While my 1959 Mark 1 is at the mechanic's undergoing the installation of the new servo unit ( he steps to his own drummer, so there is little predicting when he will actually get to this job) I am researching the replacement of the front dampers / shock absorbers for this vehicle. I can source the new shocks from SNG. I am reading the workshop manual about how to remove the existing shocks and find on page J.12 of said manual reference to a wooden block that can be "fashioned" and then positioned as shown in figures 7 & 8 on that page of the manual . the Haynes manual shows the same thing. This block, once in place, somehow facilitates the removal of the shock. My question is how exactly does this block help ? do you simply put said block in place as illustrated in the manual and then jack up that side of the car, remove the road wheel and replace the old shock with a new one ?. Could this be done using the 4-post lift at my mechanics ? Has anyone used this block ? Are there any secrets / inside info I need to be aware of ? AS ALWAYS - THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP FROM THE FORUM MEMBERS !
Schmitty

 

Don't get excited about the "wooden block" method. That is old school mechanics. Remember we are dealing with techniques and manuals that were written over 60years ago!
All that is trying to achieve is to slightly compress the suspension spring so the shock absorber is not under tension.
The manual alternately suggests putting a block under the brake drum and lowering the cars weight on to that drum to achieve the same spring compression.

The modern way is jack the front of the car and stabilise it with jack stands. Then remove the front wheel and put a jack under the brake drum.
Jack the brake drum up a little bit to take the spring pressure off the shock absorber then unbolt and remove the shock absorber as per the manual.

Any reasonably competent mechanic can do this as the Jaguar shock absorber system is much the same as any other car
Cheers

 

Thanks Bill ! so my car has the disc brakes. where does one put the jack to take a little spring pressure off the shock absorber ?
Schmitty

 

Just under the disc. Those early type discs are fairly robust and it's only a small amount of pressure