E-TYPE REACTION PLATE REMOVAL

Ah yes, the good old reaction plate (RP), fun and games time! I wellremember the first time I did this job some 25+ years ago on our 69 OTS.The oil pressure was a little low so I thought that I’d just drop the pan,oops, sump, and check out the oil pump, bearings etc. I found that thesump wouldn’t clear the RP (I’ve since discovered a way to drop the sumpwithout removing the RP), and to my great dismay found that there were nonuts on the upper RP bolts because the threads were messed up!! I quicklyfound that it was almost impossible to replace the bolts without unloadingthe torsion bars. Various Jaguar repair manuals suggest just knocking the bolts backenough to get the RP off. The problem is that they are under a considerableload and you cannot get a straight shot at either. The top bolts on bothsides are up so high that you’ll end up striking them at a considerableangle and damaged threads are very likely. If the threads are damaged andthe bolts have to be replaced you are very unlikely to be able to replacethem without damaging the new ones without unloading the torsion bars. Ican 100% guarantee that if the threads on the upper bolt are damaged inthe slightest you’ll never get a nut started because of the limited workingspace.

Sooo- the simple answer is to take the 30 minutes or so to unload thetorsion bars that may save you much time in the long run. The lowercontrol arm must be supported when breaking the upper ball joint and tierod end I came up with the following system that has advantages overdragging a floor jack around from one side to the other.

The below is written as if to someone who knows nothingabout how to do this job.

EXTREME caution should be used anytime you’re workingunder any car! I lift the front of E-Types using a floor jackagainst a piece of 4x4 under the picture frame. This piece ofwood is 16” long with a 1.25x.375 piece screwed down thecenter that fits into the recess in the bottom of the picture frame.This works on the 3.8 cars but on later cars with the hornsmounted below the car the overall length will be shorter. I leavethe floor jack under the picture frame while doing any front-endwork and for safety reasons also place two jack stands underthe car on the tubes just behind the RP.

It should be understood that the front of the car should never belifted off the ground without the shocks in place as it will allow thesuspension to travel far beyond it's normal range and damage to the tierods and ball joints is likely.

All the following is assuming that the car is located on four ramps

and the exhaust is removed. I've found that unless the car has headers it iseasier to remove the complete exhaust system, including the down pipes,in one piece.

1 Lift the front of the car until the wheels are just short of lifting off of theramps.2 Record the distance from C/L to C/L of the shock mounts and removethe shocks3 Place the turnbuckles in place of shocks and lightly tighten4 Lift car and remove wheels5 Break upper ball joints, tie rod ends and one end of the roll bar links. Iuse a piece on 1"X5" brass rod and a 3-5 LB hammer and have never had aproblem with them not coming loose or damaging the threads.6 Support or tie back the hubs so that they're not hanging on the brakehoses7 Unscrew the turnbuckles to lower the lower control arms8 You’ll find at this point the RP bolts are still tight in the holes if thecontrol arm shaft nuts were tightened with the suspension in the normaldriving position, as they should be. You can either push down on the lowercontrol arm or push it down with the turnbuckle until the bolts will slide out9 Remove bolts which should come out easily at this point and tap RPback and out10 With RP back in place and the bolts tightened down, tightenturnbuckles until you reach the C/L to C/L measured in #211 Hook up ball joints, tie rod ends and roll bar and replace wheels12 Let car down very gently until the wheels just touch the ramps13 Remove turnbuckles and replace shocks.

You'll notice that the turnbuckles have washers welded in one end,which goes up. If they are not there and the car is let down too far theturnbuckle will strike the picture frame resulting in a dent and chippedpaint. Don't ask me how I know this!

The turnbuckles are something that I "scabbed" together at least 20years ago and they have been used maybe two dozen times on various E-Types with no problems. They are basically 3/8" turnbuckles with R & Lhand threaded rod welded in and with washers welded in one end. They arenot normally this shinny but a fellow used them a while back, Hi Norm, andpainted them silver before he gave them back.

You can see them in place on my car when I was putting it backtogether after replacing the frame rails a couple of years ago.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to give me a call.Bob Stevenson