This is quite good as the white lets you see most of the other details, obviously the air filters are not correct and the original should be silver.

 

sorry to break your hearts but the factory AC Air filter Mufflers and AC Brake Servo Breathers came painted in Austin Healey Engine Green Metallic.

Well, that's how mine were when I bought my unrestored S type in 2004. But I painted mine same color as the body, Plum Red. Looks fabulous (TO ME).

AND: recently I got a hold of another S type Air Filter Muffler and guess what? Same Austin Healey Engine Green Metallic color.

Certainly no coincidence here. But Owners paint them Silver, Plum Red, Blue, Copper.

Here's the one I got recently, intact, undinged, undamaged, very slight surface rust, from a Swedish S type, it even has the Swedish selling Dealer emblem. (Somewhere in th Netherlands, how it ended in the US I have no clue), it even has the paper filter inside!! and it is the same color as when I got my S type, Austin Healey Engine Green Metallic.

 

I thought i previously said 'I think they were originally silver'

 

That's interesting Jose, I've never seen one that colour, but can't argue with that, it can't be a coincidence.

 

Both my ‘64 and ‘65 ‘S” filters cannisters are silver hammer finish from the factory I would presume.

 

Heh, this is kind of what I meant, I'd obviously seen quite a few pictures on google image search, but there is so much variation I'm not sure what colours things should be!

 

Both my previously owned '66 S-types were silver hammer finish as well, One of them was an original unmolested example. Might of been a case of painting them with what they had handy at the time!

 

Is the green a US thing ? The Jaguar documentation seems to indicate they were silver, but it can't just be a coincidence that Jose has had 3 all in Austin Healey green.

 

I have no clue, I will post a picture of mine in 2004 when I bought my S type, it was the Healey Green, old paint, nothing underneath it, and also the Brake Booster Breather, also made by the company AC, was the same color.

Then recently I come across this '66 S type which came from Sweden, with the same Healey Green air filter "muffler".

But I agree, the company AC might have supplied them in both green and silver.

 

here's the way mine was when I bought the car, the second picture is after I painted it the same color as the car, the third picture is a silver one but in a 420.

 

Am I going mad Jose, there seems to be an abnormal difference in the air intake diameter and the air muffler box connection pipes(the rubber joint is stepped) I am not sure I've seen that before, aren't they normally similar in size like the one below?

 

TilleyJon,

the "air filter muffler" pipe is pushed into the aluminum intake then there's a stepped seal which originally, was a very thin seal, I hate to say "flimsy", but it was like a wide "rubber band", in that it actually stretched over both sections, but it was that stretching that in no time at all deteriorated the seal and it started falling apart with the heat of the engine.

I went to a turbo / Intercooler store where they found me a 1/8" thick stepped Silicone seal used in trucks that fits almost perfectly over the aluminum intake part, so I had to slightly clamp it over the aluminum part, as you can see in the picture below. But it does the job and it will not deteriorate. You can now find these silicone seals in eBay.

 

That makes sense, it's the thickness of the silicone seal that makes it look more stepped, the original seals are very thin and your right they degrade very easily.

Thanks for the pointer.

 

Well I thought I would do an update on the head, after 2 visits to the acid bath to remove all the crud, the waterways have been cut back, TIG welded up and the head skimmed.

After this it was decided to replace the valve seats with new hardened seats, some corrosion was found under the exhaust seats and 2 inlet valve seats were loose, so all seats were removed, the head milled out and new deeper hardened seats installed.

A new set of exhaust valves, cam bearings, new valve stem seals, a new inlet valve and all setup and shimmed.

A few pics showing the shimming process, as many will know this is a slight pain especially after valve work, as one has to install the cams, measure all the clearances, take the cams out, re shim, refit the cams, re-check and re-adjust shims until all clearances are correct, much simpler if one is just making adjustments to existing.

You will see my method, I make notes by each valve on some tape fixed to the head, with clearance, difference, shim size as fitted, and new size fitted, using a snap micrometer to measure the shims, and sift through a stock of shims to find the correct ones.

Offset feeler gauges are easier to use than regular feeler gauges for these OHC engines for checking tappet clearances.

 

Wow.. Just wow...

You know, the block is going to look so shabby now compared to the head, how hard are they to remove ;-)

 

Great work John; great pics; great sharing!!!

Can I be excused for adding one detail related to measuring shim thickness that newcomers may not be familiar with. Shims that are brand new have a uniform thickness and it matters not whether they are fitted "upside down". But previously used shims have at least 2, perhaps up to 4 thicknesses, owing to the small diameter "pocket" worn into the lower face of a shim by the valve stem . . . something that never occurs on the upper surface under the cam-following bucket.

If the shim has been previously used, this pocket in the lower face gives rise to 2 potential thicknesses . . . measured 88thou at the dead centre this shim will refit to produce a given camshaft clearance . . . but if measured through the outer anulus at say 90 thou (its original thickness) then flipped and used again, it will invariably give a camshaft clearance that is 2thou less (90-88=2).

If the shim shows a worn pocket in both faces, it can still be used (again, you have a choice of fitting either way), but subsequent measurement for engine building may be frustrating (do you know how to do it accurately?). The flipping and re-use of pre-used shims is a great way of multiplying the range of shims you have at your disposal. Not a new idea, but compared to the days when all of us had tobacco tins of literally hundreds of shims, the cost of such quantities of brand new replacements cam be significant. Hope this helps someone . . . especially if you are missing that vital last one.

Why don't we simply surface grind all pre-used shims? Because the case hardening is so thin, that most race engineers I worked with banned the process, so most of us favoured using new or worn shims to show this had not been done.

Cheers,

Ken

 

Absolutely right Cat, I take several measurements over the shim to see what I am shooting for, traces of oil can also add a thou, I have a ball end I can fit on my snap gauge to accurately measure a pre-worn shim.

As you say a shim kit set is about £400 or more, for someone new to this it is a time consuming and can be expensive process if you are ordering shims to try and suit, if one is simply re-shimming to adjust existing clearances it is fairly simple providing you have the correct measuring equipment which needs to be accurate to within a thou.

Brent, you could try painting the block in situ, otherwise it's an engine and gearbox out job, not too difficult, but not easy on a steep driveway !!

 

I was just joking really, I can so easily see how doing one job on these cars can suffer from mission creep and turn into a complete rebuild.....

I'm going to go and try and find some silver paint today for the air cleaner, and some black paint for the new fan shroud Ive bought.

 

Almost finished, looks a little better than it did, just need to put the studs back in and it's ready to go.

Paint and a quick polish, not pristine, but passable.

 

damm it Tilley John, are those the cam covers I sold you? I regret selling them now!