TireSmoke.org

I had another good session with the car today. I got all eight main bolts undone. It is a frustrating nut and bolt arrangement with the nuts tucked up behind a frame rail. Luckily none of them were too difficult, but the wrench on the nut was difficult to manage while using a big breaker bar or impact on the bolt. On the last two, the wrench would have pressed against a wire if I let it rotate against something, so I used an old shoelace to hold the wrench from spinning. I still enjoy problem solving like that. I am still laughing that it worked. This would be easier with an assistant.

I also removed the bolts that secure the radius arms, but the bushings didn’t let go from the stud they slide over. That is somewhat of a press fit metal to metal connection. I might have to cut the rubber bushing which will release the radius arms and then allow me to cut the inner metal ring that seems to be stuck on the stud. It is soaking in penetrating oil for now so perhaps I will get lucky and pop those metal rings off the studs in the next session.

I think I will have a nightmare with the driveshaft. There are four bolts that connect it to the differential input shaft and I can’t get a socket on either end. I can’t even get a box end over the nuts. My first try with an open end felt like it was rounding off. I left those for now soaking in penetrating oil. I need to look for a better wrench, but I fear I am looking at some nut cutting work in an awkward location.

It was another successful day, although I put in more hours than I expected today.

My first effort was at getting those radius arms disconnected. I really don’t know how we worked on cars before the internet. Between seeing actual pictures of the bushing and reading one Jag enthusiast’s recommendation for using an open-end wrench to pry these off, I had a bit of enthusiasm to start. The internal metal sleeve of the bushing is cupped so there is a big lip to pry against. Before prying, though, I could see that the radius arms were under significant tension due to the suspension resting at full sag. I jacked up the hub until the radius arm was level. It took a few tries with a few different open-end wrenches (best of my wrenches was either 9/16 or 5/8), but I was rewarded with a nice pop sound as the passenger side released. I repeated the process on the driver’s side, and it went about the same.

I returned to the driveshaft and got the brilliant idea to try disconnecting the u joint. First, I had to ride my bike down to Ace to get a set of pliers to remove the circlip. That clip proved a lot more difficult than I expected. I then read a little more about the procedure for replacing u-joints and when it mentioned using a vice to force the cups in, I realized this was a job that was expected to be done with the driveshaft removed. The first step in driveshaft removal was pretty much those four bolts that barely have access for an open-end wrench. I quickly convinced myself that those were just going to round off with an open-end so out came the Sawzall. They cut really quickly. I did mark up the plate that the bolts go through on one of them, but I don’t think I did any meaningful damage.

The next task was to remove the handbrake cable. Once I loosened the adjustment nuts on the cable which are inside the car, I was able to pull the cable free of the passenger side brake lever arm, but the driver’s side was rusted in place. A bit of penetrating oil and a large pair of slip-joint pliers pushing the nose of the cable housing out of the slotted hole finally worked

I thought about lowering the IRS with the brake hose still attached, but it doesn’t look long enough. The brake hose is tucked up high in an awkward place. The connector looks pretty rusted and is barely accessible with an open-end wrench, but it is neither half nor 9/16. It must be a metric size. That is the problem with a 1991 British car, some connections are English and some are metric. I finally just cut the hose figuring there will be a lot more room to work on that when the IRS is out. Cutting the hose felt like reaching the point of no return. I now have a bit of a brake fluid mess in the garage to clean up.

Cutting the hose also means that I have only one last connection to undo, the speed sensor. That does not appear to be accessible without dropping the IRS down, so the next step is to lower the assembly. I am a little concerned about that task as it is resting on the jack, but the assembly looks top heavy which means it could roll off the jack as I lower it. I have a few ideas on how to prevent that, but I was feeling very tired from all this work, and I thought it might be wise to sleep on that.

The beast is out. I was able to slide a couple of 2X4s into the IRS from the rear that gave me some leverage to control the roll of the assembly. It mostly sat nicely on the jack through the process. It had to come out sideways but I had enough forward and aft room to move while changing the angle of the jack to accomplish a sideways movement. It was a heavy piece to maneuver by myself. I then realized that I wasn’t really sure how to set it down in a place that I could work on it so I found myself quickly improvising a stand with some more lumber. That required me running out to the hoarder building in a downpour. It was a bit of a circus.

The speed sensor was held on by two 10mm bolts. With the assembly resting precariously on the jack, I tried to move too quickly on that removal and broke the plastic housing of the sensor. It has a tight seal, and I tried to pry it off as I wasn’t making much progress just wiggling it by hand. I didn’t expect that to be plastic. That might be an expensive error.

Today I began disassembly of the IRS. The first problem was finding out that most of the bolts that I needed to undo were 11/16” which is the only socket I don’t have in ½” drive. I also only owned metric impact sockets which made sense when all I owned was a Nissan and a VW, but not when I have a bunch of big old crusty Jaguar bolts to undo. I went to Ace, but their Craftsman set was $75 which would more than pay the gas money for a run to Harbor Freight for a much cheaper set. I then tried our Car Quest store, and they had a set for $56 which was low enough to save me the trip to Rapid City. While I was there, I let them do a search for rotors and calipers for my car, but they couldn’t supply them so I will have to order online. I do feel good about at least buying some tools from them. It is good to have local stores.

Today’s progress was removal of the radius arms and struts (w/springs). I am now certain that the struts are original as nothing back there has ever been disassembled before. The springs are fine, but they are pretty ugly with rust, so rather than messing around with refinishing springs, I just ordered new springs along with the new struts. The radius arms are also in need of refinishing. One of the rear bushings definitely needs to be replaced. The front bushings and the other rear are not awful, but it wouldn’t make sense to have it this far apart and not replace them. As I was beginning to make a mental plan for refinishing, removing the old bushings (likely cutting them out), and then finding someone who could press the new ones in, I stumbled upon a set of new radius arms with new bushings already installed for a price that made it simply not worth the hassles. This IRS rebuild is going to cost a lot more than I expected, but I shouldn’t have to mess around with it ever again.

With a better look at the brakes, the entire system does need refurbished. The pads are quite uneven. The rotors aren’t horrible, but they are pretty thin. The handbrake pads are toast, and the handbrake levers need some cleanup. The calipers are ugly, and removal is a step I am dreading. The bolts are strictly box wrench access with maybe a quarter turn at a time. Hopefully they will break free easily. The bolts on the rotors look pretty crusty, but probably no worse than everything I took apart today. The next step is going to be figuring out the disassembly of the brake system. I haven’t yet ordered calipers and rotors, but it looks like the prices aren’t horrible and that everything is available. It looks possible that I could be back on the road by the end of the month, but the real goal is to do all of this right so that it doesn’t have to be done again in my lifetime.

The bolts are strictly box wrench access with maybe a quarter turn at a time.

Do yourself a favor in life and buy some GearWrench wrenches. I bought a metric
and a standard set ( like 12 of each ) and I use them more than i use my ratchets
and sockets. Well worth the $$$.

GM

I should buy some new wrenches. I had been looking at the GearWrench style. I love having a minimalist toolbox because everything is easy to find, but I am probably operating a bit too minimalist.

It is now 97 degrees outside so I am hiding from the heat. I got an early start this morning and continued disassembling the IRS. My big success was getting the calipers removed. The big challenge was getting those mounting bolts to break lose. I needed more leverage than I could generate with my 5/8” box wrench. On the passenger side, I was able to break the first bolt free hitting the wrench with a hammer. I then broke the second bolt free by rotating the caliper with a pry bar. The other side required an upward motion with the wrench, so the hammer technique wasn’t going to work. I finally decided that my ancient cheap wrench could be sacrificed so I created an extension that put a lot of force on the open end of the wrench, but the wrench held and the bolts finally broke free. Once free, the bolts turned easily, but access is the worst thing I have ever seen. This assembly was engineered for functionality with almost zero consideration for assembly and disassembly.

I then began working on the rotors. There are four studs with 11/16” nuts. I can get an impact socket on three of them, but one is blocked by a u-joint grease fitting. I had to use a very long extension on the impact which never helps. I tried changing to a fresh battery, but none of the nuts broke free. I then tried heat, and the first one let go, but I haven’t yet been successful on any of the others. I do have access for cutting, but hopefully letting them soak overnight and trying the heat again will help. When lunchtime arrived, I figured I was done for the day.

My first attempt with the impact this morning was a surprise success, but then nothing else after that wanted to move so I began the cutting process. I was able to cut two nuts without damaging the studs and then the rotor on the passenger side was free. Well, it was free except that the lower control arm blocks removal, so I then had to remove that. I am excited that one rotor is now off. I still have four nuts and a control arm on the driver’s side to deal with in the next session. This is a battle of perseverance, but I think I am winning. I have already put 20 hours in just the disassembly.

The disassembly phase is complete. I got one of the four nuts to release, and I cut the other three. The driver’s lower control arm pivot axle was a bear to extract, but I won the battle in the end. I also removed the outer pivot on both control arms which separates the outer bearing housing from the lower control arm. That disassembly was an easy step to help with the next phase which will be cleaning up years of accumulated grease and road dirt (did the original owner go to Jiffy Lube or are Jaguar mechanics really that messy with a grease gun?).

So far, my cleaning efforts have primarily consisted of touching and bumping dirty parts and then washing the dirt down the drain with a bunch of Gojo at the end of the day. I am sure I got rid of a lot that way, but it is still gunky in the logical grease areas. I did start working with a scraper a little today, but the cleanup is going to be tedious. I don’t see a lot of areas that will need to be painted, but I might have a different opinion after cleaning things up.

I also organized all the parts and then lifted the IRS onto my dolly. I initially wanted to drop the IRS onto the dolly to help roll it out from under the car, but the jack was already under it and was reasonably manageable. It looks like I planned the height of the car perfectly, though, as I should be able to roll the IRS right under the frame rails and then just jack up each side a little to align the main mounting bolts. The dolly should also give me a better working height for the cleaning and assembly work. With the IRS on the dolly, I can also move it to get better access. The disassembly was painful at times. With the lower control arms, calipers, rotors, and outer bearing housings off the center section, it is a manageable weight right now, but once it is loaded back up, it becomes a heavy piece to move.

I am at that point of questioning how far to go with this effort. There is no end to the possibilities, but some things probably don’t need to be done. I am not rebuilding the differential. I am not even disassembling the cage it is mounted in so that limits how much cleanup I can do. I also decided not to replace the rubber mounts. They look good. They are a common failure point, but the issue in failure is not an issue in driving as the rubber mounts remain under compression while driving. The issue with these mounts is that they fail under tension which only happens on a lift. It can be quite catastrophic, but knowing the design flaws of your car allows you to work around them. My solution for now is not having a lift.

I think I have most of the parts on order. I had to order from a bunch of different sources to get everything I needed. I am not convinced that my parking brake is going to work well as that really needs a more significant rebuild, but the parts are really expensive for something I don’t even see myself using. The pads on the parking brake levers were more expensive than the main braking pads, so that is quite annoying. I was excited to find a source at $42 as the first few that showed up were well over $100 for parking brake pads. Rotors, calipers, and regular pads were reasonable. I splurged a little on some new hardware. I also had to buy a brake line kit as I don’t have a flaring tool anymore and I will have a few lines to fabricate.

This assembly was engineered for functionality with almost zero consideration for assembly and disassembly.

The issue with these mounts is that they fail under tension which only happens on a lift. It can be quite catastrophic, but knowing the design flaws of your car allows you to work around them. My solution for now is not having a lift.

I've always loved these cars, but man, that looks like a big deterrant to actually wanting to own one..

TireSmoker wrote: Wed Jun 25, 2025 10:25 am
I've always loved these cars, but man, that looks like a big deterrant to actually wanting to own one..

The IRS was designed for the E type which came to the market in 1961. That IRS never really changed much prior to it being used in my car. It was 30-year-old technology when my car was new. The rubber mounts could have been (should have been) easily modified with a safety catch. I thought about adding something, but mine are still in good shape and I will not be putting the car on a lift. The disassembly of the IRS, particularly those inboard brakes, is quite inconvenient. I am shaking my head at the way Jaguar mechanics were expected to do brake jobs. It can be done without removing the IRS, but not in a 34-year-old car that has never been disassembled. OTOH, this is the easiest car I have ever seen for doing a brake pad replacement, provided the calipers are in good condition. That was probably why the racing teams didn’t complain more. Jaguar did eventually move the brakes out to the wheels, but not until 1994. Some owners of older cars have modified to that style. In Jaguar’s defense, everything else I have worked on so far has been really straightforward. This IRS, though, is a nightmare assembly, really poorly thought out from a maintenance perspective, particularly for the hobbyist working in a basic garage.

I progressed a lot more today than I planned. I began cleaning the lower control arms and the outer bearing housings. Just cleaning them was an improvement, but there is some surface rust on the outer wheel flange, the axle shafts, and the lower control arm. I decided to touch them up. I have cleaned them and now primed them with rust inhibiting primer. I will do flat black paint tomorrow. This is not a 100% restoration, but it should help protect along with providing an improvement in appearance. I still have to clean up the center section and the cage. Hopefully I am not heading toward more painting, but I don’t think I am in a hurry as I am waiting on all my parts. My new calipers arrived, and they do look shiny and new. That really doesn’t matter for brakes as far inboard as these, but hopefully I can put this all back together in a way that makes the car serviceable without ever having this kind of major project again. It is getting exciting as the hard work is now behind me and the new stuff is rolling in.

You are a one percenter of Jaguar XJ-S owners that would attempt a project like this. Pretty cool.

-BP

I had a day where I just need to laugh at myself a little. It was a very good day. I painted the parts I had primed yesterday and they really do look nice. I also cleaned up the cage and the differential. I decided that the rusty iron of the differential would be easy to cover up with a little paint. I also decided that there were a couple of spots on the stamped steel frame that were starting to rust so I cleaned those up and painted them, too. It doesn’t look perfect, but it all looks a lot better, which probably isn’t too important as no one is ever going to see this under such a low car. My new radius arms arrived so those perfect brand-new pieces are another thing to get excited about. The cleanup and painting are now mostly done, a huge accomplishment.

The laughable part began as I started on the brakes. My first task was getting the old brake hose pieces disconnected. Those are metric. I didn’t own any metric wrenches. I can’t use sockets on hoses. I moved on to fabricating new crossover lines for the new brake calipers. There is a short U-shaped piece of brake line that connects the two opposite pistons on each brake caliper. The shape is somewhat complicated, but I got out my new line, fittings, and tubing tools and began fabricating these pieces. I first checked to make sure the threads were right. Then I cut some tubing, put on the fittings, flared the tubing, bent the complex shape, and began threading the fittings into the calipers. The threads are 3/8-24, but the head on my fittings were surprisingly metric so I didn’t have a wrench. I decided it was time to get some metric wrenches. Being cheap, I wasn’t happy with the price at the parts store or at Ace, so I went to Bomgaars, our local farm supply store. I found a decent set of metric wrenches for a decent price, so I bought them. I got home and immediately looked to tighten those crossover lines, but to my surprise, my new set of metric wrenches skips over the 10mm that I needed. It wasn’t that the wrench was missing. This cheap set really did skip the most used metric size (???). My next step was to just grab the adjustable wrench. I tightened the fittings on the first caliper. The fittings felt tight, but the tubing was still loose. It turns out my fittings are too short, so they don’t bottom against the flare in the caliper. I now have new fittings on order along with a nice 10mm wrench to complete the set. I think I can cut off the flares and still use the lines I bent, but if not, I have plenty of line.

I really feel like I am scrambling to the end. My worst fear is that I will be assembling everything and find that I forgot something obvious which will delay me days as I wait for the missing piece. I have been ordering like crazy. Yesterday I ordered about $75 worth of nuts and bolts. These things add up fast. I cut a lot of hardware taking things apart, but even the stuff I didn’t cut doesn’t have the best threads left so I am trying to replace most of the hardware. Today’s scramble was those fittings and the 10mm wrench. I had also somehow forgotten to order the replacement brake hose. I think I have everything on order now, but I have thought that a couple times now. I keep telling Kris that the financial bleeding should stop soon and then each day I place another big order. The parts should all be here by Monday, most earlier than that, so I am excited to move forward with assembly using mostly brand-new parts and hardware.

I have not taken this project as far as one could, but I am replacing a lot of pieces. I have ordered over $1500 worth of parts for this IRS project. The other thing that stings me is my lack of tools. Since buying this car, I have spent almost $700 on new tools, and my toolbox is still pretty sparse. Almost half of that tool expense has happened on this IRS project. It is providing me some perspective that I don’t think I had when I was younger. We accumulate tools and supplies over time which makes the next job seem minor. When you don’t have the tools or even basic supplies like shop rags, penetrating oil, grease, and paint, the cash outflow for just one project gets elevated.

I was a little frustrated this afternoon as my simple crossover project went south on me in every possible way, but now I am mostly laughing at a set of metric wrenches not including a 10mm (and me not noticing). I am really looking forward to putting together a significantly renewed IRS assembly. I think Monday is going to be a big assembly day. I really think that is going to be fun.

If you want to save money on tools, consider making a list of things you may want/need, then start shopping used. I think that in this country there is an oversupply of hand tools. It's going to be an adventure securing what you want but you can probably get 3x the tools or more for the money. For $700 I bought a huge toolbox full of tools. I have over 300 lbs of tools from that purchase that I am not using. With that box I over doubled my toolbox drawer space and have very little room left over - there was a surprising amount of tools that did not overlap what I had. I really only needed the box and all the tools were a huge bonus.

You may recall the thread where I documented this: viewtopic.php?t=2346