Just bought my first Jaguar! It has been parked for 26 years but the previous owner put oil in the gas tanks, put the car on blocks and put humidity absorption material under the wheel wells. Another person bought the car a few months ago and started the engine which resulted in oil being fed into the fuel system and allegedly ruining the passenger fuel pump and feeding oil into the fuel filter (probably into the carb too). I noticed that the clutch and brakes pedals move freely although it is clear that the brakes have no fluid in them.

Is anyone familiar with how to take these cars out of hibernation mode? I don't want to rush starting the car and ruin something. Any help greatly appreciated!

To determine the compression ratio of the engine I would look at the last number on the engine code?

Thanks!

 

Photos! Forgot to mention that she is factory LHD with the 3.8S and 4-speed manual w/overdrive! Really want to determine what the compression ratio is!

 

Man, I love that original Blaupunkt radio, that's really cool !
Car looks in pretty good condition, even the veneer looks good.
Maybe it just needs a re-finish ???
Doesn't look like the veneer is peeling.

Prepare to totally over-haul the brake system _ and the clutch master/slave cylinder.
You can either rebuild the original bits or get after market parts.
Some newer brake calipers will fit on the front from a the newer Jags if you want to go that route.
The brake booster is better replaced with a new model.
You can rebuild the old one, but the new one is better designed which requires less braking effort.

 

Thanks Jeff! The brakes are one of my main concerns as I've heard the system is complex compared to other vehicles. In the process of flushing and overhauling the fuel system, next comes the radiator, water pump and belt then on to the brakes which I imagine will be a bit of a challenge. Great advice on going with a newer booster, thanks. Oh forgot to mention that overall the wood is in very good condition with a small spot on the drivers side that appears as it had a sticker taken off in the past. Wood will be one of the last jobs as I need to read up on proper restoration or conservation methods.

 

Complex is a relative thing when it comes to British brakes.
It's a simple single system.
The quirky part is the remote brake booster and its air valve.
Instead of a modern brake booster where your pedal acts directly on the booster, you have a simple master cylinder attached directly to your pedal.
That master cylinder moves the fluid in the brake booster giving you your power brakes.
The air valve on the side of the Jags booster is what is strange.
When you put the brakes on a small amount of fluid also opens that air valve and allows vacuum (atmosphere) now to assist the main secondary cylinder to put your brakes on.

I heard that they can be tricky to bleed and I'll be finding that out eventually, as I've had to tear mine completely apart and rebuild it.
If one were to use the conventional way of bleeding, opening up the nipples out on the calipers one at a time while pumping and filling the reservoir...
There are adapter kits where one can utilize compressed air to simply force the new fluid into the system, all one has to do is keep filling the reservoir and start with the caliper closest to that reservoir.

It's when the brake booster and its parts start to wear out is what gives very strange symptoms and this is where people have problems, I believe...
The booster can leak fluid internally and in severe cases the excess fluid gets sucked up into the engine causing billowing plumes of white smoke when the fluid's burned. This situation can take years to develop, in the mean time the car owner is always filling the reservoir, wondering where all the fluid is going.
It can take some time for the main vacuum piston to fill up with fluid before it's finally sucked into the intake manifold.
The brakes will continue to operate normally with no fluid leaking from the calipers themselves, or the lines and yet the owner has to continually add fluid.
If the air valve goes wrong, either due to an internal leak and/or a pin hole in its diaphragm depending on the situation, the brakes may drag (stay on) or sort of come on by themselves. OR the air valve can fail altogether and then excessive force would be needed to activate the brakes.
No North American mechanic would no what to do, none of these scenarios would happen on a domestic car.

 

the cylinder head has a stamped number (inside the "valley" where the spark plugs are), exactly at the front of the valley. This number ends with a letter. The letter tells you what the compression ratio is.

The engine will either be a 3.4 liter or a 3.8 liter, and if it is a Left-Hand Drive, there might be an emblem on the trunk / boot lid that says "Jaguar 3.4 or 3.8".

The 3.8 engine is a hotter overbore of the 3.4 liter. If you have the 9:1 compression 3.8 engine like my car does, watch out!, that engine likes to be revved and raced. Most of those 9:1 - 3.8 liter went to California.

The pictures show that the car has the optional Fog Rangers lamps fitted. Does the Lights Switch have a fourth or Fog Position? I cannot see it well in the dash picture.

 

The other quirk of the braking system is the notorious Reservac tank and its little valve made of Mazak. These tanks provide a reservoir of vacuum in case of engine stopping at speed. The tank is mounted inside the front wing, RH on UK cars, probably LH on USA ones. These tanks can rust badly due to road salt, and the little valve eventually crumbles away.

SNG Barratt seem to have all the parts you need. I see there is "Early" and "Late" brake servos and also front calipers. You'd have to check what you have.

SNG Barratt - The Ultimate Jaguar Parts Specialist

Some of your photos show the wood varnish to be badly crazed.The only way to deal with this is to dismantle the interior and strip and revarnish. There is probably about 30 separate pieces of wood trim.

Where the black plastic on switches is dull, I found metal polish brought it up nicely. I forget what I used, probably Solvol Autosol, but it's a long time ago.

 

I agree that the brakes will be needing extra care and attention, I'll sure be keeping an eye on that fluid level! Once bleeding comes around a step-by-step instruction guide would really come in handy. Agreed that anyone other than a classic Jaguar specialist would have the slightest clue about the braking system in an old S-Type in North America, wouldn't think of dropping it off at the local oil change place to get the brakes done. Thats the alluring part about ownership as I get to learn the car at my own pace and begin to understand the engineering first hand.

 

Hi Jose, the engine has 3.8 stamped on the block, I've found the stamp but when you say 'the number ends with a letter' do you mean that the number after the hyphen signifies the compression ratio? If thats the case then I've got an 8 although the cylinder head starts with LB so that means at least the cylinder head from a Mk.II was fitted to my car long ago. The engine number on the ID plate ends with a 9... So as I slowly peel away the years of dirt and dust hopefully I will find more concrete evidence about the engine-Is it possible that someone fitted an LB 8:1 head to a 9:1 engine? Yes the light switch does have four positions Off, S, H, F if I'm not mistaken. And it is an original LHD (unless the fellow who converted it was an absolute master and hid all evidence of RHD hahaha).

 

Hi Fraser,

Due to the car only very recently coming into my ownerships I have not yet examined the integrity of Reservac tank although from my preliminary observations the tank looks complete without obvious signs of damage. Thanks for the link, I'm sure it will come in handy soon. The car was very lucky in that the previous owner kept it garaged in a fairly stable climate and humidity controlled environment, the leather is worn but still appealing to the eye and the area around the ashtray seems to be the hardest hit by the peeling (also evidence of a sticker being removed on driver's side). I've decided not to disassemble or restore the dash at this point in time but if you know of any conservation methods that would be great.

 

She's Alive! Basic electrical checks show the fuel gauge is working, ammeter working (please correct me if its a volt meter), wiper blades working, headlights and most of taillights are good (will replace bulbs after the tough jobs are done), interior map and reading lights working and the dash light does come on at times (faulty/loose/dirty switch?). Horn not working and signal lights not indicating though. Forgot to mention the Blaupunkt does light up but haven't heard any static-would a bad connection to the antenna cause this or does the radio have to warm up first? (sorry tube radio are a bit before my time)


Don't want to damage the wood or leather so for now it'll remain a bit dusty.



Uh-oh... I'll check at my local auto store but its a long shot.
Any suggestions on oil? I was told to put a 'detergent oil' in for first time but the plate states 20w-30

Thanks to any and all comments and suggestions.

 

Hello,

Motor oil should be 20W50 (no synthetics! )
Does the engine turn?
I would first change oil+filter, remove plugs, put some oil in the holes.
See if it turns. Then try to build up oil pressure this way, by using the Starter.
Hope your pressure sender still works, these are weak,Use a mechanical meter instead.
I hope for you that the oil engine oil was still reasonable, and did not clog up the oil channels.

regards,
peter Jan

 

It will be a solid state transistor radio for 1966.
Take the cover off the radio and look for cold solder connections to the circuit board, like the speaker connection.
And off course as you mentioned the antenna connection _ internal as well.

 

The previous owner probably did you a favour by pouring oil in the fuel tank. Really old gas can be nasty. Not sure why oil would have ruined a fuel pump (?)

 

If oil came in contact with the diaphragm in the fuel pump for a length of time, it may rot it.
Although one would think that if it stands up to gasoline, that oil wouldn't effect it.
But just a theory.
With the thick oil in there too, the valves wouldn't work too well until the gas washed the pump out.

 

I would think that rinsing the tank, then unhooking the line past the pump to flush it with fuel, then before the fuel filter, then at the carbs, just like bleeding brakes(?) should make the fuel system good-to-go? Maybe?

 

Hi Peter Jan, yes the engine turns and runs but I'm not going to risk damaging something or feed old gunk through the fuel system, engine or cooling system so I'm going to change the oil and filter and continue working on the fuel system. In regards to the passenger side fuel tank the previous owner put gas and oil together in the tank which has resulted in a very unhealthy color of old fuel and oil coming out the drain plug/filter. The tank on the driver's side has no plug and is of a different design making me think that it was replaced many decades ago. I was told not put any fluid in the cylinder heads as the engine is free-I'm going with the 20w-30 non-synthetic-

Anyone have a good oil brand recommendation?

 

Hi Mikey (and Jerry and Jeff), I'm not sure exactly what happened as the car was in put into long term storage (26 years) then sold a few months back to a fellow who thought it would be a turn-key car and he tried starting the car. When I began flushing the passenger tank it was full of gas and quite a bit of oil too so I don't know when the bulk of the gas was added. The passenger tank is of a two-piece pressed design with the fuel filter/drain plug original while the driver's is of an entire different design without a drain plug. I'm going to remove the contents of the driver-side tank in the next day or two and hopefully find a better situation. The fuel in the glass 'jar' in the engine bay is clear but that will need to be checked for old gas too... Luckily the person I bought it from had the sense to sell it before winter but it was sitting outside for 4 months and he threw away the car cover because it was 'too dirty'. (Insert sad face here)

 

Just a quick follow-up to your suggestion to check the integrity of the Reservac tank (I've been eyeing it for a few days now) and it is solid with no sign of corrosion. Thanks

 

Exactly what is in store for her but I want to determine the integrity of the tanks first, any idea if the factory fuel tank had a breather and if so where it might be located?