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two2go

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two2go last won the day on August 16 2020

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    Classic Roadsters SS100 Replica
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    Parker, CO

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  1. Thanks Goran. Probably not a Caddy. Lusting for a new C8 Corvette convertible.
  2. Classic Roadsters Duke Jaguar SS-100 Replica, Epilogue. I don't know if anyone sees or is following this part of the forum any more, but I thought I would post a final report of my Jaguar ownership experience after reviewing my original thread. On May 22, 2019, I helped load my Jaguar onto a transport trailer to be shipped to its new owner in Phoenix. After six years of ownership that featured lots of fun driving, a few breakdowns, quite a bit of maintenance education and work, we decided we had satisfied our Brit roadster yen and wanted the garage space back. A Craigslist ad brought me a willing buyer with cash. As an investment, the Jaguar was a loser, but considering the money we put into it overall, probably equivalent to the depreciation on any vehicle. I documented most of the work that was done to make the Jag a reliable and attractive car in my first thread. At the end, it was in fact very reliable. The last recurring problems turned out to be fuel system issues that were working together to be hard to diagnose--carburetor and fuel pump. The rebuilt carb I installed was not internally calibrated quite right, including wrong jets, so a professional rebuild of the rebuilt solved one part of the equation. But it was still stalling. That turned out to be due to bad fuel pumps. The Duke was built with a non-stock electric fuel pump mounted just below the tank. The original and first replacement pumps were overheating and cutting out. My mechanic finally installed a racing-duty pump which totally solved the stalling problem. Like folks say about boats, it was a happy day when we bought the Jaguar, and a happy day when we sold it. No regrets. Loved the experience and even learning from the problems. And over 4,000 miles of joyriding. And so we move on. I hope folks who own, or think about owning or have interest in replica cars, and the Duke model particularly, find something of interest or encouragement in what I have shared. And to whoever owns our Jaguar now, and wherever they may be, happy driving!
  3. Post-Jaguar life. Gone but not forgotten. See separate post "No more Jaguar-It was fun"
  4. My Jag replica came with the Dayton wire wheels. Six of them actually. I put VW old Beetle tires on; I think size was 165-80 x 15. They were a little narrow for the wheel, which was more for 195-205 width tires, but the diameter was about right and the tires still were plenty wide for the scale of the car.
  5. Well, it's been over a year and not much activity on the SS-100 Duke scene. I have followed a few sales on the internet and eBay and see a range of prices still holding around $8-10k and up for the Classic Roadster models, not the VW beetle-based ones. I have continued to drive ours in good weather, and we have reached the point of deciding to sell as we move on to other interests. I had a semi-firm buyer with money in my hand, but he reneged after an extended drive. I have to agree with his objections: the car needs a new clutch and something under there is making it shake, rattle, but not roll at anything above 60mph. So it's going into the shop next week because apparently I haven't thrown enough $$ at it. And actually, I have invested relatively little since getting it almost 4 years ago. So I figure to make the car as trouble free and safe as possible and relist it to come close to breaking even for the cost and fun. If anyone is interested, pictures are scattered throughout this thread and can reply. My price will be in the upper $9k range. A very comparable red Duke sold on eBay last month for $10,001. I still haven't done anything about the windshield frame, but the rest of the car will be primo by the time I get my punch list worked.
  6. We returned to our CO home the first of May. The weather has not been favorable for much driving of the Jaguar, but better weather is promising. Right after we got home, I ordered a rebuilt Holley carburetor from Rock Auto. It worked out to be the exact replacement and a relative bargain. It wasn't hard at all to replace the original. What a difference. The car starts pronto and the fast, mid, and low idle work perfectly. The only adjustment I had to make was to the low idle speed. The car will now idle smoothly at 900 rpm instead of the stuttering 1600 it took to keep it running. No more backfiring when slowing down. And noticeably more power. I am pulling hills in one gear higher than before. It's like a whole different car now. The carb was the last significant punch list item that needed attention, and the Jag really seems to be fully reliable and smooth running now. I have one cosmetic thing that could be hard to fix. The chrome of the windshield frame has a lot of pitting and really needs to be sandblasted and re-plated. As an old guy who has been out of the loop for too long, I am finding that chrome platers are pretty much an extinct species. There was a shop near here that developed a spray-on process that looked good, but they got hit by the floods two years ago and never fully recovered in their temporary facilities. I will keep looking for a solution.
  7. The Jaguar is a garage queen. We drive it as much as possible when the weather is nice, but it stays at home otherwise. Now that I have the driveline problem fixed, I plan to put it in some more local car shows next summer. I put the top and side curtains on, so we can drive it on nice winter days when we return to CO for the holidays. Sorry for the delayed response. We have been preparing for and traveling to our Yuma, AZ, winter home. I would like to have the Jaguar here sometimes, but there is no garage here, and it would be hard to keep it clean with the dusty winds we get sometimes. There are plenty of shows for classic and custom cars around here.
  8. It has been a busy summer and not much activity on the Jaguar. I have been driving it several times a week and have become confident in its reliability. Other than needing carburetor work (which will wait until next year), the little car just goes about happily, and it makes me happy driving it. My wife thinks I take corners a bit too fast. Uh, yeah! It feels like a slot car and there is no leaning. I haven't driven it aggressively enough to do more than get a little tire squeal and am not about to find out when the rear end will swing around. So this summer saw us sell and say goodbye to our Dolphin Class A motorhome and Chevy HHR toad car. The replacement is a much smaller (by comparison) Pleasure Way Lexor Class B camper van on a Chevy van. We are no longer doing the extended RV living thing since getting a park model unit in Yuma, AZ, and are looking forward to more relaxed touring and double (at least) gas mileage. So here is the leisure fleet...
  9. I have put almost 300 miles on my Jaguar since getting the driveline problem fixed. So far, the repair seems to be holding and the car seems to feel solid and reliable. One remaining item will be to attend to the carburetor. The car starts and runs pretty well, but the idle is very rough and the car will stall unless I keep the idle speed at about 1500 rpm which is pretty buzzy. That does make for easy launches with the clutch from a standstill, but probably not ideal. I got a lead from a Chevette forum about a Weber replacement carb that is supposed to be better than the Holley. Not sure about the differences, as I thought the Holley was an identical carb made under license from Weber. "They" (guys on the forum) say the Weber is the way to go. The replacement price is in the same ballpark for either brand, so I'll most likely go with the Weber when my repair fund gets replenished a bit more. Some driving observations: not much torque out of the little 1.6L Isuzu so I have to downshift for most any grade. The car feels light above 60 mph. The spring rate is probably too stiff for the weight of the car--it hops sideways a bit on bumps. The idiosyncrasies are part of getting used to the car and how to handle it. Overall, still a blast to drive and gets all the attention I can stand.
  10. So here's what we ended up with on the extension housing repair. The new parts (L) and the old parts ®. The old support was fabricated from some kind of casting foam or rubber. The metal insert was trashed and the bearing cushion was cushioning nothing. Here's the underside view of the finished job. The red lines show where the entire extension mount was moved to the left about 3/4 in so the extension at a 90 deg. angle to the rear axle would not be pushing to one side of the forward mount. Not too much else to report. I'm happy to get this thing fixed. I'm off to make up for a few month's lost driving time.
  11. Paper-boy cap and plus-four knickerbockers and I'm good to go. Picked the car up this PM. The mechanic was proud of his work and he ran the car up the hoist so I could get under to see the result. He moved the forward extension mount a good inch to the left and it does look properly aligned to me now. Took the Jag for a 40 mile run this evening and all seems good. Have to say that getting the driveline fixed took some patience, research, luck, and not a small amount of cash. I will put some pictures up to show the work and also the pitiful old parts.
  12. Status from the shop--promising. New rubber parts worked. They found a root cause of the problem. The forward mount for the differential extension on the frame cross member was not centered with the driveline, causing side pressure on the internal cushion and support. That caused the original cushion and support to wear and let the shaft rub on the extension housing.They need to re-weld the mount to center the assembly and then we should be good to go. Hopefully. I have my goggles and scarf and am ready to drive.
  13. Back from our cruise/tour to Alaska. The 50th state I have been to now. It was outstanding, but a bit extra rainy and cool this year. Did not get to see Mt. McKinley (Denali), so we are in the 70% club who don't see it on their visit. Took the Jag to the shop with my parts this morning. Now sitting by the phone with my fingers crossed hoping it will be driveable yet this summer. Results to follow.
  14. Still in a holding pattern on getting the rear axle problem fixed. My mechanic found a used extension housing that turned out to be worse than mine, so we got our money back on that. The guy in WA (Rick) turned out to be the one (and only) help. I got the rubber cushion and housing support from him and we mutually think we can rebuild the extension with these parts. Hopefully, the bearing is still OK. The parts guy said my problem is most likely just the shaft grinding against the housing because the rubber parts are shot and allowing the shaft to move around as weight and torque come into play. I can't get to this project right now because just too busy with other stuff. Here are the new bearing cushion and housing support. Possibly the only one or two left in the US now. Rick said he was planning another trip to Brazil to get some more made. Covering his travel expenses makes these things pretty pricey. I am hoping to have the Jag back in cruising condition by the end of July.
  15. Nothing turned up. The extension units were a peculiar design and Chevettes have long disappeared from recycle yards. I have located a guy in WA who specializes in old rare parts and he is sourcing some Chevette parts in South America. Apparently, Chevettes were made in Brazil for some time after being dropped by GM in the US. I'm collecting more intel as I go along. We may get lucky yet. As a last resort, I know a machinist who might be able to mod something up. There are three unique parts within the housing that are not available and are needed; bearing, bearing cushion, and inner support. The housing itself is aluminum, so would be tricky to mod or work with.
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