On Thu, 26 May 2011 13:26:44 +0000 (UTC), Jules Richardson
wrote:

On Thu, 26 May 2011 06:12:37 -0400, Robert Green wrote:
My big problems were when water got under the hood, when the
transmission (Borg-Warnet) blew up, when the power steering pump blew up
spraying the hot exhaust manifold with enough PS fluid to create a small
cumulo-nimbus cloud outside the gates of the Naval Academy during June
Week (now I would be shot as a terrorist bomber), the sudden loss of
spark to three of the six cylinders (it did managed to limp thirty miles
home in that condition) a failed A/C compressor, which apparently was
held in mid-air while the rest of the car was built around it (it was SO
hard to remove), a fender full of tree-nuts that apparently only grow in
Spain, plenty of the body rust you allude to, an engine that ran hot
enough to alligator the paint on the hood, ...

Ha ha! I'm glad I wasn't drinking anything when I read that. It all
sounds familiar - I've had the tree-nut problem, and exhaust manifold
bolts that require a team of trained squirrels to reach, and loss of
spark (passing folk at 90mph or so on a country road when the supply to
the coil gave out) and, of course, engine heat - Triumph were famous for
poor QC and their V8s left the factory with a small beach of casting sand
still inside, which of course just loved to block engine cooling passages.


The Mark X was the four door predecessor to the XJ series. Walnut
fold-down picnic tables behind the front seats, all walnut dash, twin 13
gallon fuel tanks with separate electric pumps, gauges for everything
(no idiot lights), leather power seats, power windows, a big boot, a
well-fitted tool kit and a top speed of 160 mph.

Ahh yeah, I remember a friend had a Mark X... very sleek car. The XJs
were nice, too, and I think they sold quite a few of those in the US - I
keep thinking I should try and get one someday. My uncle had a Mark IX at
one point - I'm not sure if those ever made it to the US market, did they?

The XJ13 was Jaguar's Le Mans racer attempt - http://www.netcarshow.com/
jaguar/1966-xj13/800x600/wallpaper_02.htm - very nice lines, I think.
Shame they never made it a production body like they did with the E type.

What's Lucas Electrics motto? "Get home before dark!"

Ha I've been in so many European cars of the same era though, and they
really weren't any better when it came to electrics. Quite why they
couldn't figure it out, I don't know. I've got a '60s Ford F100 these
days though and that's really not any different - maybe the US climate
(and roads) were just generally kinder on vehicles, so they didn't get
the same bad rep?

cheers

Jules
Paris Rhone and Ducellier were every bit as bad, electrically, as
Lucas - and 2 or 3 times as expensive to fix.

Euro electrics do not seam to stand up well over here in the Americas.
The "Euro style" connectors used in the American built "Mondeo clones"
- Mercury Mystique/Ford Contour are the largest cause of problems on
those cars. Other than the encroaching body rust, virtually every
problem I've had on my wife's '96 has been an electrical connector.