This is just a discussion to compare notes as to how much "pain and suffering" everyone went through who has removed and re-installed the twin carbs on a Series 2 XJ6. After rebuilding the carbs, today I finally went through the process of re-installing them. I found it to be an extreme challenge just to get the 4 lock washers and nuts on the studs that hold the two carbs. Here are some pics:

Cat up on jackstands/jacks so I can crawl under and dislocate a couple joints so I could streeeeeetch my arms upward to thread on the nuts holding the carbs to the manifold studs:


Carbs ready to go on. I found a stiff piece of cardboard made a good work table for all the tools:


Carbs mounted on the studs, and with the onwry water pipe flanges attached to the lower studs:


Here is the view from underneath the car, with the camera shoved up part-way. Was quite a reach to get the lock washers and nuts on and threaded: You can see the 4 nuts partially threaded on the studs.


So, on a "Pain and Suffering" scale of 0 - 10, I have to give it a solid 9......and I have perfect vision, and dont have "pfat pfingers". What does everyone else say? And dont you just love those water lines and hoses that have to be hooked up to theoretically add a bit of "warming" or "cooling" to the intake manifolds....and water hoses running to the side of each carb to cause the spring thermo-sensor to expand to reduce the theoretical choke/gas mixture? Way overly complicated for sure......give me a butterfly and a choke cable to mount on the dash, and I am a happy camper. Water lines to the carb...........grumble, grumble, total British insanity. (On a positive side, I would rather install these carbs instead of watching the idiotic royal wedding......now, that would be a royal pain, a royal degree of pain and suffering).

Certainly a pain to get all 4 screws started and tight. I made a shorty 13mm by cutting up a harbor freight wrench and thinned it out on the grinder. That helped with the frustration factor on the install of the nuts.

For me getting the water chokes right took the most time when converting back from a manual choke. When its working right its billiant. Starts easily then idle steps down gradually as you drive . After painstakingly rebuilding the choke / hi idle system, I can see that it wont last or would need regular maintenance.

icsamerica.......My 77 had 1/2" nuts to hold the carbs on.....I guess a 13mm would fit a bit loose, but work. Your idea of having a good lil shorty is a good one. For me, the worse task was just trying to get the lock washers and nuts on the studs.......being totally blind-sided and relying mostly on just feel to get the threads started, and from the garage floor, it was a heck of a contortion to stretch my left arm up to get the lower nuts on. But once on, the wrenching went pretty good.

Thats interesting that you converted a manual choke to this water choke system. If I had a simple way to install a manual choke, I would have gone that route. I was going to leave the water lines off but after studying the water flow on this 6 cylinder, I believe that if the heater is "off", then the only return flow to the water pump is via these carb water lines......so I hooked it all back up to prevent high pressure and temps durinng warm up, before the thermostat opens.

This is how I dealt with it. All smog systems gone, water heated chokes gone, A/C hoses rerouted... clean, clean, clean. Easy to work on.

Pain level with Strombergs, near zero, as they went in the trash day 1.

HS8 SU on all of them, and everything done from the top with the oil filter removed.

Manual chokes on them all also.

Still a 4/10 for those 4 under nuts and washers, but there is more room without that filter.

LOL @ went in trash day 1!
Tell us how you Really felt about them, Grant!
Don't hold it in, it's not good for you.
(';')

Under the right circumstances I'd (personally) be tempted to convert to Series III fuel injection which, in some respects, is probably more simple and easier to contend with than what you've got goin' on with the dual carbs!

Just one of those thoughts that pops into my head from time-to-time


Cheers
DD

Yachtman.......Man, I absolutely love your conversion......mucho excelente!!! Bravo Bravo Bravo!

Tell me one thing: I came close to ending the water flow going to the carbs and carb manifolds, but then realized that the only water return to the pump was via the heater hose or these carb hoses.....so if the heater was "off", then there would be no return water flow and the engine would build up excess heat and pressure. Is my assumption wrong? How exactly did you terminate the water lines to the carbs....do you have more details on another thread?

Grant.....poor Strombergs laying in the bottom of your trashcan, getting no respect for being the icon of muscle car performance in the 60s-70s. Or maybe that was performance on lawn mowers, tillers, and weed-eaters perhaps. Ha ha

Has anyone come up with a manual choke method for these old Strombergs?

Doug.....fuel injection.....well, sounds good, but I bet that would get a bit pricey for this old cat. I will soon be able to fire-up the old Cat, first time in 20 years......and will see how good everything is before heaping too much coin into her.

Thanks Elinor.

We had Strombergs on all sorts of cars here in the 60's and onwards, and near all I maintained for the owners were converted to SU, even the V12 E Type got sorted.

Only car that really would not settle was a Rover V8, but it had an engine fire from one carby, so we stepped back and let it burn.

Scotty, "Aye Coptain, Let er Burn!!! Im an engineer, not a miracle worker."

I'll have to look and see about the water bypass. Most of the emissions removal was done by PO twenty years ago before I bought the car seventeen years ago.


I just put in an email to Joe Curto who I thought I got the manual choke kit for my Strombergs from to see if he did. I'll let everyone know his reply.

I Luv that Aussie pragmatism!
(';")

I just got a response back from Joe Curto and yes he did provide me the manual choke conversion for my Strombergs. His current pricing is $250. Which seems rather steep to me, but then again everything for Jaguar seems to be steep.

yachtman.......Thanks for the info. from Joe Curto. I was curious about the water lines.....how did you manage to get a return line back to the water pump after disconnecting the flow around the carbies?

Water run is ftom a hose connected to the upper water pipe at the fire wall, down to a hard tube that then runs forward to a hose that connects to a hose bib screwed into the rear of the water pump that normally has a plug in it. I'll take some pics that I'll post tomorrow.

I had 240 Volvo that was like that.

Elinor,

Our decision way back then, was that fighting that fire would consume toooooo much drinking time, and even if we saved the thing, it would still be a snotty Rover V8, so a win, win for us.

Probably mellowed as I have aged.

BUT

A V12 owner asked me recently about the fuel smell under the bonnet, and his Injector hoses were dribbling quite badly, and he really had issues with me taking his keys and walking away until he agreed to fix that. Damn, he had his spouse and child in that car.

Some people should NOT own motor cars, especially a Jag.

Grant......I bet you looked like Clint Eastwood in "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly", with that hot ember of a cigar resting on your lip when you told the poor guy. Hot ember and a dribbling V12 Cat fuel line, and the ugly owner running for cover. I guess you were both the "Good and the Bad". Ha ha