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You have to remember you have bought a 50 year old car, so what has been changed in that time of ownership could be anyones guess.
Firstly, don't rely on the stock gauge to inform you of the coolant temp, make sure it is accurate, as again, its potentially 50+ years old and might never operate on the needle above half temp, or the sender could be faulty.
Sounds like you live in Nth QLD, so the next thing to remember is how uselessly hot and humid it is up there (I was in Mackay for 3 years working the Bowen Basin) and that can really test the cooling system of any vehicle.
So a complete inspection and service of the cooling system might be all that's required.
Flush the block properly along with the radiator, 50 years (yes again) of potential crud/rust/detrius could have settled in the cooling galleries causing them to become useless, a garden hose and flushing with no thermostat wont suffice, you can use products now that actually breakdown the stuff, and then flush it out afterwards, also, if its ever had a cylinder head "stop leak" added to it, then already it has severely reduced the cooling system ability, all that does is clog up everything, removing welsh plugs is an easy way to see what crap is lodged in the block.
The fact that it overheats on an incline means it cannot dissipate the heat produced under high load conditions quicker than it is made, it would be well worth checking your air fuel ratios under those conditions too, if it is too lean, straight away high cylinder temps are created, which in turn could also explain the excess oil consumption.
Another thing to look at would be some guided ducting into your radiator from the front end, any airflow hitting the front of the S type should either go through the radiator or over the car, a subtle splitter underneath can work wonders with directing airflow that would normally go under the car, and turn it into a positive pressure area infront of the car and then be forced through the radiator or over the car creating added downforce.
Last thing I would do here would be a complete mechanical inspection, you paid $9,500 which isn't much for a classic car of this era, so while the seller might have been a nice guy etc, who knows what is actually going on, taking a car of that vintage and doing a drive home like you did straight up was always going to be a massive gamble.
A compression test followed by a leakdown would be a great start to determine the motors core health, oil consumption could be through the roof due to a number of things, this will determine that quickly. Then a check of valve clearances would be worth doing, low oil will cause everything to rattle, but too loose clearances will rattle quite a bit too.
Are the carbs tuned properly? air/fuel/oil filters clean? fluids front to rear fresh? brake fluid less than a year old?
if you do have a leakdown issue caused by worn valve seals, or a headgasket problem, a total cylinder head rebuild is never a bad thing, tidy it up, but while its apart, that is the time to properly clean the cooling galleries in the cylinder block, i've used a pressure washer before with all the welsh plugs removed.
Knowing your cars mechanical history, or basically doing a complete front to rear inspection/major service really gives you peace of mind and is something I always do on a car I have just purchased.
I agree with everything you've said Stoney85, & am already planning to do it all, as soon as the annual national shut-down ends in mid-Jan, & the country gets back to work. I also acknowledge that I got the car at a bargain price & I'm not at all fussed about whatever I have to do to the motor to get it purring sweetly. In fact I'd rather give it a full rebuild now, so I get the full benefits that a fresh motor brings. In that regards I treated the run home as a shakedown, to see exactly what the car needs. & seeing as I had RACQ Premium as my back up. It wasn't too great a risk to take the inland outback route home, especially considering the alternative coastal route home, the Bruce Hwy, was 1000 klms of gridlocked holiday traffic. While I wouldn't have seen more than 500 cars the entire trip home. & the three Cop Cars I did see gave me the same friendly wave that everyone else who saw the car gave me, the entire trip home, which is something I'm just going to have to get used to with this car. It's not a car for Shrinking Violets!
Now you're home you can take your time, you know what you want to do, my engine was seized, stripped it and toke it for machine work, £3500 later I had all the parts and all the machining done that I wanted ! I'm only doing this once so do it right I say.
Looks fantastic, great pics, its wet here so very jealous of the sunshine.
Mind you Christmas in 30 + Deg is a little weird if you're not used to it.
I was in Queensland for Christmas 26 years ago and it was very odd for a Brit at Christmas in that heat, BBQ for Christmas lunch on Mission Beach at the Barrier Reef fantastic, just odd.
Seasons Greetings everyone! We just arrived home from Sunshine Coast (Oz) after a long and uneventful trip in a Subaru. Boring from a automotive perspective, but at least we spotted two classic Jags (Ser. 1 XJ6 and a Mk 2) heading the other way.
In regard to your ''death rattle" Scatcat, I would suspect the camshaft timing chain needs adjusting. First thing I'd do is a compression or cylinder leak-down test. Compression should be an even 150-155 PSI. You may get away with a cylinder head job. If so, the oil consumption may be mitigated by switching to say Penrite 20W-60.
The NQ Jag Club have put me onto a member who's knowledgable about Jags, & I've contacted him to see if he's interested in getting my pair sorted (I've a S3 XJ6 that needs a little love too)
Just heard back from the Jag Man, & he's keen to look at my pair of recalcitrants. Only he's on holiday in Fiji until mid January. So I won't be making any progress with either car until this country gets back to work, which is an annual problem here. I'm sure it doesn't do our international business any favours either, with the entire country on skeleton staff until mid Jan, while the rest of the World gets back into top gear from Jan 3. The only thing happening in Oz on Jan 3 is the start of the Sydney Cricket Test from the SCG (Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi). Our competitors must get a real chuckle over that. Those that aren't tearing their hair out that is, because they can't get in touch with anyone in Australia who's working!
Anyhoo, rant over. I hope my mechanic has a restful break in Fiji, & is raring to get stuck into my Jags on Jan 20.
That's funny, is that like an extended leave to get over the New Years hang over ?
It's called the "silly season" in Oz. Country virtually shuts down, work wise, to coincide with summer school holidays.
Our politicians set a great example - take leave from early Dec. & don't return until 7 February. No wonder the Australian economy is going down the toilet.
12-23-2016, 04:41 PM
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