2007 was a busy year with lots of cleanup items and an engine rebuild. All of the dashboard gauges and panels came out very well. I had to re-glue the plastic panel onto the copper frame on the center panel. The window washer bottle now looks new and worked without any additional fixes.
​
The windshield wiper motor wiring was totally shot with the insulation falling off the wires. I spent a fair amount of time getting the motor cleaned up and rewired. I did not use the wire colors or the correct connectors. This decision would come back to haunt me years later when I went to hook it up. Basically I bought the correct colored wires from Moss motors and rebuilt the motor again.
​
The inserts for the windshield wipers were expensive so I bought wiper inserts for my Miata and cut them down and fitted them into the Jag wipers.
Initially I planned to replace the heater box because it was rusted out on three sides, but I ended up making new panels. The exchange radiator tested OK so I used it again. The fan motor was cleaned up and ran well.
The original plywood in the trunk was delaminating so I used the old pieces as patterns and built new ones. They fit well and they will be covered up with an interior covering.
When I first bought the car in 1974 I had to fix a small leak in the gas tank that had been repaired years earlier with hot lead. I used a heavy fiberglass and epoxy to make the repair and it worked for 20 years and about a half tank of gas remained for all that time. By the time I looked at it again it smelled incredibly bad and had a residue in the bottom. I cleaned the tank with acid and tested it outside the car and found no leaks so I reinstalled it. A year later it started leaking again so I replaced it with another tank from Ebay. More on that fix later but it did look good.
A previous owner replaced the header tank with something from another car. I used it originally but I replaced it with a correct used one that eventually leaked. I replaced that one with a stainless tank.
I stripped all the paint off the boot lid and finished the work behind the seats and primered the area. I liked the way it turned out.
Finally it was time to work on the engine. The car ran when it was parked but sitting for 20 years created a lot of problems. The engine was frozen and would not turn. I tore the engine down, pulled the crankshaft out and took everything to the Bird Road Machine Shop. They were able to remove the pistons and save the block. The crank was reground, the pistons bored out and the block was treated to remove all rust.
The pistons were replaced with new, oversized ones. The piston rods and wrist pins were OK so I reused them.
The pistons show the varnish that led to them sticking.
The aluminum head needed some work and a valve job. Valve adjustment on this engine is done by placing metal spacers under the lifters. I let the machine shop do this.
The crankshaft was in good shape but we still had to grind it 3 thousands over.
The engine block is looking very good. Lots of other little cleanup things were done at this time.
_JPG.jpg)
The pan baffles were cleaned up. The valve covers were polished up and look good. The cover over the timing chain was pitted so I bought one on eBay and it shined up well. Everything was starting to come together.
