I am venturing out of my x308 world a bit . . .

I bought a (reasonably) good shape 1963 Mark II last week. It has been sitting in the sellers garage for years. He states it was "restored" (his words) about 20 years ago and painted BRG. The car was originally owned by the sellers late uncle, so he really doesn't know a lot about the car.
The underbody is nearly rust free, though there is some on the body panels that will need to be taken care of. Spoke wheels (from a later yr Mark II) in good shape.

The glaring exception to the originality of this car is the engine. It is currently fitted with a Chevy straight 6, with I think an automatic transmission. The engine is nonrunning, status otherwise unknown. The seller included in the sale a spare 3.4L Jag engine and 4 sp OD transmission. This engine/transmission is almost certainly NOT matching to the car, I have no idea what vintage the engine is from and the seller does not know anything about the condition of the 3.4L engine.

The problem I am running into is getting the car shipped about 1500 miles to South Dakota. The sales price included the seller shipping the car and spare engine/transmission. In trying to find a shipping company to get the car to me, the problem seems to be the loose engine/transmission is about tripling the cost of shipping of just the car only, much to the sellers surprise.

The seller has offered to refund me back $500 if I just want the car, without the spare 3.4L. I am nearly certain that I will not be able to find another Jag engine anywhere near by me as Jaguars of any sort are very uncommon.

The question that I have is one of possible blasphemy. The currently installed Chevy engine may or may not be usable, I have no idea at this point. The Jag engine included in the sale is also unknown condition, but not numbers matching in any case.
This car will never be concours; I am looking to use the car for weekend drives or occasional day trips; for a car that I can actually drive.
Is it a big deal to have the 3.4L? It is making the shipping situation very complicated.
Ideas?

 

Even though the car isn't perfect and you're apparently not concerned with correctness I think it would be a good idea to get the 3.4 engine and manual trans. You may want it in the future and, as you say, it's not like you can just find one for sale anywhere.

This might help ease the shipping dilemma:
uShip - The Online Shipping Marketplace - Ship Freight, Furniture, Cars or Moves

It's sorta like Ebay...but for shipping. I've used this service a couple times with good results...including shipping an engine. As I recall I was able to ship an engine 2000 miles for about $200.

In a nutshell, and broadly speaking, if you (and the seller, in this case) can be flexible on pick-up and delivery schedules you can often get a very good deal. The engine will need to be drained of fluids and strapped onto a pallet.

Cheers
DD

 

I don't think I'd say I'm not concerned with correctness, though I was mainly thinking the car already has a different (chevy) motor and the replacement is from a different car. I think the original type engine is what belongs in the car, as long as I can try to be sure it is reliable, or at least as reliable as possible.

The car/engine is actually already on uship, the seller has 2 posting for it, one listing the car/engine combo, the other just the engine separately, as he apparently has some insider contacts with car shippers.

When this finally gets here, I'll post some pics.

 

Did he send you a picture of the original spec plate, that will tell you of what was in car before swap.

 

He didn't. The badging shows 3.4, though I realize those can be easily changed. I sent him a message to see if he can send me a picture of the plate.

 

The 3.4 XK engine was the sweetest of the range, and the original size from 1948. It started to go 'off' when the 4.2 litre with long stud blocks was introduced. If you have a 3.4 and gearbox with an OD, then take it gladly, but it will not be totally straightforward to fit, as you'll need an OD switch to go on the steering column, plus you'll need to check out the central tunnel and console for any bodging done to fit the Chev engine.

If it was me, I'd get it running, (if you can) with the Chevy six, whilst you rebuild the genuine engine and fit it later. Its always easier with a running car so you can sort out suspension and trim.

If you can get the engine number, then Jaguar Heritage can probably find out what car it went into, but it is almost certainly a saloon and a good chance it came out of a Mark 2 as that car (and also the S-type), took most of the 3.4 litre engines. The Mk VII-VIX saloons and the XKs and the E-type were only made in penny packets in comparison. Don't worry about matching numbers, just get the actual parts that should be there, into the car first !