The 'E' Type Forum

Hello and good morning everybody,

Just thought that it would be polite to introduce myself. You'll no doubt be astonished to learn that my real name isn't Mighty Antar by the way ! I'm actually called Peter and I moved to France (near Poitiers) from Maidstone about four years ago now.

Its very hot and sunny today in my little bit of France. My friend and co-owner of the series two that we have just bought, is on his way over for a day of fettling and worrying about torsion bars ! She is running with a slight list to port at the moment, so we'll be tackling that in the fullness of time.

"She", is a 1969 4.2 series 2 US import and still on UK plates, pretty much rust free and with clear evidence of having been looked after very nicely in her previous lives, so when the time comes we hope she'll sail through her CT (French MOT equivalent) so that we can register her over here.

Whilst I'm here, I may as well dive in with my first question which is, are adjustable reaction plates a good investment ? I've read a few threads about them and it would appear that they are, if so, is there any particular make to go for (or avoid for that matter). Many thanks in advance for your time and advice.

Kind regards

Peter.

Welcome bienvenue Peter aka Mighty Antar , Poitiers is a very nice location to enjoy an E Type.
For sure you will find here all the expertise and support to bring your car up to the expectations.
I am not familiar with adjustable torsion plate, but have been running with original plate since many years, easy to set if you follow the procedure and advise and once set you can forget.
All the best and please do post some pics!

Hi Peter...Welcom to the forum...im sure you will find lost of usefull information on here....Torsion bars..nothing to fear..you just need to understand what you are doing with them befor you start any suspension work....Adjustable reaction plate...only a very small number of E owners have fitted them...do you need them....only if you intend to alter your ride height frequantly like for the track etc.....the standard torsion bars have a vernier adjustment (different number of splines at each end) so plenty of adjustment to ride height available.......the key point is to release all tension befor you work on them and read up about the setting links required to set ride height for your model....all fully detailed in the Jaguar service manual that i recomend you get....All the best and enjoy....Steve

Hi and welcome.
I fitted the adjustable reaction plate from SNG (I think), not because I intended to go racing, but because I was getting all the suspension and torsion bars set up before the engine was fitted and I didn’t know how much ‘slack there may be in the original bars.
I’m glad I did as although I used the fitting links, the car sat too low at the front once the engine was in and the car had been moved around a bit, and things ‘settled down’. Using the Allen key to move the cam on the plate to raise it seemed a lot easier than doing it the traditional way.

Hi Richard...can you just use the allan key to adjust..(thought i remember you haveing problems useing the adjuster)...a few i have spoken to need to release the tension by disconnection the upper wishbone to be able to adjust their reaction plate...which dosnt make it a simple adjustment....possibly depends on what make you have....Steve

Yes, you do still need to release the tension at the upper wishbones, and loosen the nuts at the plate ears. I hadn’t reduced it enough on one side so it made it harder than it should have been! Once I realised that, it was a lot easier. It saves having to knock the bars through before adjusting them.

Hi Peter , welcome on the forum, you have an expert with E type at 2 km from Poitiers in BUXEROLLES mr Francis TRICHET .

Ah, I know Buxerolles well, it is the same side of Poitiers as I live, so that's very good news.

I think we'll go ahead without the adjustable reaction plate to start with then, I've read the adjustment procedure through a few times, without any real understanding of it, I'll just have to keep studying it until I fully get what is involved. We'll get there in the end !

Have a good week everyone and thanks for the warm welcome.

Kind regards.

Welcome Peter

You will get all the support and advice you need here - it is truly a great forum full of knowledgeable and enthusiastic owners.

I did the reset of the Torsion Bars earlier this year and agree it can look a bit daunting. It is one of those jobs that actually makes more sense as you start to do the job - just follow the manual carefully.

My points from recent experience would be;

1. You need 100% of tension off the Torsion Bars to make it a much easier job
2. Plenty of grease on the splines
3. A very accurate measuring bar that replaces the shock absorber.

Let us know how you get on.

Good luck.

Ash

Personally with a road-car I wouldn't bother with anything but the original plate.

Setting the ride-height has sometimes been given the smoke-and-mirrors treatment, with people who have no grasp of metallurgy adding irrelevant variables, whereas in fact it is what it says on the box - or rather what it says in the Jaguar book.

A pair of steel flats, drilled reasonably accurately at the correct centres (and ideally clamped together whilst drilling) as per the drawings in the book are all it takes, and, provided all the residual twist on the rubbers has been released when the setting-up is done, the result can only ever be correct.

It won't compensate for a bent car, however, which to an extent an adjustable plate will ............

I also found it rather satisfying to see how clever, in practice, the original concept was.