What a great project!!

So glad you have been posting it to the list. I learn a lot with each step you have taken.

Just a few comments.
Highest US speed limit is 85 MPH. It's in Texas.

Also I would steer clear of Stiegmeier. He screwed over a forum member then came on here running his mouth. You can find the thread and decide for yourself but I will never use him.

The whole blower porting idea for the Eaton has pretty much turned out to be a bust for the money. Do the pulley upgrade but forget porting the blower.
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I continue to search out more information on AJ series engine rebuilds. I found a few more old thread in the Jaguar forum and one long thread in the LVC forum about a super-build of a 4.0L Jaguar engine to be put in a Lincoln LS. This guy has been working on his engine build for over 3 years now.

I've been searching listings in the USA for lower mileage (<50K miles) long blocks or engines and very few are available. Found a few with 75K+ miles, but the most that are for sale have over 100K miles. I am amazed that recyclers are asking $3K for engines with over 100K miles.

Keep in mind, In the not so distant future more and more of us will have to rebuild our engines.

To build up a decent engine, I see no way around having to have custom parts fabricated. I suspect that as more of us have the same parts made, some machine shops will start stocking low levels of parts like the rods, pistons, bearings and perhaps cranks.

I am going to shift my quest a bit and accumulate the dimensions of all the parts I can find and then start a search for more common off-the-shelf parts that can be adapted to our engines.

Example: If a custom crank is necessary, have the crank fabricated to have common rod and main journal sizes with other engines. Same goes for the engine bore and stroke, so one can use more common pistons and rods.

At least when it comes time to refresh the engine, bearings would be available, and perhaps in oversize as well.

 

Here is a nice baseline for an engine build.

Aston Martin Jaguar 4 5 Liter AJ33 Racing Engine Performance Street Engine | eBay

I'll post the listed details so when the auction ends we'll have a list of what was done to the engine. Not much HP for $30K!

650 HP / 425 ft.lb. Race Trim
550 HP / 450 ft.lb. Street Trim

Engine Specification:

Jaguar / Aston Martin AJ33
4.45 liter displacement
92mm bore / 82.6mm stroke
RSR Racing Custom Block Casting 357-T6 Aluminum
Darton Nodular Iron Sleeves
Increased Deck Thickness
Revised Cooling / Oiling
Ford 302 Main Journal
Dry Sump Oiling
High Tensile Main And Head Studs
Billet Aluminum Sump Assembly
Billet Crankshaft with Superfinished Bearing Journals
Billet Titanium Connecting Rods
ARP Rod Bolts
Forged JE Pistons
Cometic MLS Head Gaskets
CNC Ported Cylinder Heads
Alloy Seat and Guide Inserts
Del-West Titanium Valves
Oversize Coated Tappets
RSR Camshafts Race or Street
PSI Indy Nitrided Valve Springs
RSR Billet Cam Drive Tensioners
Cloyes Drive Chains
RSR Billet Cam Drive Sprockets
RSR Individual Throttle Bodies / Aston Martin Intake
BOSCH Fuel Injectors
ATI Harmonic Damper
RSR Front Serpentine / Cog Belt Drive
Billet Aluminum Front Cover
Carbon Fiber Cam Gear Covers
60-2 Steel Crank Trigger Wheel

 

I have a question about NOS 4.2 AJ-33 engines.

What happens to an engine that was factory built new in 2006, and then sits in a warehouse for 8 years?
Don't gaskets, o-rings and other plastic parts harden with age?

I wonder how far you would have to disassemble the engine to find out?

Or would one just put in the engine and it will work without any issues?

 

We have had long threads on this but with a bit different question. The question was for an engine in a car that had been sitting.

The final answer was yes a lot of things are possible but for any real life experience you will find the engine mostly just starts up and runs fine.

You could have valve springs that take a set, stuck piston rings and the list goes on and on.

Did the engine ever run with oil in it?

I think that would be my first question. If it's not in a car I would pull the pan and inspect at least a few rod and main bearings. Maybe even re-lube the lower end and put it back together and spin it without plugs until I have oil pressure.

Then install plugs and see if it starts!
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Thanks for the input.

Conversation with the dealer: It is a "Brand New" engine that has been in a warehouse sitting for 8 years. It has been "unsealed" for pictures and over the years moved around for potential customers to look at. Covered back up, but not necessarily sealed completely, has always been kept in an indoor warehouse environment. Engine has never been cranked, and is "as received" from the factory.

 

I have a problem....

I am so close to being able to pull the 03 STR engine out of the car and ran across this problem.

The engine has thrown 2 rods. With the trans in neutral, and all the spark plugs removed, as hard as I try with a breaker bar and extender, I cannot get the engine to turn. This means I can't access the bolts holding the torque converter to the flex plate. Thus I can't pull the engine out the top separately from the trans.

Question: Anyone know if I can pull the engine and trans out the top together, or do I have to drop it out the bottom? (Last 4.0 S-type, I dropped it out the bottom, and was unhappy that I had to disconnect brake lines.)

Joe

 

I have not done it on the STR, but I would *assume* you would be able to pull engine and tranny out as one piece. It looks like there is plenty of room, but just protect the shock towers from getting dinged. Take out the rad and hood off, other than that you should be good to go!

 

Man that's a locked up engine!
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Thinking about not being able to turn the crankshaft. The battery is weak on the car and I have to charge it to get all the electrical to work. (Including putting it in neutral) Once in neutral, if there is no battery power, would the trans actually be in neutral or perhaps park.

When I usually manually turn an engine, there is some play in the engine as it loads up, the trans, before there is resistance, so I suspect the crank is frozen.

thoughts?

 

tow it down the road in 2nd.

 

I am ready to pull the engine and trans and got stuck because of the stupid unique 5 point security Torx bit, P/N 418-535, needed to remove the harness connector from the ECM. This is a different fastener than on my 2000 S-type. I have a couple of security torx bits in the right Torx size, but this one has an extra large pin in it.
Almost $70 online for a $2.00 part. Now I have to enlarge the hole in one of my torx bits to fit the pin in the connector. I have the $8.00 kit from Harbor freight, mentioned in other posts, with a 100 different bits, and none of them fit.... Grumble Grumble!

 

Engine is out. I had to pop off the electrical cover off of the connector and use vice grips to get the connector bolt loose. PITA! Almost 2 hours to figure out how to get the harness connector off! It took less time to pull the engine and trans out of the car.

 

How time flies: I've been distracted with other projects while I accumulate parts to build up a new engine. I purchased a Rover 4.4 block to use. I had to buy another used 4.2 crank. The old one was in terrible condition. The crank is out being reworked. I am still deciding on what to do about rods. Custom pistons, rod and main bearings TBD. Slowly purchasing parts to rebuild the heads. On and on it goes. More $$ than expected and it is harder to find and get parts than I thought it would be.

 

Not sure when they did this but Arden is offering a crank & rod kit taking the AJ33/34 out to 4.5L, price is now only €3900 for the kit. It used to be that they would only build the engine themselves for >€15'000...

http://shop.arden.de/jaguar/xj/xj-35...-auf-4-5l.html

 

Ouch! that is around $5400 USD. I had quotes for a billet custom crankshaft for $3200 USD and $1,200 for custom Rods. $4200 + custom bearings and the total is still below $5K.

On my super-slow going 4.4L build, my re-ground crank has shipped and I should have it this week. Next step is getting a set of custom rods. I just can't justify spending so much on a forged crank. Globally, I doubt Arden has more that a few customers willing to spend that much on a stroked engine that is no longer in production.

 

Tijoe I don't know if you have seen this but only a very few Lincoln LS guys attempt a rebuild of the V-8.

This guy looks like he did a nice job. Might be worth your time?

2002 Lincoln LS 3.9 V8 engine rebuild
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About a month ago, I purchased a 2009 XFR engine for parts to use in my rebuild. It looks like the engine was in an accident. The engine was damaged in the collision such that it ingested small plastic pieces from the driver's side valve cover. This caused the engine to seize up.

Besides collecting engine parts for this engine rebuild, little forward progress rebuilding the engine.

I will be getting custom pistons and use forged rods, but will use the stock crank. I will most likely have to get custom rod and main bearings fabricated as well. (If any of them are out of a stock size.

 

Main bearings ( mains/big end ) you can get from Racing Green Cars as stock, 0.25mm, 0.50mm, 0.75 and 1.00mm oversized.

 

Tijoe:
Hello, I am looking to buy a short block of the aj34 as a last resort, fixing it is the best way as far as money goes.
I have 27k miles and its a 2006.
There was a vacuum line with a small leak in the back, all this I found out when my engine had 2 front cilinders fail so I had to pull it out.
So far the engine had the 2 front sleeved, shop had a used engine which I used 2 pistons and put in new piston rings. No damage to the crankshaft or heads the shop says. I put in new valve seals and they put the engine back together. Engine is consuming oil of course.
It is a temporary fix until I can start this project up the right way, unfortunately in Dominican Republic no reputable Jaguar Land Rover engine rebuilders to trust.
Buy a used engine in the USA 3k to 7k, plus shipping and taxes make it imposssible for my budget.
Its a 4.2L Supercharged to 2.5 pounds and not a real common engine down here.
I guess the first thing would be to sleeve all 8, install new pistons and rings, new connecting rod bolts and head bolts.
I am extremely new to this area of repair and stuck in a country where almost everything has to be sourced from outside.
At this point I appreciate all the help and suggestions you might have, I have wasted on buying new piston rings twice, head screws twice and even brand new knock sensor, thermostat sensor, all new head and engine gaskets, and couple of other things.
At this point I have 2 choices: call it quits or rebuild this engine without going broke.
Thanks for the help,

JJ


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