I have the JDHT cert for my 240, acquired by the previous owner.
According to the JDHT the engine fitted on the car now MIGHT HAVE BEEN fitted on it prior the car's despatch.
On the commission plate indeed the 2007 engine is stamped. Also car sold as new in Greece and this engine appears in its 1st logbook.
Thus I am sure that what JDHT considers as a possibility, is definitely the case here.
But can yu give an explanation to this?
Was it usuall for these cars to remain in the factory for so long before they travelled to their final destination?
From my experience with my other British Classic Cars (Triumph cars for which I also have a heirtage cert), back on the 60s these cars needed no more than 1-1,5 months from the date of built till the date of their 1st registration in my country. So definitely this was not a long long trip.
but what happened with this 240 and took it so long to got despatched?
Have you heard of similar stories?

*by the way, just for the history, this was the 2nd from last built for the 1967 and was built the very last working day of that year which was the Friday 29th December

 

I'm sure there could be many reasons for this but one of them was that Jaguar made, numbered & painted bodies for stock rather than order. They then configured/reconfigured the car once an order was placed for a specific colour. This is the reason that production numbers are not 100% correct. They would sometimes change a LHD designated body to a RHD body or vice versa depending on orders. The same could be said on engine size ~ in your case a 240 or a 340. Jaguar never reused these numbers on cars they reconfigured which makes production numbers slightly inflated. While this happened throughout production if they got an order for a specific colour, configuration etc, it was more prevalent near the end of production runs.

 

My 340 was built 25 days before your car on the 4th December and dispatched on the 12th December, so that had a quick turnaround, the 240 was not in such high demand, and may have been for stock.
Jaguar also road tested every car, there may have been a problem with your car and it returned to the factory for rectification, this was done off the production line and may have resulted in a new engine being fitted.

Being stock, and /or rectification of a problem would have resulted in delays to dispatch, if the engine was changed in the factory from one 2.4 to another it may be safe to assume this was a rectification issue, but as I say this is an assumption.
Glyn has made valid points also and as he says many reasons could lead to delay in dispatch.

 

All valid possibilities TJ. Your 340 is not painted "Cream" by any chance is it? In SA that would have been a quick to market colour.

 

Not now it's not !!! It was a foul biscuit beige !!!!

 

What's wrong with biscuit beige, it's no worse then old English white ???

This is much better !
The only thing missing is the "Mary Kay Cosmetic's" logo on the door.

 

Mmmnnn very nice - - - I must get mine resprayed !!!

 

The Greek ministry of transportation requested from me to stamp the engine number on a paper using a pencil.
Can you help where I should find this number?
Are there any engine peripherals I should remove in order to have access to that area?

 

The engine number should be stamped on the block above the oil filter head, not easy to get at, but it is possible, you would have to take the inlet manifold off to make it easy which is more work than you need to do.

 

It is also stamped at centre front of the cylinder head facing the firewall. Much easier to access.

 

Alright smarty, that's just making it easy !

Wasn't marked on this head though



No engine number

 

I'll believe most deviation from the norm at Browns Lane. They were simply not all that disciplined.

 

the cylinder heads on later 240s and 340's are rarely numbered .nor are they painted..The engine number is always on stamped in same position on the cylinder block.( on the horizontal area just above oil filter housing) ..its a way down there but IS accessible.. and almost always covered in grime..

 

Also the number on the head may not match the number on the engine if they have been swapped at any time.

My understanding is the engine number is whats on the block.

 

Engine number is indeed what is stamped on the block.. heads are commonly swapped out, and as a consequence plenty of cars often don't have matching numbers..by the late 70's mid 80s the cars were low value and were repaired appropriately.. many bit the dust due to overheating and were revived with a 'used' engine or had a different head swapped out.. some owners of Mk2s and S types will upgrade to a 'straight port' from a 340 etc.. (or earlier cars such as Mk10)
It was possible to order upgrades such as straight port head from factory when ordering the car new.. a few of the last 340s were special ordered with 3.8 engines etc.(these had unnumberd straight port heads) the most common option was 9:1 pistons.. low compression pistons ( 7.25:1) were also an 'option' if living in a nation with low grade fuel... 2" carbs were another popular option that could be ordered on a new car.. Basically..if you had the time to wait and sufficiently deep pockets..jaguar would build the car to your requested specs (within reason) up till around '68

 

Nevertheless a matching numbers car if it has a number on the head should match the block. It was always Jaguar's intention that where a number was stamped on the head that it matched the block. i.e. it was the engine number. Same as vehicle ID plate.

 

"Nevertheless a matching numbers car if it has a number on the head should match the block. It was always Jaguar's intention that where a number was stamped on the head that it matched the block. i.e. it was the engine number. Same as vehicle ID plate."
True.. but post '67 ( actually earlier..) the accountants had the upper hand and started to insist on 'standardizing' things to get costs down in the hope of making the company profitable.. As many are well were, by late '66 leather was no longer a 'standard' offering.. the wood veneer was switched to an 'economy' veneer ( Burr walnut was dropped in favor of a cheaper material) wool carpet and headliner replaced with synthetic materials.. ( which basically lost that unique subliminal smell of leather/wool/wood and the dunlopillow latex foam which was unique to high end brit cars) As of late '67 the cylinder heads were no longer stamped on 240 and 340 but left plain. '67 model year also saw a 're-badged' base model 3.4 for the US market .. (these sold as an 'economy' jaguar along side the slow selling 420) which was the first time the 3.4 was officially offered in USA..(3.8 Mk had been solon offering alongside the 3.8 S type from '64-66) all these US Mk2 3.4 imports came with power steering (old Burman box) Ambala upholstery..either the obsolete BW DG gearbox of a full synchro box without overdrive (likely to standardize the 3.54 diff on all cars)and straight grain veneer as well as limited color choices ... they were badge as '340' but had none of the 340 (introduce AFTER US exports had ended) 'upgrades' such as the straight port head and improved (BW35) auto box .. the vin numbers for these US exports match those of an 'export' 3.4 Mk2..NOT 340 as badged.. they also retained the deep Mk2 bumpers ( 240 and 340 had the thinner S type style bumpers from get go) As i understand it, as with earlier cars, 'options' could be ordered to 'upgrade' prior to build process, if the customer desired ..

 

Indeed ~ That in no way changes the intention to reflect the engine number on the head where present. e.g. If a straight port head was ordered ex works it would be stamped with the engine number. All stamping was done by hand at engine assembly.