1951 Jowett Jupiter - Recommission

With the luggage box fitted some of the cockpit trim could be refitted 



The old steering & column gearshift gaiter was long dead so I had Mrs GN stitch me a piece of vinyl to pattern 



Subsequently fitted 



Slave battery fitted ready for commissioning & testing the electrics 



Once I had power through the master switch it appeared to be bypassing the ignition switch 



Checked through the connections with the wiring diagram and everything appeared to be in order 



At which point the ignition switch itself became highly suspect - I took it apart & cleaned it up - it worked fine when bench tested but once assembled to the car it again played up and bypassed power when in the switched off position - New Lucas PLC 6 switch is now on order 



Fuel system has checked out ok with no leaks so the floor can now be fully fitted 



There's a lot of redundant holes / apertures within the bulkhead area and I have blanked these off with grommets for now - when the body is rebuilt said holes can be deleted 

Indicator switch was working on the nearside but not on the offside - the mechanism is clockwork to cancel the signal - It's a long time since I have come across a car like this one where virtually every single switch or relay carries faults - This was a simple fix 



Just required the contacts cleaning 



And once refitted 



All indicators working 



The replacement keyed ignition switch arrived and that was duly fitted & tested 



Some time was then spent working out the correct configuration for the ignition lamp on the dash - with a dynamator now fitted the circuit configurations differ from the original dynamo - there is no wiring diagram available for the new circuit hence you just have to trace the harness back and work out the configuration 



Headlamps next - again another switch with dirty / fouled / rusty contacts - removed, cleaned & refitted 



Sidelamps now operational 



Along with dipped 


 
And main beam - The headlamp alignment will require setting once I have refitted the bonnet catches 



I apply a silicone grease to any switchgear / contacts on the underside of the car which could be affected by wet weather conditions 



The underside of the dip switch 



Along with the brake light switch were both treated 



The horn relay is incorrect being a closed contact type - It should be open contact type Lucas SB40 which is now reproduced but no one currently holds any stock (With the exception of a very greedy E Bay vendor who is asking 2 x the normal selling price) - I'll have a look over at the barn later I'm pretty sure I may have a good used one about 


 
The pull link for the bonnet catches has been fitted & adjusted for operation - More later 

Lucas SB40 relay was fitted to many models of the period in some cases for overdrive - others were for the headlamp relay - it's fairly common but as stated presently unavailable - it's fairly pricy too at £80 + 

Side covers for the engine bay have been refitted - I would have liked to have left these off until I had the engine running because they restrict access to various under bonnet areas especially towards the bulkhead - However both accelerator & choke cables run through the offside one and the side covers provide for various mounting brackets for the choke mechanism



Hence they got fitted - I had to redrill a lot of the mounting points & renew the fixings 



They are essential in preventing weather ingress especially water being thrown into the engine bay electrics & ignition from the front road wheels 



Then the accelerator cable & linkage could be fitted / adjusted / balanced - Cue lots of faff / messing about to achieve this 



The carburetors are non-original Webers - The car would have been originally fitted with Zeniths - the existing throttle linkage had been modified in a very crude manner - I have since made several modifications that tidy's the linkage up and makes it easier to adjust & balance 



Choke cable fitted - the original arm that jointly operates the chokes was retained but the cables were treated to new brackets & clips as required - Again lots of time spent tidying the previous fitment which in turn has made the linkage much easier to use 



The feeble oil cooler bracket which had been fitted previously was binned and a much stronger bracket fabricated & fitted 



Next on the list was to make up a new set of suppression leads 

 

Fitted to a new cap 


 
Then fitted to the car - I want to run the engine with old distributor to start with but I have a fully rebuilt distributor that is set up for modern fuel - I'll fit this once I have the car running 
 


Due to location of the plugs and the high chance of water ingress I always use waterproof motorcycle type suppression caps 



These are sealed at both ends 



I checked for a spark at the points then removed all 4 plugs and swung the engine over with the starting handle with the plugs fitted to the caps and laid to earth to check for a spark on each plugs - With the sparks all present & correct the engine is not that far away from being started & trial run 



All the oils have been added - just the cooling system to undertake a pressure check on now 

Works have been advancing on the Jupiter - The heater box was missing completely on the car when it arrived with me - I still need to work out what is available in the market vs what will fit under the bulkhead of the car without compromising the under dash legroom - In the interim I have fitted a simple bypass hose between the heater takeoffs on the water pump & radiator 



The engine wouldn't even cough when starting was attempted  



Fuel delivery was rechecked and I stripped the top of each carb to ensure that the float levels were correct / float chamber valves were functional and hadn't stuck 



Some head scratching and many checks / rechecks later - Taking into consideration that I hadn't altered or adjusted anything on the timing side of the engine and the engine was running sweetly prior to removal - I had refitted the plug leads in the correct firing order etc - Eventually worked out that the plug leads had been previously fitted out of what is the standard firing order to suit the incorrect location & timing of the distributor - By rotating the distributor some 90 degrees brought the engine back into the correct timing range & distributor location to suit the factory firing order



Engine is running a little lumpy & idle speed is too high but a rebuilt distributor is yet to be fitted and the engine tuned accordingly once I have resolved a couple of other issues - The refurbished tachometer is reading out of calibration but I think I know the fix required to sort this and hopefully its simple



The new clutch is not clearing - could be a few issues and its pretty typical of the Jowett clutch arrangement - rarely do they work out of the box (for wants of a better expression) and normally take a little setting up 



Quick video of the engine starting & running  - more later 

Some cars do but it won't sort its self so you just have get stuck in and treat it as a challenge   

Switchgear is now refitted to the dash facia and the glovebox lining has been refitted 



Sometimes what appears the simplest of jobs takes the longest amount of time to complete - the wiper spindles travel through a rubber grommet on the bulkhead 



But to fit them the spindles have to be loose / aligned - something that you need 3 pairs of hands to sort but eventually completed 



The wiper blades that came with the car are way over length to the point that they are comical - I have the correct length of blades on order 



Sound proofing to the toe board & bulkhead in the footwells that the car came with was this lump of inadequate sponge 



I patterned, cut & fitted new felt sound proofing to the areas 



Then fitted the bulkhead carpet section that came with the car 



Marked up the apertures for the seat runner slides on the main carpet 



Then fitted it 



The fit isn't perfect but it's certainly serviceable for now - New carpets can be cut & installed when the car is returned for its body & paintwork restoration in a couple of years' time



I'm currently on with fitting the bench seat which I'll complete this morning - the rest of the cockpit trim was refitted yesterday to the A & B posts 



Many other minor jobs are getting completed but nothing that really warrant's pics - But I have drafted the final jobs list and started to tick them off - several parts / odds are still required and I'm currently in the process of ordering them buts there's nothing special on the list that is likely to hold the completion of the car up - The UK registration of the vehicle has been applied for to DVLA (currently still on a Portuguese registration) - From a legal prospective it can't be returned to the road until I hear back from DVLA with its new registration number / V5 issued - More soon  
 

The Jupiter has been in the spa for a good wash down 



It will benefit further from a light polish up but I would like to complete the road testing first 



Both the exterior & interior could be improved from a cosmetic prospective but the aim is to get the car both reliable & useable for the present time 



Then undertake a body / paint / interior restoration at a later date 



It's off to visit a fellow Jowett owner on Wednesday when the new distributor will be fitted and the timing set 



In the interim various minor completion tasks are being undertaken - Although sited at the rear of the engine I always like to stripe the tip of the fan blades which makes them much more obvious when the engine is running - You wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of having your fingers caught by the blades 
 

The interior colour combo looks great, not sure on the dash wood though looks like its home made?