I have a 70 etype roadster. I'm trying to determine if it has a proper head and camshafts.I have seen pictures of cam shafts with both 2 and 4 bolt flanges. Mine has 2. What is the difference in the 2 and 4 bolt applications applications??

 

I had a look at the parts drawings for the E-type Series 1 and also 2 on the SNG Barratt website; (thank you, SNGB !). The Series 1 which had a 3.8 litre engine shows the camshafts with 2 bolt holes, and the Series 2, with the 4.2 litre engine, shows camshafts with 4 bolt holes on the sprocket flanges. Clearly Jaguar thought 2 bolts weren't enough for the 4.2 litre engine !
However you say your 1970 car has 2-bolt fixings, so the mystery deepens. I last worked on an XK engine in 1990, so can't remember how many bolts secured the cams to the sprockets, sorry !

 

I did some more investigation and here is an update:

I also checked out Moss and SNG Barratt ( I have a copy of their newly re-released parts catalogue but could only find pictures of the 2 hole cams. So I did some more research on my head and camshaft. Below is a link to a great article on identifying the different cam shafts that were used in the XKEs. that was subsequently forwarded to me from a guy on the Jag -Lovers forums.

Camshafts

If accurate I believe the head probably was original to the engine.
Here is my rational:
Although a 70 model the car was built in December 69. That means the engine would have probably been built sometime earlier in 1969. Looking at my cam it appears to match the middle camshaft in the article that was adapted sometime in 68 and probably used through at least 69. (probably most series 1.5 car engines. )The cams do not have oilers on back of the cam lobes as earlier 3.8 and 4.2 engines do and appears to have the identification ring only on the front of the 68 cam's flange indicated in the article. In addition I checked the camshaft drive sprockets. They match the scalloped ones adapted in 1968 and were dropped when they went to the 4 bolt cams.Lastly, the head has no identifications and we know they stopped doing that on later heads so its unlikely to be an older head.

Check the article out and let me know what you think. Have a Great Weekend.

Camshafts

 

Note the advice to dump the "scalloped" sprocket. These are known to fail, upset the valve timing with the result that valves hit the pistons.

 

johnrmclean
That is a really good heads up on the XK engine and camshafts. I applaud your research
I don't have an E Type but have owned just about every iteration of the XK engine. (Mk7 to XJ6S3).
Many years ago, I was asked to sort out a problem in an E type engine which had been rebuilt but would not run.
This was a respected engine builder, but I suspect they did not have a background in Jag engines
It was unbelievable. They had the exhaust camshaft on the inlet side and the inlet camshaft on the exhaust side.
I had to resort to part numbers to convince them that they had got it wrong!
Cheers

 

Yes, I'm being cautious on who I have do the head especially . Once upon a time there were a fair number of mechanics who did British sports car not so much anymore, except for maybe the smaller, simpler , more common and more economical to restore MGB or Austins engines but definitely not Jags. They are mostly, but not all, a dying breed and , when you find them, they are far and wide. Its taken me quite a few weeks to search out and find these ancient souls, along with determining exactly the make up of my engine but I finally have a list of some good candidates a few of which I am currently talking to. They are from Georgia, to Illinois , Indiana, Idaho, Oregon and Ontario Canada. There are a few closer to East and West coast big cities but they seem pretty costly so I have kind of left them out of the mix for now. These guys were narrowed down from 5 or 6 pages of leads , a lot of emails, and phone calls. At some point I'm going to make a reference list of the mechanics and builders I found and post it.

Have a Great Weekend!

 

So just when you think you have figured things out someone asks you ....whats the part numbers for those cams??????????? Because there ain't no numbers on them.