Lock and load

Keeping your classics running well through the winter months can be a challenge, especially if the weather is filthy, which usually means wet and salty roads. I always try and start the cars on a regular basis and get them up to temperature, but it’s even better if you have a bright, dry(ish) day, and you can get out on the road.

It was real treat this month to get both the NSU and the Landcrab out on the road and enjoy a bit of winter sunshine. I know the darker months are a good excuse for locking yourself away in the garage and getting stuck into those bigger jobs, but nothing beats driving your cars. And you know you won’t be facing a whole load of inactivityrelated problems come the spring.

While shifting the cars around, I was reminded of a niggling issue with the driver’s door on the Jag. Owner Will was convinced that the door had somehow dropped out of alignment but there was no sign of any play in the hinges, or anywhere else. When trying to open the door from the outside, something was catching. It was only when I was getting out after moving the Jag I realised there was no problem when using the internal door release. The problem had to be with the external door handle and its associated mechanism.

Stripping the door down is straightforward, even if it is better appointed than most cars of the period. The door pocket/ armrest is fixed by two crosshead screws hidden underneath and then it simply lifts up and off. The wood trim

at the top is held by four screws, nd when removed reveals a single screw which hold the top, black section of the door card in place. The window winder is held by a single crosshead and the main part of the door card then simply unpops – like every other British car of the period, it’s secured by those awful mushroom shaped plastic trim clips.

Adjusting the door latch took some trial and error. The problem was that the rod connecting the door button to the latch was too long, and there was no clear reason why. The sticking door had got progressively worse, but there was no sign of wear in the mechanism. The pad on the back of the button may have worn, shortening its throw, so that has been greased to prevent any potential further recession.

The connecting rod was simply unclipped at the bottom and then wound up through the threaded pivot at the top to shorten it. A couple of adjustments were necessary to get the right length and the door now opens easily.

It’s always a relief when trim can be replaced exactly as it came off. It’s worth taking time to change gloves and clean everything as you go along. Trim is easily damaged and hard to replace. All the clips on the back of the door trim were checked and then carefully lined up before tapping gently back into place. And the screws – both visible and hidden – were wound in carefully. It’s very easy to strip the threads, or worse, scratch surrounding finishes, particularly chrome or varnished wood.

So that’s yet another job finished that wasn’t even on the list. I’m planning on getting plenty of driving done in the cars next year. 2016 was particularly poor on that front so I’m hoping to use any dry days over the next couple of months to assess the cars and try to pre-empt any issues that might stop that happening.

A good excuse for plenty of test drives…

Enjoying dry roads and the winter sunshine, out in the NSU.

…but it needed to be raised to the vertical to release the latch, as here when operated by the internal door release.

With the door handle button pushed in fully, the latch could only be raised to around 60 degrees from the vertical…

As you’d expect in a Jaguar, there’s no skimping with the door upholstery which consists of four main parts.

With the armrest, top section (black) and main door card removed, the door lock linkages are exposed.

The door latch is operated by this rocker - the door handle button pushes against it, which in turn pulls up the connecting rod and opens the latch.

The wood trim is held in place by four screws.

Left: The problem was the connecting rod was poorly adjusted and too long. It was unclipped, wound up through the threaded pivot and clipped back in. Note threads showing at the top. Right: It may be a Jaguar, but it stills uses these awful plastic...