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HCE
Freshman Member
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Those who have read my earlier post regarding determining what is a fair price for an XKE will know that I recently purchased an S2. I knew going in that the car had been sitting for a number of years. I had been told it had not been started in 4 or 5 years, but it turns out that the car had not been driven since 1995.
You may be interested in what I have done to get this car back on the road.
I purchased the car in late June in central Florida and had it delivered to me in Alpharetta on Thursday, June 28. When I inspected the car pre purchase, both the owner and I agreed that the engine was probably seized. When the car arrived, the first thing I did was pull the plugs and pour about an ounce of Marvel Mystery Oil into each cylinder. On Friday afternoon I added another half ounce or so to each cylinder.
I went to Auto Zone and bought a battery.
The owner had disclosed that the car had a number of electrical issues which he described as “typical Lucas stuff.” On Saturday morning I installed the battery and started checking out the electrical issues. The only things that worked were the headlights and emergency flashers. With the plugs still out, I tried the starter and the engine turned over, but I had no power to the fuel pump or distributor.
I spent some time on Saturday with a circuit tester, trying to figure out what some of the problems were. When I dropped the instrument panel to gain access to the fuse blocks, I found a tangled mess of disconnected wires, wires spliced with masking tape, oversized fuses - just a big mess.
I quickly decided it was more than I could figure out in a reasonable amount of time, even with the help of a friend who is pretty knowledgeable about old cars. Since I wanted to get the car on the road as quickly as possible, I had the car picked up on Tuesday (7/3) and delivered to a shop here in metro Atlanta that specializes in classic Jags.
They started working on it on 7/5. They drained the gas tank, steamed and flushed it, and flushed and blew out the gas lines. They replace the fuel filter and removed a redundant bowl filter someone had installed between the filter and the carbs. They replace the fuel lines which were hard.
They resolved the power to the fuel pump and coil issues – someone had messed with the wires on the ignition switch. They rewired it correctly. That resolved some but not all of the other electrical issues as well.
The fuel pump did not work, even with power. They disassembled it and cleaned the points which resolved the problem – dodged a $350 bullet if that is a permanent fix!
They cleaned the carbs. They put in some fresh gas and tried to start it on Thursday, 7/12. No luck.
The next step was to remove and disassemble the carbs and rebuild them with a rebuild kit. That was what it needed to get it running, but it ran pretty rough so they shut it down quickly.
Not necessarily in this order:
- They replace the spark plugs. The ones that were in it were incorrect.
- They synced the carbs, set the fuel mixture and adjusted the idle speed.
- They cleaned the points, set the gap, and adjusted the timing.
Next they drained the oil which they said looked good, with no indication of coolant contamination. They replace the filter and refilled with Castrol GTX 20W-50.
The car started up the next day, Friday. It had good oil pressure, and the temperature was normal. Compression across all cylinders ranged from 165 to 170 pounds.
Even though it still ran rough, the shop did not see anything to indicate any problems other than what would come from just sitting for so long. Their verdict - the engine probably does not need any work. It just needs to be driven.
The owner had said that the engine had been rebuilt @ 80k miles. The opinion of the shop is that unless the rebuilder took great pains to reassemble it with all of the correct factory clips and clamps, this engine has never been disassembled and rebuilt.
There was a coolant leak at the front of the engine around the thermostat housing. They ordered the correct thermostat and gasket to the correct this problem.
The fuel gauge did not work. They removed the sending unit, cleaned it, and replaced it, and it now works.
I ordered a set of period correct Vredestein tires and had them shipped to the shop. They pressure washed the wire wheels and cleaned them – they look great – and mounted the new tires. Total cost of tires, tubes and mounting - right at a grand.
They checked and lubed the wheel bearings, installed the wheels, and lubed the chassis.
I called on 7/17 for an update and was told that they needed to rebuild the front calipers - one was seized and the other was very rusty.
The shop called the next day, Wednesday (7/18) with an update. The calipers were in worse shape than they thought. One needed a new piston and both had a lot of rust. They recommended installing new calipers which they had, rather than rebuilding the original ones which would have meant waiting for parts. The incremental cost was only about $100, factoring in the labor difference.
They also needed to replace all of the brake lines due to clogging. Someone had mixed silicone with regular brake fluid. They flushed brake system and refilled w/ silicone brake fluid. They suggested this not for any performance advantage, but because it is better for vehicles which are not driven on a regular basis.
The front pads had less that 50% left, so they replaced them while the calipers were off. They also replaced the cork floats in the master cylinders.
The cooling fans were not working.
They flushed the cooling system, installed the new thermostat and gasket, and replaced all of the hoses and belts.
The fans were now working – they replaced a relay.
They gave it its first road test in the afternoon.
On 7/19 I spoke with the shop in the afternoon. They had driven the car several times over two days. They reported that there was some vibration under braking - you don’t feel it in the pedal; rather it is a sensation in the car. They did not think it is coming from the brakes, but probably from the rear end. The previous owner had mentioned a possible issue with the rear end, so this was not a surprise. The shop suggests I drive it for a while since it is not serious.
From the road tests, they determined that:
- The engine runs strong, normal oil pressure and temperature.
- The transmission jumps out of gear – 1st only – on deceleration. They do not recommend I do anything at this time since the transmission seems fine in all other aspects. The clutch is good.
- During the second road test, the alternator began over charging. They ordered a voltage regulator, which arrived on Wednesday. It is charging normally now above 1500 RPM, but they believe the alternator is weak and will probably need to be replaced in the future.
They drained and refilled the transmission and rear end while the car was hot.
They did a front end alignment since the tires are new, but said it was not out much, if any. All the suspension parts look good. They replaced the missing and deteriorated boots on the suspension parts.
Most of the “other electrical” issues have been cleared up. They said it was mostly bad fuses, dirty connections, and cut wires. I still don’t have a horn, and the interior lights and map light do not work. The clock has power, but it does not work. The wipers do!
I picked up the car last Thursday (7/26) and have driven it about 150 miles. It seems to run better every time I take it out. It had a lot of bounce or swing in the speedometer – 5 to 8 mph - but that is settling down to pretty much normal vibration. The car drives and stops straight. The brakes are not as strong as I would like. The shop thinks I may need to replace the master cylinder if they don’t get better.
It has good oil pressure, and even in 90+ weather, normal temperature.
I still don’t have the seatbelts which were missing, and that limits where I want to drive it. The last thing I need is a ticket for no seat belts. I think I found a set this morning in North Carolina.
Overall I am happy. We - me and the previous owner - both underestimated what it would cost to get it back on the road, but it could have been a lot worse if it had had major engine or transmission issues.
My wife and I drove it Sunday afternoon and the driver’s side door would not open from the outside. I guess I need to take off the door panel to see what went wrong. I am not complaining – you have to expect that there will be a lot of things like that with a 42 year old car.
I am working on my To Do list:
- The driver’s door also has a fitment issue – it rubs when you close it, and the hinge is very stiff on the passenger door. Penetrating oil and silicone spray have not helped.
- The air/choke/heater cables a very tight.
- I need to get the rest of the lights and horn working.
- The radio is from an S3. I need to find an original.
-The shop recommends some “updates” to the carbs, like changing the way the secondary throttles operate.
- And the big one, the master cylinder.
And then there are the cosmetic things. The car looks great from 25 feet, but it has a lot of stone chips and dings. I have about 3 hours in on the interior, but I still have a long way to go to get rid of all of the accumulated dust and dirt.
The carpet and leather are in better condition than you would expect for a car this old with 83,000 miles.
So, I am sure there will always be a To Do list.
My wife was not a supporter of this purchase. We drove it to lunch on Saturday and she had a smile on her face, though she denied it!
I am going to keep working to get it safe and reliable to drive, and then we are going to enjoy heck out of it!
You may be interested in what I have done to get this car back on the road.
I purchased the car in late June in central Florida and had it delivered to me in Alpharetta on Thursday, June 28. When I inspected the car pre purchase, both the owner and I agreed that the engine was probably seized. When the car arrived, the first thing I did was pull the plugs and pour about an ounce of Marvel Mystery Oil into each cylinder. On Friday afternoon I added another half ounce or so to each cylinder.
I went to Auto Zone and bought a battery.
The owner had disclosed that the car had a number of electrical issues which he described as “typical Lucas stuff.” On Saturday morning I installed the battery and started checking out the electrical issues. The only things that worked were the headlights and emergency flashers. With the plugs still out, I tried the starter and the engine turned over, but I had no power to the fuel pump or distributor.
I spent some time on Saturday with a circuit tester, trying to figure out what some of the problems were. When I dropped the instrument panel to gain access to the fuse blocks, I found a tangled mess of disconnected wires, wires spliced with masking tape, oversized fuses - just a big mess.
I quickly decided it was more than I could figure out in a reasonable amount of time, even with the help of a friend who is pretty knowledgeable about old cars. Since I wanted to get the car on the road as quickly as possible, I had the car picked up on Tuesday (7/3) and delivered to a shop here in metro Atlanta that specializes in classic Jags.
They started working on it on 7/5. They drained the gas tank, steamed and flushed it, and flushed and blew out the gas lines. They replace the fuel filter and removed a redundant bowl filter someone had installed between the filter and the carbs. They replace the fuel lines which were hard.
They resolved the power to the fuel pump and coil issues – someone had messed with the wires on the ignition switch. They rewired it correctly. That resolved some but not all of the other electrical issues as well.
The fuel pump did not work, even with power. They disassembled it and cleaned the points which resolved the problem – dodged a $350 bullet if that is a permanent fix!
They cleaned the carbs. They put in some fresh gas and tried to start it on Thursday, 7/12. No luck.
The next step was to remove and disassemble the carbs and rebuild them with a rebuild kit. That was what it needed to get it running, but it ran pretty rough so they shut it down quickly.
Not necessarily in this order:
- They replace the spark plugs. The ones that were in it were incorrect.
- They synced the carbs, set the fuel mixture and adjusted the idle speed.
- They cleaned the points, set the gap, and adjusted the timing.
Next they drained the oil which they said looked good, with no indication of coolant contamination. They replace the filter and refilled with Castrol GTX 20W-50.
The car started up the next day, Friday. It had good oil pressure, and the temperature was normal. Compression across all cylinders ranged from 165 to 170 pounds.
Even though it still ran rough, the shop did not see anything to indicate any problems other than what would come from just sitting for so long. Their verdict - the engine probably does not need any work. It just needs to be driven.
The owner had said that the engine had been rebuilt @ 80k miles. The opinion of the shop is that unless the rebuilder took great pains to reassemble it with all of the correct factory clips and clamps, this engine has never been disassembled and rebuilt.
There was a coolant leak at the front of the engine around the thermostat housing. They ordered the correct thermostat and gasket to the correct this problem.
The fuel gauge did not work. They removed the sending unit, cleaned it, and replaced it, and it now works.
I ordered a set of period correct Vredestein tires and had them shipped to the shop. They pressure washed the wire wheels and cleaned them – they look great – and mounted the new tires. Total cost of tires, tubes and mounting - right at a grand.
They checked and lubed the wheel bearings, installed the wheels, and lubed the chassis.
I called on 7/17 for an update and was told that they needed to rebuild the front calipers - one was seized and the other was very rusty.
The shop called the next day, Wednesday (7/18) with an update. The calipers were in worse shape than they thought. One needed a new piston and both had a lot of rust. They recommended installing new calipers which they had, rather than rebuilding the original ones which would have meant waiting for parts. The incremental cost was only about $100, factoring in the labor difference.
They also needed to replace all of the brake lines due to clogging. Someone had mixed silicone with regular brake fluid. They flushed brake system and refilled w/ silicone brake fluid. They suggested this not for any performance advantage, but because it is better for vehicles which are not driven on a regular basis.
The front pads had less that 50% left, so they replaced them while the calipers were off. They also replaced the cork floats in the master cylinders.
The cooling fans were not working.
They flushed the cooling system, installed the new thermostat and gasket, and replaced all of the hoses and belts.
The fans were now working – they replaced a relay.
They gave it its first road test in the afternoon.
On 7/19 I spoke with the shop in the afternoon. They had driven the car several times over two days. They reported that there was some vibration under braking - you don’t feel it in the pedal; rather it is a sensation in the car. They did not think it is coming from the brakes, but probably from the rear end. The previous owner had mentioned a possible issue with the rear end, so this was not a surprise. The shop suggests I drive it for a while since it is not serious.
From the road tests, they determined that:
- The engine runs strong, normal oil pressure and temperature.
- The transmission jumps out of gear – 1st only – on deceleration. They do not recommend I do anything at this time since the transmission seems fine in all other aspects. The clutch is good.
- During the second road test, the alternator began over charging. They ordered a voltage regulator, which arrived on Wednesday. It is charging normally now above 1500 RPM, but they believe the alternator is weak and will probably need to be replaced in the future.
They drained and refilled the transmission and rear end while the car was hot.
They did a front end alignment since the tires are new, but said it was not out much, if any. All the suspension parts look good. They replaced the missing and deteriorated boots on the suspension parts.
Most of the “other electrical” issues have been cleared up. They said it was mostly bad fuses, dirty connections, and cut wires. I still don’t have a horn, and the interior lights and map light do not work. The clock has power, but it does not work. The wipers do!
I picked up the car last Thursday (7/26) and have driven it about 150 miles. It seems to run better every time I take it out. It had a lot of bounce or swing in the speedometer – 5 to 8 mph - but that is settling down to pretty much normal vibration. The car drives and stops straight. The brakes are not as strong as I would like. The shop thinks I may need to replace the master cylinder if they don’t get better.
It has good oil pressure, and even in 90+ weather, normal temperature.
I still don’t have the seatbelts which were missing, and that limits where I want to drive it. The last thing I need is a ticket for no seat belts. I think I found a set this morning in North Carolina.
Overall I am happy. We - me and the previous owner - both underestimated what it would cost to get it back on the road, but it could have been a lot worse if it had had major engine or transmission issues.
My wife and I drove it Sunday afternoon and the driver’s side door would not open from the outside. I guess I need to take off the door panel to see what went wrong. I am not complaining – you have to expect that there will be a lot of things like that with a 42 year old car.
I am working on my To Do list:
- The driver’s door also has a fitment issue – it rubs when you close it, and the hinge is very stiff on the passenger door. Penetrating oil and silicone spray have not helped.
- The air/choke/heater cables a very tight.
- I need to get the rest of the lights and horn working.
- The radio is from an S3. I need to find an original.
-The shop recommends some “updates” to the carbs, like changing the way the secondary throttles operate.
- And the big one, the master cylinder.
And then there are the cosmetic things. The car looks great from 25 feet, but it has a lot of stone chips and dings. I have about 3 hours in on the interior, but I still have a long way to go to get rid of all of the accumulated dust and dirt.
The carpet and leather are in better condition than you would expect for a car this old with 83,000 miles.
So, I am sure there will always be a To Do list.
My wife was not a supporter of this purchase. We drove it to lunch on Saturday and she had a smile on her face, though she denied it!
I am going to keep working to get it safe and reliable to drive, and then we are going to enjoy heck out of it!
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