British Cars

[Tony66_au]

Ahhh yes, the timing chains on those XK motors can be daunting but they provide a nice setup on the front of the block to dial em in.

I still have my Mk 10 workshop manual and was looking at the OHC setup in the book a few days ago marvelling at the setup.

And I still maintain that those Gold top heads are an engineering marvel lol, Add D type cams to make them breathe and they are VERY fast

 

[Styria]

Hi Tony, in order to replace the bottom timing chain, you have two choices, viz. remove the engine from the car, or drop the front suspension. The people that carried out the work, ex Bryson Industries employees that set up shop in Chippendale, an inner Sydney suburb, suggested removal of the bottom end was the preferable option. So I went with them. I bought a lot of extra parts by way of camshaft and big end bearings etc. etc. to make a better and more complete job of it.

When I got the car back, I noticed that the oil pressure was no longer quite as good (45 ibs./sq.in to 40), but I did not pay a lot of attention to that - albeit I was curious as to why - but I was assured that all was well. I sold the car not long after - I advertised it for $2300.00 and a Mercedes 220SE for $2000.00 at the same time, and the one that would go first, was the one I would dispose of. It turned out to be the Jaguar. I rang the new owner some three months later to see how the car was going - I am that sort of person - and I was horrified to learn that the engine had blown up in a big way, such as bearings, pistons, the lot......Something must have gone wrong somewhere along the line. That experience, plus constant little nigglies such as a poor way of securing the exhaust system, a troublesome solenoid switch for second gear hold, plus carburettor tuning issues, sort of cured me of Jaguars, but I still remember the beautiful ride with that independent rear suspension, the comfy seats, dash layout etc. - I had really fallen for that car when I first got it. Regards Styria

 

[Tony66_au]

Something as simple as the wrong oil can cause the XK engines to detonate but in this case id say it was probably the workshop.

My Mk 10 (last I spoke to the current owner) had just clocked up 160'000 miles since I rebuilt the engine which was pretty impressive considering id never done a Jag engine.

I did use all original parts except the crank bearing shells and I went though a 1000 mile running in process using a non friction modified running in oil from Penrite with 2 oil changes at 1000 miles and again at 5000 miles before doing a 10'000 mile oil change and using an Amsoil product with their magnetic filter and a magnetised sump plug.

I also used 4 bottles of assembly lube (Purple) and at the first oil change noted a fair bit of metal which I was assured was normal, I also checked the cams at the 1000 mile service because the cam ramp angle was fairly radical in order to get the old girl to breathe very well and this was where the benefits of a 60 min cam run in procedure became self evident.

But best of all I had an elderly gent available to me who had both the passion and the experience to get the old girl purring like a Le mans car and his reward was to drive the car for the first week.

One thing I found was that there were "Jaguar Experts" and Jag people........

its a shame you had a bad run as the Mk V's are a grand old girl indeed.