I bought my first Jaguar XK 150 Coupe in the seventies, after having a couple Triumph TR 3's. It looked & ran decently. An aquaintance who claimed to know Jaguars offered to convert it to a triple HD8 carb setup, showed he wasn't as adept as claimed. An engine builder started to build a high performance 3.8 L motor, but he apparently got behind paying his shop rent, and before I knew it the owners sold off his tooling and engines in the shop to satisfy back rent. My engine disappeared, & the engine builder filed bankruptcy, so one lost motor. I got another XK 150 that ran well but needed paint on an otherwise solid body. Later a friend offered to build an XK 120 OTS for vintage racing, but after I bought a lot of expensive parts, his health took a turn, he lost his memory, & most of my parts, before he passed away. Meanwhile, I was just finishing restoration of a Mark 2, when it became the race car by default. I had friends with competitive Jags (XKE, XK 120) in vintage racing that referred me to a race prep shop out of state, but the more competent partner had just lost his life in a mishap with a motorcycle. The remaining partner wasn't up to the task, so after several years of delays, I collected the car in parts. I was referred to yet another prep shop in yet another state, where the owner & a mechanic had race cars, but they didn't conform to the vintage racing rules & even put an illegal roll cage in that had to be replaced by the next shop, which is my own shop. A local racer fabricator, welder is helping me do what the others could not. I have been getting guidance on how to improve the Mk 2's performance from a knowledgeable XKE racer who's also built a 4.2 L motor for me that is an option for the stock 3.8L. I had to get approval from the vintage racing sanctioning bodies for some of the modifications. The 4.2L has triple dual choke Weber 45DCO (no "E"), and dry sump lubrication. The rear leaf springs are replaced with coil overs. I don't know of a more comprehensively prepared Mk 2, and there don't seem to be any currently in vintage racing that I know of in the US, while I do know of some in the UK & Japan. We hope to have the car @ Watkins Glen in the fall. I also have a mostly restored 1958 Mark VIII with a Mark IX parts car that I'm putting disc brakes on to replace the drums. It will get the 3.8L motor from the Mk 2, instead of the stock 3.4L, and the 4 speed w/ overdrive trans, also from the Mk 2. I'd like to figure out how to install air conditioning in the MK VIII to supplement the stock sunroof. I am currently on the lookout for a clean XKR, at least the 4.2L if not the 5.0.

 

Welcome to the Forums.

Quite a journey there, frustrating at times.

Good luck.

 

Welcome to the forums Mark,

A serious amount of perseverence needed to get through all those knock backs.

Please read the guidance for new members ( https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/n...ned-up-241802/ ) which answers many of the most frequent questions about getting started.

Enjoy the forums.

Graham

 

Welcome to the forums.

 

Welcome aboard Mark.

 

Welcome to the forum

 

Hello, Mark,
You are certainly not short on Tenacity!
Welcome to the forums from ElinorB.
(';')

 

Welcome to Jaguar Forums Mark,

Good to have you with us.
Enjoy the forum.

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