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Thread: Coulda been worse

  1. #21
    Join Date
    Jan 2003
    Location
    Castries, , Saint Lucia.
    Posts
    103
    BROKEN BOLTS ARE OUT!!
    Thanks to you,Keith! The Dremel tool and screwdriver worked like a charm on two of them. The third had broken too far down into the hole so I had to drill and extract. Took some persuasion - I was afraid I was going to break the extractor - but it finally gave. Great tip! Saved me a lot of time. The threads all look to be in good shape but I will follow advice and freshen them up with a tap.

    Tropical Buzz

  2. #22
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Gadsden, Al, USA.
    Posts
    252

    Buzz,
    Does your rear end have the plate on the bottom that ties the right & left lower arms together? If not now would be the time to add it.

  3. #23
    Join Date
    Jan 2003
    Location
    Castries, , Saint Lucia.
    Posts
    103
    That's definitely part of the plan, Poorboy! Thanks again for the instructions for dropping the suspension. I was alot more confident when I crawled under there and started working knowing for sure I was doing it right.

    Tropical Buzz

  4. #24
    Join Date
    Jan 2003
    Location
    Rocky River, ohio, USA.
    Posts
    388
    Buzz,

    I posted this over in the Club Cobra Forum......




    Buzz,

    Now I see what you're talking about... I had the same bolt break late last year. (only one). Jaguar took care of the repairs. They had to drop the rear-end to allow the pivot rod to slide all the way out. It snapped right at the taper. I can't remember but I'm hoping he replaced all the tapered bolts while he had it down.
    He replaced the safety wires. I ordered the fabricated plate from Unique/Weavers to tie the lower control shaft brackets together in case I suffered another break... I found the broken bolt while inspecting and cleaning underneath the car. I had it inspected on the lift in my garage to make sure it would make the slow drive to the repair shop.
    Buzz,

    go to the Unique Forum and do a search on the differential bracket that the Weavers had made up to help with this problem...


    __________________
    Al
    "I run this house, I'm king of this castle, and what I say goes"
    Oh Christ! She's standing right behind me isn't she???


    "People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf"

    Eric Arthur Blair


    AL
    2899386

  5. #25
    Join Date
    Jan 2003
    Location
    Rocky River, ohio, USA.
    Posts
    388
    quote:Originally posted by K.Wilson

    Buzz,
    It looks to me like who ever installed the rear end used the original Jag bolts that have a 60 degree shoulder that matches up to the 60 degree countersink on the Jag subframe. If your Unique frame was not modified with the same countersink it is no wonder they came loose and broke. The tapered shoulder on the bolt was mateing with the sharp edge of the hole so there was almost no mateing surface area between the bolt and the frame hole. Can you see how damaged the holes in the frame are? Do they look like you can clean them up with a die grinder and get a good flat surface for the bolt head?

    If it were mine I would try to remove the broken bolts by a low tech method first. I would try to grind a screw driver slot in the top of the bolt with a die grinder and a cut-off wheel or a Dremmel tool with a cut-off wheel, then take a large screw driver and try to back it out. If that did not work you will most likley need a carbide drill bit to drill the bolt for an EZOUT extractor. I think those bolts will be so hard that a regular drill bit will not cut them.
    Don't get too concerned if you cut into the differential case some in the process of cutting a slot for a screw driver, there is plenty of material there for surface contact and you will have to run a tap down the hole to clean-up the threads any way. You may want to start soaking the bolts with penetrating oil now to help in the process. Actually, the threads do not appear to be damaged in the photo. This could be an inexpensive fix.
    Hope this helps, if you need to discuss this by phone PM me and we can set up a time.

    Keith
    Keith,

    Those should have been the correct bolts. It's all Jag components in that area...

    AL
    2899386

  6. #26
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    Huntsville, Al, USA.
    Posts
    104
    You are correct, they are the right bolts if you are mateing it to a Jag subframe. However, I believe Buzz is mounting it in his Unique; and if his is like mine it does not have countersunk holes in the frame for this type of bolt.
    If you take a look at the photo of the bolt you can see that it has had point contact on the 60 degree shoulder where it has been in contact with the top of the hole in the frame.
    I believe we have established that these are the wrong bolts for this application.
    Anyone else want to weigh in?


    Keith

  7. #27
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Gadsden, Al, USA.
    Posts
    252
    Al, The bolt that broke on your car was one of the four that holds the lower arm brackets to the center section. That is also why the plate is added, to take some of the strain off those bolts.

  8. #28
    Join Date
    Jan 2003
    Location
    Rocky River, ohio, USA.
    Posts
    388
    You guys are correct on this... I'm turned around a little.
    [:I]

    AL
    2899386

  9. #29
    Join Date
    Jan 2003
    Location
    Castries, , Saint Lucia.
    Posts
    103
    I was happy to establish that the rearend is indeed a 3.54:1 posi (opposite wheel rotates in the same direction when the other one is turned and the driveshaft yoke spins a hair over 3 1/2 times for each rotation of the wheel. Starting tomorrow, I want to clean, degrease and remove all paint so I can inspect everything before painting and reinstallation. To do this properly will require some disassembly. I want to remove the brakes and the halfshafts at the very least. Any tips? Any special procedure for disassembling a u-joint? Will I need any special tools? What will be the best paint for refinishing?

    Tropical Buzz

  10. #30
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    Rogers, AR, USA
    Posts
    577
    Buzz,
    Having been through this myself recently, let me offer a couple thoughts...

    Taking the half-shaft assembly out is pretty easy, but be prepared to replace the seals if you go into the differential. You shouldn't have to, but depending on their condition, removing the half shafts may cause them to fail if they are brittle.

    Access to the mounting bolts for the brakes and half shaft is the worst part. First remove the brake caliper by taking out two bolts, 3"-4" apart that install from the inboard side of the caliper. You'll need a thin wrench, plenty of patience, and some mechanix gloves to save your knuckles. The half shafts come out next after you snip the safety wire off of 5 bolts. The bolt heads are access through a hole in the brake rotor itself, and you may need to grind down the shim behind the rotor to gain access to the bolt heads. Don't worry about griding this shim, it does not impact the integrity of it.

    Once all of this is loose, the half shaft should come out cleanly, but pay close attention to the seals and shims which may exist between the half shaft mounting plate and the housing.

    As for the u-joints, don't even try this without a bearing press. I know that - in theory - they can be taken out with a punch and mallet, it is a b----. I took one out myself in 90 minutes and brought the rest to the driveshaft shop where they came out in 5 total. If you take the u-joints out, they will need to be replaced. They go about $25 apiece for spicer units.

    Check the below link for more details than I could ever provide on the Jag rear end. Good luck!

    http://www.jag-lovers.org/xj-s/book/Jaguar.html

    Unique 9122 - 289 FIA Cobra - The Legendary "Spence" Car

  11. #31
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Gadsden, Al, USA.
    Posts
    252

    Buzz,
    Once you take the axles & calipers off you can just slide the rotors and shims off. That way you don't have grind the shims behind the rotors. If you will take the lower arms off befor you take the calipers off the bolts in the calipers are easier to get too.

  12. #32
    Join Date
    Jan 2003
    Location
    Castries, , Saint Lucia.
    Posts
    103
    Thanks much guys! Hopefully I'll be getting at it tomorrow. I'll let you know how it progresses.

    Tropical Buzz

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