Ron:


Thanks for the memory jog.


1. Boot leggers turn. Blasting down a back country load in a "tanker". $'s in "white lightening" and jail at stake. Revenoooer in hot pursuit. Grab the "e" brake, yank hard. Car does a 180. whoosh by the chasers, going the other way!!


2. When I lived and worked in CA's Imperial valley, dune buggy's proliferated. Mostly "water pumpers" then, the VW's had not yet hit the dunes. Two levers along side the transmission lever. One to each E brake. Two uses:
A. As the ideal was to get the nose up out of the sand, steering was ?. Tune by lever for right and left.
B. Traction loss on one rear? Just brake the loose wheel, and the other gets one going again.


3. I thrashed mightily to get my 31 Studebaker Four door Commander to brake at least sorta, and not jerk mightily to one side or the other. So, I messed with cable adjustment. Get more rear braking and less front to ease the grab. Learned a lot.
It not only stopped fairly well, but did a 180!!!! Fun, but can't leave it that way...


4. Daughter new ride is a Nissan Versa Note. son, says "junk". Supported, he says by a friend that is a tech at the Nissan dealer. The tech drives a really nice Mustang... Hmmm.


5. Way back when, a couple of "Z" cars came here. Each an insurance salvage job. )One a 240 and the other a bit later version. Stick shifts and a real ball to drive.


Carl

 

Fantastic! That they got this kind of power from the old XK motor is a beautiful thing. Renews my interest in them. This link should be a sticky and I hope this guy can be persuaded to post us a build thread with pics. Pleeease!

 

Dont get too excited. No proof the engine is still running. I know for a fact the 1st one failed quickly. Video of this project is difficult to find. I suspect it has already had a block crack related head gasket failure and is merely a conversation piece at this point. These engines are failure prone without boost and straight 6's are the most difficult engine to turbo reliably becasue length + boost = crank twist. I would love to be proven wrong and for the turbo manifolds for be available for purchase. I'd build one in a ny minute IF I thought it could last.

 

That's too bad. Still a good exercise in high performance xk motors ...for what it's worth. I recall talking to some guys at Road Atlanta that were racing xke's, they mentioned their motors were in that range of 400hp (6cyl). But we're talking full race and normally aspirated.
May have been Predator Jaguar?

 

I'm no authority on high-performance/racing modifications on the old XK engine but somehow I'm under the impression that the older 3.8 variants were better suited to hot rodding than the 4.2. Back in the day....50-60 years ago....I think it was competitive and as durable under duress as any other.

Cheers
DD

 

You're right Doug, C and D types raced as well as any out there. And lightweight E's!

 

I don't think anyone would deny that the XK was one of the best engines of the 1940s. A reputation it maintained throughout the 50s & 60s. But it was really struggling by the 70s, against an avalanche of more modern engine designs. & upping the capacity to 4.2 litres & replacing the carbies with EFI just didn't cut the mustard. Though it was the rapid decline in build quality from the 60s to the 70s that really wrecked the 4.2 XKs, as Lyons once fiercely loyal workforce turned to battling the new management team from BMC, & the even more disastrous team from BL. This is why 3.8s, & it's smaller siblings, often throw up much less problems when trying to restore them than the newer 4.2s, which are notorious for cracks in the block, making them a very expensive rebuild, if it's possible at all. That's why I'm throwing serious money at rebuilding my 3.8, whereas I've just put a cheap ($500) replacement motor into my S3, & I'm not going to waste any money on rebuilding the original Mill, until I've had it forensically inspected for cracks.

 

the XK was great in its day, but that technology time has passed!

and i would be surprised if you can get a 3.8L make an honest 400hp NA.

and like said turbo/supercharging could do it, but at a lot of cost of much superior materials and some modern block/head modifictions.

but why??? just to say you could?

that OP car was originally going to have a Toyota 2JZ inline 6 cylinder engine, but plans changed,donno why tho.

some 3.4L Toy's have made over 1000hp , now that would make an encredible car for drifting. with a lot of money spent.