The Jensen Owners' Club

Good morning from sunny LA !

THANK YOU guys for all your comments, so when I take the wheels off the car to put the center caps back in the wheels,
I will change the springs to lower the front of the car as suggested.

Should I change the front shocks or all four shocks at the same time and any specific shock size or brand ?

Is there an actual spring size that is preferred for the front ?

Is there a specific spring brand and height that I can order here in the US ?

As always THANKS for all the great tips !

Regards Cheers Steven.

Unless you know what has been done to the car in the past 50 years, you don't know why the car sits as it does. It should sit level. It is a Mk II and should have Mk II front springs. Maybe it has Mk III springs. If the rear springs are original they will have sagged. An additional leaf can be inserted to fix that, second from top, or you can buy a new set. Maybe even then you will want an additional leaf, second from top.

Same thinking with shocks. What is in there now? Are the fronts and rears the same brand? Ideally you want Konis which are rebuildable and adjustable. If Konis are in there now, get them rebuilt and instal to the middle setting all round. They are the best off the shelf shocks. Unfortunately they are not available new. You want 82-1778 and 82-1779.

Maybe your shocks are fine and you only need new springs. If so, get Mk II springs. Look in the parts book or order from a Jensen dealer. Forget Mk III springs, and forget the old wives' tale about a nose up attitude being correct for the US cars. It is not correct on any car and is a sign that something has worn out over the past half century.

Hi everyone,

Ric’s right - so much may have changed that you don’t know and you don’t have anything constant - maybe your front is sitting high because your rear springs have sagged?

Here’s an interesting way to test the hypothesis - have your headlight alignment tested (our local auto club, the RAA does this free for members). If your headlights are aimed too high, chances are your rear springs have sagged.

Happened to me years ago - drivers light was pointing skyward, passenger was fine. Diagnosis - the opposite (passenger rear) spring has sagged more than the drivers rear spring!

Cheers, Dino

The easy way to see if your rear springs has sagged is to see how many fingers you can get between the top of the tyres and the wheel arch. Two or three fingers is the gap I aim for.

Steve

Dino Fritz wrote:Hi everyone,

Ric’s right - so much may have changed that you don’t know and you don’t have anything constant - maybe your front is sitting high because your rear springs have sagged?

Here’s an interesting way to test the hypothesis - have your headlight alignment tested (our local auto club, the RAA does this free for members). If your headlights are aimed too high, chances are your rear springs have sagged.

Happened to me years ago - drivers light was pointing skyward, passenger was fine. Diagnosis - the opposite (passenger rear) spring has sagged more than the drivers rear spring!

Cheers, Dino

The car must be a wreck with such a flexible body! The headlights cannot get aligned differently because of different spring rates.

I would not worry about the height of your car right now. I am sure there are many other things that need attention. It looks like it is the perfect height in the rear. These cars are very stiff already and IMO there is no need to add leaves which would only make it stiffer. Concentrate on reliability and comfort issues to make the car reliable and comfortable first. The front springs are no easy job to do on these cars by the way.

Good morning from Los Angeles,

THANK YOU for all your comments !

I will take the car over to my mechanic in North Hollywood in a week or so.

Unfortunately,I have 8 cars and My 1962 Buick Special convertible needs a new top.

My MK 3 seems to sit a lot better with the tires.

Have a great week !

Regards Cheers Steven.

I have this photo of a nice red Interceptor on my Desktop and this car also seems to sit high at the front ?

Your car sits at the perfect height! Please don't touch the springs!

StevenLA wrote:Good afternoon from Los Angeles !

Thank you for all your kind comments.

The tires on the car are Pirelli 215 x 70 15, I wanted a bigger tire, the other 60 inch tires were a little to small to fill the wheel well.

The cost of converting back to the original rims was around two thousand dollars, refurbished rims,new tires, new calipers, new rotors, new lock nuts, and also refurbished MK 2 brackets.

I wondered why does the front of the car sit so high ?

I thought the problem was the springs or the shocks, any other suggestions on how to correct this ?

The car drives very well and seems a lot faster than my 72 MK 3,which is a G numbered car built in 71 and has the same 383 motor ?

Anyway, I would love to buy a MK 1 someday, anyone know of a descent priced MK 1 here in the US ?

Have a wonderful week wherever you are in the World !

Regards Cheers Steven.

Hi Steve i have the rostyles on my mk11 they had good chrome so painting them was on they turned out great however i have been scouring e bay for ages looking for the wheel center inserts did you get them from usa or uk ebay

Hi Sticky,

Good morning from Los Angeles.

I could not believe that I went on Ebay USA and there they were,plus I got the clips and a speedometer and a JENSEN side badge
all for $100 !

The center caps with the clips are here from K & D http://interceptor.org/wheels-tires-and-tools/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.
Anyway, all the best and send me some photos of your car, I would love to see it and your interior.

My email address is smdmcr@yahoo.com for any photos.

Have a great week !

Regards Cheers Steven.

Mark1Stu wrote:Congratulations. That's a really desirable, classy looking car - even with the hopefully minor paint defects. Lovely panel gaps too.

I often wonder what possesses owners to bling their car up, put on an ill-fitting louvred bonnet in place of the serviceable original etc etc - more so now I've seen your sharp looking understated example.

I guess it doesn't rain where you live (I belatedly realised you've temporarily removed the wiper arms)

As an owner of a mk11 now fitted with louvered bonnet its not ill fitted by the way also i don't consider it bling it's an up grade that jensen put on the mk111 they thought it needed someway of getting rid of under bonnet heat i hope this stoppes you wondering

Mark1Stu wrote:Congratulations. That's a really desirable, classy looking car - even with the hopefully minor paint defects. Lovely panel gaps too.

I often wonder what possesses owners to bling their car up, put on an ill-fitting louvred bonnet in place of the serviceable original etc etc - more so now I've seen your sharp looking understated example.

I guess it doesn't rain where you live (I belatedly realised you've temporarily removed the wiper arms)

Stu my mk11 has a louvred bonnet it fits fine and i don't consider it bling its what jensen moved onto with the mk111 i also fitted 4 pot calipers is that blingalso ???

Hi Sticky. Glad your bonnet fits fine - many replacements don't in my experience.

I kicked myself after the post you're referring to as a louvred bonnet is not the best example of bling. However, my comment was in response to the desire of some owners to update their car simply for the sake of it; bigger/better, faster etc etc - sometimes compromising the aesthetics and value of the car (albeit in my opinion), by so doing. Of course, it may drive better.

I realise I'm at the trust the original Jensen engineers / keep it original where possible end of the owner spectrum (which thus far has served me exceptionally well in terms of reliability, driving and ownership enjoyment and resale value).....but acccept an owner can do what he or she likes to their car.

Happy motoring.

Stu

Mark1Stu wrote:Congratulations. That's a really desirable, classy looking car - even with the hopefully minor paint defects. Lovely panel gaps too.

I often wonder what possesses owners to bling their car up, put on an ill-fitting louvred bonnet in place of the serviceable original etc etc - more so now I've seen your sharp looking understated example.

I guess it doesn't rain where you live (I belatedly realised you've temporarily removed the wiper arms)

louvred hoods are not an attempt to bling up a car but to remove heat from the engine room which is desperetly needed.