The machine shop is able to pressure test my head for a reasonable price, but the valves that I removed this weekend need to be put back in. So this evening I went out to the garage to do just that when a thought crossed my head. I chucked the #2 intake valve in my drill and ...

That ladies and gentlemen is a bent valve and the source of 0 compression on #2 cylinder.

I chucked the #2 exhaust valve in the drill for the sake of comparison and you can tell the difference.

I feel better knowing why the compression is bad. I don't know if I bought the car with bent valves or if that was my fault but it doesn't really matter.

 

Oops!
But then, what's a little wobble among friends?!
Bet we know what you'll be doing today.
(';')

 

Good find.

 

Today was a busy day in the garage. Yesterday I had a single 205/70-16 tire mounted to check clearance to the rear skirt.



205 was a good width. I feel like 215 would be too close to the skirt.


While I was at the back of the car I went ahead and drained both fuel tanks. Whatever was in the tanks had long ago stopped being fuel and was now something else. Some of it spilled on my driveway and it took a couple hours to evaporate. Usually it's all gone in minutes. On top of that it smelled incredibly foul - my wife walked up and asked why it smelled like black licorice. My apologies to those that enjoy black licorice.

Pulling the gas tanks is now on my list of things to do.


Last week I had cleaned up the left tie-rod and prettied it up with some paint. I was purging out all the old grease when my grease gun went empty. I'll finish this up tomorrow.


I'm starting to second-guess my brake disc idea. I don't mind things like boring out the center of the disc, but I think I am going to draw the line at shaving down the calipers and/or mounting brackets. Even though the wheels are 16" diameter there is a bump-out every 90 degrees that really limits room for the caliper.

 

I bought this car knowing that the engine was not running. I did that mainly so I wouldn't feel guilty about replacing the engine with something more modern if that was the path I ended up taking. I had a few ideas in mind - maybe an AJ6 from an XJ40. Or the supercharged AJ engine from a mid 1990's XJR.

In the end, I decided that this engine was worth rebuilding. It's the original engine the car came with and I feel sentimental about that. I don't love the transmission but I talked to John's Cars on Friday and he still makes the Quarterbreed kit. This will let me put a 4 speed/overdrive transmission behind the XK engine.

So tonight I ordered new valves, gaskets, carb rebuild kits, studs, valves, etc. The front exhaust manifold was cracked so I picked up a new pair of those. I'll call John's Cars tomorrow and order the Quarterbreed kit. Buy once cry once, right?

I was able to finish rebuilding the left side tie rod. New grease pumped in and instead of using the rubber boots I went with a set of Energy Suspension polyurethane boots (913119G). I've had these on my MGB for 7 or 8 years now and they work very well.


I had to drain the rest out of the oil pan before I could clean it. It is impressive how big this pan is.


Today I finally won the battle of the scuttle vent. It was questionable there for a few days who was going to win but in the I prevailed. I removed all the old paint and rust, primered it, and got some black paint on it. It's not going to be an exact color match but it's going to be better than it was and stop any rust.

 

With the addition of air conditioning, I am going to need more amps than the generator can provide. I had this CS-130 alternator sitting on the shelf. It's rated for 105 amps which should be plenty to keep the electrical load in check.

Unfortunately there is a bundle of wires right where the alternator needs to go so I will be relocating those.


I also pulled the heater valve off and if this stamping reads XX/54 I'm wondering if it was the original valve.


The last thing I did tonight was to pull the oil filter head. I have a spin-on filter conversion coming tomorrow and wanted to clean up the exterior and make sure the seal channel was totally clean.

 

Thorsen
If the spin-on converter thingy is anything like that I fitted to my Ferguson tractor, it has a threaded central somewhat bolt-like threaded part that screws into the original casting, that as well as other things, holds in place a circular fitting that gives the filter a surface to seal against. It also provides the threaded spigot for the oil filter cannister to screw onto

Quite often when unscrewing the filter cartridge the threaded bolt-like central thing unscrews and the entire lot comes off the OEM filter casting, instead of just the filter. I eventually fixed this by carefully cleaning the bolt-like threads and original OEM casting tapped part, and using the high strength loctite to hold the bolt-like thing solidly in the OEM casting.

 

Thank you for the advice, Greg. The instructions call for using loctite on the bolt and I was debating the need for that, but I will use it.

 

I got the oil filter conversion done today. It's a neat piece of kit and I am sure a modern filter will clean the oil better than what was inside the canister.


I also pulled the fuse box cover for the first time tonight. I don't mind the random wire going through the firewall to a fuel pump. I draw the line at house wiring nuts on a car. Between that and and the wiring mess underneath the dash, I am going to be doing some re-wiring work for sure.

 

FYI: Ordinary medium strenghth blue loctite was not strong enough in my case. I had to do it again with the green 'heat to 400°C to undo it' type.

 

I've been busy.

New valves, springs, and seals. I checked the valve clearance and it was perfect.


New intake manifold studs and of course the kit was missing the two small studs on the lower back corner. I'll reuse the ones that I pulled off.


Intake manifold in place and ready to go.


This is the most expensive thermostat I've ever bought. The price on these are insane but if you want the engine to stay cool you need one.

Interestingly when I took it apart there was no thermostat. I already suspected they were having overheating issues based on the electric pusher fan in front of the radiator. No thermostat does not help the situation - you need it to block off the bypass port when the engine is hot.


One of the exhaust manifolds was cracked so I treated myself to a new set of porcelain coated manifolds. I'm sure this is the best they will ever look. It's such an iconic part of the engine that I had to do it.


Head back on. Time to attach the timing gears to the camshaft.


I annealed more copper washers today than in an single day in the past.


Cam covers in place but not bolted down yet. Rags on the top of the engine to keep stuff out of the cylinders. You can't see but the oil pan has been cleaned and put back in place.


I decided the oil filter was too close to the torsion bar for my peace of mind, so I put in an oil filter relocation kit and plumbed it with AN hoses.


The oil filter lives behind the right side inner fender, safely protected from road debris.

 

Superb work, Thorsen. The engine looks magnificent. And I assume the problem with unscrewing the oil filter from the conversion kit will no longer arise either?

 

You are correct - the remote filter adapter will never need to be removed from the spin-on conversion kit, so that's a plus.
And thank you for the compliment - the XK engine is a beauty!

 

Today was focused on fuel and air. This is the air filter that came with the car - does anyone know if this comes apart? I assume there should be a paper filter inside here but I can't figure out how to open it up.



This mesh can't be the only air filter, right?


This is the rear carb. It cleaned up pretty well but the jet assembly is all rusted together. Based on the exploded diagram I think I am going to have to go shopping.


Both gas tanks came out today. I was impressed by the size and how well they were formed to fit inside the fenders.


Both tanks are in poor condition. They are full of rust and sediment. It looks like someone has already been here based on the tags attached to both of the tanks.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do here. There's a place near my Dad that cleans and restores tanks - I need to call them tomorrow and see if they think these are salvageable.
The next option is to make another pair out of aluminum but that would be a ton of work.
Another option is to use a company near me that custom makes tanks out of stainless. This is not a cheap option.
The last option on my list is a universal tank in the trunk. It seems like cheating.

I have other things to worry about so I am pushing this to the back burner for now.


The carbs are sitting in place while I wait for more parts, but it's a fetching look.

 

Thorsen
If, repeat if, that air cleaner is mounted vertically, mesh downwards, AND there is an outer cannister into which the mesh fits, the the car has an oil-bath air cleaner. These are fitted to most 1950s and 1960s tractors. The cannister mesh sits in the oil bath, usually about 1/3 covered by oil, or has a tube going downwards into the oil, and the air passages are such that air has to be drawn downwards and pass upwards through the oil and the oily mesh before entering the intake manifold.
The air therefore does a U turn through the oil/mesh, but particulates, being heavier, go straight on and get "enmeshed" in the oily stuff! It actually works pretty effectively, believe it or not! some links:
https://www.underhoodservice.com/oil-bath-air-filters/
https://www.instructables.com/Make-a...Motorcycle-or/



If mounted horizontally, then presuming there is a cover of some sort on the mesh, as in this photo, then I assume there must be some sort of way to keep oil on the mesh so that a 90° turn of the air shakes out the particulates. Maybe the mesh was simply dipped in oil as part of the (then) usual 1000 mile sevice.


Just found this:
https://mossmotors.com/jes-20216-air...mk-vii-viii-ix
It seems there is a special element inside, so maybe no oil on the mesh?
Also this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266973450256
which provides some explanantion of how it works. It seems you have a valuable antique!

 

Greg,
The one that I have sits horizontally across the engine, so I don't think it's the oil bath type. On the ebay link you provided you can see the flat end has a wing nut to allow the canister to open - the one I have has none.

After a bit of googling, I think Moss has the answer. If you look at the top of the page, the air cleaner on the right is the one I have. Item #3 is the air filter for that and the description says it's for the "sphinx" type Mark VII filter. It does not appear that the canister opens.
The filter assembly that resembles a hollow-point bullet is shown on the left of the Moss catalog and it appears that can be opened to replace the canister type element.

Thank you Greg - I can mark this mystery as solved!

 

So how does the paper filter thingy (item 3 in the link) actually fit onto your metal cannister, Thorsen? Does it sit on top of the metal gauze, or outside it, inside it, in place of it, or what?

 

I'm guessing what Moss sells replaces the gauze section as shown here. IE - you remove the gauze section, replace it with item 3, and then put the cap back on.



When you look at the filter from this view I think the design priority was to help silence the intake hiss. Actually filtering the air was probably not much of a concern.


It's hard to get a picture, but the longer canister has an intake trumpet inside.

 

Got it, the gauze is replaced by a more modern filter. Indeed silencing carburettor hiss was one of the aims; the item was called an air cleaner and silencer, apparently.

 

Hi Thomas,
I wish I would have looked at your thread earlier, I might have been able to save you some time and worry. To check for a bent valve w/o taking the head a part, is to flip the head over (combustion chambers facing up) fill the combustion chambers with rubbing alcohol and check for it leaking into the ports. It will tell you which valve isn’t sealing. They most likely were bent when the cams were in and the head put down on the engine mating surface. Very common error. It doesn’t take much pressure/force to bend a valve.
good read so far!
Bob_S