Clutch Master Cylinder

I've been dealing with various clutch related issues and the last (hopefully) being the replacement of a leaking clutch master cylinder. The old one was throwing fluid into the footwell every time the clutch was depressed.

The original Jaguar part number is C27186 and the part is still readily available from many of the usual suspects and costs anywhere between $50 to $100 (even for a genuine one).

I wanted a replacement quickly and that meant ordering it from XKs Unlimited. Being only a few hours away from me, shipping is very quick and cheap. Unfortunately XKs Unlimited doesn't sell a like-for-like C27186 replacement. Instead they sell a more universal part GR64068754 which was only $33.84. It is also sold under the more generic use part PMD239X.

Only issue (and the reason for this post), is that you need to transfer all the fittings, including the push rod over to the new one. And its not easy.

The easiest thing is the fluid inlet fitting. Its a straight swap. The new master cylinder comes with a fluid outlet fitting, but it needs to be removed as it doesn't fit the hard line on the car.

The complication arises when you need to swap over the push rod. Removing the old push rod is a bit difficult. There is a metal collar that holds the boot and obscures access to the circlip that first needs to be chiseled off. Once the push rod is removed, the trapped washer on it won't fit into the new master cylinder. It needs to be lightly sanded down around the edges. Make sure its loose enough to slide past the circlip recess in the new master cylinder.

Now the delicate part of transferring the new rubber boot. It slides off the new push rod easily as there are no restrictions but the old push rod has the integrated fork for the clutch pedal. I managed to push the old push rod through the new rubber boot, fork side first. It is possible but it can easily tear if you're not careful.

The new master cylinder also has a wide black rubber band over the boot to hold it down tightly. This band (as shown transferred over in the photo below), cannot be used and should not be trasnferred over as it will prevent you from installing the master cylinder into the car. Which I later discovered when trying to bolt it into the car.

Make sure to use new copper crush washers and clean up the sealing surfaces of any old parts being transferred over.

On Days Like These

Queue the Monro

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!

Fuel Filter

Took a bit of searching to find the right WIX part number so I thought I would post it for anyone else looking for it. WIX #33348. The original Jaguar part number is JS660. This is the fuel filter for cars that use the metal filter bowl.

It comes with the big O-ring needed to seal the filter bowl but it doesn't come with the little O-ring to seal the screw. I just bought a pack of generic fuel compatible Viton O-rings. Its a pretty beefy O-ring so you aren't likely going to need to change it very often anyway.

Fuel issues Fixed

After a bit of troubleshooting the problem came down to not enough suction from the pump. 

Thanks to the folks at Jag-Lovers.org I learned that my car has a fairly stock fuel system. Joel suggested that I check the cork disc (#10192) for cracks as this is a known problem area.

Lo and behold, that was it! There was a small crack in mine so I cut out a new disc from some generic fuel compatible paper gasket material and it fixed the problem right away. The pump was now strong enough to suck fuel.

What a wonderfully cheap and easy fix. I bet a garage would have done a full rebuild and charged me $500+ for the job. I did it with about 5 cents worth of gasket material. Very happy indeed.

Fuel issues

After many months of just sitting I decided to take the E-Type out for a drive and went to start it. It started and ran for a few seconds and then died. Tried to restart but it turned over and wouldn't start. The fuel pump was jugging away but it sounded like it was just sucking air. So I thought I'd have a quick look at the fuel setup in the boot and found the fuel pump set inside some foam and bolted to a pedestal that was bolted to the body. This is not what the workshop manual describes so I'm wondering it this is just a mess from a previous repair.

I'll eventually figure out what the fuel issue is but I'm a little concerned about the little capacitor like thing that was just stuffed in the foam. It looks like its meant to be grounded onto something.

Spark Plugs

I can't even believe that tomorrow will be exactly 1 year since my last post. So much has happened since I last posted I don't even feel like writing it all down. In summary, I ended up quitting my job and moving to California. I sold the 1974 XJ12L for what I paid for it some 6 years ago but I was glad to see it go to a fellow OJC member.

I took the XKE to the Jags and Wags event in San Jose hosted by Club Auto Sport and Paul from the J.A.G saw the corrosion on my spark plugs and said "They are probably welded to the head". This worried me so I ordered a set of NGK BPR6EGP spark plugs the following week. I soaked the plugs with some penetrating fluid and left it for a few days. I thought that stuff would evaoparte away but it didn't so I had to soak it out of the plug hole with some paper towels.

I took my wrench to 6A and it came out beautifully. No issues at all for any of the plugs. The plugs that came out were all Champion RN9YC. And it looks like someone had put some nickel based anti-seize on it. They all had the perfect "colour" except for 5A, which was a little sooty. But given that 6A,5A,4A all run off the same carb I didn't think too much about it. 

I too put some hi-temp anti-seize and gapped them all to 0.025 inches. Took about an hour to get all 12 done but it went like clockwork since I know my way around these Jag V12s now. The V12 E-type is much easier to change spark plugs on than the XJ12s, especially the fuel injected cars.