1972 Daimler Sovereign 4.2 Series 1

That looks incredibly tidy!

one of my favourite car ever, yours looks stunning

That's gorgeous, the pre-facelift XJ is one of the best-looking Jaguars (ok...and Daimlers) ever, IMHO. Timeless.

That is a truly glorious car... I have always liked the S1 XJ6's (who hasn't?!) and this one looks a peach!

I will keep a close eye on this one although I cannot see how this can be made any better.

Evening gents, thought I'd go for another six monthly update. I had a massive schedule of work I wanted to do to get it to how I want it. Needless to say I couldn't complete everything without not being able to use it do I've done what I can.



First off, I took Rich's advice from the above post and lagged the AED hot air pipe that draws hot air from the exhaust manifold. The AED was also removed and stripped right down for a thorough cleaning.



While it was apart I replaced the gaskets, filter and the float, the diaphragm was in good shape so I left it. I also fitted electronic ignition in place of the points and now it's running great.



With the body, I knew the inner rear arch panel would be needing work or replacement. So I removed the tank panel and tank and went digging...







After tearing off all the old under seal I found a couple of holes and a poor previous repair.



Instead of just patching it I decided to make a template and just cut the lot out.



After clamping it all into place using Frost's brilliant panel clamps...



...It was all welded up.



I also found a rust scab in the nearside outer headlight which was ground out, treated, primed and painted.





After all the bodywork was finished it was back to dealing with the details.



I changed my centre console from my black one which was looking tired to an aluminium one I got from a car being broken not far from me.





I also sourced a period Radiomobile 1095 with iPod capability to replace the woefully 80's tape deck fitted.



The car had a period Moto Lita 3 spoke wheel fitted which I replaced with a standard wheel, again given up by the Jaguar being broken.





There are still a few jobs to do, since being laid up she has started getting warm in traffic. The rad is getting re-cored and there'll be a Kenlowe fan getting fitted.



Changed the exhausts from curved to straight too, I think it looks much better...

I would love 1 of these purring around town..lpg and air ride in the boot

This just looks stunning...

These cars are just so pure in their design and this example really does show that off to the fullest!

It's nice to see you working your way around the car to bring it up to a really nice solid state. It just looks perfect!

Thanks for all your comments gents, they're much appreciated! There are certainly cleaner ones out there but this is just a nice, usable car. Whenever it's sunny it's out getting used, don't see the point in keeping them locked away. The mods I'm doing are concentrating on making it that bit more reliable, but all looking period. Mods like triple SU's off a Mk.X for instance...(I wish!!)

Carsie, I'm an anorak as well! Or a nerd, as the better half likes to put it! I did look at a set of chrome rimmed dials, couldn't justify the expense at the time though. I much prefer the look of these straight pipesand they're a bit less restrictive. You're right about the pipes too, fumes were sucked into the boot. To be fair though, the Missus is very rarely locked in there now, her behaviour has improved a lot...

You may recall me saying this in my last update?

Well, I had the radiator re-cored, an excellent job done as well.





After coming back from Tatton Park, I stopped at a shop, got back in and when I started up I was treated to clouds of white smoke that rapidly dissipated. I went under the bonnet for a quick check and found the breather for the brake servo on the inlet manifold soaking wet with brake fluid. So next day I pulled the master cylinder to find a substantial leak into the servo.







After fitting a rebuild kit to the master cylinder and a new servo valve, I reassembled it all and started up to let the excess fluid burn off. After 15 minutes of white smoke (!!) the exhausts returned to normal.





Despite doing this, I noticed that every time I started the car I'd get white smoke. Not as heavy but enough to cause concern. She wasn't overheating but was using a small amount of coolant. The oil seemed ok until I took the engine breather off...



This had also bunged up the pipes where they enter the carbs causing the crankcase to over pressurise and blow the dipstick out along with lots of oil!

I did a compression test getting an average of 130psi on 1,2,3 and 6. 4 and 5 were at around 150psi, the cause of the higher readings confirmed when looking down the plug holes to see lots of coolant...



So, the job I was dreading having to do since buying the car, failed head gasket.

Anyway, not thinking about it too much, I decided to adopt a confident approach...



Anyone who has done a head gasket on these 'long stud' XK engines fitted to the XJ will be fully aware of the common practice of the head corroding itself to the head studs with nasty results if the antifreeze isn't regularly replaced. With this in mind, I removed all the head nuts and blasted them with PlusGas and WD40 for a week while I removed all the other ancillaries.





While trying to remove the stubborn Inlet manifold, the head cracked free from the block so I decided to take it all in one go. After putting a bottle jack in between the cylinder head flange and cylinder block flange, the head was free.





I was going to strip the head myself but I decided to sent it to a local engineering firm as while it was off for a top end rebuild on account of the rubbish compressions.

With the head away, I knocked out the core plugs to clean the block and to assess the head studs. The horror stories I'd heard with regards to the studs snapping when re-torquing convinced me to replace them all.



After another 6,000 gallons of WD40 to the base of the studs, they let go with a crack. While they were out I decoked the piston tops and cleaned up the block.



The head came back on Friday with new seats valves and head refaced and the tappets shimmed up. It'll be getting a lick of paint before being refitted towards the end of the week.



In other news, I managed to find a manual choke conversion for the AED. It hasn't given any trouble since its rebuild but I see it as a worthwhile upgrade. I need to change the choke handle though, I hate it! I've also fitted the Kenlowe fan. I wasn't a fan of the aftermarket switch with its integral light so I obtained a sixties style warning light that I fitted to the bottom right of the dash and a Lucas toggle switch on the side between the dash and the door.



I've also, at last, sorted a full size rear plate for it.



Thanks for reading, more news as it goes back together.