Tuesday 9 August 2011

Classic Jaguars Service Tips


  • Replace oil and filter after every 7500 miles(12000 Km)
  • Frequently check for fluid leaks.
  • Check dampers for leaks.
  • Check and adjust spark plugs.
  • Check ignition timing.
  • Lubricate door locks and hinges.
  • Check tyre pressure/tread depth/general condition.
  • Check suspension mounts/universals/dust boots etc. 
  • Every 15,000 miles (24,000km) clean engine breather filter/check hoses, check condition of drive belts and replace manual gearbox oil and spark plugs.
  • Check/top up all the oils, fluids and battery electrolyte as well as the screen wash reservoir. (Replace automatic transmission fluid every 30,000 miles or 48,000 Kilometers).
  • Replace break fluid after every two years.
  • Replace coolant every four years.
  • Grease all points, excluding hubs.
  • Check hand/foot break operation.
  • Check wiper arms and blades.
  • Check and adjust front wheel bearings after every 30,000 miles (48,000Km). 
  •  Every 60,000 miles (96,000km) remove, clean and inspect front wheel bearings.     
 Recommended Lubricants: 
  • Engine oil ( In normal conditions 20/50 and in cold climate 10/40 semi-synthetic or mineral oil.
  • For transmission Dextron2 for auto and 80/90 gear oil for for all manuals.
  • Power Steering: Dextron2
  • Breaks: Dot4(minimum)
  • Coolant: Antifreeze or equivalent corrosion inhibitor.   

Sunday 7 August 2011

Fast & Furious, Jaguar XJ-S

Well, if we talk about the speed then we cannot neglect the name of Jaguar XJ-S, which had proved itself, designed specifically for achieving speed and for winning the championships. Certainly one of Jaguar's most successful cars in competition, the XJ-S  adapted itself to racing around the world, winning prestigious titles in Europe, the US and Australia. This luxury grand tourer was powered by 4.0 (AJ 616) to 6.0 (HE V12) engines.


Just One Hundred

Do you really know that Jaguar manufactured just one hundred SS Tourers? Actually, this car was produced for a short time before it was replaced with dedicated Drop Head Coupe in the SS Jaguar style, therefore just one hundred SS Jaguar Tourers were manufactured before the production ceased. Powered by standard 2.5 litre engine, the tourer used a slightly modified S.S.I body on the new designed chassis. Jaguar SS tourer went on sale at the same time as the SS Jaguar Saloons and SS Jaguar 100 two-seats sports car. JDHT (Jaguar-Daimler Heritage Trust) Chief Archivist, Anders Ditlev Clausager states: " Sixty tourers were built in the 1935-1936 model year and forty five in 1936-1937. We can identify that twenty- eight were exported: eight to the U.S.A, five to India, five to Holland, three to Singapore and Malaya, two to Canad, two to Argentina, two to Tozer Kemsley and Melbourne for New Zealand and one to Belgium.
"There are five cars that we are not certain about, but the remaining seventy-two stayed in Britain. Henlys(in London and Manchester) took forty seven. We at JDHT have written Certificates for seven tourers."
Today, SS tourer is still as prestigious and classy as it was in past years. This car was truly an achievement for Jaguar Cars Limited because after looking at the SS tourer people really felt the Jaguars Standard. 

-  The car in picture is restored by David Davenport  -   

The lovely XJ40

The XJ40 is not less beautiful than a celebrity, its stylish look is just timeless. Today, there are a large number of poor examples still on the road. But equally, there are some cars also in very good condition. In fact, there is probably a XJ40 to suit all tastes and pockets.
The manufacturing of XJ40 was a challenge and as well as an achievement for the Jaguar company. Replacing the beloved Series 3 was a really tough job for Jaguar and, when it was introduced in 1986, there were arguments that the XJ40 was both too early and too late. It is true that the old Series 3 XJ had been battling on for long time, although the fact that it had held up so well was proof of how right the design was. The trouble was that, despite exhaustive pre-production testing, the XJ40 as it first went on sale wasn’t quite ready for this world. In fact history showed that those early customers played a unwitting role in its development.
XJ40 variants out there with engine options running through the AJ6 2.9-, 3.2-, 3.6-, and 4.0-litre six cylinder units, while from 1993 the 6.0-litre V12 was also available. 

Jaguar Mark 1’ 2.4 litre, a classic saloon

To many today, the Jaguar 2.4 seems merely a somewhat dull and rarely- seen model from the company's distant past. After all, wasn't the 2.4 one of the smallest-engined and slowest Jaguar ever made, and didn't nearly all of them rust away - probably deservedly?  The truth is that in the 2.4-litre of 1955 lies the genesis of the ultra refined jaguars of today, and for this reason alone it's one of the most significant saloons in the company's history. New, it was amongst the quietest and best riding cars in existence - at any price and was not the slouch its specification might suggest. Nor in Jaguar terms was its engine inappropriately’ small: a fact often overlooked is that, up to 1949, Jaguar’s most popular models were only 1.7 litres.
During the war years William Lyons felt that even this capacity might be too big for post war condition, and seriously contemplated a really tiny Jaguar of about 12,00cc. But when the new XK-engined  XK-120 and MK VII models arrived in 1949/50, demand from the US was massively greater than anticipated, banishing all thoughts of small- engined Jaguars for the UK and Europe. Almost all thoughts. Lyons still hankered after a slice of what had been the relatively high volume 1.5 litre saloon market that Jaguar had left when the Mk V 2.5/3.5 replaced the old range in 1949. So, in 1952 - safely ensconced is the new browns lane plant - Lyons started with a clean sheet of paper for his 'small Jaguar' design, for which the only carry over parts would be a variant of the XK engine and existing transmission. The XK family of engines included the 3.4 six- cylinder used for the XK 120 and Mk VII, plus a 2.0 litre four cylinders developed but kept under wraps. However, the ‘four-pot’ lacked smoothness so the 3.4 six cylinder’s stroke was reduced from 106 to 76.5 mm (and its block height by almost three inches) to produce a smooth and free running 2,483cc engine which could use the existing cylinder head and retain a beefy seven bearing crankshaft.
The bodyshell was a more onerous proposition; by the early 1950s the separate chassis frame was fast being replaced by unitary construction, which combined bodyshell and frame in one unit – reduced weight and potentially greater torsional rigidity being the twin goals. Design was more difficult and tooling cost was greater, however, so adopting a unitary body amounted to a massive commitment by Jaguar. Few if any other specialist car companies producing less than 9,000 cars a year would have risked the investment, but Lyons followed the advice of his chief engineer William Heynes and went for it. 
Heynes laid out the car’s basic parameters while Lyons evolved the shape. It was then up to design draughtsman Tom Jones “to engineer in between” as he puts it, establishing the basic architecture. The design then went to Jaguar’s body man Cyril Crouch, who spent hundreds of hours devising the body tooling which pressed steel at Cowley.
The first prototype, completed at the end of 1954 and finally Jaguar launched the 2.4 Mark 1 to the dealers at a big convention held under canvas at browns lane. The dealers were happy to see a right car at the right time and with the right price.  Publicly, there was a televised introduction to the Jaguar Mark1 2.4 litre, at the RAC’s country club, hosted by Raymond Baxter and involving Lofty England, Mike Hawthorn and other Jaguar’s successful race team.