Tricky tweaks
It’s eight years since my 420 last featured in Our Cars, apart from a photo of it in 2015 with the E-type I had collected from the docks in tow. This reflects how dependable the car has been since a budget rebuild in the late Nineties. It’s certainly not in everyday or even every-month use, but whenever I need it – usually whenever I need a powerful towcar to haul something across the country – it’s ready and willing. Over the last year, most of its trips have been with trailer in tow.
In 2019 I was asked to display a couple of cars for a classic car theme at a Cambridge ball. The 420 cheerfully hauled the TR2 all the way from Somerset – but embarrassed me by springing a coolant leak in the hallowed courtyard where cars are not normally allowed! One of those poorly-reinforced ‘Kevlar’ hoses that were popular in the Nineties had failed – OK, it was more than 20 years old
– but a hasty repair with self-amalgamating tape saved the day.
Worse though, on the way home the brake master cylinder started failing – a pump usually did the trick but there was a scary moment when a car ahead braked hard to make an illegal right turn. Fortunately we avoided contact, but the master cylinder got a set of new seals as soon as we made it home; new coolant hoses went on too, as did new underwear.
On a run without the trailer, five miles from home the clutch slave cylinder abruptly deposited all its fluid on the ground. With a town to pass through, I called the AA whose patrol worked doggedly to effect a repair, sadly without success; I then drove home by starting in gear, with him following just in case. I had to restart several times at traffic lights, but fortunately none were uphill!
And now? The trusty 420 is resting again. It’s time to drop the rear axle and rebuild the rear brakes; I also plan to take the opportunity to fit a higher-ratio differential. I’m very lucky to have a manual/overdrive 420 – most were autos – but Jaguar fitted them with an excessively low 3.77:1 ratio. Useful for towing, I know, but the engine has so much torque that it can easily pull a higher first gear and even with overdrive, it craves a higher ratio for motorway cruising.
A few years ago, I bought a rear axle from an automatic 420 – it turned out to be an early one with the 3.31:1 diff rather than the 3.54 fitted later, so I hope it won’t be a step too far, but the plan is to rebuild that axle and brakes, and swap it in. Except first, I need to bring that axle down from Bucks…
‘Over the last year, most of its trips have been with trailer in tow’