JJ.

Sounds like you have quite a project on your hands. I assume that the body, suspension, and interior of the car are in a good enough condition that it is worth rebuilding the engine. Take out the emotional attachment, and decide if the value of the car is worth the money you will have to put into it to get it running. If it is not, then you really have to like the car a lot put more money into it than it is worth.

Be aware that very few forum members have actually rebuilt one of these engines, and that parts are becoming harder to get. Jaguar only made stock size bearings in letter graded sizes, and Racing Green is supposed to carry undersized bearings. Stock pistons are expensive and it is actually less expensive to have custom pistons made, especially if you have to bore the cylinders larger than stock 86mm

I recommend that you make a list of everything you want/need to do to put the engine back into reliable operating condition. Cutting corners will catch up with you sooner than later. You probably don't want to read this, but any way you cut it, you are likely looking at $4K to $5K to rebuild the bottom end to a reliable stock condition.

Last time I looked, there were still a few AJ34 long blocks available in the USA. Retail around $6K. But these engines are no longer made, so prices are going up.

Be aware that any custom parts/work you have done will take a long time to get done. I've have my "rebuild" block at a shop being sleeved for the past 5 months, and he still hasn't started working on it. I have a reworked crank, but still need to order custom rods, bearings and pistons. My budget went from $5K to closer to $10K for what I am doing to the engine. I don't have the money right and am moving right now so I have to push out the timing of part purchases. In April, it will be a years since I started my rebuild.

AVOS and Cambo351 may have some good ideas as well.

Good Luck.

 

Am fully with Tijoe here, and can't add anything here I guess.

However I do have a new set of 4.2 grade 2 pistons with rings if you are interested, but there is 1st some good preparing needed before you go the rebuild way as mentioned.

 

Pavel at PRE is now offering his rods & pistons on ebay...

Forged connecting rods for Aston Martin Vantage V8 4.3 4.7 Jaguar 4.0 4.2 engine

Forged Pistons for Aston Martin Vantage V8 4 3 4 7 Engines | eBay

Forged Racing Pistons for Aston Martin Vantage V8 4 3 4 7 Engines | eBay

Not cheap compared to the prices Joe mentioned before, but his rods include main bearings, and his pistons include rings and pins.

 

Make sure you double check with Pavel if the AM NA pistons will fit a SC engine, as the normal Jaguar 4.2 NA pistons do not as far as I know.

 

He rebuilt a 4.2 S/C out of an XF and had pistons made for it, so I would say he's got the pistons sorted... 2009 Jaguar XF Supercharged AJ34S engine rebuild » PRE Tuning - Site I showed the AM pistons because the Jag ones would be around the same price from him....

 

Bear in mind the OP says he has no money.

 

Well there are three complete 4.2 S/C engines on ebay.com right now. $1700, $3400 & $4400, but then he needs to ship it from the US to the Dominican Republic, no idea what that will cost but i'd say not cheap and probably a bit risky?

 

But he already has an SC engine doesn't he?

 

Right but you saw the state of it...If a set of pistons & rings are ~$2200 alone and you can buy a complete running engine for not much more...

 

Rebuilding these engines is simply not feasible. It is not like building a 350 Chevy engine.

Attempting to rebuild a low production engine that has very little replacement parts is going to cost more than another vehicle. However,feel free to spend your money how you choose.

 

Amigo:
What are the links please from ebay, I found noen at those 3 prices!
Shipping to miami is the way I would go.
Thanks

 

Hello, as you see in my pictures you will see that the 2 front pistons sustained damage, so did the walls.
No damage to the connecting rods, crank shaft or bearings. Just the 2 front pistons had that melting. They are forged I understand and made by mahle right?
The heads had 2 intake valves and 2 exhaust valves go bad so they were installed new 4 intake and 4 exhaust with new valve seals.
The 2 front cylinders were sleeved.
I am no expert in engines, this is my learning process, so even when you say about custom bearings I am assuming mine are good since the shop installed same connecting rods and all the inner rod bearings were bought new for crankshaft and connecting rods. They were tested with that little string that gets pressed.
From a donor engine I got the used pistons to replace the bad ones.
I first had custom rings made down here but they were a bust at the end.
So engine was opened again and new original rings were installed.
Made problem even worse. Oil consumption is very high.
My supercharger was ported at PSE in the US. Stage 2 pulley which is 2.5lb.
And Eurocharged tuned my ecu.
Decat pipes were installed, arden exhaust system.
O2 sensor separators on the second cat sensors.
Engine runs rich as hell, you can smell the fuel being consumed.

I found an engine with 65,000 miles, has never had damage but I am afraid of wasting more money without proper advice.
I have never trusted an engine which I didnt personally take care of.
And the power being used will maybe cause the same engine damge as last?

What about this:

I buy the 8 sleeves to have my shop install down here.
8 custom pistons ( if my connecting rods are good and have no damage?)
8 Total seal piston rings

For my heads, buy again valve selas and have the heads verified again.

Thanks for all your advice to come!

Gracias Amigos!!!!

 

$1700 04 05 Jaguar XJR Engine 4 2L w supercharger Vin B 8th Digit 86K | eBay

$3400 04 05 Jaguar XJR Engine 4 2L w supercharger Opt XJR Vin B 8th Digit | eBay

$4400 2006 2007 2008 2009 Jaguar XJ8 XJR Engine at 4 2L | eBay

EDIT

I think the $4400 one has VVT as it's from a late model (also has the Range Rover charge coolers) and you can see the electrical connections on the cam covers.

 

Except the vvt, will the engine blocks from a 2006 range rover4.2L SC and a Jaguar 4.2L SC, from the pistons down be the exact same???

Jaguar 4 2 L V8 supercharger AJ34S XJR XKR XF s Type New Engine | eBay

nice and new!!!

 

Range Rover engine needs a couple of small adjustments, have a look here https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/j...k-4-2-a-23763/

 

Avos:
Hello amigo,
Can you tell me what is pistons type 2?
Shop used HTK liners (htkliners.com) for the 2 front cilinders, are these good ?
What liners can you recommend so I can buy from the USA please.
The screws for the connecting rods, I saw that the ARP are very good, again where can i buy them and what would be the price expected to pay for them. I saw the ebay add for the forged connecting rods but thats a real big investment!!
I do have the money to do the repairs, not 10k or willing to buy another engine since I would like to take advantage of rebuilding this one so I can keep my added power!!!
Let's see where this goes and i think we making progress!!!!.
Thanks!!!
JJB

 

The grade has something to do with the diameter of the piston, and the grade for each cylinder is stamped on the block itself (close to the serial number).

Have no experience with HTK sleeves; I have used now for my 1st engine build Darton sleeves, so far so good, but it’s all custom so expensive and for a stock rebuild I guess any good sleeve will be fine.

I have chosen to continue to use the stock bolts (was on a budged, and also stock rods), they are pretty strong and have so far served me well for many 100’s of thousands miles with higher then stock power. But ARPs are fine as well.

Success with your build!

 

Avos:
Any recommendation in the USA to buy the sleeves?
Your pistons type 2, how do i know if they will work? And how much do they go for? 4.2 supercharged pistons are forged right?
The sleeves are supposed to be 86mm right? what would those stage 2 pistons have in size?
The Connecting Rods screws, don't they say they are "one use" only? And they say they are very expensive, here in the forum someone said they used the ARP2000,don't have prices to compare amigo.
What torque is correct to tighten to? 35, 40 or 45 lb?
I am scheduling to take the engine out next week, the valve heads will need some work, change all the seals again, then what about polishing them and so on?
I am starting to worry being lost in this project, love my car so giving up is not an option!!

Later Amigo!!!
Saludos
JJ

 

1.Any crank can be welded
2.Crank bearings are possibly used for different engines
3.Any cylinder can be "resleeved"
4.Block holes can be welded
There are special engine parts stores, open yellow pages.
Check ebay.
I was repairing 2.5 X-type engine and couldn't find rod bearings anywhere. Clevate bearing catalog doesn't list them, but has 3.0 X-type bearings. I found out that Ford 3.0 DOHC is identical engine. Of course Ford rod bearings fit Jag 2.5
Download Clevate bearing catalog, not sure if Jag engines are there

 

Saludos.

I sent my block to the official Darton sleeve installer 6 months ago, and he still hasn’t started working on it yet. Says he is busy doing larger contract jobs.

Darton is the best in the USA, but they are difficult in that they do not sell a standard sleeve that will fit into the 4.0 or 4.2 Jaguar blocks. All the Jaguar orders they have done in the past, have the sleeve design given to them and Darton machines the sleeves to the customer’s specification. I was told they sent 100 sets of 4.0 sleeves to a customer in Europe who is rebuilding the old 4.0 engines.

If HTK sleeves are readily available and your shop knows how to machine the block, they should be fine.

Regarding piston sizes, Piston OD to bore clearances are calculated based on a combination of the piston height, and compression height. The engine designer does not want too much piston rocking and slap in the cylinder bore. If the piston is too large a diameter then there is a risk that the piston skirt will hit the cylinder wall. By having different grades/ODs of the pistons, Jaguar can accommodate more variability in the machining of their cylinder bore diameters. (They do the same thing with their rod and crank bearings)

What you should do is purchase the pistons before you have the new sleeves final bored. If you have a good engine machine shop, they will very accurately measure the piston OD, and then determine the piston to cylinder clearance you need and then hone the cylinders to the exact required dimension.

Regarding connecting rod bolts, ARP are the best. It is a false economy and reliability risk to re-use your old bolts. You can send ARP one of your original bolts and nuts and they will be able to get you new ones. (up to 6 weeks if something is not in stock.) Remember to replace all your crank bolts as well.
The rods in these cars are fractured metal, not forged. About 80% as strong forged rods. When you pull the rods out, be sure you keep the rod end mated to the same rod. If you look very carefully where they connect to each other, they are not exactly flat surfaces because the rod end cap is “fractured’ off of the other end of the rod. If you mix up the rod end caps you will have a really big mess on your hands.