Saturday, July 4, 2009

First Start = Fail

The first start after 5 months was a serious fail. The thermostat housing gasket on the left hand side of the car had slipped during installation and I didn't notice it until I started the car. The car started quite easily, but due to the slipped gasket, there was a massive spray of coolant all over the place. Nevertheless the car sounded pretty good.

A few issues though. The carbs are leaking fuel from the float chamber plugs. I've ordered new O-rings and plastic plugs from XKs Unlimited.

And to add to my nuances, the new spark plug wires I bought from FasterJags didn't fit my V12. I had specifically told Brian Walker that they were to be used on my 1974 XJ12, and he said it would be fine, "we've sold hundreds of these without any issues" - he said. This was really annoying considering these were supposedly "premium wires". The actual wire construction seems pretty good but, I'm definitely not buying anything again from FasterJags. I have zero tollerance for this kind of bullshit.

It took about 3hours to change out the gasket thanks to the retarded water rail design.

For the first time I noticed a clearance problem between the compressor belt and the cross pipe filler neck. They are not touching, but the space between them is only paper thin. I spent about 2 hours on this last night, whenever I clear the belt, as soon as I tighten the pipe-to-water-pump hose, the pipe straightens out again and gets closer to the belt. Any ideas?

















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