Instead of using OPUS, I had the car converted to a Pertronix LU-1122A.  Instead of a separate ignition box in the vee of the V12, the Pertronix unit is completely inside the distributor.  In period, the OPUS boxes used to overheat given their location, and were moved in later cars.

The Pertronix system has my car running very well, but the downside is that the Tachometer was no longer working.   Unlike on the six cylinder cars, the V12s were always electronic ignition, so the distributor is already the right type.  From my research, all I needed was to put a resistor between 9,000-10,000ohm between the negative terminal of the coil and the tachometer.

To work out how it was wired, I purchased a book that contained the wiring diagrams for the car.  That helped me understand the purpose of the wires that went to the plug for the OPUS unit.  I was able to identify which wire went to the Tachometer.   Once Identified, I purchased a 9,500ohm resistor and made a line to go from the OPUS plug to the negative terminal on the coil.

I’m terrible at soldering, I so I used some connectors that need a heat gun to join the various wires, then put some heat shrink on top.   Installation was quite simple, but unfortunately it didn’t seem to work.

However, it turns out I had done it correctly, and when I had the car in the workshop, I had them check.  It turns out that the wiring behind the tach was not connected properly, and once connected it all worked.   Its been pretty reliable since, but occasionally it has stopped.  I don’t know why yet.   Generally it works pretty well.   I don’t know if its 100% accurate, but then I doubt the tachometer ever was.

In addition, the other quick fix I did was to purchase the proper V12 badge for the centre console and use some trim adhesive to install it.  A small thing, but it looks great in the interior.

The post Daimler tachometer and V12 badge appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

When I still had the car in the USA, it was worse, the brakes would decide to lock on, and they would get to the point where the car was immobile for 5-6 minutes until they finally decided to release.  I was stuck by the side of the road on quite a few occasions.    At that time, I had a complete E-Type brake overhaul.  The master, servo, fluid, brake light switch etc were all changed.   This made it much better – for a while I thought it had gone away, but a few months later it started happening again just a little and the brake light switch was also staying on again.     The brake light switch was replaced again and an adjustment was made with no other improvement than the brake lights working again.

This time, the problem looks to be solved.   The front brake calipers were rebuilt – they were quite rusty.   In addition, the master cylinder that was put on in 2011 was not working correctly, and flexible lines were replaced.   Not only have I done the full E-Type brake overhaul, I have re-overhauled some items!

While the car was in the shop it also had the top wishbones replaced as they were worn.  I also had the cam oiling tube cleaned, and a few other minor adjustments.   In addition, a Pertronix electric ignition installed.

The result of all this is the car is better in every way.   The brakes have never worked this well.  The electronic ignition makes the car much easier to start and run better too.   The Jag was always a slow starter when cold – not anymore.

The post E-Type brake overhaul appeared first on Classic Jalopy.