DriveTribe have just completed a full engine rebuild in this video using custom pistons and do mention the suppliers.

 

Interesting watch. Wish they had a good set of crank bearings! That is the final piece of the puzzle...

 

Okay, so I have solved the piston rings issue to my satisfaction. I contacted the old supplier of the piston rings for Moss Motors after I was informed that they had gone bankrupt. After some research I found out that they haven't quiet gone bankrupt, just reduced operations

The supplier is Deves (Shop High Performance Piston Rings Online - Deves.com). They are only open on Monday and only respond on the phone. So you'll need a little patience. The rings they sell are cast iron. Have no coatings. So I ordered a set (you have to order by dimensions). The first ring and the oil ring look different than the ones that came on the Jag from the factory but will work. The second ring has the same profile as the one from the factory

If you recall the rings from Grant piston rings are a match for the first and the oil ring

So you could simply mix and match (both let you order individual rings so you can save money that way)

The only difference is the coatings. Jaguar used a chrome coating. Grant can provide either chrome or cast iron with a phosphate coating. After speaking to engine builders, the coatings will not matter. Chrome-coated rings would take longer to bed in than the cast iron ones

Please see the attached for further edification

Grant piston rings' first compression ring. Note the profile

Deves' first compression ring. Note the profile

Deves' second compression ring. Note the profile

Deves' 4 piece oil control ring

 

Update on the thrust washers. I had them custom-made by Scott Helms https://customthrustwashers.com/

You can see the ends are different but that should not matter. Worst case scenario, Scott told me that I can simply grind them


new thrust washers

new thrust washers

old thrust washers

old thrust washers

 

I am nearly there with the rest of the stuff but before I forget everything. Here is the suppliers that I used:

Robert Pičces d’autos anglaises Inc. https://robertpieces.com/ These are very useful, especially if you are in Canada. They use Moss Motors for many parts but you get a better price. I got the con rod bolts from them
David Manners Limited (https://jagspares.co.uk/) for most of the main bearings and con rod nuts
Moss Motors for a timing chain guide
Nicholas Mee (https://www.astonstore.co.uk/) They are an Aston Martin outfit but the DB7 used the Jaguar block so many parts transfer over. I was able to get the crankshaft sprocket, big end bearings, and auxiliary shaft housing (I broke mine while taking off the steering pump!)
Scuderia Parts https://www.scuderiacarparts.com/ for the main centre bearing (unfortunately, I was only able to get half of the shell, working on the rest), small end bearings and clips (although looks like I won't be needing these since the piston pins have no play in them)
Jaguar's class parts website for most of the timing chains/guides, gaskets/o rings, valve stems, and one main bearing shell
Simply Performance (https://www.simplyperformance.com/) for head gasket and other small gaskets
Grant Piston Rings, Deves and Custom Thurst Washers as mentioned before
eBay for a NOS camshaft gear...sometimes you just get lucky

As per the TSB's, you can reuse twice the cylinder head bolts and the bolts on the main bearing journals. Good thing too, because they are getting hard to find too

I bought a used cylinder head off of a 1997 XJR and I plan to replace the valve stems in that. Jaguar changed the exhaust valves late into the XJR's life to what they call "carbon-cutting" valves (starting engine number 167861 and VIN 792389). Those valves are NLA so it was easier/economical to simply buy a used head given how much carbon was built up in mine

 

Okay, so now I am stuck. I need this one last piece to finally put this engine back together. It's the bottom half of the big centre bearing on the crankshaft

No supplier has it. NLA from Jaguar themselves. Zero aftermarket support

The original manufacturer was Vandarvell. Which is now owned by Mahle (https://vandervell.co.uk/). Even though on their website they say that they will help supply bearings for older engines. In practice, they do not

I asked some local engine builders for advice on reusing the bearing; they rather not but also the bearing is likely not out of dimension (it's worn out by about 20-thousands of an inch at the bottom) so it would likely have to be reused

I have heard of the old practice of "babbitt"-ing bearings but I am not sure if that applies here. Given how tight the tolerances are on engines now and such

Advice?

 

the aston is as an aj16, heads and block casting. it just doesn’t have a dummy distributor cam sensor

 

How does the Aston manage the initial start up ignition firing with out the cam positions s3nsor I wonder.

 

Not quite

The AJ6, DB7 and AJ16 share the same Jaguar engine block (albeit with different pistons) but they all have different heads

The heads share similarities but not enough to be interchangeable

The AJ6 uses a distributor. The DB7 has a wasted spark ignition system so that is blocked off (please see pictures below). The AJ16 has a coil on plug system so it has the dummy cam sensor

The DB7 was released before the AJ16. Both being derivatives of the AJ6

https://www.exco.nl/nl/onderdelen/as...ylinder-2774-p

 

It has a cam sensor. Just not an elaborate one. It’s works like the crank sensor or an ABS sensor. The technical term escapes my mind right now…(You can see it in pic 5 in the link above…The small black thing in the cam cover)