See prior post about the oil filter leak. After removing the entire oil filter housing and getting the spin-on adapter loose (which took considerable twisting, tapping, and wiggling), the oil filter leak culprit became clear: the inside diameter of the adapter was just a bit too narrow for the inside......
Continue reading...Engine
engine block, exhaust, exhaust manifold, radiator
Ninety-ninety rule
When 90% of a task is complete, the remaining 10% takes 90% of the time. — Paraphrased and originally attributed to Tom Cargill, 1985 The Ninety-ninety rule appears to be true in terms of getting the engine to run flawlessly. We’ve overcome several obstacles — the damper conflict with the......
Continue reading...Fine tuning
With the engine now running, fine tuning can be completed. There are three settings on the carburetor: idle speed, fuel volume, and throttle tension controlled by a spring. With the engine warmed up and the linkage clamps loosened, the first step is to set the idle screw. A strip of......
Continue reading...First engine start!
From the depths of despair to victory at last. Here are the video highlights: The outpouring of sympathy and suggestions from all of you has been most encouraging. So what was the problem? Well, the fuel did appear to be bad, perhaps cross-contaminated with diesel (it was oily and didn’t......
Continue reading...Stuck #@!$*!
Completely stuck for the past 10 days! Everything has been ready for the first engine start, but that hasn’t really happened yet. “Really” because the engine did start for about a minute, sputtering at a very low RPM, and then it died as soon as the throttle was applied. As......
Continue reading...Fan balance & radiator install
After trimming and adjusting the radiator fan, it must also be static balanced. Jaguar suggests rolling the fan on level parallel bars; when various positions no longer result in movement, the fan is balanced. Two half-moon shaped metal weights can be positioned along the arc of the bolt pattern to......
Continue reading...Radiator fan adjustments
See also trimming the fan post. The radiator fan got a little banged up over the past fifty years, so after trimming it down to fit the brake servo unit, each blade was carefully adjusted. The blade height should be just under an inch — about 25 mm — and......
Continue reading...Radiator detailing
The Jaguar’s radiator was recored, according to the few service records available, around 1995. The recore process basically mates the original frame housing and the cooling hose connections to a new assembly with the coolant tubes and air fins. Visual inspection shows that the “new” core — now twenty years......
Continue reading...Exhaust system installation
See also exhaust system planning post. Our plan to install a new model-correct single exhaust for the 2.4 engine was theoretically straightforward, but ran into the hard reality of nut-and-bolt installation and fitment. Like so many aftermarket products, the new stainless steel exhaust was almost to specification, but not quite.......
Continue reading...Trimming the fan
See prior discussion of fan conflict with the brake servo. How to trim a stamped steel fan with twisted blades? It can’t be held in a bench vice. An attempt to mill the fan on a rotary table failed because the extended blades created too much “chatter” against the cutting......
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