believe are more important, not ideal but I can always take it apart again later..

I'll get the arms fitted asap, hopefully today. Then start a separate thread outlining how the whole thing was done.

Make sure they have a proper and thorough look with a pry bar as those lower arm bushes can be a bit sneaky and not seem half as bad at a casual glance as they really are. Like all ball-joints they can wear out from one particular arc of motion, giving lots of play in use, and yet with load from another direction be just fine.

I'm just up the road, Launceston.

I'd be inclined to re-check the wiring and electrical contacts in the wheel and then if necessary at whatever module they lead to. I don't know what form these take as I've never had mine apart but as the components that the code relates to are presumed good then they have to be the next suspects.

My car is doing just this but with added wobble on the overrun and when cornering, it's wear in the rear suspension. I replaced the track rods the other week as the outer ends on both were knackered but didn't properly track it as I knew I'd be changing the lower rear arm bushes which are also done for. In fact I finished re-bushing my spare arms half an hour ago, ready to fit tomorrow.

If you jack the back end up with the handbrake off you could probably feel untoward movement by wrenching the wheels around. There are some bushes at the rear that are actually ball-joints with dust seals which can split and let the grease out, then the "bush" is on borrowed time and will wear out very quickly. A couple of mine had done this and the others had just worn out.

Whereabouts in Kernow be you?

Mk1 Fiesta

Citroen Visa

Vauxhall Viva x many

Mk2 Astra

Mk4 Escort x2

Volvo 131

LDV Convoy

Mk3 Astra

Skoda Estelle

BMW e30 x 3

Rover 820 Vitesse

Mitsubishi Carisma (lacked any)

Peugeot 205

Volvo 940 Turbo

Daihatsu Sportrack

Vauxhall Firenza

VW Corrado

Discovery V8

Porsche 944

VW Golf

Jaguar S-type

I still have the last six..

I only paid over £1k for one of them, can you guess which?
 

I'm going to try to get mine on a classic policy, that may sound crazy but some companies will cover some fairly run-of-mill cars at 15 years old as a classic.

My Golf on the other hand is 20 and no-one will consider it for a classic policy, maybe quite rightly..

2 minutes ago, Raistlin said:

There will be a manual key hole under the plinth to the near side. Key in vertically upwards, twist, open :)

I thought that was what he meant by valet lock.

My first thought would be hooking up another battery with jumper cables, having the negative on to the engine block and the live on to the big permanent live cable at the starter motor solenoid. I don't know the practicalities of this as I've never done it but I can't think of a more direct route to get juice to your battery.

I locked my keys in the boot once and had to break a window (I'd rather not talk about it). Cut a T shaped slit in the parcel shelf above one of the speaker holes and managed to grab the release cable for the seat back and fold it forward to get in the boot. It would be tight to get to the battery but desperate times and all that.. The cut in the shelf doesn't show.

I would go with Bilstein dampers, they make the original spec ones. B4 are standard replacement type but there are different ones for normal and sport models. B6 are uprated.

But if your S-type's making funny noises you should check out all the bushes and balljoints first. There are quite a lot of them and they seem to fail much more regularly than dampers. There are videos on Youtube where an American chap goes over the suspension with a pry bar to check for wear, they will explain better and a lot quicker than I can in writing:

The car he's working on has the older type front suspension but the principle's the same.

I'm replacing mine next week but am fitting them into some spare arms myself. I felt the cost of the press and arms was justified as I will use the press again and, well, I've always wanted one! I've replaced lots of metal encased bushes in steel arms, axles etc. using a vice or threaded bar but I think the alloy ones need that accuracy that a hydraulic press gives. Bare poly ones on the other hand go in so easily though you can almost do some by hand.

I'm using some OE type bushes for the two outer ones as I think they're more suitable so I'd be interested to know how they work out for you.

Hmm, yes I put some extra grease in the bushes of the new rear track rods which are very similar to these. What little there is in these looks and smells a lot like vaseline..

I've been wondering what to coat the seals with, I'd be inclined to think that anything petrochemical would attack rubber rather than protect, but then they're filled with grease aren't they! I don't think UV is too much of a worry (unlike those track rod ends) but keeping the grit and muck off them would be great. Whatever it was would have to be pretty resilient.

I've repaired split balljoint covers and even CV boots with self-amalgamating tape before. It's amazing stuff but I'm not sure it would last on these ones as space is tight and there are moving parts right next to them.

I know the Sport models have a different dampers at least and it would make sense that the springs were made to match. I'd really like four Bilstein B6 dampers but they cost north of £500 so will have to wait. I've been trying to justify a set because of the worn out lower front damper bush I found, but that's a bit of stretch.

I'll be putting the new rear bushes which arrived yesterday in my spare lower rear arms this weekend when I've collected the hydraulic press. Hopefully the weather will stay good so I can get them onto the car as well! I can't stand a wobbly car and that's what mine is right now. I'll take pictures and make another thread for that.

One of the new bushes. The central tube connects to the outer one via a nylon balljoint hence the misalignment. I have no excuse for the poor focus..

As you can see here the rubber is just a seal to protect said balljoint. I'll take the covers right off when fitting the bushes to save damaging them.

The balljoint design of these bushes are the reason I wouldn't fit poly in their place. Firstly they allow the arm to move up and down in the correct arc and the hub carrier upright to rotate freely so the toe of the wheels can be tracked properly which I believe a polybush wouldn't. Secondly they are solid, as in there is absolutely no compliance to radial loads. A piece of polyurethane of any hardness simply cannot improve on that lack of radial compliance and so, as I see it, the much touted improvements in suspension component location are null and void for this particular application. 

Apart from that wobble this is the most comfortable riding car I've ever had. That's not too surprising as I've never had a Jaguar before but I won't know what's hit me when I get my Corrado back on the road, it's uncompromising that's for sure. But the real problem is I think the Jag's probably faster as well as comfier, hmm.

tyres. I have Pirelli P7 Cinturato on the front and have a matching pair in the shed to go on the back once the Lassa's are worn out. I've not yet actually run out of grip in normal driving, playing about on wet slip roads is another matter but that's just being a hooligan..

Oh I also changed the fuel filter on Sunday along with those other parts. It's was a lot simpler than I thought it would be. Rather than the Ford Quick Connect fittings I was expecting it had a plastic C clip retainers that passed though the socket on the end of each fuel hose. These easily prised out with a flat screwdriver and then the hose just pulled off. The Quick Connect type need a tool to release them which I'm glad I didn't have to make, I would prefer simple Jubilee clips myself to be honest. The muck and grit that came out the inlet side of the filter was quite something so I'm glad I changed it! I'm sure hard acceleration feels smoother now.

I fitted a pair of front drop links. At least one had started knocking within a week of me fitting new Polybush ARB bushes. I knew deep down that I should have changed them then but I didn't. A little annoying as I'd undone one end of each one to allow the ARB to move freely for the bush change but there you go. On reflection I think that what with undoing and then doing them up the ball joint pin inevitably rotated and ended up in a different position therefore exacerbating the wear dramatically.

I also fitted front discs and pads, used discs and pads. Yes I know it sounds tight but they came off a scrap car I had a load of bits off last year and they'd had so little use that it was worth the £100 odd saving.

Whilst in there I found a nearly worn out o/s/f wheel bearing and lower damper bush and the n/s/f track rod end is near death. Also the lower front arm front bushes have a worrying amount of movement in them which I'm sure is responsible for the shake and general loose feeling in rough corners (there are lots of those here).

Once I've rebuilt my spare lower rear arms with new bushes and fitted them I will move to the front and replace what's needed there. The new damper bush and track rod end will be easy as I'll just buy quality replacements, Lemforder is first choice. However, the front lower arm bushes are another matter; The originals appear to be a void type bush which to my mind may well give a more compliant ride when new but will wear out sooner than a solid one and then give a worse ride that the solid one would at similar mileage.

And so, from one extreme to the other; For the front lower wishbones I'm looking at Powerflex Black series which are the hardest compound they make. I try to look at the whole picture when it comes to suspension and so although they certainly will transmit more vibration than rubber the improved location of the arms can only be a benefit as it will allow the springs and dampers to do their job and lessen unwanted geometry changes. Plus for me most journeys are on B and small A roads, we live 50 miles from a motorway and although there is a dual carriageway (yes one) I don't really use it much. So comfort around corners is what I have to consider and I've never found a floaty, wallowy car comfortable on twisty roads. In fact comfort would normally be way down the list of priorities for me but I bought this car for primarily that reason (another story) so it has to be considered.

Please bare in mind I work on a budget of not-a-lot. I do virtually all and any work needed myself and although I would certainly not call myself an engineer I am experienced in mechanical repair and learning all the time, as it should be. I will probably update this thread now and again as I rebuild my suspension and let you all know how it works out.

I don't know about the engine but this is a good site for the 2002.5 onwards climate control:

http://jaguarclimatecontrol.com/

Well it's only the conclusions I've drawn from messing about with such things.

I'd like to feel safe to assume that the Jag stuff is superior, to say, BL. But I don't. I've had some rubbish polyurethane stuff but some awful genuine stuff as well. Car manufacturers so rarely make these little parts themselves that I think it's best to assume that the manufacture of any OEM bush has been outsourced. I've had genuine VW bushes stamped Febi (absolute crap), Meyle, and Lemforder (good). I don't actually know which and/or how many firms Jaguar use for bushes so they may be good, but maybe isn't enough to make me pay higher prices for peace of mind.

The front ARB bushes are just clamped in. I say just because it's an absolute ballache of a job and I hope to never do it again. It looks quite simple but the clamp bolts are those horrible not-quite-a-bolt, not-quite-a-self-tapper sort of things. An absolute nightmare to get started in the captive nuts while fighting the ARB and trying to squash the new bush under the clamp. If it hadn't been getting dark I would have chiselled off or drilled out the captive nut and used a proper nut and bolt on it.

I fitted Polybush front anti-roll bar bushes to my S-type recently and have no complaints. Apparently the standard Jaguar ones are notoriously short lived, mine were completely shot at 100k and I reckon they had been for a while.

I've fitted polyurethane bushes to various cars and have never had any squeaks and although I have heard that they can I've never witnessed it myself.

In my opinion poly suits some bushes but not others. For example the front wishbones on VW A2 and A3 platform cars (Mk2/Mk3 Golf, Corrado etc.) swing around a horizontal fore-and-aft pin at the front with a bush that looks like a cotton reel but at the back have a vertical one and a bush that is shaped more like a donut.

I believe the front one is fine in poly as there's only rotational motion around the pin, the bush is purely an isolator. However the forces on the vertical back pin are trying to twist it side to side and so the bush is being severely deformed with every suspension movement. I have seen poly bushes fitted on these arms and the rear ones last no time at all, I don't think the load they're being put under suit poly at all. The material around the pin deforms permanently and quite quickly ends up allowing more unwanted movement than a standard void bush like the one in the picture. (Personally I use a poly on the front and a standard VW solid rubber (Golf R32 spec) one on the back whenever I rebuild these arms and they last.)

This is why I would happily put polyurethane all over the front of my S-type (my early type suspension anyway) where there is one motion (rotational) but am going with the original "pillowball" type on the lower rear arms because with normal use they have to flex around the pin.

On 12/05/2017 at 6:36 PM, JOE-DOT-COM said:

Looks like your not too far from me, I'm also in Staffordshire, Longton area

It looks like Tijuana to me..

Nice pictures, I like the reflection on the flank in the last one.

I'd like to share one. It's not artistic but it does involve the Jag, just.

Well it amused me anyway.