“God Save the Queen!” “Britannia rules the Waves!” Owning a few Jaguars makes you spout phrases like that.
I had never owned a Barn Find or Yard Car… yet. These are currently all the rage, but as a young high school freshman I fantasized about an abandoned ’59 Ford Thunderbird and an early Fifties Cadillac sedan sitting in the orchard of an old farmhouse. My school bus would pass by this little farm in Clayton California as it drove down Marsh Creek Road on its way to the Concord high school I attended. The farmhouse was just past the curve of the road, down a bit from the tavern where I would see a black ’60 Cadillac convertible.
In my mind, I could rescue these cars, return them to good running condition, and have a couple of unique cars to drive.
If it was only that easy!
Of course, those cars had been parked there for a reason. If all they needed was a fuel pump, starter, or a new battery, chances are that they would have been kept in service or fixed in a short time. As a seasoned old car buff, I now know that the cars are parked because they have developed a problem that is too expensive, in relation to their market value or potential for use, which makes it uneconomical to repair. It’s usually a serious engine problem like a blown head gasket, or lower end, or a dead automatic transmission. Rarely are they parked because the owner has tired of them, or has bought a new vehicle to replace it.
These books are nothing but trouble!
I was attracted to the ’51 Mark VII because it looked a lot like a Bentley, and it had the early version of the XK engine. It was contemporary to the XK120 sports car and was advertised as having an almost identical power plant. The Fifties were Jaguar’s Decade of Glory. Multiple wins at Le Mans and other venues. The Mark VII had even won the Monte Carlo Rally. This was my opportunity to grab a little of that reflected glory!
Behold the Power and the Glory! Photos source; Alamy.
I suppose that a steady diet of Octane Magazine had fueled my interest.
For the record, it’s pronounced “Jag-you-are” not “Jag-wire.”
I kept a constant eye on CL to see if one might show up. One did in Pearl Blossom, a small desert town north of Los Angeles. That was too far away. Another showed up in Sunnyvale, and this one had a manual four-speed transmission. I’d read numerous road tests on this model, and the Mark VII was considered to be a real sports sedan. It was a premium high-speed road car, similar to early fifties Cadillac, Lincoln and Chrysler sedans, before they lost their edge.
I bought the car from an estate sale and it had an interesting back story. It was purchased new by a young engineer on the East Coast, who drove it across the country to the West Coast to relocate and be part of the emerging electronics industry. This was his daily driver and it became his family car. I met his three adult sons who told me that they had learned to drive in this car. They had used it for family vacations, and their Father drove it until he couldn’t deal with operating the clutch. I actually remember seeing it one time driving down the street. It sure caught my eye!
He replaced the Mark VII with an automatic transmission equipped Bentley. The big Jag was parked and the last registration was from the mid 1990’s. He had driven the car for over forty years! He was a big British car fan and also owned a couple of E Types.
The gentleman passed away and his house, located in Sunnyvale near Los Gatos, was being put up for sale. Looking at his property, I was reminded of my own father, who liked to tinker with things well into his 80s. The house was pretty run down, and full of all kinds of mechanical and electrical items. I guess that he liked to keep his mind engaged.
It had been parked at the curb, then in the driveway, then under this tree.
The Jaguar was parked in the backyard, under a tarp, and was pretty well preserved, considering that it had not been used for over twenty years.
It arrived in a car carrier. Oh, the excitement!
The body was in very good shape, with only a small dent on the left fender, with large areas of surface rust on the upper surfaces. It had been repainted back in the ’70s and the interior had been re-trimmed in blue vinyl. The engine was complete and turned over freely. The sellers told me that the engine had been rebuilt in the past and that the original cylinder head had been replaced by one from an XK140.
The driver’s seat didn’t look too bad.
The passenger seat didn’t fare as well. Maybe he traveled with a dog?
As usual, the back seat looked great.
The dash veneer had seen better days.
This was after I stripped the old veneer. I glued down what I could, and re-stained and oiled the base wood. Note the floor shifter.
I had been warned on the Jaguar Forum that parts availability would be limited and expensive, and that was right on both counts. The word is “unobtanium.” Moss Motors was the go-to source for most British car guys, but they had a very limited range of products for this car.
This is what eventually led me to lose interest in the project. But I entered into the process with high hopes!
I found a combination shop/owner’s manual online, it became my Bible and I did learn a few things.
The Brits do things differently. An American brake master cylinder usually has one end closed by a circular plate and a circlip. Even old crusty ones can be disassembled by the average guy at home. My Jag’s master cylinders were capped on one end by a threaded plug. Try getting those off after forty years!
Replacement master cylinders were hard to source and very expensive. In fact, all of the brake and hydraulic parts were.
The Jaguar had a very classic look, it looked more like a Forties car than a Fifties model. I liked to call it my Rolls Royce, though it looked more like a Bentley.
The mythical elephant in the driveway.
A stately and handsome looking car. It’s wearing Buick wheels and hub caps.
The car had the original wheels and skinny bias ply tires. Although two were flat, they held air once I inflated them. I wouldn’t have driven on those cracked tires and looked for replacements. Exact fit tires are available, but very pricey. I found that the lug pattern was the same for ’60s and ’70s big GM cars. I located a set of 15 inch ’62 Buick Wheels that would fit. They did not have a lot of offset and came with a set of tires already installed. They fit well and only set me back 125.00.
My son and his wife came to visit on my birthday, and I put them to work, helping push the Jag into the sideyard.
I have since decided that I will no longer put cars in my side yard. This photo was actually when the Jag was being pulled out, but it shows the side yard.
My side yard was a storage/parking spot that allowed me the room to jockey my other driveable vehicles around. Almost every one of my cars has spent some time there. This is where I started the project to remove the surface rust and spray on a rust-killing primer that would stabilize the rust and protect the sheet metal. I spent many hours with a palm sander sanding the top layer of oxidation off, Then I would apply rags soaked in vinegar to the surface. I’d keep them wet for hours, and soak them again, and let them sit overnight. By morning the rust would bubble up into a crust that I could remove with a wire brush. Then I’d wash the surface down and spray the primer on.
Scrape the loose and flaking paint.
Liberally apply vinegar soaked rags.
Remove the crust with a wire brush.Then wash and neutralize the surface.
This stuff really works.
Ta-Dahhh!!!
I also changed the oil and filter and lubed the engine cylinders. I removed the carbs to clean them and replace a broken part. I had to send away to SU carbs in Britain for the missing piece.
The engine was not equipped with a choke, instead it used an enrichening device called a starting carburetor fitted to the front unit. It was electrically thermostatically controlled and would richen the mixture when cold. I spent some time trying to understand and troubleshoot that device.
I also discovered that the original owner had made his own toilet paper oil filter setup.
While the car was parked in the driveway I had pulled all the brake drums and wheel cylinders to clean and rebuild them. The pistons were quite stuck, almost glued in the cylinders. I tried soaking them in solvent and using compressed air to free the pistons without success. Finally, I made an adaptor by drilling a bolt and fitting a zerk fitting. I used a grease gun to fill the wheel cylinder with grease and this eventually resulted in the piston exiting its bore. Slowly, without the drama of a piston flying across the garage.
This method is very effective and safe.
As I have mentioned, both the brake and clutch master cylinders had threaded caps on one end. I need to get that off to fit one of the seals. I tried everything to loosen those darn caps. I soaked them in rust dissolvers like Kroil, reputedly the best. I heated them up on the barbeque grill, then doused them in a bucket of water hoping to loosen the bond.
I was not successful, and this is when the reality of the situation started to dawn on me. I had located some new master cylinders priced at 600.00 each. Then I looked into having the wheel cylinders rebuilt. There are six, four in the front brakes and two in the rear. It seemed if I could obtain these components I would be looking at around two thousand dollars, just for the braking system.
I considered adapting a universal Wilwood master cylinder in place of the original, but the fittings were not compatible with English threads. Then I would also need to adapt the mounting and linkage. All this calls for fabricating and welding skills that I am not well versed in. I can disassemble and assemble any car’s stock components and replace them with identical parts, but this was clearly out of my wheelhouse.
Truthfully I was in over my head. I had three old Jaguars that I was trying to resurrect, plus two family cars. Resources were stretched too far, and as usual, I just didn’t want this car… that much. I knew that restorers had been sending their brake components for re-sleeving for decades. I also knew that people like Jay Leno and others could afford to have whatever they needed to be made to order, but I preferred to find a suitable replacement at a local auto store or online at RockAuto.
I also realized that I don’t have any interest in a years-long restoration project. I know that there are guys steadily working away at their labor of love. But that ain’t me, my interest in the Jag had disappeared!
Most depressingly, I also realized that I’m just a cheapskate, and wouldn’t be willing to invest the kind of money needed. Oh well.
I called a big Jaguar wrecking yard located in the Central Valley, sent them a lot of pics of my car, and offered it to them for the firm price of 1,000 dollars. Luckily, they accepted my offer and sent a flatbed trailer to pick up the car.
The Jaguar being pulled from the side yard onto the trailer.
It arrived on a flatbed, and it also left on a flat bed.
I bought the car for 900.00, so I was happy, though I’d spent a few bucks on stuff over the time that I owned it. My biggest investment was my labor, but as all old car hobbyists know, our labor is always free!
Now I was free and unencumbered after my two other Jags were sold. It is said that Nature abhors a vacuum, and obviously so does my driveway!
Related CC reading:
In Motion Classic: 1954-56 Jaguar Mark VIIM – Prima Ballerina
-Interesting and fun to read story! Have always liked these big Jags….. Bringing an old car back to life is a true labor of love: might not pay off in dollars, but in self-esteem, pride and joy—- Good work!! // Jan in Sweden
What a beautiful car! It’s too bad you couldn’t get it back on the road, but I think you made the right financial decision here.
Gorgeous car and a cool story on it. Hopefully someone saved it as opposed to becoming parts fodder.
I love reading your series! Keep em coming!
A gorgeous yet menacing car. Nice that you got the opportunity to have it in your driveway without totally taking it apart and/or losing your shirt on expenses.
Your brake components adventures reminded me of my Triumph TR4. At least on the Triumph seals and fittings were available, but those Girling components were cast out of an Aluminium alloy that was very prone to corrosion, and I spent many hours chipping the white deposits off the master cylinders.
A car with true class! Unfortunately 60-70 year old Jag sedans cost a bloody fortune to restore: wool, leather, wood, hen’s teeth scarce and expensive parts, fragile ancillary mechanicals, predilection to rust. We found this out during brief ownership of a ’62 Jag Mk II 3.8 4 spd, a true barn find in the early ’90s. Waaay more expensive and difficult than the ’69 E-Type, a low mile original running car, that we had. No more Jags, of any kind, in our driveway! Lesson learned the hard way.
Once saw this model, parked on the edge of a garage in Ontario, Canada. This was back in the early 70s. Someone had made and then abandoned the task of filling in a massive rust hole on the front wing surrounding the left hand head lamp. They’d slapped a massive pudding of body filler on the area, with the notion of grinding it back, but obviously had thought better and walked away. My dream Jag would be a 420G. What a beast that is.
I share your optimistic view (a little love and attention will soon have this back on the road!). I also share your unwillingness or inability to pour your entire self into a difficult and expensive project. Hopefully it found a home as an intact car.
Marsh Creek Road was really out in the boonies back then and kind of still is. Since it runs between Byron and Clayton you must have gone to Clayton Valley High at the end of the road. I’ll be out there Sunday for a concert at Toyota Pavilion.
When I saw what you pulled out it became apparent that you are way way worse than me. Now enjoy the day and now down to the aircraft carrier.
So sorry you had to sell it to a breaker.
“In my mind, I could rescue these cars, return them to good running condition, and have a couple of unique cars to drive.”
Exactly what I think when seeing cheap but interesting cars.
I can relate to this Jaguar Mk VII in many ways. I fell for a similar car for much of the same reasons…. Same color, same torn vinyl seats (also had been recovered decades ago), same wood problems, even has a dent in the LH front wing! But I still love it and I WILL get to it, some day.
pic
pic made smaller, see if it fits now
I would see these occasionally in the Towson area in the late ’60s, looking worse for wear already. But I had a thing for them, and I can see why you did. The 4-speed ones were rare; I don’t remember ever seeing one.
Those old MK7s were quite common in NZ gawd knows why but they were everywhere theres a big Jag specialist wrecking yard in my home town so parts were easy to get and lots of parts are common to other British cars. twin leading shoe brakes for instance is a normal Lockheed arrangement found on Hillmans since 1948,
Seeing the X300 parked next to the Mark VII really highlights the shared legacy of these two cars: Big, graceful, and luxurious sedans ready to waft down the highway.
Given your level of wrenching proficiency, I don’t think it was absurd for you to take this on in the first place.
In a perfect world, when the original owner stopped driving it, he would have sold it to someone who would keep driving and maintaining it.
I would have more success if I had pulled that old T Bird or Cadillac out of the field. Even now, parts are still pretty easy to source for those cars. The basic mechanical systems are simple and familiar to me. If the T Bird had a/c, that would be a bit harder to deal with.
As a seasoned old car DIYer, I’d advise anybody that asked, to start out with a running car that has a readily available parts supply. But of course, I ignored my own experience and advice! With my ’70 Mustang, I had every part I needed available from my computer keyboard, or down the street at my local indie auto parts store.
While I was aware that most restorers have the hydraulic components re-sleeved and rebuilt, I didn’t realize the expense, and how few shops were available to provide this service. I was also reading conflicting reviews about these shops. It was never my intention to restore the old Jaguar, I was just planning on fixing it up.
As usual, I ran into my old familiar problem, the “Gumption trap” that caused me to run out of interest and steam; I just didn’t want THIS car, THAT much.
Oh well, this car just reinforced every lesson that I’d learned over the years. After this, I’d stick with good old American cars, well maybe a good old Japanese model, as long as it’s not that old!
Another good, well written article any gearhead can relate to .
When I was into British cars I too learned many new words & phrases, none can be used here .
As far as the brakes White Post seems to be very good and isn’t very expen$ve, a good thing as I had a popular but $pendy Morris Minor master cylinder that was pitted they sleeved it for about $125 IIRC .
I hope the Jag breakers didn’t in fact break it for spares, that looks like one of the better old Jags I’ve seen at the lower end of the market .
You did a stellar job on the dashboard wood, the surface rust and the rest of the blue paint to boot .
An old friend of mine has (? had ?) a MK II Jag-U-Are that was unrestored but ran better than new , trying to keep up with him on those Nor Cal. twisty farm to market roads was impossible for me .
Another thank you for sharing your good stories and ideas/opinions .
-Nate