2hrs

Inertia Switch

Just a couple of little short jobs today. I drilled the securing holes for the inertia switch, in the bulkhead, to accept M5 bolts.  I got Mary to help me fit the inertia switch securing it with 2x M5 bolts plain washers and Nyloc nuts.   I connected the switch to the loom.  the other job cam about because I rerouted the wiring loom to the power resistors and the air flow meter around the pedal box, the loom to the power resistors is a bit short.  I removed the power resistors and will slightly reposition it on the morning to ease the tension on the loom.
 

4hrs

Wiring

I repositioned the power resistors first thing and filled in the redundant holes in the wing valance. I re- secured the wiring loom to the power resistors.  I made a new end for the power feed (thick Brown) in to the wiring ECU wiring loom and connected it to the flying lead (thick Brown) of the main loom.  I secured the LH main wiring loom to the inside of the LH wing valence with stick on cable tie holders and cable ties.  for added security I used the sticky back  to position the  holder and then pop riveted them in place with 3mm countersunk rivets.  I connected up the indicator side repeaters  on each side.   I've stopped to work out the best way to route the headlamp loom across the car from the LHS to the RHS, to identify where a couple of leads (Yellow & White / Yellow ) in the ECU loom should be connected, how the various throttle switches are connected and lastly how the fuel pump / fuel pump relay are connected.

2hrs

Fuel Injection Wiring

Yesterday was the NSCC meeting at Brooklands Aviation & Motoring Museum. General opinion seemed to say it was a good day out and the weather was kid to us after early morning rain.  Consequently no work got done yesterday.  Today I worked out using the HM and a multimeter where the spare leads in the ECU  loom should be connected and definitely identified the white / purple white wires as being associated woth the fuel pump and the inertia switch.  A discussion with Simon at Nostalgia decided that I would connect the spare leads to their  appropriate switches on the throttle mechanism.  they are mostly associated with the automatic version but since I have changed to a manual gearbox no longer necessary.  Also the fuel pump leads are redundant because I am running fuel injection.

I continued routing the LH wiring loom down the engine bay . The preferred route is to stretch the loom as far forward as possible with out straining the loom.  Secure the loom up under engine bay rim alongside the bonnet cable.  On reaching the radiator route the loom down the LH radiator stay. The LH lighting connections should now be in easy reach of  Lighting cluster in the LH wing.  The remainder of the loom is now routed between the radiator stay and the radiator along the rear of the front cross member.  to the RHS I secured he loom to the radiator stay with sticky back cable tie mounts and additional rivets for added security. The cable was reasonably tidy once in place and allowed me to mark and drill the securing holes for the horn relay sockets. The sockets were secured to the inner wing with M5 bolts, plain washers and nyloc nuts. The last job of the day was to plug in the relays ......... To be continued.

8hrs

Wiring

Front Engine Bay and Fuel Pump

Over the past couple of days I've continued working on the front wiring loom. It has taken a little while to work out the connections to the headlight,  sidelights and indicators together wit the routing of the wiring across the front cross member.  I have fitted the  horns using the brackets supplied and bolting them ot the hole pre-drilled in the front wing stay.  I needed to make an extension loom for the O/S horn to connect between the to the wiring loom and the horn.  It's a simple task and is routed beside the main loom across the front cross member running parallel with the loom.  the headlights were connected to their corresponding coloured wires in the main loom on each side. However I still have some tidying up of the wiring to do to protect bare wires and possibly shorten them to neaten up the connections once the loom is finally placed and secured. I've made new flying leads for the front indicators and connected them to the loom . 

Whilst all this was going on I pondered the fuel pump connections again.  If the leads are left spare as indicated above I could not see how the fuel pump would work.  Using a combination of  the Haynes XJ6 manual and the build manual I set about working out the circuit diagram.  Firstly I found 2 mistakes in the build manual. The Fuel Injection loom table references White - Fuel Pump. This should more accurately be described as "Feed from Inertia Switch"  The second mistaken the same table says White / Purple - Fuel Pump to Relay, should be. Purple / White -  Fuel pump.  I tested the circuit with the fuse IF1 (fuel pump 20A)  removed. The white lead goes to one side of the inertia switch and the purple / white lead goes direct to the fuel pump at the rear of he car.   but the outcome of the research is these two leads should be joined together to complete the supply to the fuel pump. I'll publish a detailed circuit in the  Garage Section.  I cut the terminations off of the two wires and crimped a bullet connector to each. The two wires were joined in a snap connector

5hrs

Wiring Tests

I went off on a wild goose chase today. I was working on the LH headlight, sidelight, indicator connections testing them with a multimeter to identify them.  It appeared the loom contained 3 identical pairs  of Red / Black & Black connections  for the side lights.  I could account for two. One built in to the headlight and the normal sidelight. Testing the 3rd connection I discovered what looked like short circuit. I suspected it was a parallel path through a bulb such as a rear light but I had  to check it out to make sure.  Having disconnected the front side lights and removed the bulb from the rear light the short circuit was still there. I removed  the fuses to further isolate the circuits.  Also the same problem appeared to be replicated on the RH cluster.  I dismantled the rear lights to make sure there was no short circuit in the holder.  With all the circuits isolated the short circuit still existed. Finally I twigged.   I disconnected the Instrument plugs from the instrument panel and the short disappeared. It wasn't a short circuit but a parallel path via the instrument illumination bulbs.   As I said a wild goose chase but I had to make sure.

Following on I finished the wiring of the LH headlights and secured the wiring
 

4hrs

Headlamp wiring

I completed the wiring of the RH Headlights, sidelights and indicator. I secured the wiring with stick on cable tie mounts and cable ties the same as the LHS.   The remaining major wiring task was to connect the bottom of the engine wiring loom to the main loom.    There is a pre wired connector and a connecting loom available from Nostalgia.  Temporarily routing  the main loom down the RH chassis member to the area of the engine wiring loom I found there was sufficient cable to join the two looms together without the additional loom from Nostalgia. I removed the pre-wired socket and fitted a Mate-N-Lock connector. I cut the Jaguar  connector off the bottom of the engine loom and prepared  the wires for connection to the other half of the Mate-N-Lock connector. I'll finish the job tomorrow
 

I finished wiring the Mate - N Lock connector for the engine wiring loom.  I secured the loom with sticky back cable ties and added some spiral wrap  for added protection where the loom passes the front suspension mounts. 
 

6hrs

Cooling System

Expansion Tank

Battery clamp

Over the past couple of days I've started work on fitting the cooling system expansion tank.  I discovered early on that the wiring I had so neatly fixed to the LH engine bay interfered with the mounting of the expansion tank. The solution is to make some spacers to stand the expansions tank off from the engine bay wall and allow the wiring to pass behind it.  I made 4  spacers out of aluminium tube each 20mm long.  With hind sight it would have been better to make them 25mm long  to give added heat protection to the loom. I may yet retrofit some new spacers.  Using an XK engine there is plenty of room to mount the expansion tank.  Choose a location well foreword so that there is room to remove the battery without disturbing the expansion tank. drilled 4 holes in  the mounting flanges of the tank. Approximately ½" in from the top and bottom and in the centre of the width of the flange.   I began to mount the tank by first locating and drilling the upper rear mounting hole and with this securely bolted marked and drilled the remaining holes. Care will be needed to locate and drill the lower front hole to make sure it is not to close to the lower edge of the GRP wall,   The next task was the plumbing. The tank has an outlet in the underside which connects ot the branch connection of at the bottom LH Rear  side of the radiator. These pipes are not of the same diameter   I need to obtain some pipe to fit the 12.5 mm diameter outlet in the radiator. I have an XJ6 pipe that is a good fit to the 16mm tank outlet. I probably need to make an adapter to join the pipes together.   I had some success with the connection of the thermostat bypass to the lower of the front outlet pipes in the front of the tank. The diameter of these pipes is also different. I found a piece of tube that was a good fit to the thermostat overflow. I connected this to a piece of 10mm copper . I found some 8mm tube that was a good fit to both the expansion tank and the copper tube,  The  pipes were joined together with "Jubilee" clips.  The 3rd connection like the first  needs a length of pipe that will connect the top front outlet on the expansion tank to the top left  outlet of the radiator  The outlets are of  different diameter 12.5 mm at the radiator and 8mm at the expansion tank . 

I ended the day working on the battery clamp.  It is a standard clamp with an right angle bar in galvanised steel and connecting rods that will hook in to holes in the chassis.  the overall dimensions of the battery are 10"L x 6¼"W x 8½"H The bar was too long so I cut 1¼" from each end to match the battery . I have yet to decide where to put ht holes in the chassis / battery tray for the rods.
 

2hrs
Battery mounting

I only managed a short while in the garage today, just enough time to make a bracket fro the inboard battery mounting. The theory is  a piece of 25mm angled steel that will bolt to the top of he chassis rail, with a 6mm hole drilled in the vertical face to hook the battery retaining rod in.   I made the bracket  but did not mount it while I think through how far back to position the bracket to for optimum retention of the battery.
 

4hrs

Cooling System

Expansion tank

Today I concentrated on finishing the plumbing for the expansion tank.  I went ot B&Q and bought  some 16mm,14mm,12mm, 10mm& 8mm steel tubing. I'll use these to make adapters fro the different size fitting on the radiator and the expansion tank.   I started by fitting a right angled,  silicon  XJ6 pipe, ( SNG Barratt part No AS13625) to the 16mm outlet at the bottom of the tank. secured with a 20mm hose clip.  I made an adapter from  a piece of 16 mm tube 1½" (38mm) long  and a piece of 14mm tube 3" (75mm) long. The smaller tube was pressed inside he larger tube.  The adapter was inserted in to the pipe from the expansion tank and a length of 13 mm, Inside diameter,  radiator hose, the two pipes were secured with hose clips. The far end of the 13mm radiator hose was joined to the bottom LH outlet of the radiator. 

Fitting the upper outlet of the expansion tank to the radiator was a little more difficult even thought it was straighter and shorter than the bottom connection I had just done  I needed to match the 12.5mm  outlet of  the radiator to the 10mm outlet of he expansion tank. the adapter needed to be made in 3 pieces.  A 14mm tube 1½" (38mm)  long, a 12mm tube 1½" (38mm) long and a 10mm tube 3" (75mm) long.  The 2 short tubes were pressed one inside the other and the 10mm tube then pressed in them to make a 14mm to 10mm adapter.   I had some 7.9 mm tube that would stretch over the 10mm tubing and this was sued to join the adapter to the expansion tank. the other end of the adapter was joined ot the radiator with a length of 13mm radiator hose.  All joints were tightened up with hose clips.   I made the adapters quite long in because the adapters do not have "anti blow off" ridges at each end. with plenty of the adapter inserted in the tube and the hose clips done up tight I should get away with it.  If not I can modify the adapter ,later, by welding a bead around the adapter to form an "anti blow off" connection.
 

2hrs

Alternator wiring

Fuel Injectors

Having been away all weekend at Hatch Beauchamp and knowing I will be away the latter part of this week at Warwick University I've been doing jobs today that can continue whilst I'm away and thus not hold up progress. I've ordered some more electrical connections so that I can complete the Alternator wiring. I've also ordered some silicon radiator hose to match the top hose connection of the radiator. I figure this will be a neater solution to the hoses I fitted last week.  These items should be delivered while I'm away ready fro sue at the weekend. 

One of the outstanding jobs  that needs to be completed before I can run the engine is to get the injectors refurbished. One of he most common faults on XK engines is  they won't start because they have developed an air leak around the the seat  where they plug in to the inlet manifold, because the seal has perished. Also injectors have been known to need servicing, after as little as 15,000, miles to restore their performance and jet pattern.   So to eliminate potential problems  at engine start time I've removed them to ready send them away. Hopefully I'll get them back for the weekend or early next week.
 

3hrs

Fuel Injectors

Today was spent searching the internet for an injector cleaning company in the UK.  The original one I found, also used by Nostalgia, has ceased trading. The Web site still exists but when I phoned them they said they had stopped the injector cleaning side of he business.  After a while I found another one HGL Motors in Hull which offer a 48hr turnaround. I called then and they were very helpful identifying the type of injectors and what parts they would change.  I packed the injectors up and posted them special delivery to arrive before 13:00 next day.

2hrs

Cooling Hoses &
Fuel injectors

I just had a couple of hours to spare before I went off to Warwick university. The silicon hoses have come, except the 16-13 mm 90° reducing hose. Merlin have sent the wrong part. (19-13mm,  90°, Reducing hose) I spoke to them and we will exchange hoses by pot today.  Before I left for Warwick, Replaced the hoses from the Water rail to the Expansion tank and from the expansion tank to the radiator top hose with silicon hoses.  I missed a couple of calls on the mobile phone from HGL . When I arrived at Warwick I called them fearing there was some kind of problem.  Nothing of the sort,  the job was done and they wanted the credit card number to charge. Considering the first call was at 12:30 pm. They were very quick off the mark as soon as they received them.  All the injectors were good and well balanced. I spoke to them at 16:00 hrs and they were hopeful of getting them in the post that night.
 

5 hrs

Fuel Injectors

The injectors arrived 13:00 hrs Thursday well within the 48hr turn around. Excellent service. The silicon reducing hose has also arrived. First job was to git the reducing hose and to the outlet underneath the expansion tank and join this to a 13mm silicon hose connected to the radiator bottom hose inlet.  A simple job and the engine looks much better now that all the visible hoses at the top of the engine are the same colour (blue)
 Now for the injectors.  It is possible to remove them and fit them without disconnecting the fuel rail from the fuel supply pipes.  It's a bit fiddly  but it can be done.   The injectors fit in to heat insulating pintle cups set in the inlet manifold. The JHM CD for the XJ6 series III shows sealing washers between the cup and the manifold. These were definitely missing from my manifold.  The possibility is the cups have been modified and the seals are no longer required. I didn't want to risk an air leak around the cups so I refitted then to the manifold with a smear of high temperature silicon sealer. I fitted the font injectors first (#6 and #5). It was then I found my mistake. I removed the rubber pipe to the injectors before I sent them away. The came back with new pipes fitted and HGL had guessed the length of pipe needed as 3" . They need to be 3.5". So learn from this mistake send your injectors away with the pipes still attached.  I went out and  bought some 8mm (5/16") fuel hose and replaced all the injector pipes with new ones made to measure from the old pipes.  After that it was a relatively straight forward job to refit the  the injectors

Last job of the day was to put new spade connectors on the alternator to battery leads. these were soldered in place to make sure the best contact was made

4hrs

Brake Fluid Level Warning Switch wiring

Alternator Wiring

Battery mounting

The connectors for the brake fluid level switch were still hanging loose at the back RHS of he engine bay near the relays.  They were terminated in the usual female spade connectors but the connection to the switch on the fluid reservoir we round pins.   There is no readily available socket that will mate with the plug on the fluid reservoir so a compromise solution has to be adopted.  There are some insulated sockets  (part # BS4) available from VWP (see contacts). These can be crimped on the wires in place of the spade connectors.  I felt my leads were a bit short for this solution,  so I opted to replace the spade connectors with Japanese bullet sockets and make an extension lead  with Japanese bullets on one end to  match the loom and BS4 sockets on the other to match the fluid reservoir . It took a couple of attempts to get the cosmetics right  before I was satisfied.

I fitted the alternator wiring running the loom down the inside of the LH chassis rail  through the engine mount and up to the bulkhead stud,  I protected the wiring with a split 13mm rubber hose as it passed through the engine mount. The loom was anchored in place with stick on cable tie mounts and cable ties.

The end of the day I had a rethink about the battery mounting. I was unhappy with the battery resting on the bulkhead because of the large bolts the would be touching the back of the battery. These bolts would need protecting to ensure that they did not wear or mark the battery case during normal operation.  Secondly the battery pulled back against the bulkhead was not square with the front of the battery tray.   I've decided to mount a length of angle iron across the back of the battery tray to prevent the battery from being pulled against the bulkhead. Also to change the mounting bracket from the front edge of the battery where it would pull the battery backwards to straight down. this arrangement will keep the battery firmly in place between the front edge of the battery tray and the new angle bracket at the rear which will also stop any rearward movement.

7hrs

Battery Mounting

I've almost finished the mechanical fitting of the battery.  I'm using a standard XJ6 battery (Halfords HB072).  I placed a strip of masking tape across the back of the mounting tray. I cut a piece of 25mm x2mm x 259 mm angle iron to be a snug fit across  the back of he mounting tray.  You may have to make allowances for the welds attaching the tray to the inner chassis rail.  I placed the battery in the tray up against the front edge. (As far forward as it will go). I moved the angle iron forward until it was touching the rear of the battery. I carefully removed the battery without disturbing the angle iron. I marked the position of the angle iron on the masking tape.  I had  predrilled 3 fixing holes in the base of the angle iron. I  transferred the position of the centre hole to the masking tape using an M6 bolt dipped in engineers blue.  I drilled the centre gole in the bottom of the mounting tray,. I secured the angle iron at the centre with an M6 x 15mm bolt and plain washer and nyloc nut. I refitted  the battery and checked the position of the angle iron.  with the angle iron bolted tightly in place I drilled through the angle iron to fix the outer bolts. the angle iron now forms the backstop of he battery. Since it is away from the bulkhead there can be no risk of  vibration or  wear on the case caused by the bulkhead fixing bolts.   I marked the chassis rail and the LH edge of  the battery tray corresponding to the middle of the battery .  I drilled a 6mm hole , centred on the mark, in the LH edge to accept the hooked rod of the battery clamp.  I positioned the bracket I made the other day for the RH battery mount on the top of the chassis rail centred on the halfway point.  I marked the position of the fixing holes with engineers blue.  I drilled the holes to 5mm (M6 Tap size) and tapped the holes to accept M6 bolts.  I bolted the bracket to the chassis rail.  I made a retaining bracket for the battery from 25mm x 4,, x 300mm bar.  2x 6mm holes were drilled in the bar on 270mm centre to accept the retaining rods.  These standard rods are too long and will need modifying I made 2 angle brackets  and pop riveted these to the bar to form stops. The bracket sits on top of the battery with the restraining rods vertical.  The stops rest against  the raised portion of the battery and assist with restraining he battery from forward motion in the event of an accident.   I cut the length of the restraining rods down by  80mm and 105 mm respectively.  I cut new M6 threads on the restraining rods  to provide sufficient adjustments  to clamp the battery in position.  I fitted the battery and tightened up the M6 nuts.  The battery was firmly fixed in place.

1hr

Today was spent painting the brackets to retain the battery. It was wet and when not actually raining was threatening to rain. This made the paint slow to dry due to the moisture in the air. In between times I  prepared the main battery leads.

  Total hours this month 63= hrs