Sunday, August 28, 2016

Engine Rebuild


To make a long story short, the car had several issues I was getting tired of; it over heated, the water pump was growling, the clutch didn't work well and it leaked fuel all the time. And I never drove it. Which was sad. But it always drove very well when it was in a good mood. Lots of power and the engine sounded sweet. But these issues were making it unusable so I decided to rebuild the engine and tick off one of my bucket list items - drive the PCH in a V12 Jag.

Unfortunately I don't have many photos. And they were all taken with my cellphone. The engine was easy to pull and rebuild. Spent most time fighting the small niggly things or waiting for parts. Also learnt not to drop 40 year old cast iron manifolds - they will shatter like porcelain.

I used the official workshop manual and the oh-so-popular Kirby's book for a few tips and tricks. I don't recommend following the book verbatim. It often makes simple jobs sound very complicated and can make the whole job seem overwhelming. These V12s are easy engines to rebuild. But they just take a LOT of time. Lots and lots of time. Valve job??? LOTS AND LOTS OF TIME!!! All in from pulling the engine, rebuilding, refitting and starting her up, It took me roughly 150 hours. I worked alone and only had help when an extra pair of hands were needed to get the gearbox fitted onto the engine.

Machine work came in at around $1500 to clean all components, hone the liners, shave the heads, flywheel and a basic valve job. Parts came in at around $1500 (+ $400 to recore the radiator) as well. Mostly from XKs Unlimited. Good folks.

The car is back on the road and sounds and drives amazing. No overheating and the gearbox works. Strangely enough the speedometer is no longer working. I think it might be the drive bush in the gearbox. I can run the cable from a drill and the speedometer moves.


Now for the PCH!