Greetings all. I have a small oil leak from the rear of one of my camshaft covers. So it's an easy job to replace the gaskets I assume. (Provided the old ones have not been stuck in place with silicon or such like!)
I thought that it would be good to repaint them and the filler plug. I would love to have your opinions on either painting or black powder coating. I will be fitting a new set of chrome plated acorn nuts and copper washers.
Once painted or powder coated I will need to sand down the tops to expose the metal tops of the grooves.
I will also buy a new Jaguar emblem and try to polish up the large acorn nuts holding the cylinder head down.
I would be grateful for any ideas and suggestions.
Danny.

 

When I rebuilt my XK 4.2 XJ6 engine in the late 80s, I just got the covers powder coated in satin black, but also made sure the powder coating was only applied to the outside by taping off the gasket face and inside of the covers. So you'll need to explain to the powder coating shop what you need, or present them already masked off to the shop. I never bothered about sanding the groove tops, and to be honest, the engine still looked really nice, with no need to polish the groove tops. You can still get the "Jaguar" stickers, I think. What I also did was get the oil filler cap, powder coated in red.

 

G'day Danny,

I replaced all the dome nuts on my SIII XJ6 many years ago. I bought all new chromed nuts and copper washers for the cam cover nuts.

The cam cover nuts are easy and I also did the head nuts, one at a time, retorqued each one and had no leaks from the head or the cam covers. I used new cam cover gaskets of course.

I paint stripped my cam covers and repainted them with a heat resistant semi gloss spray paint and then used emery paper and a sanding block to bring the ribs up and then polished the ribs.

Another addition you might consider is a Monza quick release oil filler cap, google it and you will find many suppliers and they look great.

Cheers,
Jeff.

 

Very many thanks to both Fraser and Jeff for their thoughts and advice.
I certainly will tape up the gasket surfaces and inside before powder coating Fraser, good point.
Jeff, I had thought about also replacing the head nuts but I am very nervous about opening up a whole new can of worms, I fear that maybe a stud might shear. I cannot bear the thought of having to remove the head.
I will attempt to polish them first and see how they respond. The engine has clocked 90,000 miles and I don't think its quite ready for a de-coke.
Kindest regards Danny.

 

I've held on the valve covers detailing because I have no leaks, and I know the minute I pull them off I will end up with leaks ! So they look old and the heck with it. Talk about can of worms. Same with the head nuts, I decided to let them look old oxidated. I am not adventurous as you guys !

 

Thank you Jose.
Kind regards Danny.

 

Greetings to all. I have begun to tidy up my camshaft covers and have received parts from SNG Barratt.
I have noticed that they have sent me 20 plastic washers. I must have chosen a different part number to the original copper ones. I was thinking maybe these are intended to be used as a sealing washer underneath the copper one. They are quite flimsy in my opinion to be used as an alternative to copper. Has anybody been down this road before I wonder? Kindest regards Danny.

 

never seen or heard of plastic washers for the covers. Is this something new ?

 

Hello Jose thank you for your response.
SNG Barratt are showing part number EBC1294
as genuine Jaguar replacement for camshaft cover washers plastic.
I thought as you did, seems odd.
Kind regards Danny.

 

The plastic washers (nylon, perhaps?) might actually seal better. Might conform better to surface irregularities. Worth a try.

Remember that the cam cover nuts are supposed to be just barely torqued-down. Something like 5 ft/lb of torque.

Cheers
DD

 

G'day Gents,

When I cleaned up my SIII cam covers and replaced the dome nuts I annealed the copper washers and oil stoned them on both sides to give me a dead flat and softer sealing surface. The effort was well worth it as I had no leaks.

Cheers,
Jeff.