Hey Bob - good to see you again. I'm guessing this engine hasn't run in a few decades and the valves probably stuck in the guides due to lack of use. They probably got bent when the engine was turned over - either by me or someone before.

Either way - problem solved...

 

I have a distrust of rubber products that the major vendors sell, so I avoid them where possible. The coolant hoses are no exception, and today I used silicone hose to make a new bypass hose. I started with a 90º elbow, a length of 1-1/4" tubing, an aluminum tube joiner, and a Gates Power Grip hose clamp.



Silicone hoses require lined hose clamps, but this should last quite a while.


I thought I was going to test fire the engine tonight, but I needed to install the valve covers first.
The good news is that the oil pump is working very well.

After that I moved to the interior - it was time to tackle the heater valve.


I'm not shy of upgrades especially when they can be hidden. I have used the Vintage Air 50507-VUA heater valve on several of my cars and it never disappoints.


I wanted the heater control valve to work with the stock dash knob, so I removed the Vintage Air knob and used a piece of adhesive lined shrink tubing to attach the Vintage Air control valve to the stock Jagaur operating rod.


It works very well. I'll wire up and plumb the heater valve later.

 

Great work as usual, Thorsen!

However, I am mystified as to why you would continue to use a part that "...never fails to disappoint." Doesn't that mean, "It always disappoints...?"

Cheers,

Don

 

Ha! Good catch - I was talking to my wife and wasn't paying attention. I corrected it.

 

If it's not one thing, it's the other.

Last night I spun the engine over for a total of about 2 minutes with the plugs out. I ran the starter for a max of 20 seconds and let it cool down about 5 minutes between each event. I started with the oil pressure port opened so I could see when the filter filled up, then plugged that and ran it a few more times to make sure oil was circulating through the engine. That was when I noticed the puddle under the engine from the cam covers not being sealed. I cleaned up that mess, sealed the cam covers to the engine, and waited overnight.

This morning with the plugs in, the starter struggles to spin the engine. I have a new battery, fully charged, and the starter and battery are connected with a set of 2 gauge cables I made. I think this starter is done. I prefer the WOSP starters from Moss but they don't list one for my car, so I ordered a gear reduction starter from British Starter. I'll rebuild the original starter this winter when I run out of things to do.

 

The nice thing about having a big project is that you never run out of things to do.

SendCutSend sent me the exhaust flanges I designed. I had them cut these out of 3/8" 304 stainless steel. The center hole is spec'ed for a 2" down pipe. I learned a few years back that stainless steel exhausts are the way to go.


Since I am adding air conditioning, I always try to avoid running the compressor from the same belt that the water pump is on. The compressor needs more belt tension that I am comfortable putting on the water pump bearings. To that end I picked up a Mark II double pulley and was surprised to learn that the Mark II uses super skinny belts. I'm back to the drawing board on the crank pulley.
(Mark VII crank pulley on the left, Mark II crank pulley on the right)


From there it was time to rebuild the carbs. Well, I rebuilt one of the carbs since Moss split my order and one of the jet springs won't be here until next week. This is my first time working on H6 carbs. My MGB had HS4 carbs for 20 years and while the concept is the similar. I like the movable jets in the HS carbs but I appreciate the H carbs for their simplicity.

The name of the game here is to make sure everything is clean and that the assemblies work as they should.


Since the carbs were totally cleaned and I was 100% sure there was not a trace of gas anywhere in the carbs, I held the carb against my shop vac and opened/closed the throttle to make sure the piston was working as it should.

 

My neighbor calls that Job Security.
(';')

 

Thorsen
Polishing the plunger cylinder with some brass polish ("Brasso" in the UK, but the USA equivalent) is a good plan while servicing the carbs.

 

That Mk2 pulley is actually a double V pulley i.e. two vs on the single belt. Getting new belts is a PITA.

 

So an update on the gas tank situation.
The place near my Dad wanted $150 to clean/appraise my tanks and then would give me an estimate to re-line them. They also said that if the tanks were baffled (they are) the process wouldn't work that well. I think this option is off the table.

The next option was Rock Valley Tanks, conveniently located about an hour away from me. They custom make gas tanks out of stainless steel so it's a one-and-done deal. I talked to them this week and they even already have the patterns for the tanks on my car! The bad news is that a pair of tanks runs $2,600. I am sure they are a quality product and worth every penny but that's a lot of money.

I did have the crazy idea to use the old tanks as a mold for thermo-forming plastic sheets over each half and then plastic welding the clam shells together. I would never have to worry about rust! But I would worry about leaks from the weld.

Then I thought about using the existing tanks as a buck and forming stainless steel sheet metal to the shape of each half of the tank. Then I could make a stainless steel birdcage to act as an internal structure/baffle. It would be easier to weld than plastic but stainless that was thin enough to form would likely be too flimsy for use as a tank.

The universal tank route is certainly an attractive option from the price point, but I'd like to stay with the twin tanks. I think I am going to explore the "make my own" aluminum tank route.

 

I'm starting to work through the electrical and moved the battery from the shelf back into the car. There was some 2/0 gauge cable in my parts bin that is rated for about 250 amps - that should be plenty to go from the battery to the starter.


Next I started to think about how I am going to mount an AC compressor and alternator. It's really tight in the engine bay.


Most likely this area will end up with a few strategic dimples to make room.


After that I mounted the new radiator and measured for an AC condenser. I'll be going with an electric radiator fan and while I usually prefer to mount them behind the radiator, there is simply not enough room. We'll be using one up front in a pusher configuration. It's less efficient to push rather than pull, but it's the space that we have.


Finally, I was really confused to see 4 wires coming out of the steering box. Then I realized one was for the horn, one was power for the turn signals, one was to light the left turn signals, and the last one was to light the right turn signals. I've never seen those wires travel all the way through the steering shaft, but I suppose that was the easiest solution.

 

Today was a long day. I started with adding a battery cut-off switch in an easy-to-reach location. Just in case.


In the process of wiring in the battery, I started looking closer at the wiring I decided I was not happy with it. Today I pulled out 17 wire nuts like you use in residential/120 volt applications. Underneath the dash was a mess of scotch lock connectors and connections that were taped together. It didn't meet my standards, even when I applied the sliding scale of "the car isn't even working".

So I started pulling it all out. The original fuse box, the generator control box, all of it.

Then I removed the center section of the dash, grabbed the bin of automotive wiring off the shelf, and got to work. In my mind the logical starting place with the ignition switch...


I learned about these printable, heat-shrink labels a year back. They make it super easy to keep your wiring organized.


The fuel cut-over switch was intermittent, so I took it apart and cleaned it. It's working perfectly now.


Wiring up the panel with deutsch plugs makes it easy to remove in the future if needed.


I pulled the map light / instrument panel light bar to clean the grounds and make sure the lights work. 2 out of 5 is par for the course on this car
I think the bulbs under the purple globes are "52" - I need to look for replacements.
Does anyone know what the intention of the purple glow was? Just a pleasing visual?


I also had time and the right boring bar bits to finish opening up the hub on the brake rotor - but that's another story for another day.

 

I *Like* the idea of those labels!
If only I'd had a handful of those 10 years ago when I was rewiring mine.........

Ya know, Thomas, if you had any idea what you were doing or where to find stuff, you might work faster.

 

Those blue/purple lights are specifically designed for night driving.
They make the white markings on the instruments stand out while everything else is dimmed.
I owned a 1954 MK 7 manual/overdrive from 1969 to 1979. (Also had a 1952 manual from 1953 to 1969)
In that car in the 1970s I did many hours at night while driving the 900 miles between my residence and my parents' home a couple of times a year to keep the kids (and us) in contact with their grandparents.
To be honest in the many cars I have owned since then That MK7 blue/purple instrument lighting was as good anything I ever encountered in later cars.

 

Thank you for explaining and sharing Bill!

 

Today was a bit of a slow day as I am waiting on a shipment of wire and wiring accessories before I can keep moving on. Tomorrow should be an exciting day as the new starter arrives, and I get the last piece to rebuild the front carb. Before the middle of the week I am hoping to see if I have an engine that runs...

One thing that I got accomplished today was fabricating a mount for the Vintage Air heater valve.

 

You can't have your victory without disappointments.

My new starter came today and I was able to put it in at lunch. The good news is that with the plugs in, the engine turns over very fast.

I shot a burst of starting fluid into the intake manifold to see if I could get her to start and I'd get some back fires, but no internal combustion. After a couple of failed attempts, I pulled the spark plugs and ran a compression test. The compression numbers in red along the left are from a couple of weeks back; the numbers in blue down the right side of the page are from tonight. Cylinders 2, 4, and 6 got new intake valves that were lapped in - those look good. Cylinder 3 had the same intake and exhaust valves put back in. Cylinder 5 had the same intake and exhaust valves put back in. 3 is way down on compression and 5 is down enough to take action.



I'm not sure what happened. Tomorrow I'll take the valve covers off and see what I find. I expect the head will be coming off again. All in all it's incredibly frustrating.

 

On thing that is always important to me is a set of accurate and reliable gauges. My first British car - a 1970 MGB that I still own - had a fuel gauge that was more of a guess and an oil pressure gauge that went to about the half way point and never moved, regardless of engine speed. The speedometer had about a 20mph arc around the actual speed. I fixed all those issues as time and money allowed, but I never forgot the anxiety associated with driving down a dark country road without knowing exactly how much gas was in the tank.

On the Jaguar, someone had cut the capillary tube to the oil gauge, and the temp gauge was non-op. With my upcoming conversion to a 700R4 / 4L60e transmission, I was about to make the speedometer useless. So I picked up a set of Speedhut gauges to make sure I knew what was going on. I like that Speedhut lets you customize the color and lighting of the gauge to make your vehicle.

The problem is that the largest Speedhut gauge is 4.5" and the holes to mount the speedo and tach are closer to 5", meaning the gauges will slip right through the dash.



To fix that I fired up AutoDesk and designed a giant washer that had an OD of 5.25" and an ID of 4.2"
Then I sent it to the 3d printer.


Now the gauges mount perfectly in the dash.


By adjusting the thickness of the washer, I was able to account for the fact that the wood fascia stands off from the gauges by .25"

 

Aw, that is Way beyond cool!
But then, we've come to expect nothing less.
(';')

 

Back to the issue of the engine and low/no compression on cylinders 3 and 5...
(The compression numbers in blue down the right side of the page are from earlier this week)


I pulled the head this afternoon, and started recording valve clearances. The intake valve clearance on 2, 3, and 5 was too tight to slip in the .0015 feeler gauge.


I thought maybe the too-tight valve clearance was causing the no compression in #3, so I pulled the intake cam and stuck a bright flashlight in the #3 port. You could see light shining around the valve.

All I did to this cylinder was clean the carbon of the back side of the intake valve using a knive and replace the valve springs. The intake valve wasn't bent when I checked it a few weeks back and it wasn't bent tonight. I'm at a complete loss for what happened.


I'm going to replace the intake valves in #3 and #5 which were the only ones I didn't replace last week. They seemed fine so I thought I could get away reusing them. I should have known better.

I'm also going to make a plate that I can bolt to the bottom of the cylinder head and check the valves for leakage using compressed air. That will save me time and the cost of a head gasket.

The valve clearance issue needs to be addressed, especially the "no shim" in #6 exhaust. I should have done a better job checking clearance last time so my penance is to do it all again. I pulled the tappets and shims, measured everything, and have to do some math before I send in my next parts order.


In other news, I did find a "NOS" air cleaner that has been reportedly sitting on a shelf for the last 70 years. I don't know how much of that is true, but it's better than the air cleaner that came with the car. A trip through the sand blaster and some fresh paint will take care of the cosmetics.


The UPS man also brought me the Quarterbreed kit from Johns Cars. This will let me mount a 700r4 transmission with overdrive behind the XK engine. I used his Quarterbreed kit behind the V-12 in my XJS a few years back and was happy with the product.