Just got a 97 XJ6 and a 71. I am old Jag flush and new to the forum. The person I got the cars from was going to put the 97 drivetrain into the 71 and do a resto-mod. My plan is to play with the 97 a bit as is and restore the 71 as original with the possible exception of the transmission.

Have decided to hang on to the 97 as a driver for a while to see how much I will like the vintage. But someone before me has clearly overtightened the oil pan drain and the oil is dripping pretty steadily from the jb weld liberally smeared over the cracks in the pan. So I am going to replace the pan. Question for the group is do I lift the engine out or drop the suspension down? Research tells me that it may be better to support the engine and pull off the suspension but I am a little unclear what the best plan is for this year. Any help appreciated.

 

Welcome to the forum nickguy,

On my 1996 X300 I supported the engine from above and dropped the front suspension. Choice was determined mainly by the fact I was doing the work myself and lifting the engine solo is more difficult.




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Graham

 

Brilliant! I did actually find this pic online which took me down the support the engine from the top road. Did you use the gantry in the background to support the engine? I will probably do this on a lift and maybe use ratchet straps and stout bits of wood or something to hold it in situ.

 

I used what I had available .......




The problem is to support the engine AND support the body when dropping the front suspension. Once the front suspension Vee mounts are disconnected, there's nothing holding engine and body together!

Graham

 

That is an outstanding bit of construction. You are so right. We just work with what we have but that is just quintessentially British. 90's tech meets the bronze age.

 

I used to just remove the gearbox filler/dipstick tube (for access) and drill the engine oil pan for a 'thread insert' to restore the M20 x 2.5mm.
Getting the hole perpendicular is the trick.

https://www.threadtoolsupply.com/m20...epair-kit.html

HeliCoil kit number is M20x2.5 5403-20 https://www.zoro.com/heli-coil-threa...B&gclsrc=aw.ds

If the hole is off a little, the aluminum pan is soft enough that I just use a coarse abrasive pad to get a 'perfect circle' of the steel oil plug to dent the aluminum slightly when snugged. Keep buffing the sealing surface 'high-spots' until the 'dent' is a circle.

The steel plug will leave a 'ring' when the threaded hole is perpendicular to the oil pan plug mating surface. Then a sealing washer will work properly.

The thread repair kits are expensive but so is a used oil pan. The labor alone makes the kits worth a try.

It's just the way I do it if all that is wrong is the threaded hole. A bashed in pan is another matter!!!!!!!!!!!

bob

 

Respect to Grahams civil engineering project, but what you need is an engine support beam like the one in the following picture. Relatively cheap to buy. The one I used here is a single fixed position hook. I have a better one now with 2 hooks that are adjustable laterally which is much better and I would recommend.

But if anyone fancies the one in the picture it's for sale for £10 collected (oops sorry, does that constitute a for sale ad in the forum?).

 

Brendan,

If I'd known you had one of those as well as the Jaguar spring compressor, I could have asked to borrow it too.

Graham

 

The Bronze Age was better than the Ice Age. This was a timing chain and tensioner replacement on the XJ40 I had before the X300. The frost on the windscreen and bonnet never thawed throughout the entire job!




I like a challenge.

Graham

 

Thanks Bob. Looking at the extent of the JB weld application and the fact that it is leaking from cracks at least 1.5" from the drain plug I think they did more damage than stripping the threads. Am imagining something like this. We shall see. Found a hopefully good oil pan for a good price and I will just do it right. More to come on the project.

 

So I have the new oil pan and a hopefully useful HF engine support bar. Now all I have to do is drive the car over a couple of mountain passes to get it to my shop. Will plan on documenting the project here. Got a few hints from over on the XJ40 forum. https://www.xj40.com/viewtopic.php?f...+majestic+sump

 

I had a cracked oil pan leak from an overtightened drain plug,i used,"the right stuff",and it actually sealed it for a year...

 

Realized that I did not report back on the job. It went swimmingly. I was very surprised how easy it is to drop the front subframe if you have a lift and the engine support bar. I used expensive Subaru RTV because it was on hand and several months later it has not dripped any oil.