1953 Jowett Jupiter - Ho So Nearly Finished

Bugga.... it would have looked good though.

On to some of some of the oily bits that required a little attention - first one is to set the gearchange up - with the new column gearchange fitted the rods that link the gearbox to the bottom of the column gearchange need adjusting to ensure correct gear selection - there's a method / procedure for doing this that has to be followed methodically in order to gain the correct result 



This includes holding the selection in a position whilst the selector rods are shortened or lengthened - easy way is to cable tie the column gearshift to the steering wheel once its in the correct location - the gearbox selector then can be locked with a pin - with the two points fixed its just a matter of making the rods the correct length 



I checked & topped up the engine levels - Now despite my regular charging of the batteries whilst they have been off the car - they no longer hold sufficient charge - Garth did warn me that this particular engine is tight - I have been turning over by hand every few months just to ensure it remains free / lubricated (Garth had oiled the bores when the car was stood / undergoing the restoration works) - I could barely get the engine to turn over initially with the batteries 



Put some boost in to it and it was still sluggish - checked the earth strap to the engine - realised the terminals and gave them a good clean up then reattached - much better - next was the fuel pump which was also very sluggish and certainly not delivering fuel - a minor tap to the pump body and it sprang into life - So tried for a start - catching but then immediately dying - checked the distributor cap and the contacts were quite dirty - cleaned them up and put the cap back - it then started straight up 



Plenty of exhaust smoke as it burned the oil out of the bores 



It soon settled down and sounds very sweet - nice rasp through the exhaust too - Garth has new batteries on order 



Brakes were bleed through - I had the hard line on the nearside front disconnected whilst I undertook the cross member conversion on the chassis 



Seat runners checked for location / bolt aperture holes 



Which then got cleaned up & a lick of paint before they were bolted in 




Seat base part refitted - just so it makes it easy to now move the car about - still quite a bit to do but delivery date back to Garth is already arranged for this Saturday - More tomorrow 

Surprise surprise it looks stunning. The correct wheels will change it again then it's over to Garth to complete and show us the finished item. No pressure Garth.

Offside front stone guard / inner wing refitted 



It protects most of the underside of the wing areas but not all of it 



To the point that if you are set out to win trophies with your Jupiter you may well as just use a covered trailer to tow it everywhere - No chance of that happening with this car - it will be getting driven everywhere - Garth likes to use his cars 



Rear wheelarch liners fitted 



Probably going to have to make some adjustment on these to ensure that sufficient clearance is made on full travel of the rear suspension 



So then I was on to a final polish before I ran it down the lane for a few pics 













And on Saturday it was returned to its home abode 



Its in good company with the families Jowett Javelin retained in the same garage / workshop - Garth now has the task of checking & commissioning all the electricals - refitting the new dashboard (of which he's made a superb job) along with refitting the interior & hood - then the road testing / shakedown etc - no doubt he will update this thread when he gets the chance - New (and very different) projects are due into to the Grumpy Towers workshop over the coming weeks so keep a close on 'The Workshop' Threads

Looking lovely out in the sunshine , as of course we knew it would!

Regarding batteries, if similar to MGB they can be replaced with Punto 1.2 ones for a fraction of the cost and work well either singly or doubled (as long as you don't hook them up in 24v fashion!)

A beautiful car beautifully restored, well done.

After some weekend planning and ordering of bits to check the electrics and remake the under bonnet wiring harness, today I decided to use the excellent weather to get the car out of the tight space in my garage and remove the wheels to fit the trims and balance them.


Also fitted rear panel escutchions - at the rear Chris did just about everything else so that end pretty well complete!
The wheel trims are stainless steel replicas of the original ACE Rimbellishers.  These are made in occasional batches by a Birmingham metal spinner - fortunately they are also needed for Jag XK restorations so every few years a few turn up if you put your name on the list!
The original chrome ACE trims were quite pitted.

There is some technique to fitting the new stainless trims.  They are held by 4 x clips made from good quality stainless hose clamps which fit through the 4 x gaps in the wheel between the rim and the hub - with a hook which locates in the internal curled rim of the trim.  These curls are not always well formed in this harder metal so I have made a tool the give extra curl over and security at the clip hook position - without upsetting the finish on the visible side.  I trust the following photos will explain - the red tapes are to mark the clip positions once the trim has been alligned with the tyre inflation valve.   Also check that the valve holes are clear and smooth - the hole may need fettling!
Finally the clips are tightening while ensuring the trim is propery alligned/concentric with the wheel







 


The clips may need to be offset within the gap to miss putting them by the valve hole - depends where the rim was welded to the hub!  Anyway keep them all at the same point in the gap to keep everything in balance.

At which point I was about to balance them.  There are not many people left with the adaptor cones (usually ex Ford Transit tyre fitters!) to fit the 150mm - 6" hole diameter of the Jowett Javelin/Jupiter - so rather than tour the country to find someone each time I have set up to do my own - initially for my Javelin.  I use a standard bubble balancer but with important modification for wheel fit and accuracy.
But then I realised more about these re-manufactured wheels fitted to my car which has delayed this work to another time.   More on this later!  

It's taken me nearly a week to catch up on this, but well worth it. A job well done as usual and, once again, inspiration for me to warm up the garage and do something useful. Thanks Chris (and Garth).