671
It must be pointed out that a failure of a cruise control could be dangerous, although that would typically require the
two openings to atmosphere to fail closed and the opening to vacuum to fail open -- highly unlikely. You should make
repairs carefully, using a very reliable glue (such as JB Weld) to hold the rubber seat on the rod. Use of unreliable glue
such as cyanoacrylate (superglue) is not recommended.
Robert I H Egerton adds some tips for putting the solenoids back in. “When I put em back they didn't work.
Eventually I realised that the horseshoe-shaped bits of copper or brass under them are springs which hold the moving
core down so you must ensure that they clip into the core when you put em back. I get my pension at Xmas so it took
me some little time to suss it out .”
CRUISE CONTROL CABLE ATTACHMENT: Bill Trimble managed to lose the little part that screws onto the end
of the cable to connect it to the bellows unit. “I took the car over to Rick the Mechanic's to see if he had any ideas, and
sure enough he remembered that one of the local auto parts places had barrel connectors for hood release and choke
cables. I bought one for a couple of bucks and we fitted it in about ten minutes, the only modification needed was to
gently pry out the round end on the bellows side to fit the wider diameter of the new barrel connector. We also
wrapped some safety wire around it so that if the cable slips out again, the connector won't fall out.”
Safety wire is tricky to get right here. Before trying to assemble this thing, take the tiny screw out of the barrel
connector, push it through a tiny piece of cardboard, and screw it back into the barrel. That way, when your grip on the
thing fails, the barrel will only drop 1/4” and sit right there on the loop instead of falling into the dark abyss. A washer
would work, too, but it’d jingle with engine vibrations.
Another idea would be to tie a piece of string to the screw, and tie the other end to the bellows end plate itself. You
could actually do that before taking it apart.
HEAT SHIELD INSTALLATION: There’s a heat shield attached to the bracket that wraps around the bellows and
holds the cable housing. This heat shield should be underneath the bellows to protect it from radiant heat from the
engine. Steve Wilke’s car had it on top when he got it. If your car has been similarly misassembled, you’ll want to
correct it.
SERVO RELOCATION: To get that bellows assembly to last longer, it would probably be a good idea to relocate it
somewhere cooler; this will not only keep the actuator cooler, but it will make working on the distributor easier. Ron
Whiston relocated his to the area in front of the radiator, mounting it on the same bolt that holds the horns. He
fabricated a new cable, similar but longer. He notes that removing the mount bracket, which is held to the back of the
A/C compressor with the same bolt that holds the hoses on, will require recovering and recharging the freon circuit -- a
lot of extra effort and expense. Therefore, he suggests you can either wait until you’re working on the freon system
anyway, or you can fabricate a new bracket and abandon the original one in place until the opportunity arises to remove
it.
BELLOWS REPLACEMENT: Jim Isbell says, “If you ever do this make sure you get the metal ring out of the center
fold of the old one and put it into the new one which may not have the ring in it.”
SERVO REPLACEMENT: If you have to buy a new servo unit from Jaguar, be prepared to open your wallet a long
way. You may find better prices if you shop around, though; Randy Wilson says “Those of us not locked in to the Jag
parts distributing system, i.e. the independents, have an alternate source for this servos, plus we can get the bellows as a
separate service item. They still aren’t cheap, as they come through a different British car parts network (RR!), but the
servo is about half what Jag wants.”