Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

Thirty Something.

The ABC television series ran from 1987 through 1991.

This post isn't going to be about those angst ridden Yuppies. Though the adventures of Michael, Hope , Elliot, Nancy and the others, were entertaining to many, myself included. I mean who wouldn't want to be Gary? Good looks, great job, the only single guy in the bunch. That guy had it all.

This is also where I got hung up on the idea of having a big, old, fixer upper of a house. Oh, how I dreamed about having a Victorian, Tudor, Colonial Revival or Mission bungalow. I read so many books on rebuilding these houses and subscribed for years to "The Old House Journal." I went on historic homes tours all over the state. This was on top of my prior years of subscribing to "Better Homes and Gardens."

In the end more practical considerations overcame all my enthusiasms. The only historic houses that I could afford were the ones located in transitioning areas selected by "Urban Pioneers." These are a hardy, self reliant, optimistic group of homeowners. Time has proven them to be right, and their homes in once blighted areas have become well kept neighborhood investments.

But that didn't seem to be the right choice for my family. My Wife was probably right. I managed to work my way up into a conventional California Ranch that needed some work then. Thirty something years later it still does.

During the first ten years of home ownership the house and raising the family became my main focus. Cars and motorcycles were still around of course, but they were all shoved onto the back burner.

I still remember what it was like during this time, when I was thirty something. But enough about me.

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I'm talking about one of my cars that has just turned thirty one years old, My '89 Jaguar XJS.

It's first blush of youth, which was spent with an unknown original owner, has long been left to memory. The fresh faced Twenties have been lived through, and now it's time for maturity to set in.

Unfortunately, for cars reaching 30 years of age it isn't like with us humans. For people, it's time to get real and figure out where your life is going. Thirty years to a car means encroaching old age. Like a dog, the years carry a much greater toll.

One area that is particularly important is that this is the first generation of thirty something autos that carries a whole slew of electronic gadgetry. There are rudimentary micro processors employed here. And while no one is using a 30 year old desk top computer anymore, these cars must continue to function with a plethora of Stone Age computing power.

Fortunately, they are not asked to run new programs or applications. They just keep on working within their familiar tasks and parameters.

Until they don't.

While we can choose to leave that old Commodore desk top unit turned off, we need to depend on our cars to function. With electronic control modules controlling the fuel injection and anti lock braking, we need to be sure that these two essential functions will continue to work properly. Automatic temperature control isn't essential, but it sure is nice. Sometimes there isn't an easy way to run it in manual mode. Then there are the myriad electrical assists. Cruise control, power windows, seats, door and trunk locks.

A particular question had been nagging at the fringes of my consciousness for the last couple of decades:

Will a time come when these essential electronic systems cease to work, and will the parts to repair them even be available in the unknown future?

The XJS was a bit of a Wunderchild back in the day. It's specifications were pretty impressive back then.

The number of cylinders was always the first thing that was impressive, but that alone is not the main issue.

Electronic fuel injection requires an ECU (electronic control unit) with many sensors. Temperature, vacuum, and throttle position, for example.

Electronic ignition requires numerous sensors to decide when to fire the spark: crankshaft position, throttle position, and magnetic triggering.

Anti lock braking systems require speed sensing devices on each wheel to gather wheel speed data. This data is fed into the main ECU or it's own computer. This will direct impulses to an electrically driven pump and valve body.

Automatic temperature control requires sensors that control the activation of the heating and cooling systems to maintain a consistent cabin temperature.

These cars are full of sensors, which wear out and degrade through the years of their service life.
Luckily many of these sensors were used by a large number of manufacturers and are still readily available.However some are specific to a certain engine/ car application and are a little harder to come by. Sometimes an internet search will return with the result that that specific part is NLA (no longer available).

Other more complex devices such as the primary ECU are not only vehicle specific but of course NLA, at least as a new replacement unit.

What do you do if your ECU goes out? How will you get your car to run? It's not like you can convert it back to breaker points and a carburetor.

You have to either repair the part that you have, or hope that a unit sourced from a wrecking yard will still have some life in it.

Their are many threads on the Jaguar forum where the owner has opened up an ECU and re-soldered loose components on the printed circuit board. Constant shock and vibration over the years can result in cracked or broken solder connections. This can result in intermittent or no function. The mechanic has to find and "reflow" the damaged connections. Many components were assembled with internal "ribbon connectors" instead of a conventional wiring harness. These can also fall prey to cracks and breaks incurred during their lifetime.

Even good old basic wire harnesses find difficulty in standing up to the rigors of time. Breaks, shorts opens, and other maladies can afflict the car owner. And best of all. many of these failures are intermittent!

To Infinity, and Beyond!
I can't take credit for thinking up that line.

How did they fit all that music into such a little box?

"Solid State" construction was  the buzzword of the Space Age of the early 1960s.

Here's how, miniaturized components.

Transistors and circuit boards promised increased reliability and a longer, trouble free service life compared to vacuum tubes, capacitors, resistors and diodes connected by yards of electrical wire with hand soldered connections.

That transistor radio eliminated all these bulky components
and had the added benefit of the FM band.

This of course begs the essential question; " how long exactly, is their lifetime?"

In the coming years I think that automotive enthusiasts are going to find out the answer to that question.