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Bob's Classic Roadster Jaguar SS100 (Duke) Replica


two2go

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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.

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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.

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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.

You also need one of those little flat topped caps... like they wore back in the 20's and 30's... :)

http://www.hatsinthebelfry.com/product/belfry-mcdowell.html

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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.

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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.

Partscompare.jpg

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.

Ext11.jpg

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.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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.

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I think that "fresh" is the key, and "Holley" vs "Weber" not so much. They are both top-notch brands and the carburetors are made to the same drawings, apparently.

CTS-V_LateralGs_6-2018_tiny.jpg
-- Click Here for CaddyInfo page on "How To" Read Your OBD Codes
-- Click Here for my personal page to download my OBD code list as an Excel file, plus other Cadillac data
-- See my CaddyInfo car blogs: 2011 CTS-V, 1997 ETC
Yes, I was Jims_97_ETC before I changed cars.

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  • 1 month later...

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...

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Do you take the SS-100 replica with you when you travel? If so, do you use a trailer or tow it?

CTS-V_LateralGs_6-2018_tiny.jpg
-- Click Here for CaddyInfo page on "How To" Read Your OBD Codes
-- Click Here for my personal page to download my OBD code list as an Excel file, plus other Cadillac data
-- See my CaddyInfo car blogs: 2011 CTS-V, 1997 ETC
Yes, I was Jims_97_ETC before I changed cars.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Do you take the SS-100 replica with you when you travel? If so, do you use a trailer or tow it?

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.

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I was thinking that the Jaguar replica would be great to have in, say, Yuma, AZ. But, "no garage" is not a good thing for an open car.

CTS-V_LateralGs_6-2018_tiny.jpg
-- Click Here for CaddyInfo page on "How To" Read Your OBD Codes
-- Click Here for my personal page to download my OBD code list as an Excel file, plus other Cadillac data
-- See my CaddyInfo car blogs: 2011 CTS-V, 1997 ETC
Yes, I was Jims_97_ETC before I changed cars.

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  • 7 months later...

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.

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If you do end up taking the windshield frame off to be re-chromed, it would be interesting to see if the fasteners could be engineered to make the windshield easy to remove, or even to fold down for a brooklands windscreen?

Bruce

2023 Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing

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  • 1 year later...

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.

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Good luck with the repairs / refresh.  One of the features of the Duke in my mind is low maintenance or repair cost, and readily available parts for the mechanical bits.  Now the trim bits...

Bruce

2023 Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing

Follow me on: Twitter Instagram Youtube

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  • 4 years later...
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