Feb 20 2013 wes Editorial No Comments

This is a bit off of our usual blog but I know the guys on the jag forums will want to see this and it is TONS easier to do it here and shoot them a link so here goes.. XJS started diving to the right under braking.  Up on the rack we find there is no braking going on at the left front.  First step is to attempt to bleed the brakes, bearing in mind the process for bleeding …

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Had this little M3 come in for a quick repair after the droplink bracket broke off the strut tower. So I put it up in the air to see if the strut was saveable. As you can see, a chunk of the metal broke clean off and of course the drop link came off with it. Now, I’m a little fuzzy on the story, something about “Refueler, Dave, The Destroyer” and “Get A Bigger Hammer, Chuck” using torches, 12 foot …

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Feb 17 2013 wes Editorial No Comments

About a week back Karl made a great post on the backsory of a sweet little 911t barn car we got in.  She hasn’t been run in a very long time and we’ll document the rest of her revival as we go.  For today, just a quick note on the fuel system. We always get the request to “just tune the carbs because I had another shop do all of the other work.”  That call comes in monthly.  Here is one …

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Jan 20 2013 wes Editorial 4 Comments

The other day I call the big Porsche carb rebuilders and ask them for some split shaft Solex parts.  They said they will send me all they have because they won’t mess with ’em anymore.  They do a high dollar solid shaft conversion.  That was an eye-opener.  If these guys don’t want to mess with these then they must be problematic. If a car is a concours queen I’d rebuild the Solex for you.  If your car is a driver we are …

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912 Oil leak..

Jan 20 2013 wes Editorial No Comments

Usually pushrod tubes and valve cover gaskets, right?  The PO had been smearing rtv on the cork and around the tubes to stop the bleeding, but there was a bigger issue that you couldn’t see because the leak had covered the outside of the valvecover in a thick, black, sludy goo: Something made a hole, and somebody tried to weld it…you can see the steel on my bench through the holes in the bird poo weld.  No amount of RTV around the …

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Jaguar X-type day

Jan 02 2013 wes Editorial 2 Comments

I love these days with a theme, it really lets you get a rhythm going,  and for some reason the Jaguars seem to come in bunches.  Last time it was three XJ8’s on the same day.  Today it’s X-types.  First we had a nice 3.0 5-speed throwing all kinds of “transmission fault, DSC failure, restricted performance” codes.  We have the Jag DLR software and it shows the TPS isn’t talking.  The Jag is a drive by wire and the TPS …

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Nov 21 2012 wes Editorial 2 Comments

A customer brought in this nice little 912.  It hasn’t been run in some time but seems very complete.  She is still wearing the old Solex carbs which makes life a little harder but we’ll deal with it. Whenever you take a car with multiple carbs in for work on the carbs expect the tech to do a few things first.  It stinks to shell out the hours but we can’t skip this stuff. #1 Compression test: He will want …

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Nov 21 2012 wes Editorial No Comments

So this little X type has chucked its drive belt.  Owner took it to a shop that said it needs a new belt, so one was installed.  Couple days later from under the hood there came smoke, noise, and another chucked belt.  Maybe engaging the AC clutch on the locked up compressor is causing a little of the trouble?  So a new compressor is all we need and she’ll be fixed right this time. Installing the serpentine belt on an x-type …

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Nov 06 2012 wes Editorial No Comments

This awesome Supercharged XJ came in with the same kind of rattle with the same kind of start-up rattle that led us to update the VANOS on the M5 earlier on the blog.   The dealer told the customer that it was the timing chain tensioners and that they were not covered by his extended warranty.  Well they are, and we’re getting this customer taken care of. For many years the Supercharged Jags dropped the VVT that was on the N/A …

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The issue with the Boxster really got me thinking today about the quality of parts we use on these German cars. Years of experience has taught me when you can and when you can not use an aftermarket part in place of a more expensive OE replacement as we typically use. The problem with German cars is that not only are they very finicky, but the domestic supplier support for these parts is not always correct. While we may use …

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