Aficionados and Colleagues:
Perhaps some of you might enjoy my rambling here, as it seems some of my
notes have sparked an unexpected chord in trivia, not so trivia technical
details. For some reason I keep thinking @ several 'lister's posts on
several lists, about 'not much happening this weekend' as the following
episode unfolded. As I mentioned in the 'Exhaust Balance pipe' post, I
serviced the E-Type V-12 last weekend in preparation for our NCJOC 'Covered
Bridge Tour in Pennsylvania tomorrow.
Being a nice day Tuesday, I drove the TR to the Marina., got the work car
(Fiero).On Wednesday, I drove the E-Type for a final 'trip prep'. Our
'friend' Prince of D. Lucas struck again- the famous (infamous) LUCAS 4TR
regulator malfunctioned. Had to use headlights, fan, A/C blower, radiator
fans to keep voltage 'down' to 13 V - I've learned that letting the
alternator 'feed' the system at 17 V will boil the acid out of the
battery-making a 'mess'. Ok, not a big deal- just keeping the electrical
brain working.
So after work, and swapping cars- the E ran like a dream (Always does). My
only 'nuscience' is the speedo needle waver, and BTW, we've cleaned the
cable and lubed the angle drive. However the tach is rock solid. Now on
this car, with the Borg-Warner 12 automatic, 1000 RPM = 22.9 mph. So at
2K=46 and 3K=69 and 3.5K=80.5 etc. (Jensen Interceptor related coming).
So, I arrive for my Dr. appointment, and bring one of the staff out to see
the car, and it just doesn't look right'. The Rear end looks low- too low.
Walking around the car left front to rear to right rear. The right rear tire
was flat as a thin folded pancake. Of course this is a wire wheel car- with
tubes, liners - the whole 'classic British' deal. Not so wonderful at the
moment. Not my plan for this evening, nor considerate for the weekend Trip.
Adding air with the 12V pump I carry (in every car), and finally the tire
begins to show some 'shape' . I hear air- hiss-hiss- trace it to the valve
stem opening in the rim. Of course this means nothing definitive in a tube
tire- only the air is effervescing at this location through the rim hole.
Well I got the tire to lift the rear high enough to get my floor jack under
the trailing arm /frame mount, and changed the wheel to the spare. My 'new'
Thor hammer- now has dings as well.
Now for those who are not aware, there were/are actually three different
wire wheels used on the E-Type series. The first (Series 1 '61- 64) were the
'curly hubbed' rims. These are similar to those fitted to the TR and MG's,
and shown in the MOSS Catalogs. The Series 2 (65- 70) had a Frying Pan Top
hub style. This later style continued with the Series III's, but the spoke
pattern is different (72 vs 60), and the earlier wheels will not work on the
front. The spokes on the older styles actually jam into the calipers when
one attempts to tighten the 'knockoff' hub. I went throughout this a couple
years ago, as the 'spare' that came with the car was an earlier style. That
meant I had to swap a 'good' rear mounted Ser III rim to the front, and put
the earlier spare on the rear.
Since then I had a Series III rim spare made up a few years ago. The
benefits of knowledge and planning. However, if one tube went- with my
luck......I I attempted the trip without a spare......not an acceptable
option.
So I made it home, and now had an 'in my mind' priority/emergency situation.
Now the fun part was I have planned for weeks to get the airplane (Based at
Martin State Airport NE of Baltimore) up to my Inspector friends' hanger for
the annual inspection. Working with weather, his work load, and my work
schedule, We decided that Thursday would be the start day, so I planned to
take yesterday (off from work) to attend to this. Now, I had to go , from
Columbia, NW instead of NE to get the E wheel to Frank- at Budget-Interstate
Tire in Timonium, the only guy around Baltimore who deals with tubes,
liners, etc. and really knows how to work on and balance wire wheels; before
going to the airport.
I wouldn't drive the E without a spare, the XJR and XJS were at the airport,
the Fiero at the Marina, the Dodge is still 'cooling system disabled', SO
the friend of the E-Type for the day became - the Jensen Interceptor- with
its nice 'large' trunk. Bill (Spohn) recently asked me if I'd put
Interceptor away for the winter). No, Except the Jensen battery had
recently died with the first cold weather and wouldn't keep a charge
overnight ( a Canadian battery even). So first I had to swap the Diehard
from the Dodge to the Jensen. Well, One Mopar to another so to speak -
seemed fitting. Then unloading the E- hatch and putting the 'bad wheel' into
the Jensen Trunk.
Except that, I took the day to deal with the aircraft, and now at 10AM, we
were still in the soup- the fog- with Zero-Zero visibility still hung low!
Well, good opportunity to tighten the head bolts on the TR- where I noticed
a 'green tear' (antifreeze weep) at the left rear corner of the block. So
off with the valve cover, off with the rocker arm assembly. Following the
pattern- Mnnn- centers studs OK (100-105# per specs), but the right front
and left rear areas took 10-15# more. Interesting. OK that done- valve train
reassembled and rocker clearances rechecked. Valve cover re-gasketed,
retaining nut washers given a little sealant to 'slow' the oil weep. Nuts
secured. Varoom- 80# Oil pressure in 2 seconds-, oil feeding the valve train
a bit slow. Maybe I should add the oil galley to cylinder head braided oil
feed line for the winter.
OK now almost Noon- and ceiling still below 1000'. Got the Jensen going. Now
with the Edelbrock carb and two weeks sitting, knowledgeable Jensen folk
concur that fuel vaporization will require some cranking to fill the fuel
bowl with the original mechanical pump. No, another option- Starting fluid-
let it suck it right in. Yup first contact- Va Va Room- what a Toy - this
Elegant British MOPAR!
So it was off and Interceptor- ing again. As I headed up/down the highway-
I kept contrasting the different cars and their wonderful uniqueness. The
cozy, peppy, light TR4- but choppy, sometimes bronco bucking ride-with its
elegant wood dash and chrome trimmed instruments. The E-Type V-12- so
responsive and smooth riding with its longer than the TR 105" (Vs 88")
wheelbase. The silky smooth V-12. I still disagree with those reports that
said the later fuel injected Jaguar versions of the V-12 were 'smoother'
than the four carb Strombergs. The big Interceptor - a heavy, throaty,
almost 'land barge' in comparison - but so spacious, elegant and powerful.
Effortless to 'move'. What a super smooth transmission the Torqueflite is,
nicer to play with than even the ZF in the '96 XJR.
Got the wire wheel to Frank, and he says 'he thinks' he even had the tubes
in stock. As I was leaving, some older gent says' What is that - a Rolls
Royce'?
Drove over to the Airport. The Interceptor then visiting with the XJR and
XJS. Flew the plane the 14 minutes up to Aldino Airport (near the
Susquehanna River), beautiful smooth flight, the Lycoming turbo four doing
'its thing'. Arriving at 3PM Turns out Mike fractured his ankle, and so in
order to organize the hanger for my plane, we had to move a helicopter, a
Decathlon, and his E-Type Roadster- which I had the pleasure of starting up
and moving forward. OK, finally all repositioned, my plane in and all
others returned to the hanger, doors closed.
4PM Finally, ready to start the annual. Compression test, oil change, brake
cleaning, and pad inspection, jacks into position for the 'wing lift' and
gear retraction test. That was it for this day, given the weather delays.
Now I had to get back to Martin for my car. Well Mike has a '77 Jaguar
Series II XJ6L, with what actually looks like a facory installed glass
sunroof. Really neat. This is a choke car, starts right up when used
properly, but the fuel pumps are a bit (OK more than a bit) lazy when
switching tanks. So after closing up the hanger at 7PM, and loading up the
original wire wheel spare that came with my V-12 , that I gave Mike two
years ago as an emergency backup plan for him, and now for me for the
weekend; the ride to Martin in the XJ6L was another adventure.
Back at Martin, swapped to the Interceptor. Enjoyed the Interceptor so much,
I took the long way home 45 miles instead of 38. What did I tune into? The
Interceptor appears to delivers 25MPH per 1000 RPM. 2K=50, 3K=75,3.5K= 87.5.
I thought that interesting in comparison to the V-12 (1000 RPM = 22.9 mph.
So at 2K=46 and 3K=69 and 3.5K=80.5). In contrast to the torque peaks also.
I think it would be interesting to compare performances 40-70;50-80;60-90;
70-110. Performances that utilize the peak areas of the Torque curve.
I wonder if Tony (Bailey) has such figures!
Such was '27 of Sherman' Wed PM to Thurs PM October 25-26, 2000
Today, I took the TR to the Marina, after work, the spare wheel compartment
of the TR will complete the cycle of British affiliates.
I keep thinking of 'if Jensen didn't have it', they ran down the road to
British Leyland (Triumph, Jaguar) for whatever it wa they needed.
Thirty years later, the buddies are still helping out!
Sherman
Sherman D. Taffel
Chesapeake Country, Maryland
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