Has anyone out there ever fitted a "catch can" to their XK engine?
I've recently overhauled my SU's and pondering whether there's a better solution to feeding smelly polluted fumes into the SU ports and upsetting the air flows etc.
Sorry if this has been discussed before.

Thanks & regards to all

Pete

 

I would not modify. You could end up with a fire.

 

I think the oil catch can was standard on the Mk2 jaguar until they went for the crankcase breather on the front of the engine feeding the gases back into the air intake. That said not sure I would take a backward step and go down that route if you have the crankcase breather setup..

 

It's not unusual on a racing engine to put a catch can in the breather line. It's possible to go further and add a vacuum pump. Cooler, cleaner air in the inlet and reduced density in the crankcase may gain a couple of horsepower. For road engines, it reduces the amount of generalised oily dirt going into the inlet, which would be advantageous on systems with intercoolers and direct injection. I'd imagine the suppliers of racing spares would have something available off the shelf.

 

I don't get all this, just let it vent into the atmosphere, it's not very good for the planet, but there was a time when all cars just vented into the air.
My 51 Bentley and my Dad's 59 Chev truck, that vented right from the crank case.

A healthy engine leaves virtually no mess, the Bentley is nice and tight, and there nothing detectable in that area where it exits.

 

Absolutely Jeff ~ in the pre captive breather era.

 

To come full circle, if it's a standard engine in good condition, what's wrong with how Jaguar designed it?

 

Thanks for the replies.
Advice taken.
I've fed the breather into the air cleaner, as per XJ6 Series 1.
Now to tackle toe-in adjustment using the high tech string/axle stands method!

Pete