1952 Jowett Javelin - Taxi

Looks great and good on Longstone. I recently had to get two tires replaced on Mrs JP's mini - they were far from done but very loud. I asked about warranty and my mechanic just laughed. He said that the companies had basically stopped even offering them.

So the Javelin was checked over in preparation for winter duties tomorrow (Bicester Scramble) - It wouldn't start initially but this was soon traced to a dirty contact between the coil king lead to the distributor cap at the coil end through dissimilar metal corrosion - brass contact ferule on the lead but would you believe its a steel self tapping screw that is the contact point in the top of the coil - soon cleaned up and sorted then it started straight up - all levels were checked along with lights - then a quick wash off although I probably wasted my time given the current foul weather

   

I then ran it over to the filling station in the next village to top the tank up - heater & wipers were both working fine but the horn returned a nil result - some tracing and checking resulted in what appeared to be a dead fuse but it turned out to be just dirty contacts in the fuse holder - horn now reinstated as working - I was loosing light so I just have the tyre pressures to check in the morning - Bicester Heritage is just an hour from home for me - I did consider taking the Range Rover with its heated seats & steering wheel and other refined levels of comfort - But where's the fun in that - Javelin it is then 

still envious that you could be there (and that there are even events like that) Glad the Jowett got an outing

Whilst the Javelin has had a few outings so far this year its had little use 



The mechanical fuel pump had started to take lots of turning over before it drew fuel from the rear mounted tank - the small one way valves were suspect so I removed & rebuilt the pump with a new kit 



Refitted and all the fuel connections retightened - there were a few very minor damp areas showing on some - I probably now have a better fuel pressure with the pump being rebuilt hence the damp areas on the joints showing up 



Oil & filter was changed and a fresh set of plugs were gapped & fitted - once completed the engine was given a wash down with degreaser & dried off - The nearside headlamp bulb was changed as this had failed on dipped beam and I will need the headlamps for returning home on Saturday evening 



A fuse kept blowing on the ignition circuit and this took a little tracing before it was resolved - I've given the car an initial wash but it now requires a good polish up & interior valet - Both the car & myself have got a very important role to play on Friday afternoon, then its off to Titsey 100 on Saturday which is the clubs re-enactment of the original club formation - In the not too distant future its also on duty in the period taxi fleet at Goodwood Revival - Hence it will cover the vast majority of its annual mileage in the next few weeks 

I think that the modern fuel goes stale at an alarming rate - that and some cars for some reason require a high dose of fuel before they will start 

So then, the very important task for the Javelin - a trip down to Farnham about a hour away from home 



Vicky's wedding the daughter of Peter Leopold who is head mechanic for the Harry Naerger race team who own the Jowett Jupiter that we raced at the Le Mans Classic this year 



And the happy couple - It was absolute pleasure to put the car to use exactly as I intended it to be - Not primarily as a wedding car but merely for the car to be enjoyed as much by other parties has much as I enjoy it 

Concerning the fuel going bad. I know it is whopping expensive in the UK but did you try RON98? In my Alfa this saves a lot of hassle with fuel going bad etc. For the winter I always ad some octane booster because it also stabilizes the fuel better.
Lovely wedding pictures by the way!
Wishing the couple all the best together.
Thom

LOOK - A big empty space in my workshop 



And a sadly neglected Javelin in the corner of the yard - Primarily its gone unused for 12 months due to the gearbox fault and me just way too busy with other peoples cars - But its required for important duties in less than a weeks time 



So its in the workshop and up on stands 



Rebuilt gearbox in the waiting 



Engine has to come out with the gearbox for the change - All the auxiliaries have been removed, connections disconnected, fluids drained - I just need to remove the propshaft drive flange from the rear of the gearbox this morning and the unit can be removed  
 

Plugs were replaced with new, points cleaned & reset, carb float chambers removed & cleaned and the jets blown through - fuel delivery to each carb bowl checked - then checked that both the chokes were closing equally - Ignition on and pressed the start button 



I left the engine running to warm up - then adjusted the idle speed - only other adjustment required was a little belt lube on the dynamo pully which was slightly ringing 



With the engine still running and the rear wheels raised off the ground I went through the column change gear selection to check engagement in each gear (otherwise I would have had to start resetting the selector rods) 



On with other jobs then - Horn contact bridge had broken - its a Lucas designed part and very delicate to set up - get it wrong and either the horn sounds when the steering is turned or doesn't sound at all when you need it to - Its easily dislodged when you have it in place & operating correctly too as its adjacent to handbrake lever - hence the use of cable ties to prevent this 



Grille & bumper refitted 

 

Brakes checked & adjusted - found a heavy binding nearside rear - backing the adjuster off made no difference so off came the drum to identify the fault - surface rust on the drum due to standing along with a build up of brake dust - a good clean / wash down and abrading of the rust from the drum resolved the issue - drum back on & said brake adjusted 



Front end back on stands to allow the grease points (lots of them) to be attended to 



Lighting check 



All in order and required no intervention 



Checked the charging socket - A fairly vital check if I want my phone to stay alive and this requires reverse wiring too as the car is positive earth 


 
Checked the tyre pressures and another engine check to ensure that no leaks had developed - followed by a 10 mile road test without issue - The car is back on form probably the best gearbox that I have ever had in the car too - It has its limits in the form of top speed 60 MPH ish but under this and it fair bombs along 



Cosmetics then - its a patina car and has its fair share of paint defects - last painted well over 40 years ago there's little bits all over the car but cleans up pretty well - However it picked up this impact damage in the car park at last years Revival which in my book is too much patina - At least they picked the worst painted panel on the car which is covered in a rash of micro blisters 



I stripped the bumper & lamp off the car - I'll also be replacing the rubber gasket on the lamp aperture these have been unavailable for years but have recently come into stock 



Only one way to remove micro blistering 



The panel has had a life and required some reshaping (panel beating) 



First filler skim applied - I'd better head to the workshop - it wont profile or prime itself