MadaboutKitcars

I think its a man-boob Ed, they say its the stuff in our water that causes it!

If you look carefully, it has three nipples too!

Tuesday

Well, I haven't posted for a couple of days, so here's an update.

Having prepared, and done all the connections possible on my dash panel in the house, and having done the same sort of stuff out on the loom in the car, ( and had to re-wire a lot of it) I managed to jury-rig it all to work, so today, the big scary job loomed up at me, which was to try and marry the two things up together.

I put a plank across the two door sills to balance the dash on so I could work on it in an easier way. I tied the dash top to the windscreen top to steady it and got to work.

I have all the lights, indicators, start button, ignition key, gauges, hazards and most other things like the stereo, sat-nav speedo (hidden under the dash) all working too, so I am nearly there.

The dash is not finished or bolted in place yet, but its a lot closer to it.

I still have one or two connections to make, and small jobs to do like fit the choke cable to the carbs and stuff, but the bulk of the work is done now.

Wiring it all up certainly would not have been possible with the dash panel fixed in place first.

It was hard enough to do as it is now!

If a bulb ever blows, it'll take about 6 hours to change!!

Pics:

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I also have owned a lot of old Jags over the years, but could never afford a new one, so I wouldn't know what they looked like new!

Ref the LED bulbs, as I modified the Triumph clocks to work with Jag faces, they are half Jag, half Triumph, so most of the bulbs and holders did not fit, so I had to buy smaller bulbs, get holders about the right size, solder all the wires on and made the holders fit the instruments and so on, it was time consuming and fiddly, but not a problem for me, but to change them all now for LED and do it all again?
No way Jose!

Just a quick update, I was hoping to finish the dash and get it finally in place today, but it was not to be.

Just about all the wiring is done now, but when I tested the indicators, the hazards were not connected up, but they both worked individually, I had however, made a mistake with my hazard wiring, to the effect of when the indicators were on, whichever side the red hazard tell tale was connected to would make it flash at the same time as the green light. Not what is required.

It then dawned on me that I would need a triple-pole switch, and connect the red tell tale to the centre connection.

Luckily, the switch I was sent, having ordered a double-pole, turned out to actually be a triple-pole, so I was able to get the system working correctly in the end.

I don't have any pics of the work as it looks just the same, but not wishing to disappoint people who like pics, here is a non-related picture, which amused me:

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Its a really nice car, and of course I am slightly biased, but side by side there would not be an awful lot of difference in looks,
at least not £270 grands worth of difference!

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After the amount of work I've had to do to get this far Axel, the car will go to the bloody grave with me!

I wouldn't ever consider selling it.

Having said that, are you making an offer of £270000?

Joking aside, I need some urgent help.
I have made all the dash connections including the choke cable, but have one connection still to do.

Yes one, the problem is I cannot find the light green wire I need in my loom, and the Haynes wiring diagram, does not even show a speedo, never mind any connections.

I took a picture before strip-down to try to avoid this very situation, but with all the burn-outs under the dash and the extensive re-wire, this missing wire is proving hard to resolve.

I am loath to go ahead and put the dash in place without said wire for obvious reasons.

So one wire is holding the build up right now.

It would be nice to know what the small box is and what its funcion is,

but all I really want to know is what does that one terminal need to be connected to????

I have exhausted the internet and gone round in circles.

There must be at least one expert on this forum that can help me?

Here is a pic to illustrate:

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Thanks for the input fellahs, I think you are all correct, as I have just spoken to Mick O'Malley on the phone, and he says it is the voltage stabilizer.

The input is 12v and output 10v according to him.
I have just tested it and although the box has continuity, with it connected, I don't seem to be able to get an output voltage.

However, I re-wired my water and fuel gauges without it as I didn't know what it was at that stage, and they both seemed to work okay, (like Axel says) so I'll probably just leave it.

as long as the speedo works that's fine by me.

Wow! Does this forum work well or not?

IanA, Axel, Gary H, Paul and Landmannnnn, thanks for the help, I have now resolved the problem, and will try to get the dash in place today.

Thanks for that swifty, I'll check it out.

Sorry garyh, your post doesn't make a lot of sense to me, can you explain?

Hi Mr T, I meant to, but forgot and missed it!

Thanks for that Mick, much appreciated.

Friday

Another long day, but I have good results.

I eventually got the dash to fit, after much last minute modding and re-drilling holes etc. The dash was slightly sticking out a wee bit more than before, which had a knock-on effect, (doesn't it ALWAYS?) of making the steering boss foul the dash front.

I stripped the boss off and hacked about 20mm off and re-profiled it, which took longer than I'd planned, but now it fits perfectly and is satisfactory.
It even looks better, the shape it is now, which does not show in the following pics.

I have laboured long and hard to get to the point where I could actually take these three pics!

The next job is to put the new windscreen and rubber in place, then the doors on, and perhaps an Mot, given good weather.

Pics:



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Thanks Mr T!
The spare time problem should not affect me, as I never seem to have ever had any!

Mind you, I've never been bored either.

Yes it will Danny, but I can't put them in until I've got the windscreen glass in, or I'll be treading all over them, nor can I put the doors on until the screens in either, 'cos they get in the way, so its a set sequence I have to follow.

Saturday

Today I got the boot lid back on and fitted the lock.
It now opens from the hidden pull behind the seat and locks as it should.

I did some more mopping which I really enjoy for some reason!
I'll have to be careful not to get carried away and mop through the paint.

Generally, the paintwork is not too bad, but there are lots of small imperfections where the paint has reacted, where insects have sat in it, one or two tiny bubbles that I have missed, and so on, but from 10 feet away, it looks okay.

It certainly has a good shine on it, imperfections or not, and I suppose that's the main thing.

I came under a lot of pressure today from friends and family to put the final wheels on the car, so I gave in and did it.

The results were quite amazing, so I took some pictures.
I have always believed that the wheels "make the car" and in this case that is very true, it seems to have transformed it, and it now looks very much like I wanted it to.

I would have got the screen in today but my "help" let me down and did not arrive, and I don't want to tackle the job alone in case I damage the bodywork.

So its screen, doors, seats, belts and one or two smally jobs, (if we don't count making a roof) and its about there.

Here are the pics I took today with the wheels on:


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PS. If you read this Chris, I still need my perspex headlight covers
you promised me at Stoneleigh!

I agree with you Gaz, all the XKSS's were made from short-nose D Types, and all looked a but "pug nosed" but Chris made the A352 from a long-nose D Type, so when I first saw his shell, I could see the potential to create a real one-off XKSS that would be more to my taste.

Just wait until all the seats and belts are in and the doors are on....!!

Thanks, IanA, Gaz, y cymro, WCA and Thurcroft flyer!

I am on a roller coaster of emotions right now as each new crisis looms up to put a stop to me getting on the road, let me explain:

yesterday the water temp gauge stopped working, and I banged my knuckles on the dash, as the wheel was too close.

These two things really got me down and depressed me.
However this morning I went out and after much fiddling with mirrors, effing and blinding etc, I managed to put back on the rear of the gauge the connection that I had knocked off with fitting hassle.

I then went upside down in the drivers foot-well, and again, after much of the aforementioned, got the steering column extended to the right length.

So far so good, then as I went to drive the car outside, on depressing the clutch pedal, I noticed it went down about an inch or two before I felt any pressure, and had to push it to the metal to get the clutch to operate correctly.

This really pissed me off, and laid me low, so my question to the experts who know all about Triumphs is: do I need a new master cylinder?

I kind of half expect I do, but would like an expert opinion, and I know a lot of you out there WILL know!

So please give me your thoughts, as I am still not ready for the elusive Mot yet! And the new work just keeps on coming......