I was going to do this last winter as handling had become a little hinky, but I got distracted working on Climate Control until it was Driving Season, and then Covid happened, and then my work started up.

As soon as my work was done for the season I jacked Nix up and checked out just how big a job I had. Below are some pictures of the Pathetic condition of the bushings. It's no wonder handling had tanked.





This one is my personal favorite. Daylight showing through the rubber. No wonder handling was off.

It wasn't as straightforward as the Blue Book leads one to believe (like that's never happened). One of the arms simply popped off with the pry bar like it was supposed to, but the other was welded to the body with Rust! So I sprayed liberally with Penetrant and waited a couple days. They've gone back together with Anti-seize.

The rear bolt is very interesting. Do Not lose the locking washer!


One must dismount the front shock absorber, drive the mounting bolt back till it's flush and out of the way, move the shock toward the center of the car, and then, after this bolt is very loose, and the front of the arm is also loose, the arm is wiggled and jiggled so this bolt will come free past the shock mount (what an afterthought this arrangement is!!) and the arm can finally fall out on the floor and be removed from the car. Reassembly is also a lot of fun.

At first I only wanted OEM rubber bushings as I thought if they lasted 40 years that would be OK, but husband, whose job is Research, found a post in the Jag Lovers archives stating that EU has mandated that all rubber parts have accelerated bio-degradability. The poster explained the first bushings lasted 40 years, the replacements lasted 3 years. He intends replacing with Poly bushings. So I decided I would also go with Poly bushings from SNG Barratt, and they are a thing of Beauty!

I thought about pressing the bushings here until husband called the undisputed masters of foreign car repair in town, Guido's Precision Auto, who worked on Jags from all over the state back in the day, and "Yes, we still have the tools to change the bushings and you can bring in arms and bushings today, we'll have them ready for you tomorrow," which was yesterday.


Guido's gave me back the old bushings. The core of that holey rear bushing is Very Interesting!


So, I put one on yesterday, and the other one on today.




It's raining for the next 10 days or I'd take her for a spin to check out the improvement.

EDIT: Torque Specs;
Arm to Wishbone, small bush 70 foot pounds (Good luck getting a normal torque wrench on that bolt. I merely guessed)
Arm to body mount, Large bush, 45 foot pounds
Bracket to body, 35 foot pounds
/EDIT

(';')

 

Next job on the list for me. When I did the IRS 6 years ago they were ok so I put them back as they were.

 

Great to see one of your very detailed write-ups in the Forum; it's been a while. Very interested in seeing if you feel the poly bushings ride the same as the rubber ones (not handling but ride).

Jeff

 

Thanks LnrB. Especially for the pics. Another set of tips and tricks to file away. Please let us know the level of improvement when the rains stop. Ian

 

Thanks, Guys,
I expect the Ride Quality will be Vastly different, as it had got a bit Squishy, if you get my drift.
I've added torque requirements for all bolts.

Yes, it has been a while since I wrote up one of these, thank you for noticing, but that's because the car has been virtually Finished except for this, although I look in every day. So I've had nothing to contribute except Likes.

Well, there is the little problem that I blew out Central Locking while fooling with Climate Control last winter, but the car still drives safely without it, and I haven't got in the mood to tear into the dash.
(';')

 

LrnB it is good you sought out "Guido" and had them installed with the correct tools (JD21). Too many of these are installed with makeshift tools which require the rubber itself being pushed on to seat. That reduces the life of the bushing by decades. The correct tools push only on the metal cups. They will serve you well!

 

HA!! I told you guys I might just do this.
I have just got off the phone with Jack Weston of the David Manners Group in UK!
He is sending me a set of Genuine Metastatic Radius Arm bushings!
They'll be here early next week. Perfect timing as I'll have a spare pair of Radius Arms in hand by then.

THEN, Nix's suspension will be well and truly Finished!
HA!
I can hardly Wait!

 

Maybe another Fast and Furious drifting film will be on YouTube soon!

 

Naa, I've never been a fan of Drifting. I always thought it was a complete waste of tires in an effort to make noise and smoke.

I prefer to get my Cornering G's by taking curves near the upper limits of whatever I'm driving.

"FASTER! FASTER! The Lights Are Turning RED!!"
(';')

 

Hey, Fellas, Lookie here at this!!


This time, rather than take the arms off the car, I got a pretty good pair from David Bodger, and then had Guido's press bushings before I ever even jacked it up. At this moment she's up and ready for these to be installed!

Now if I can just get a couple hours to myself to do it...........
(';')

 

LnR
Very sensible change! Please excuse me if you already know this, but do note that you must NOT tighten the rear small bushing bolt until the car has its weight on its wheels, or the bush will be ruined very quickly indeed. Lowering the rear wheels onto some blocks of wood will give you enough clearance, just!

 

Yes, Greg, thank you, I already knew to tighten the bolts ONLY AFTER load is on the arms, but it's always good to throw it out there anyway (wisdom in a multitude of counselors), because I might NOT have known!

Not only that, someone else reading this later might not know until they read your advice.
(';')

 

It's taken a week to find the time, but it's DONE!
As I was clearing up, it occurred to me that some might find it useful to know a couple tricks I learned this time.
For example, the Blue Book (OEM Repair Manual) says to pry the arms from the body with a tool like this:

This is all well and good IF you have the car on a lift, or have space under to get good leverage on the bar.
We had neither. So after quite a lot of frustration and liberal quantities of penitrant, and the Large bush still refused to part ways with the car, we went to the Tool Store and got a Big Honkin' 30 inch pry bar with the proper tip, Perfect for this job.


The tip not only has just about the perfect curve,


but it's square across the end and broad enough to set a couple washers on to extend the fulcrum affect so the bar isn't hitting the rocker panel seam while you're reefing on it.

This combination made the removal job a breeze.

New arms went up just like they did last time.
Rear hubs were jacked up so the arms were level before any torquing.

Torque specs listed above.
Thank you for your kind attention.
(';')

 

I can't imagine how these cars were assembled at the factory to get them out the door every how many minutes?

 

Days, not minutes.

Looking at how they were engineered and assembled I've oft wondered how Jaguar even stayed in black ink. Lots of labor intensive stuff.

Cheers
DD

 

the assemblers must have been highly trained and practiced, the wiring harnesses alone must have been a nightmare to install, not to mention testing all the systems. The Series 3 in particular, with the added fuel injection harnesses.

 

1. Aye at times when I worked on mine, i imagined the guys on the assembly line. particularly all the little fasteners.

2. It;s been a while since I got on road that was fun to drive. Getting the benefit of the apex method and stay in my lane was fun. Local. Crow canyon and Cull Canyon...

 

well Elinor that was a smart move, getting two arms from David and rebushing them in advance.

 

Thanks for looking, Fellas,
Now I have NO excuse to not DRIVE THE WHEELS OFF!!
All suspension is repaired, renewed, and readjusted, should be fine for another 40 years (I wonder if I'll be driving by then... ).
She has new tires rated at 130+mph, should take my cornering without concern; although I would have preferred Michelins, but they're not made in my favorite size.

I'll see ya later. I have some Tires to burn before gas gets completely unaffordable....
(';')

 

Thanks for the pry-bar tip, mine was up on jack stands and had plenty of room for a right angle bar. Like you, I hope I don't have to rebuild anything under there for 40 years, although, I probably won't be driving as much in 40 years either.

You mention that your new tires are rated for 130mph, which should be an "H" rating. Could you tell me the brand/size you found, my preliminary searches turn up "T" ratings most of the time. I would like something a little faster rated myself.

Dave