I am going to start looking for a cylinder head for my 1999 XJR that had a timing chain issue (previous owner who did the tensioners did not torque them down properly. I'm paying for it now)
Which cylinder head from an XJ8/XJR/XK8/XKR will be the easiest to swap over without having to drill holes or plug holes for VVT? Anyone know a source of remanufactured heads? I am looking on ebay but there seems to be nothing. Also, besides all the coolant lines under the supercharger, what else should I replace while i've got the engine apart?

 

The naturally aspirated cars have the vvt port which the blown cars do not. So youd need a supercharged head if you dont want to mess with it.

When i had my heads off, i sent them to a machine shop to check the valves, seats/guides, deck the head, and clean everything.

When apart, id definitely do any and all coolant hoses and consider engine mounts, supercharger oil and coupler, and water pump

 

Jaguar answered this a few decades ago.

 

You will not have to plug holes in a head from a non-VVT engine - either a 3.2 Lit. NA or 4.0 Lit supercharged.

 

So any AJ26S or AJ27S heads will work as a drop in replacement? Will there be any modifications necessary for an AJ27S head to fit on the AJ26S?

 

The 'B' bank INLET CAMSHAFT reluctor is DIFFERENT. (AJ26 vs AJ27)

Did you read the TSB?

More info in the reluctor.

 

Yes I did read the bulletin. I guess my confusion stemmed from it stating the information is not applicable to 99MY which my car is, but with the AJ26S. The A bank on my car is the one with damage and needs replacing.

 

I guess you can dismantle the right head and build a replacement from the AJ26 or AJ27 with the VVT setup from the old parts?

If you swap cams, the problems start. (different lifters and tappet setup etc.)

 

you broke the right head no cam sensor on that side. 26 or 27 doesn't matter just buy any sc head complete with cams before 08/2001 so you can use the bicycle chain