prowd owner of a Series 2 2+2 !

[rolando38]

hello all

my new (hem - new to me ) E-type has been delivered today to my door


positive points:
. Californian origin
. imported in 2006 to France and dried stored since then
. 99% original according my comparisons with "factory original E-Type" for an american 1970 car
. bodywork, chassis, eiffel tower apparently rustfree; I chhecked (deserves two "h" as I doubled checked ) with a magnet and a paint thickness gauge ; values between 0.18 and 0.25 mm; banged on the iffel tower with a spanner and no flakes noise
. only visible rust is on rear valance (and duly mentioned by MOT controler yes , it's MOTed and papers are settled at my name) and battery tray
. alignement seems good (you will tell me..)
. MOTed wth just a few minor points mentioned like headlamps adjustment, leaking AutoBox, noisy exhaust,
. interior and ceiling in good condition, apart drivers seat and centre armrestt
. compressions between 8 and 9 for all cylinders
. original "passport to service" and maintenance book with first 2 maintenance operations performed by Santa Monica dealer, in its plastic cover


negative points:
. psych?d?lic wheels ! (hence my questions on other post of replacemnts)
. old paintjob on pale primrose yellow original colour
. obvioulsy not the most desirable specs : serie 2 , 2+2,autobox (but fathers with young children like 2+2 don't they ?)
. driver seat , central armrest and headrests worn not to say gone
. a few chromes missing : logos on the boot, upper windshied and upper boot window chrome
. needs engine tuning (but starts, runs, and brakes )

but please tell me what I missed as positive or negative ...



























:D

[malcolm]

Welcome to the 2+2 club; to the group of people who can take tons of luggage and golf clubs when touring! Colour looks great; don't know enough to comment on the rest, although it obviously need a bit of a re-trim.

[rolando38]

thanks Malcom
I feared to be alone in the 2+2 crew !
It's also the friendly car to young Dads isn'it ?
:)

yes new trim for the drivers seat, central armrest and headrests is in the shortlist; but the rest , even carpets, is in pretty good condition

[Simon P]

. bodywork, chassis, eiffel tower apparently rustfree; I chhecked (deserves two "h" as I doubled checked ) with a magnet and a paint thickness gauge ; values between 0.18 and 0.25 mm; banged on the iffel tower with a spanner and no flakes noise

Errr.. What part of the car is this?

This is the only reference I can find, although it's not a 2+2...




:D

[rolando38]

:D
all the more relevant since I'm french...!

[ernie]

. bodywork, chassis, eiffel tower apparently rustfree; I chhecked (deserves two "h" as I doubled checked ) with a magnet and a paint thickness gauge ; values between 0.18 and 0.25 mm; banged on the iffel tower with a spanner and no flakes noise

Errr.. What part of the car is this?

:D

Perhaps it was an original manufacturer supplied option available only to French purchasers.........

[rolando38]

I was glad enough to get the initial documents from the car with platic cover, 2 first mantenance vouchers filled-in, and also the export docs from the last american owner




I am trying to trace history between first (1970) and last (2006) californian owners

Paul Spurlock from www.xkedata.com told me that it was possible to get info writing to:

Department of Motor Vehicles
Customer Communications
MS H165
PO Box 932345
Sacramento, CA 94232-3450

has anyone tried it ?

[rolando38]

today has been dedicated to first discovery of my car with 2 enthusiasts friends

1. the good news

the interior apart from drivers seat, console and headrest is in very good condition; in particular door cards, back seat, carpets, headlining, part above the sills




is this hole normal on the back seat ?


the chromes are much better than I expected : here partly rubbed on left side to show the difference



after a few difficulties to start (I then realized the fuel tank was absolutely empty...), I cleaned the spark plugs and the difference was immediate !
by the way compression had been taken previously and are between 8 and 9; does thos sound OK ?

some of the missing parts like windscreen washer bottle , rear hinge cover, were stored in a cardboard

the distributor cap and cables look new



2. now for the bad news

. the steering oil pump is missing ! I felt that vehicle was a bit difficult to move at ultra low speed, now I understand

what would you advise me ? find a second hand one or leave it as is ? (given that there may also be a leak on the steering rack...); does not seem to be available at Barratt, only exchange/refurb

. the autobox is very slow, car is only going forward 2-3 seconds after shift is engaged, revving needed; low oil level, oil brown not red, and smells...
I will flush and clean filter, any suggestions ?

[christopher storey]

If it is an original PAS car ( the car number will have a P before it ) then it is essential to replace the pump because trying to manually steer a PAS rack is very difficult indeed, requiring far higher effort than that required for a non PAS rack . Peter Crespin is the man to ask - it may be that an XJ6 pump will fit

I am afraid it sounds as though you have brake band or clutch wear in the Borg Warner box - the smell , if it is a burnt smell , is very bad news. I should try fresh fluid after a filter change and a good clean out of the gearbox oil pan to see if this improves things . The 3 second delay in engaging drive is a little long but even the best boxes will tend to have a delay of 1 to 1.5 seconds . The revving to get the car to move is not right, however : it should move away, slowly, with no more than 1000-1200 rpm used , and even with the converter stalled ( the car held stationary in L or R against the brakes and full throttle applied for 3-5 seconds ) you should get no more than about 1700 rpm, and if it goes as far as 1900 - 2100 rpm you have definite converter / gearbox slip

Full details of this , and the various dignostic tests you can do , are in the pages FF.X ( S1 cars ) and FF.Y ( S2 cars ) in the knowledge base for 4.2 litre cars on this site - see for example

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8496016/S2%20Se ... ission.pdf

[rolando38]

thanks very much for your advice Christopher
I will probably even fill/flush twice and then if no improvement, try to adjust bands according to manual
let's cross fingers, I will not be able to do that before next week-end

I don't have to rev up to2000 rm , though, to operate it

[David Oslo]

Welcome to the 2+2 club !

My young kids love the car, and their friends too, and their parents :D

Excellent for dropping the kids off at school on the way to work in the summer.

I've changed out my Borg Warner autobox, my issue was kick-down, it was not working, even after lubricating the cable and mechanisms. I think it was some hydraulic shuttle valves in the box that had perished seals and o-rings. And rather than the huge job of renovating the autobox in my country I decided to pop in a 4 speed & overdrive gearbox. But I did have fun the first summer changing gears manually from 1-2-3, keeping it in the quick gear for as long as possible when leaving a red traffic light. Hilarious to see the surprise on the faces of the daily-grind drivers in my rear mirror :D

[christopher storey]

Rolando : if you are taking the pan off the box it is worth taking the valve block off also , and checking that you do not have stuck valves etc. It may just be that if the car has stood unused for many years, the valves have seized in their housings

Bonne chance !

[rolando38]

David: thanks for your kind message; last time I visited Oslo (february 2004 if I remember well), no E-type could have been on the snowy roads !
sid you do the job or replacing the AutoBox by a Manual yourself ? was i coming from a XJ6 ?

Christopher : good idea ! ; the car has been idle for a bout 10 years so could be an explanation; is it difficult to remove ? any pics ?

[David Oslo]

That's right - the classic car season is like the boating season, it runs from late May until Sept, almost the opposite of the skiing season.

Yes it's a XJ6 gearbox & overdrive, with top cover & gearlever from an E-type. I'm doing the swap myself and right now am in the middle of overhauling the gearbox (new bearings, layshaft, syncro rings) and overdrive (new bearings, o-rings & cone clutch).

[christopher storey]

Rolando : if you look at pages FFY.s.21 and 29 in the link to the Knowledge base which I gave earlier, it will give you an idea. From memory, the valve block is secured by a number of screws, which you will probably need an impact driver to loosen, but it is a long time since I've done one so my memory may not be accurate

[rolando38]

Yes it's a XJ6 gearbox & overdrive, with top cover & gearlever from an E-type. I'm doing the swap myself and right now am in the middle of overhauling the gearbox (new bearings, layshaft, syncro rings) and overdrive (new bearings, o-rings & cone clutch).

great ! hope you take lots of pics to share on forum ?

[rolando38]

Rolando : if you look at pages FFY.s.21 and 29 in the link to the Knowledge base which I gave earlier, it will give you an idea. From memory, the valve block is secured by a number of screws, which you will probably need an impact driver to loosen, but it is a long time since I've done one so my memory may not be accurate

my fear is that with gerabox in-situ, some parts (springs,...) might fall apart, but I'll study things more in detail

could'nt find any pics on the forum though: I should' nt be the first to do this job ?

[David Oslo]

Not trying to scare you - have a look at this excellent video - showing a Borg Warner auto box (type 35 not type 8, but same principles) stripped down.

The guy also explains how the whole thing works, and what fails too.

[jeroenwohe]

Nice E-type! Very cool you have all the original documentation. Very rare to find that with these old cars. But PLEASE change out those wheels! They just look awful.


Chers Jeroen

[rolando38]

Thanks Jeroen
it's next on my list !