Is fish pricey?

[smiffy]

Dear All
It seems that this corner of the BB is languishing in a state of loneliness, and I was wondering, following a couple of glasses of wine after a very long day at work, whether fish are an appreciating commodity in these financially stringent times.
On a slightly less frivolous note, contributions to the BB seem a bit sporadic, with lots of voyeurs and a small number of 'posters'. Perhaps you are all out trying to catch fish to put away for a rainy day. Go on, be brave, post a reply! I'm very keen to hear if anyone has had similar problems to me getting the distributor out of an XK block (see Electrics), or whether I have missed something completely stupid. I'm new to Jaguars, but have built a couple of kit cars and numerous Kent and A series engines in my time, so will be looking for advice from some of you experienced punters.
Best wishes, David

[Ian3.4]

Dont eat fish, same reason I dont drink water, fish make love in water and as fish live in water its obvious to anyone with any kind of logic, that water contains fish and therefore is bad for you. See.... Logic, thats what does it...... take your dizzy, apply some logic young David.. undo retaining nuts, disconnect any extraineous conections, apply copious quantities of fish oil... then.... and this is the logical bit... wack it with a very large No 6 lump hammer several times. IF and I say this as a small aside... it does not work, the next logical step involves the use of a very large blow torch, but.........and please be aware of current health and saftey legislation... remove the dizzy first as you may damage the bakealite!

Hope this helps considerably ... I am now going back to my cell, sorry room and continue the study of my lobotomy scars in the mirror.

Best regards and eat your Fish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ian 3.4

PS. Your right this post needs cheering up.

[Ian3.4]

Hello everyone,

I am afraid that I have had to take Ian back to his room and have told him very sternly that he must not post silly blogs on this web site any more. No 6 lump hammer indeed, David try this...... turning the engine over (plugs removed) by hand,"tap" the sides of the distributor with a small pin hammer, at the base.

The fish oil might help but really............

Sue 3.4 (Ians long suffering wife)

[smiffy]

Dear Ian and Sue
Thanks for the advice. I do eat fish and also drink water, which may explain my difficulty with the distributor. It may also explain why I am only allowed out at weekends.
What I don't get, is what is stopping my dizzy coming out of the block? I did indeed remove all cables, bolts, cap etc; I even managed to make it a fish-free zone. I'm planning to change the Solex carbs for a pair of SUs in the near future, so will have more room to play in the engine bay. Thanks for the tips.
David

[jwment]

Smiffy, try this ...

Put everything back together, but don't tighten any of the screws or bolts on the dizzy. Start the car and rev it up to max. If that don't pop the dizzy out, go back to the lump hammer theory and buy a new dizzy. I'm told the 1-2-3 dizzys are very good. I'm considering one myself, but not until you've figured out how to remove the existing dizzy and reported back.

I'm currently running Luminition, but the previous owner recommends always carrying spare rotor arms, as they burn out regularly.

Johnny M

[smiffy]

Hi Johnny
Thanks for this - I've a few leads to try now, but still don't understand why the dizzy is stuck. I also thought about Lumenition, but did not want to shorten the mounting post for the points so have swapped for Pertronix, which I am waiting to fit. I've already got a Pertronix unit on my VW-based Speedster replica, which works very well.
Current plan for the Mark 2 is to strip off the inlet manifold so I can fit a pair of SUs in place of the Solexes, which are leaking like crazy, and remove the heater unit to free up the flaps. This will give me the necessary space to replace the rev counter generator (non-functional at present) and sort out the dizzy. However, I plan to pick up a spare dizzy (probably at Stoneleigh) before I get too aggressive with it. Hope the wind is now blowing less vigorously!
Best wishes, David

[jwment]

Can't help with the stuck dizzy I'm afraid. I have not had to try yet. Mine was converted to Luminition during it's previous ownership, so I've no experience at fitting it.

Wind has lessened(but not gone away) and the Sun peeped out for a couple of days. 20 min on battery charger ... switch on ... choke on ... stab button ... whirrrrr .... Brrrrrrooooom. All the neighbours came out and started clapping. Decided to parade around the village ... bubble pricked ... both front tyres, flat as pancakes. Guess ya can't win 'em all!

Johnny M

[Ian3.4]

1,2,3, Dizzies are seriously good, as my 22 year old petrol head NDN says. they Rock.

I have had one in the Jag for about 3 months now and it is superb, face it I hammer the nuts out of the car and its performed faultlessly.

The other great mods are, Gas adjustable shocks, front and rear uprated roll bars, stiffer "race" springs and .... a new wiring loom to get rid of the electrical problems. Oh yes, refurbed Cooper craft brakes, with new servo , should have been first on the list really!

Enjoy........

[smiffy]

Hi Ian
Current ignition working well (HT leads from XJ6, Sports coil, Pertronix ignitor unit with standard distributor, vacuum unit disabled). It ain't broke, so....
I take the point about the brakes though. I've fitted the Zeus 4-pot front calipers and their uprated rear pistons. Well worth it.
I'm tackling some of the other non-functioning bits now; heater, rev counter (I replaced the generator, which had the standard fault, but the rev counter needle sticks), and new seals for the clutch cylinders.
New loom is high up the list of upgrades, together with an alternator and heated rear screen.
Still, it's good to have the car back on the road, so I'm going to try and put a few miles under my belt over the summer before any of the bigger plans get started.
Best wishes, Dave