An overheating conundrum
TD owner, Gerry Wood, has been trying for the last eighteen months to get to the bottom of his XPAG overheating problem. He just about made it there and back (from Bath and return) to the TTT 2 weekend in Mid-Wales, but it involved several stops, particularly after climbing hills.
All the usual diagnostics were tried (compression test, timing, blocked radiator, etc.,), but to no avail. Then one day…… Gerry takes up the story……..
“Having removed the water pump for the 2nd time, and nearly putting it back because I couldn’t see anything wrong, I looked down the pump inlet pipe and right at the elbow where it bends to the impeller, I found debris which almost completely blocked the water flow to the pump. I think the debris probably came from the bottom of the radiator.
Attached is a photo of the offending blockage (the coin is a 5p piece). After a 20 mile test run in hot sunshine, up two steep climbs, the water temperature never exceeded 86 degrees C.”
Replacement headlamp bulb for TC
I had an enquiry (one of several I get every week!) about where to source an EL602 bulb. I referred the enquirer to NTG Motor Services and he reported back that he managed to purchase a suitable equivalent from NTG.
TD two bow and three bow hoods
Another enquiry concerned the changeover date for two bow and three bow hoods for the TD.
The answer is TD20374 for LHD cars and TD20696 for RHD cars when the original frame was replaced by the 3-bow design with the third bow fitted to give slightly more cockpit headroom. The sidescreen frames were altered to suit.
Clocks4Classics
Lionel Uden reports excellent service from this company as follows:
“I have just had the clock of my TD returned, and it now works! Mark Willows of Clocks4classics repaired it. His website, https://www.clocks4classics.com/ has excellent videos showing what he does. He will supply the kit or you can send it to him and he will fit it. My clock now ticks away happily, keeping good time and what’s more it is the original!”
Ed’s note: Lionel is one of many satisfied customers of this company. Peter Cole wrote a useful article in Issue 45 about the services offered by the company.
‘Raiding Party’ from Sweden
I’ve been going through some of the many e-mails I’ve received from Gabriel Öhman over the years. Gabriel and his friend, Björn Erik Lindh used to regularly come over to England to buy spares. This photo, taken in 1975 shows “a pile of J2s”, as Gabriel described the haul, purchased from a chap in Sussex.
The 3.8 S-type Jag (remember those?) belonged to Gabriel and was a useful tow-car. Having loaded up, they went on their way, but were stopped by police as they did not have the same registration number on the trailer as the one on the car (which apparently is illegal in Sweden as the numbers must not be the same). When the traffic policeman realised that our two spares hunters were from Sweden he said “Why can’t you use a Volvo as other Swedes do and I wouldn’t have stopped you – I thought you were English!”
