George Cole Posted February 27, 2022 Share Posted February 27, 2022 (edited) Beautiful Florida winter morning yesterday, on our way from Cocoa Beach to the Melbourne Winternationals. It was about 72 degrees with a light ocean breeze...perfect winter weather. The 19-mile drive across 2 rivers from the barrier island to the mainland took about 30 minutes in my 'new' 1947/1948 Jaguar Mark IV. It was a trial-by-fire maiden voyage...the first time we've driven it on a street or highway since bringing it home 3 weeks ago. Edited February 27, 2022 by George Cole (see edit history) 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted February 27, 2022 Share Posted February 27, 2022 I always really liked those late 40s MKIV Jags. How does she do on the Highway? I've casually kept my eyes open for a LHD 3.5 saloon for years but I think that ship may have passed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hidden_hunter Posted February 27, 2022 Share Posted February 27, 2022 Funnily enough it was about 72f with a light sea breeze here in the other Melbourne this morning 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Cole Posted February 27, 2022 Author Share Posted February 27, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, alsancle said: I always really liked those late 40s MKIV Jags. How does she do on the Highway? I've casually kept my eyes open for a LHD 3.5 saloon for years but I think that ship may have passed. I've never understood the stigma of a RHD. I always liked being different and out of the ordinary. When I lived in England from 1978-1981 (courtesy of Uncle Sam,) I had a RHD 1965 Triumph Spitfire and my wife had a LHD 1974 Chevy Impala. I drove one or the other every day and never had a problem with it. The gearshift felt as natural in my left hand as it did in my right. Likewise with this Jag. And I never once was confused about which door to use. As I said, it was her maiden voyage, without time for proper sorting. It's a 3.5 Litre. I picked it up less than a month ago in L.A., and brought it back to FL on my tow dolly. In the past 3 weeks I did a hot radiator and block flush with Evaporust. Did them separately while waiting for a new upper radiator hose to replace the one that was missing. Exhaust 'Y' pipe was cracked, and all 3 exhaust system hangers broke somewhere in New Mexico, grinding about a foot off the end of the tailpipe. Muffler was mostly rusted, so the entire exhaust system went into the trash. Welded a patch over the 'Y' pipe crack. Purists be damned, I replaced the entire exhaust system with 2.5-inch stainless steel, as I live on a barrier island, with salt air the major concern. I wanted to drop the pan, but so far haven't found a gasket and there wasn't time to make one, so I only changed the oil. and filter. When I picked it up in L.A., each of the tires had ~20 psi in them. I tried airing them up to their normal 30 psi my first night at the hotel, but broke the air chuck off my 12v pump, so took that as an omen to leave well enough alone. Towed it 2625 miles that way. After getting it home 5 days later I pumped them each up to 30 psi, and almost immediately the LR valve stem blew completely out. The tube was completely rotten. Likewise with the valve stem in the spare. Pulled it apart and found a conventional 15-inch tube in t he 18-inch tire. So I ordered new tubes and tires from Coker. Got the tubes, but only 2 tires came in. Got a message that the rest of the tires would be back ordered until at least mid-May. Called Coker and cancelled them and told them I will ship the 2 that they sent back as I want matched tires. Ordered all new from Universal. While waiting for them, I changed out tubes in the lightly weathered tires. so I could make yesterday's show The new tires came in late Friday afternoon. Brake lights didn't work. Linkage for the original brake light switch was missing and the switch was disconnected. Someone in the past had screwed a home window alarm sensor to the floor, with the magnet zip-tied to the brake pedal arm. That was the 'new' brake light switch. I ripped all that out, rewired the original switch (after checking it to make sure it still worked,) made a piece of temporary linkage, and late Friday afternoon got the brake lights working as originally designed.. Along with a multitude of other issues to get it 'road-worthy' for yesterday's show, there wasn't time for any other sorting. We didn't have a lot of confidence it would make the trip. I filled the tank with gas from cans and off we went. So to answer your question, the steering is a bit loose, there's some vibration (which I believe is coming from the very old tires,) and the car pulls hard to the right when braking. It was running rich and wanted to stall every time I came to each of the approximately 25 traffic lights I came to enroute. But we made it, and made it back home without any other concerns. So I'll continue working the issues until it's properly sorted. Next show's in Pompano Beach in 2 weeks....then the following week the Ocala joint CCCA-Packard tour in Ocala. The weekend after that's the Jaguar Club of Florida Concours in Lake Mary, and the Saturday after that is the All British Show in Sanford. There's several more in line after that, but I think you get the picture. Regards, George Edited February 27, 2022 by George Cole (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_S_in_Penna Posted February 27, 2022 Share Posted February 27, 2022 3 hours ago, George Cole said: ...to the Melbourne Winternationals. Clarifying for everyone's (and my) understanding: Are you referring to the AACA's Winter National Meet? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted February 27, 2022 Share Posted February 27, 2022 21 minutes ago, George Cole said: I've never understood the stigma of a RHD. When I lived in England from 1978-1981, (courtesy of Uncle Sam,) I had a RHD 1965 Triumph Spitfire and my wife had a LHD 1974 Chevy Impala. I drove one or the other every day and never had a problem with it. The gearshift felt as natural in my left hand as it did in my right. Likewise with this Jag. And I never once was confused about which door to use. It is not really a stigma but a preference. For me, if a car came both ways I would prefer the LHD. Some cars came only one way. Isotta, Hispano, prewar Delayahe and Delage. If you want one of those, you go RHD and don't think about it. For some cars like Mercedes there is a discount for RHD because most of the market is Germany and the US. I was reading somewhere that in the early days of the RROC there was a premium on the RHD Rolls Royce as those were built in Derby and considered more "elite" than the Springfield cars. I don't know if they preference still exists in the Rolls world. I know post war LHD brings more money in the US. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Cole Posted February 27, 2022 Author Share Posted February 27, 2022 1 hour ago, John_S_in_Penna said: Clarifying for everyone's (and my) understanding: Are you referring to the AACA's Winter National Meet? Yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Cole Posted February 27, 2022 Author Share Posted February 27, 2022 1 hour ago, John_S_in_Penna said: 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Cole Posted February 27, 2022 Author Share Posted February 27, 2022 Here's the 'brake light switch' which I ripped out to restore the system to it's original configuration. These sensors were wired to a relay attached midway up the steering column. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunsmoke Posted February 27, 2022 Share Posted February 27, 2022 Great looking car, and last model with those wonderful huge headlights. So classy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George K Posted February 27, 2022 Share Posted February 27, 2022 1 hour ago, alsancle said: It is not really a stigma but a preference. For me, if a car came both ways I would prefer the LHD. Some cars came only one way. Isotta, Hispano, prewar Delayahe and Delage. If you want one of those, you go RHD and don't think about it. For some cars like Mercedes there is a discount for RHD because most of the market is Germany and the US. I was reading somewhere that in the early days of the RROC there was a premium on the RHD Rolls Royce as those were built in Derby and considered more "elite" than the Springfield cars. I don't know if they preference still exists in the Rolls world. I know post war LHD brings more money in the US. Very true. That’s why the Bud Cohn special roadster was changed right to left. Quite a feat if you know how the steering gearbox is mounted on the engine leg. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George K Posted February 27, 2022 Share Posted February 27, 2022 16 minutes ago, George K said: Very true. That’s why the Bud Cohn special roadster was changed right to left. Quite a feat if you know how the steering gearbox is mounted on the engine leg. Check the mounting statement. Thinking of S series not 8 cylinder. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Cole Posted February 27, 2022 Author Share Posted February 27, 2022 20 minutes ago, George K said: Very true. That’s why the Bud Cohn special roadster was changed right to left. Quite a feat if you know how the steering gearbox is mounted on the engine leg. Steering box is mounted to the frame, not engine mount. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted February 27, 2022 Share Posted February 27, 2022 43 minutes ago, George Cole said: Steering box is mounted to the frame, not engine mount. The LHD and RHD steering boxes are flipped and a different part number on a 500K/540K. I have a RHD if anybody wants to buy one to put their car back. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George K Posted February 27, 2022 Share Posted February 27, 2022 5 hours ago, alsancle said: The LHD and RHD steering boxes are flipped and a different part number on a 500K/540K. I have a RHD if anybody wants to buy one to put their car back. Probably a hard sell. That’s why I was made aware of the Cohn switch. I was climbing around up in a loft and saw the gearbox box lying there. He told me he switched it for Cohn. Can’t remember his name but he had one of the two special eight cylinder coupes that were in Detroit. He was an engineer with Ford and told me the story of the Pantera. He was on the team that was charged with that car. Visited both coupes but never could buy one. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George K Posted February 27, 2022 Share Posted February 27, 2022 6 hours ago, George Cole said: Steering box is mounted to the frame, not engine mount. That’s for sure. I have done both and the S series was what was stuck in my mind. Big job to say the least. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George K Posted February 27, 2022 Share Posted February 27, 2022 If you have a RHD S series steering gearbox I know a guy who needs one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted February 27, 2022 Share Posted February 27, 2022 40 minutes ago, George K said: If you have a RHD S series steering gearbox I know a guy who needs one. 540k Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George K Posted February 27, 2022 Share Posted February 27, 2022 S or SS six cylinder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted February 28, 2022 Share Posted February 28, 2022 1 hour ago, George K said: S or SS six cylinder. sorry, I was unclear. My box is for 540 K. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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