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Telling us what the specific part is will help and what supplier specifies early and late.
I don't remember coming across anything described this way, maybe at Burlen Carbs ?
Hi I have just brought my self a Mk 2 3.4 1963 built December looking for parts some are described as early and late how do I know what my car is?
Well the Mark 2 came out in 1959, and production of the 240/340 stopped in 1969, so I suppose you could call it "early". However, give us the detail on what parts you are concerned about. FWIW I rebuilt a Mark 2 in the 80s from a bare shell so I do know a bit about these cars, (although my memory does fade after all those years, I'm afraid !!).
Possibly they class the early as the big bumper Mk2 and the late as the slimline bumper also known as the 240 and 340.The general parts were practically the same with some limited variations specific to each model ie engine parts.
This is a link to the Jaguar Landrover heritage parts lists for all the Older Jaguar saloons so you can check the parts numbers you ar looking for. Strange that on here they link the parts of the Mk2 2.4 and 240 together than the Mk2 3.8 and the 340 together but there is no mention of the Mk2 3.4 possibly because it is basically the same car for parts as the 3.8 with just the smaller engine. https://parts.jaguarlandroverclassic...le-information
In spare parts company parlance like Barratts a 1963 Mk2 would rate as early on their website.
Buy a copy of this book by Taylor. It gives a good idea of changes over the years. For S Type & 420 his earlier book gave greater detail of changes by year. (Out of print ~ but comes up used from time to time)
A Genuine Jaguar Mk2 Spare Parts manual will be your friend as they quote Part No from Chassis number to Chassis number. Then you can search Parts Vendors sites by PN.
Last edited by Glyn M Ruck; May 2, 2020 at 07:13 PM.
It seems to me that the early vs. late would indicate a change in a given part since they made running changes as the parts became ready. For instance, while i was re-habbing my 66, I found that the brakes being Dunlop were called early, while the steering box being "I forget now" was called late. You just need to have your body number handy and take lots of pictures to compare to parts listings, and also to post with questions.
Just thought I would muddy the waters. Good luck!
I can't talk for the Mk2 but when doing a ground up restoration of my S Type, while there is the very odd error I found the official Parts Manual to correspond accurately to what part was fitted originally to what range of Chassis numbers/Body numbers.
The SPCs are in fact very accurate. The issue comes up when folks obtain a copy of the SPC that was issued early in the model. Changes of course are not reflected in those but rather in the spare parts bulletins. SPCs issued at the end of the run are of course updated and very accurate as are the SPBs.
I would consider a car with the chrome trim on top of the doors without the rubber seal as an early car and the one with the chrome trim with the rubber attached as a late car but as said above it really depends on what part it is.
To me strictly speaking a MK2 is a wide bumper car but if you are talking about them in general and including the 240 and the 340 in this then you could say the MK2's are early and the 240 and 340 are late.
I don't know how old you are and the state of your health, but the best advice is to just keep what makes you happy. Whether it is something that you enjoy working on yourself, will enjoy after a restoration shop finishes it, or something that can be driven and enjoyed now. I'm in good health and entering my late 60's. I still enjoy doing some work on my cars but I'll admit that I was feeling frustrated with the number of projects that I had sitting around. I decided that I would sell a couple of cars and allow myself to concentrate on the remaining cars. The hope is that I'll have more enthusiasm, energy, and even a bit more money to move the cars along. My cars were not valuable but the space that selling freed up was priceless! Hopefully I will be able to focus on my XJS.
If a particular car has personal value through an emotional connection, that would be the one that I would want to hold onto. In my case there has never been an emotional attachment to any car that I've ever owned, so the only emotion I felt on their sale is relief. Best of luck, do what makes you happier.
