Jensen Interceptor restoration
Discussion
Hooli said:
Do they just hang on the holes the carb would bolt too? I'd be worried if they'd take the weight.
They do just bolt on using the carb mounting points on the inlet manifold and I have seen photos of people lifting engine and box using them so although it doesn't look too good it must be okay.The ancillaries are all refitted, I had to buy a new alternator as with my puller and a breaker bar I couldn't get the pulley off the taper shaft and it looked pretty original so I thought after 40 years it had earned a rest.
A new coil, leads and rotor arm were fitted to ensure a good spark, I reused the original cast manifolds because I am not building a performance car and because s/s headers and new downpipes would have set me back another grand. The original exhaust looked like scrap metal but on investigation under the crud and underseal was a pair of s/s downpipes and a pair of nice s/s silencers after hours of cleaning and polishing. 2 new s/s pipes to replace those from the silences to the tailpipes which were steel and corroded and new silencer cages were all that were required. Just to get it running I reused the old tatty tailpipes which will be addressed later.
The last of the wiring and hoses were "thrown in" so that I could test run the engine. Being an anorak instead of just turning the key I proceeded to check everything was ok i.e starter sol pulls in and inhibitor switches work, power to the ignition circuit was my next test and I found no ignition feed, I had replaced the engine bay wiring loom section which connects via multi-pin plugs behind the servo and it appeared the wiring was different between the old and new looms so the new loom was untaped the extra wiring added and all was well.
The Holley carb was refitted just as it had been removed as although it was a mess and ran rough it still worked and it was 1 thing less for me to worry about when trying to start it for the first time.
So with the starter motor connected I turned it over with no fuel or spark to get some oil moving around and fill the remote oil filter before rechecking the oil level, then I added some fuel and cranked it over to check the spark whilst the mechanical fuel pump filled the lines and carb and amazingly it fired almost straight away
Unfortunately the Holley had given up and was leaking fuel from the rear fuel bowl so the engine was stopped whilst I looked at this.
I had been previously told that the particular carb fitted to my car was pants and not worth rebuilding so after a few calls decided on an Edelbrock 1406 replacement which meant a lovely shiney object appeared in the post the next day. I don't know why I should get more excited playing with a new carb than any other part but I did so the carb was fitted ready for another test run.
Heres a clip of it firing up from cold
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yJIYCEX9Yk
A new coil, leads and rotor arm were fitted to ensure a good spark, I reused the original cast manifolds because I am not building a performance car and because s/s headers and new downpipes would have set me back another grand. The original exhaust looked like scrap metal but on investigation under the crud and underseal was a pair of s/s downpipes and a pair of nice s/s silencers after hours of cleaning and polishing. 2 new s/s pipes to replace those from the silences to the tailpipes which were steel and corroded and new silencer cages were all that were required. Just to get it running I reused the old tatty tailpipes which will be addressed later.
The last of the wiring and hoses were "thrown in" so that I could test run the engine. Being an anorak instead of just turning the key I proceeded to check everything was ok i.e starter sol pulls in and inhibitor switches work, power to the ignition circuit was my next test and I found no ignition feed, I had replaced the engine bay wiring loom section which connects via multi-pin plugs behind the servo and it appeared the wiring was different between the old and new looms so the new loom was untaped the extra wiring added and all was well.
The Holley carb was refitted just as it had been removed as although it was a mess and ran rough it still worked and it was 1 thing less for me to worry about when trying to start it for the first time.
So with the starter motor connected I turned it over with no fuel or spark to get some oil moving around and fill the remote oil filter before rechecking the oil level, then I added some fuel and cranked it over to check the spark whilst the mechanical fuel pump filled the lines and carb and amazingly it fired almost straight away
Unfortunately the Holley had given up and was leaking fuel from the rear fuel bowl so the engine was stopped whilst I looked at this.
I had been previously told that the particular carb fitted to my car was pants and not worth rebuilding so after a few calls decided on an Edelbrock 1406 replacement which meant a lovely shiney object appeared in the post the next day. I don't know why I should get more excited playing with a new carb than any other part but I did so the carb was fitted ready for another test run.
Heres a clip of it firing up from cold
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yJIYCEX9Yk
Cheers
I was glad to hear it fire up and run smoothly as it was the biggest thing that could stop me getting it out for the summer. Don't worry about anything that doesn't look right the ac is the last thing on my list so that red pulley will be gone, all pipes and wires will be made as neat as possible at a later date but I just needed to hear it run first.
It might sound a bit louder when I fit my new tailpipes as we will make them without baffles to see what it sounds like then fit baffles if we need to, apparently the MK1 and 11s didn't have baffles but the MK111s did and my car has a few MK11 features as it was built near the changeover so who's to say which tailpipes it had on when it left the factory.
I was glad to hear it fire up and run smoothly as it was the biggest thing that could stop me getting it out for the summer. Don't worry about anything that doesn't look right the ac is the last thing on my list so that red pulley will be gone, all pipes and wires will be made as neat as possible at a later date but I just needed to hear it run first.
It might sound a bit louder when I fit my new tailpipes as we will make them without baffles to see what it sounds like then fit baffles if we need to, apparently the MK1 and 11s didn't have baffles but the MK111s did and my car has a few MK11 features as it was built near the changeover so who's to say which tailpipes it had on when it left the factory.
Well this will bring you right up to date the engine was fired up on the 4th of Jan and then a few days later on the 8th when the new carb arrived.
Since then I have been finishing off the brakes rebuilding the 2 rear callipers and handbrake assemblies myself and completing the pipework, lots of other small jobs have been done but last weekend was very pleasurable starting to refit the interior.
To me the sumptuous interior is just as much why I decided to restore an Interceptor as the external appearance.
Lots more to do but heres a taste of how it will look.
Since then I have been finishing off the brakes rebuilding the 2 rear callipers and handbrake assemblies myself and completing the pipework, lots of other small jobs have been done but last weekend was very pleasurable starting to refit the interior.
To me the sumptuous interior is just as much why I decided to restore an Interceptor as the external appearance.
Lots more to do but heres a taste of how it will look.
Looking stunning DPP, a wee word of caution regarding your Edelbrock carb, the 2 'slow running' screws at the base of the carb have very strong springs. Part of the tuning procedure is to close these and wind them open a set number of turns. Because of the heavy springs its very easy to push the needle screw through the carb wall if this happens your carb will never run right and is basically scrap. I know of a few people who have done this.
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