www.jec.org.uk

Hi,

Has anyone got experience of replacing the rear radius arm mounting cups on an XJS? In particular how to obtain replacement parts for the two mounting rivets.

On mine the actual cup is ok but the chassis has gone underneath so I want to remove it to cary out the repair. The fixings are Avdel Rivets part number BD47948 that are no longer available. I have looked on the Avdel website but there is a range of different rivet types so I am not sure what to order (I have read reports that the rivets are designed to shear in an accident so should be standard and other reports that state they should be high shear).

Fixings for the E Type are still available under part number BD20958 and these look similar but could be a different size/loading as the actual cups look different.

Welcome your views on how cups have been reattached following restoration work in your experience along with details of suppliers and any special tools needed?

Kind regards
Mike

In case you come across the same issue on your restoration I have been able to find the correct rivets from a company called Zygology. Their contact details are sales@zygology.com or telephone 0808 123 1221.

The rivets are - Avdel Monobolt steel rivets 6.4mm (1/4") diameter. The correct part number is 02771-00817 and you need two of these per side.

The rivets are not expensive items but the catch is you need a special tool to apply them that costs £115 which makes it a very expensive job. The tool part number is 72005-00001 and available from Zygology as above.

Regards
Mike

Mike,

Great detective work! Well done!

Cheers

Paul

Just one further thought on the rear radius arm. I've suffered a fairly jerky gear change (automatic and particularly 1st to 2nd) for many years but getting slightly worse. Have done all the obvious, transmission fluid change (x 3 over 10 years) gearbox mount. I did change the radius arms, once about 12 years ago (problem was less pronounced. Did have a pull last weekend before going home to aged parents for a few days (mini holiday for us). The off-side actually had a little give so just a thought that this might not be helping. I suspect no give would be the preferred outcome. Would a small amount give rise to such transmission jolts, any thoughts?

Best
Nick

Out of interest, I followed the web link at the bottom of the page for the rivets. More information there.
My guess as to the special tool is that it needs extra grip to provide enough stress to break the (ridged) stem. The main special feature of the rivets seems to be the way the remaining stem is locked into the rivet, so it can't fall out or be punched out - the cross section in the original page shows a neck in the stem, so the rivet holds it in place. Note the bullet list item: "Wide choice of installation tools." is a feature! There seems to be a super version with extra corrosion resistance; not sure if that's part of the Jaguar specification; probably inherent in the part number.

Hi,

Yes, the Avdel rivet tool is a really heavy duty pop rivet gun in essence. It's about the size of a large pair of bolt cutters with handles that extend to give extra leverage. The Avdel rivets are steel rather than aluminium so they take a pit of pulling. The challenge is getting the vehicle high enough to use the tool on the radius arm cups without a car hoist. The tool also works well on conventional rivets. Much easier than the hand grip type.

Regards
Mike