The workshop team at Bridge Classic Cars have been flat out this week working on various cars in our Suffolk HQ, one of those being the 1962 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Coupe which is being cared for under the watchful and skillful hands of our technician Jon.
Jon has continued with his project of repairing the steering of the classic Jaguar. After he rebuilt the column on the bench, Jon secured the steering rack back onto the frame of the car and then fitted up the lower universal joint for the column along with fitting a new pinch bolt. When fitting the indicator cancel bracket, Jon had to modify it slightly to get it to sit higher up on the column to increase usability but also to help remove any play from the shaft once fitted into the car. The column was then aligned with the lower shaft and slipped into place, with the opening for the pinch bolt drilled in situ to allow for the best engagement. Once all together, Jon could then test the steering column and was happy to report that all play had been worked out of the system. He could then fit up all the various trims, wiring and brackets before moving on.
The next detail was to get the radiator and fans back into the car and connected up before getting the air filters fitted back on the car in preparation for the cars first drive under its own power for many years. Before that, Jon made sure to knock down and tighten each wheel in series, added more fuel to the brand new tank before checking the timing and firing order were all corrected and adjusting before turning the key.
At this point, Jon was ready to pull the classic sports car outside to let it run up to temperature for the first time and check each system individually for function and engagement such as the cooling system, but to also allow the ceramic coatings on several parts cure following the manufacturers process.
After repeating the run up and cool down procedure several times, Jon checked and topped off all fluids in the car and checked for any visible leaks and secured all the dash wiring before putting the car away.
