Hi everyone, Just joined this forum looking for some assistance with my latest car.

I bought a 1983 series 3 Daimler Double Six VDP with 73000 miles on it a few months ago. It had its cylinder heads removed in 1993 and has been sitting waiting for them to be refitted ever since. I have all the parts and also a spare engine so I was looking for some advice from someone who knows these engines well before I start to work on the car.

Basically I am torn between the best and the simplest way to go with the car. Clearly I appreciate that the sensible thing to do would be to carry on stripping the rest of the engine apart and then rebuilding it all with new gaskets, seals, chains etc etc as its has sat with its heads removed for nearly 30 years. I guess I could always ft the spare engine in the mean time to remove the rush and enable me to take my time over the rebuild. But I am also aware of the work that would involve just to get the car running again. The alternative is to refit the heads which have been skimmed and get the engine running. This would enable me to gauge what the rest of the car is like mechanically which would inform the next steps. Clearly the latter path would be a much simpler task, all be it quite involved still clearly.

So I am looking for a V12 engine specialist ideally or anyone with good knowledge of these engines to help me to decide the best route forward.. Any info or ideas would be appreciated.

I hope taking about the Daimler version of the XJ12 is allowed on this forum!

Thanks

Mark

 

Nothing worse than doing something twice, and wishing you had done it right the first time.

 

Welcome to the Forums.

When the coffee kicks in, please do an Intro in teh New Members Area.

NOTHING wrong with Daimler in here, or anywhere else. NOT all markets got the Daimler, and they know the same car as a Jaguar.

ALSO

Lots of V12 inforin the XJS section, next one down on the home page.

I would remove that engine, do the seals, gaskets rings and bearings,etc. Chains are not an issue (you only got one long sucker), the Boomerang plastic tensioner is a worry, so new for sure.

In my opinion, and way too many V12's, it has sat too long opened up to simply refit the heads and hit the starter.

Good luck.

FORGOT

Might pay to add your home location and vehicle details via the CP tab at the top left of screen, makes is so easy to assist without asking the obvious constantly.

 

Hi.

Thanks for the pointers. I know you are right, clearly it's best with an engine that's been sitting for this long to do it properly. I think I'm now accepting that and will hopefully get on to it later in the in the year when I can eventually get started on it.

I'll have a look at the xjS info soon too, great to find a source of info.

Might even get the new members bit filled in as well, just not sure how well the rest of my 'fleet' will go down as they aren't very posh! 😁

Lots of V12 inforin the XJS section, next one down on the home page.

I would remove that engine, do the seals, gaskets rings and bearings,etc. Chains are not an issue (you only got one long sucker), the Boomerang plastic tensioner is a worry, so new for sure.

In my opinion, and way too many V12's, it has sat too long opened up to simply refit the heads and hit the starter.

Good luck.

FORGOT

Might pay to add your home location and vehicle details via the CP tab at the top left of screen, makes is so easy to assist without asking the obvious constantly.[/QUOTE]

 

Best route forward is to buy a running driving XJS with a V12, perhaps something with rust issues or failed MOT, and do a harness, transmission and engine swap. That makes it a 3 day project instead of a 3 year project that will never be completed. It also cuts the cost by 5x.

 

Or a Series III, that makes sure the ignitions stay the same, as the saloons kept the Lucas ignition system right to the end in 1992.