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Channel IX, 1960 Mark IX

Sun, 14 Sep 1997

The II & IX - a cracking day

I can tell you've been holding your breath to see if the II's brakes were a success!

Yes they were!!! and it was a beautiful day today - sun shining - a gentle SW'ly breeze and all the trees are bursting with buds.

We now have excellent foot braking - no swerves, no pumping needed and no leaks. There is a down side though - isn't there always? - I now know for sure that the handbrake disc pads need renewing; - I went round bleeding the brakes to make sure I had no air left in the system and found not only that the inner handbrake pads were worn out but the main h'brake cable is now far too long for comfort. I also see that the reason there is no rust in the chassis is because there is a thick coating of oil and auto trans. fluid covering everything!! Maybe I'll get a chap up the road to chop the cable and put a new swage on it at the right length. It is annoying to have to pull the handbrake lever right up past the seat height - it catches on your nether regions as you gracefully exit your testament to British Engineering...

Well, the IX now has a new (newer!) vacuum advance (V.A.) unit - isn't she lucky! She also had her right eye inspected and it was found to be lacking in watertightness - the bottom half of the reflector is terribly knackered - shall we find a new reflector anywhere (Andrea K. Rogers - do you have them (we should get two new ones really) for sale?)

The distributor released easily from the clamp and so did my skin as I wangled the thing out from the dark depths... who in their right mind would bury the motor 6 feet below the wings and bodywork of a car! Sir William, you have some questions to answer...

Anyway, I found the copper vacuum tube to the V.A. unit creased and thought that might be the answer to the problem - but no, the tube was airtight, the V.A. unit was leaking. The knurled adjuster knob was seized in place (how did the last guy say he fixed the timing then?) and needed Mole Grips to free it up. The replacement unit had the knob and spring so I wasn't worried - it came free easily enough and I was ready to just slip the unit out - having first to loosen the main mounting plate screws *just* enough to allow the control lever pin to drop out. Slip in the new(er) V.A. unit, oil the whole mechanism and we are ready to re-mount the distributor. Ah hah! - you say, how is he going to get the static timing right - and well you may ask - I had been putting that right out of my mind just so as to not scare me off doing the job in the first place. OK, remove all the plugs, use the manual button on the starter solenoid and crank her over until No.6 (at the front) is in compression - make sure the rotor is pointing to No.6 pin on the distributor - so far so good "then, making sure No.6 is 5 deg B.T.D.C, adjust the distributor until the points are *just* breaking" - so says the manual. OK smart guys where are the timing marks on the bottom pulley? - and, smart guys - why didn't you tell me the sump guards obliterate the view of the pulley to all but a 3" tall midget?, or a human with the neck of a swan? and, there is no toothed metal thingy there to show you degrees BTDC, just one single V pointer. Thank heavens some kind person has put blobs of paint on the pulley (in grey though?!) - there are three blobs just to confuse me, one either side of a blob adjacent to a stamped letter (a " T "???) or a number " 5 "???? - - which is going to be my guide as to 5 deg BTDC? I make an educated (?) guess and take the stamped something as TDC and the first mark as 5 deg BTDC. I did try the stamped something as the one but found that I could not get the points anywhere near opening... The next trick was to hand turn the motor over to get the marks to align. (You really appreciate a crank handle at times like this!) With wrist numbing tweaks, I manage to turn the fan pulley at the same time as straining on the fan belt to grip the engine pulley. Got the marks aligned, set the distributor so the points were just opening (use a light bulb across the coil/points) and then realised I hadn't re-connected the coil lead. This task requires fingers 3 feet long with treble 360 degree capabilities - or, for my thick digits, removal of the distributor! back to square one... At last though we are back in place. Re plug the motor, snap the distr. cap back in place and fire up - hooray! she's back to life. She's running smooth but I will need an expert to get the thing bang on again - ( I left my timing light gadget back in England when I moved). She pulls much better now under load and idles easily. With the leak in the unit she was pulling a bit more air than she should and would fart and backfire intermittently. All we need now is the new S/S exhaust system...

A few more jobs are still on the 'to do' list; replace the turn indicator lamps behind the rev counter, the oil pressure light and the trace the lack of amps to the interior lamp system (the fuse, No.3, is fine).

We did find time, after all the Jaguaring, to enjoy the sunshine and mow the lawns...

------------------------------

Channel IX


Saloons

MK VII-IX

 

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