Road Trippin'

"Sovereign, Purveyor of Coupes" (sovereign-automotive)
11/28/2015 at 21:41 • Filed to: Road trip!

Enjoying a 400 mile road trip today through the Northern Oregon coastal mountain range in the Jag. No check engine lights, No traffic (after getting off I-5 at least), just winding mountain roads, loads of coffee, and the first snow of the year.

Some ballsy graffiti on this train bridge.

Also a RHD, crank-to-start, wooden frame British roadster that belongs to my grandparents. Would love a shot at restoring it to its former glory.

DISCUSSION (25)

wafflesnfalafel > Sovereign, Purveyor of Coupes
11/28/2015 at 22:02

Beautiful piece of country - I like the Astoria/Seaside area. The run between Raymond and Long Beach just north into WA is nice too. That wreath really works with our jag too.

norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback > Sovereign, Purveyor of Coupes
11/28/2015 at 22:28

TD?

twochevrons > Sovereign, Purveyor of Coupes
11/28/2015 at 22:42

Loving that Jag. I’m seriously considering an XJ40 or X300 as my next terrible-idea-but-I-do-it-anyway daily driver.

Sovereign, Purveyor of Coupes > wafflesnfalafel
11/28/2015 at 23:17

Thanks! Yeah Oregon has some unparalleled beauty. I don’t think I’d live anywhere else.

Sovereign, Purveyor of Coupes > twochevrons
11/28/2015 at 23:31

Do eeeet. Beautiful and luxuriously smooth cars. Keep up with preventative maintenence and they’re not fitting of their reputation either. Mine sat for two years before going through some surgery and I’ve now had about 3000 100% trouble free miles. You can check out the work i went through here: http://oppositelock.kinja.com/making-a-jagua… the x300 and xj40 are a bit easier to work on except for the independent rear suspension which looks to be a pain

Sovereign, Purveyor of Coupes > norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback
11/28/2015 at 23:34

Yep! Good call, I couldn’t remember the model myself. Sweet little cab though.

norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback > Sovereign, Purveyor of Coupes
11/28/2015 at 23:39

It’seither a TD or TF. Can’t remember the difference. Always get them mixed up.

norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback > Sovereign, Purveyor of Coupes
11/28/2015 at 23:42

Actually, it looks like a TA Midget after some Wiki searching. Definitely prewar. Only T-series I’ve found with a crank starter. Even neater!

Sovereign, Purveyor of Coupes > norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback
11/28/2015 at 23:52

Yeah I brought it up over dinner and now I’m set to come out and see what needs to be done to get the old girl back on the road. Definately a post coming in the future for that one.

norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback > Sovereign, Purveyor of Coupes
11/29/2015 at 00:00

Yay!!!!!!

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > Sovereign, Purveyor of Coupes
11/29/2015 at 13:02

Hah :) you’re like me but a generation ahead.

You’ve got an X300 and your parents have an MG TD.

I’ve got an XJ40 and my parents have an MG TC!

Kinja'd!!!

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > Sovereign, Purveyor of Coupes
11/29/2015 at 13:05

The rear suspension’s alright actually, but really bloody heavy. Changing shocks and springs is fine. Changing out anything in the centre is a bastard just because it’s such a lump to lug around.

It’s all pretty damn solid though. Very over-engineered so you shouldn’t need to do much back there...

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback
11/29/2015 at 13:08

I thought all the pre-war ones had wire wheels...

Sovereign, Purveyor of Coupes > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
11/29/2015 at 13:55

Well what can I say, good taste must run in our families :p

Sovereign, Purveyor of Coupes > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
11/29/2015 at 13:57

Changing brake pads looks to be a bit of a pain, since you have to remove the whole subframe. Though at the same time it reduces unsprung weight significantly, and looks pretty neat.

norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
11/29/2015 at 14:18

Mayb. I’m not really an expert on prewar cars.

twochevrons > Sovereign, Purveyor of Coupes
11/29/2015 at 22:43

That’s awesome. I’d heard a few horror stories about the V8, which was why I was limiting myself to the six-pot cars. I heard somewhere that used AJ6 and AJ16 engines are nearly worthless, since it’s incredibly rare for anybody to need a replacement. Still, it sounds like you’ve got yours sorted out.

I’m by no means afraid of a bit of mechanical work and am pretty obsessive about maintenance – I spend most weekends bloodying my knuckles on my Volvo 850R – but it’s good to hear that they’re not as bad as people make them out to be. I’ve always wanted to own a Jag, and I suppose that the ‘90s models are at that sweet spot where they can be picked up for pennies, but haven’t languished in the pit of depreciation for long enough to have suffered too much neglect in most cases.

twochevrons > norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback
11/29/2015 at 22:56

I’m pretty sure it’s a ‘50-’53 TD. The TC and earlier had much taller front fenders; the TF had the headlights integrated into the fenders. They all had provision for a starting handle – that feature lasted through to the MGA.

twochevrons > Sovereign, Purveyor of Coupes
11/29/2015 at 23:12

YES. DO IT. A few years ago, I resurrected an MGA that my father-in-law had parked up in a shed some 30 years earlier. As you can see, it’s pretty rough cosmetically, but the mechanicals were all in remarkably good shape – all it needed were fresh fluids, a battery and a brake job. I don’t know all that much about the T series, but I can promise you that it will be a whole lot of fun.

Kinja'd!!!

norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback > twochevrons
11/29/2015 at 23:20

Alright cool! Someone more knowledgeable has bailed me out lol. I took a shot in the dark but my first guess turned out to be correct. Didn’t know about the hand start stuff though, that;s neat,

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > Sovereign, Purveyor of Coupes
11/30/2015 at 04:26

You'll be alright for that. E-Types and early XJS' had inboard brakes but they moved them outboard for the XJ40 and later XJS' for ease of servicing, and kept them that way til they retired the suspension design :)

twochevrons > norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback
11/30/2015 at 07:56

Heh, I just know because I’ve been trying to track down a starting handle for my ‘56 MGA. They’re really useful for turning the engine over by hand when you’re doing timing or valve work, since the crank pulley on the A is a real pain to get to otherwise. It seems, though, that they’re one of those sought-after parts that concourse people go nuts over, so they’re well out of the range of mere mortals who just want it as a useful tool.

At least on European cars (I don’t have a clue about US makes), starting handles remained common as a backup long after electric start was ubiquitous – through to the fifties at least. The Citroën DS kept one throughout its production run, well into the ‘70s!

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
11/30/2015 at 14:47

It’s worth note that the pads on Jag inboard brakes *can* be popped out without dropping the subframe, in theory. More an access thing than an issue with the fixings, as such. I should say, though, that ten bolts to drop out of place without disconnecting isn’t really that horrid, provided one has some tall jackstands or a lift.

Did you see my post this morning about using a Landy for a tow?

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
11/30/2015 at 16:54

Yeah i thought thered be a way of doing it without dropping the subframe, but haven’t worked on an xjs one myself.

It’s only 4 bolts on an xj40 :) a doddle.

I didn’t spot that no, shall have a search through now :)

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
11/30/2015 at 16:58

The ten bolts I count to drop the suspension frame are the two cross-pin bolts for the metalastik bushes mounting to the body rail, x4 bushes, and then the two forward bolts on the two links. No big deal. As to the pads, they’re held in with two pins per caliper, so if one can get the pins free (working up in a bit of a hole), the pads slide out readily - for which I think there’s clearance if one is quite clever.