So in the next couple days I'll be pulling the cage and shortly thereafter the transmission. I haven't had a good look at stuff yet because its all covered in gunk but I am assuming that the bushings are all original equipment and since it'll be out I should replace them. I have been looking around for a kit that will get me all the bushings I would need, but I can't seem to find one. I can find kits for all the front suspension stuff, but not the rear. Anyone have a link handy for such a kit? Also debating between a differential rebuild or just a fluid change. At the moment I have no reason to suspect any problems with the differential. Though pretty much everything down there has a pretty unpleasant coating of oil and grime so somethings been leaking and I'm not sure what yet. I'll know more after I get it out and clean, but any help I can get on these bushings would be greatly appreciated.

 

That's probably because there aren't that many bushings in the rear end. There are the radius arm ones, big and small, and the cage mounting ones, but that's about it. The wishbones have bearings, eight per arm. I definitely saw a bearing set kit at SNG last summer, but I don't see it now. They do have the individual bearings though. If you're not already planning on it, replace the brake disks and calipers while you've got the cage out. No point in not doing it while you're in there.

My personal opinion is that the wishbones aren't a good application for bearings. Bearings like to spin, but here they're only moving through a small range while supporting a lot of weight. They get kinda hammered. I kept the inner ring and replaced the bearings themselves with bronze bushings. I made my own, but there are kits available for that.

 

Thank you for that information. I had not planned on replacing the brake outright, but I do plan on cleaning them up to see what condition they're in. I have contemplated rebuilding the calipers rather than replacing them in the future since they seem to be difficult to come by here. I replaced one recently that was locked up on the front and every parts store but one either couldnt get them at all or it was going to take a week. napa to the rescue on that one but rebuilding seems to be significantly cheaper than replacing.

 

Dude, Rock Auto remans all the way. They're like $50 with a $50 core charge. Or 45/55, something like that. They're so worth it from an ease of use point. New calipers, new disks, new pads, replace the rubber hose that goes from the car to the cage as well.

 

lol I never think to look at rock auto whenever I am shopping for stuff. Thats good to know

 

Be careful ordering the cage mounts. They are different for convertibles than for coupes.

 

Good to know

 

Rear radius arm bushings, rear cage mounts, and all other rubber parts in the suspension front and back, are far better replaced with genuine Metalastik rubber parts. These are the genuine factory items and they outlast all others by a factor of about 10. They are becoming very hard t find as in mist cases jaguar no longer supply them.
If you take look at these threads (same suspension), you will see that David Manners a UK Jaguar specialist, can still supply some or most of them. It is worth the effort to get them if you can, particularly lower front wishbone bushes, which are an absolute pain to change.
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...-c8673-242611/

and

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...r-late-241627/

 

Thank you for those links and the information, I will have a look and see if getting those parts is a viable option for me. Mostly it will be a matter of time that is the biggest factor for me. The farm where I live and work only has one shop with a concrete floor and my uncle can be a bit of a drama queen about how long I use it. I could do this work in my shop, but the gravel floor would make for moving jacks around and stuff difficult so I'm trying to avoid that lol

 

Go gravel and use a nice plank of plywood for the jack and then something for stands. I get it, I do my stuff on the street and I always have a plank to deal with uneven surfaces. Gotta do what ya gotta!

It might be me, a personality flaw of mine - or something - but when I have to deal with a person who is willing to give me grief - just because they can - I can get very,,,, resentful, lol. More, it's not good to rush thru these things. More again, it supposed to be a pleasure/hobby of mine and I don't wanna be dealing with,,,, wait, am I ranting, lol?

 

Lol I can understand that reaction, I mostly just tone him out. I'm also doing a transmission rebuild in this shop which is why I really wanted this shop for the project. Cleaner and easier to work. Also easier to find the little fiddly parts when I inevitably drop them.

 

Just wanted to throw a quick thank you out to everyone that helped, I have the cage out now and disassembled, all the bouncy, spinny, stoppy, parts have been ordered. Cleaning stuff up now in the blasting cabinet while I wait on parts to arrive. For the bushings I did end up going with genuine parts instead of aftermarket, seems the general consensus everywhere I looked is that genuine bushings are just better all around and I'd like to only have to take this stuff apart once lol. The back brakes were... interesting. Rotors with chunks missing, park brake pads missing, less and less surprised the brakes weren't working right. Replacing all the soft lines front and back - they werent expensive and its been recommended many times so seemed like a prudent thing while I had everything apart. Not replacing the struts unless someone has a compelling reason - these seem fine, far as i can tell no leaks. Not sure if they are original to the car - i think the springs were purple. I'd have to go look again to be sure. Getting this whole assembly out was not nearly as difficult as I had imagined it would be. A little penetrating oil and things came apart easily with just a 3/8 drive ryobi battery powered impact. The only bolts that gave me any trouble at all were the ones that connect the drive shaft to the differential. For those I had to get the air impact out. I haven't ordered new universal joints yet, I was going to add them to one of my other orders but I haven't taken one out yet and it looked like there were a few different ones used so i didnt want to get the wrong one. I've seen some debate on greaseable vs non greaseable - the ones on it now are greaseable and since there are like a thousand grease points on this thing lol I will probably stick with greaseable ones since I'll be down there at regular intervals anyway. Can anyone tell for certain what differential is in this? I've seen posts elsewhere that say its a dana44 but I dont see any stamping on the housing anywhere to indicate that. I've read it should have a gear ratio of 2.88 but i have a stamped tag that says 2.87 - dont know if that means anything lol. Theres markings in the housing with NC inside a diamond shape and 441C next to it if that means anything. I've never torn down a differential before and I dont feel any slop in these gears just turning things by hand so I dont plan to rebuild it. Maybe a fluid change. If I can find out for certain which differential it is and can get a gasket for it I might pop the cover off just to have a look inside.

 

Circa 1985-87 Jaguar used two different differentials, Salisbury and Dana.

The Salisbury-manufactured units will say 'Salisbury" somewhere.... if you scrape away the gunk. I can't remember where exactly. This diff has Dana 44 DNA and might be called a cousin. Some Dana 44 parts will fit. The easiest recognizable feature is a drain plug on the bottom.

Also used was a Dana-manufactured differential, most easily recognized by lack of a drain plug. It has a different output flange arrangement as well but the details escape me at the moment.

The 2.87 versus 2.88 ratio is a mystery to me

Others will chime in. I'm only two sips into my first cuppa coffee

Cheers
DD

 

Took a few shots of all the markings I could find that are readable. There is another stamped tag but at the moment I cant read it and there are some numbers at the bottom right but I couldnt get them to come up clearing in a photo.






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That is a Dana diff. The ratio tag is just a matter of rounding the actual tooth count 43:15.
A DANA 44 gasket will fit it. Change the oil for sure. Unless the rear axle starts giving trouble (whining on corners, odd noises, steering shimmy caused by a grabbing LSD) leave it alone apart from a greasing.
If you decide you do want to renew the UJs, post again, but I would not recommend it unless you have specific symptoms of it failing. It is very hard work!
If you really want to know all about the matter, read this and the other threads refernced in the first post!
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...tified-229645/

 

Because of the brake issues and the whole no reverse thing I really haven't driven it enough at much of any speed to confidently say that its got no issues, but from what rudimentary testing I can do on the bench and what little driving i've been able to do it doesnt seem like either the ujoints or the differential have any issues and aside from an oil change and some grease I will probably just save my money for other things unless a problem presents itself.