Since its resurrection, the car has been driven about, attended a few shows and used for shopping trips on Sundays etc. Driving the car has uncovered a few areas requiring attention. Specifically, the rear suspension which makes a rattling sound as it goes over bumps in the road.
The rear suspension setup is pretty simple. No fancy independent suspension here as found on later Jaguars. As the chassis design dates back from 1938, it has simple leaf springs and lever type shocks. There are the usual bushes at the place where the leaf springs attach to the chassis and bushes at the shock absorber connections to the axle.
In the picture above item 25 is the focus of attention.
IMHO I think the leaf spring bushes have collapsed. The plan is to remove the springs, replace bushes. I had imported the original bushes earlier along with the gearbox seals.
These are 1 set of item 25 which I imported earlier
While the springs are out, they will be treated to rubberized chassis paint, grease at the wear points (where the lower leaf rubs against the upper one) and spring gaiters.
What are gaiters some may ask?
Back in the day, cars with leaf springs had their springs covered to prevent muck thrown up by the tires on the unpaved roads. These covers are referred to as gaiters. They were made from leather.
Here are a few pictures I found on the internet:
Period add for gaiters. Add says that these are available from all garages and motor dealers .... Not anymore
Fitted to a Rolls Royce as seen in a car show
Gaiters being fitted during resoration
Final look
Another style of gaiter with cross lacing