Yea, it must be the o-rings on the valve cover that are letting oil in. There's a good amount in some of the holes, guess I'll try to soak it up with a rag best I can, but don't think getting a little oil in the cylinders when I remove them will be a huge problem. Just glad I got the plugs loose, was pretty worried there when i first tried to remove them...

 

All valve cover gaskets are not created equal. The Jaguar OEM gaskets are considerably thicker than the
aftermarket ones available.

I am very glad the plugs came loose without issue. I have had to heli-coil a few blocks over time and I
certainly did not like that.

 

Yes, I was very relieved when the carb cleaner did the trick. If they didn't break loose after that I would have just left them. Car was running fine but no reason to leave original plugs in when I'm in there anyway. I've had plenty of issues on my SVT Cobras with plugs in the past, but luckily the Jag heads seem to have a lot more thread than the Ford heads. Some of them only had 3-4 threads and plugs popping out were a real issue.

I receive the parts/gaskets yesterday but haven't taken a good look yet. I got them from Christopher's Foreign Car Parts as I've seen recommended on this forum, hopefully the gaskets are decent. They should be for the price...Since mine is an early car I had to buy the expensive valce cover gaskets.

 

I have to say, Bensalem, you are attacking the car with enthusiasm and determination.
In the end, you will most likely end up with a precious gem as these cars seem to be
less and less available in any shape we would consider.

 

This car really is a good one. I had second thoughts about it after I brought it home due to a few reasons, but that has changed and its growing on me. I originally wanted a "driver" XJR that I could use regularly and this is just not that type of car. It is in such nice condition it would be a real shame to use it daily, so it will stay in the garage and be used, but used sparingly. Even little things such as the door handle gaskets, window trim rubbers, etc. are in such good shape from being garage kept its entire life it would be a shame to ruin them by leaving it outside and driving it through all types of weather.

I rarely see X308s on the road anymore that it's quite a treat when I do. I actually saw a nice dark blue XJ the other day and it caught me by surprise seeing one on the road. Couldn't stop looking at it. I can't wait until I finish with the tensioner work and get the rear seat back in the car from repairing the speaker, I just want to drive it at this point. I'll hopefully be done with the work by mid next week and can get the new tires installed and start driving it a few days a week.