I bought this as a non-running engine on ebay. Yes I am a glutton for punishment. I was struck by what appears to be coolant lines going between the cylinders on the head. I know the 8L stands for the 6 cylinder 4.2 with the long head bolts. Other than that, I am clueless. Can somebody please tell me what I have? Is it worth trying to get it running or should I just turn it into a coffee table for a man cave?

 

That's a US spec XK engine, 4.2 litre from a Series III XJ6 (up to 1987). They are not "coolant lines", but an air injection rail. Only USA market cars had that.

It's certainly rebuildable if you have a use for it.

 

Thanks. Since this is going into something other than an original vehicle I can just plug them?

 

Yes, Easy to remove and thread a plug into each hole.

 

You paid money for that?

 

Yes. I admit I am a sucker for basket cases. Believe me, I have heard the "You paid money for that?" more than once. Recently I heard it from a complete stranger. I was at a bar with my best friend having a couple of beers. I confessed to my best friend that the previous Saturday night I had paid your mother $35.

 

If you decide to remove the "smog pump" fittings you'll need 1/8" BSPT countersunk plugs to fill the holes. The "T" stands for tapered, the straight fitting won't fit. I bought mine from Grainger.

 

Thank you for making it easy for me. I just ordered 6 of them

 

When you have the head off, you will be able to tell if you have a "slotted block". This was a very late modification in the life of the 4.2 litre XK engine, to eliminate cracking between the siamesed bores. It was broadly successful, although HGFs can still occur, but nothing like the frequency of cracked blocks. You'll have not doubt at all if it's "slotted' as soon as you're able to look at the deck of the block ! My engine was cracked and barely lasted 5000 miles after a HG replacement. I was lucky, as I managed to find an uncracked block with standard bores. Hen's teeth nowadays !!

If it's not a slotted block have a check for cracking between the bores. If there are cracks, the only permanent cure is to replace the cylinder liners with lipped liners.This cures the problem, which manifests itself in head gasket failures.
Here a website of a US firm that does the lipped liner job.
Jim's Automotive Machine Shop, Inc. - YouTube

 

Thank you very much for the advice.

Right now I am waiting for my 9mm x 1.25 x 115mm bolts to arrive. I found them as head bolts for a Polaris Scrambler. I need the length to mount the block to my engine stand. They are too long but a couple of washers will take up the space.

 

I'll have to confess that I bought one similar from David Boger a few years ago, but it was a Euro motor. Thought I was going to rebuild it and put in my XJc but it's a placeholder in the shop for the time being.

 

There are no metric threads on this engine. If a thread is into steel or iron, it is UNF, into aluminum ( like the cam studs) they are UNC. The timing chain adjuster nut is Whitworth ( 7/16" BSF from memory), but that's the only Whitworth. Everything else is inch sized threads.

 

This is my first adventure with an older Jaguar motor. Live and learn, I guess.

Is there a cross reference to a 9M x 1.25 Thread? That is what are holding my motor on my engine stand. They ran into the bottom of the thread hole with no binding.

 

I believe the bell housing bolts are 3/8"-24 UNF That's a fine thread. Almost everything on the engine is fine thread, I find it's worth getting a set of taps and dies to clean up any threads and chase the holes.