1974 E Type Roadster (JB) Major Team CJ mechanical upgrade

Specification (briefly) for this project is as follows: Stage one engine rebuild, CJ5 five speed conversion, extensive Team CJ mechanical upgrades and installation of new Classic Jaguar interior, etc

Plan B - let's put half a dozen down draft Webers on top of that engine! As you can see, the Webers are now installed and have been fine tuned. You have a rock solid idle at 700 rpm and they pull beautifully through the rpm range. We are now only waiting for the custom filters from ITG in England and some special AC lines to mate up to the new compressor and we will be done.

Installing braided fuel lines	Rob Beere linkage is excellent	Webers look great from any angle!

I am pleased to report that your Stage One engine (complete with four new 2" SU carbs) is running beautifully. The overlap on the big cams means the engine develops very little vacuum below 850 rpm, so it was a fine balancing act deciding on precise cam timing and carb settings - but it was worth the effort!

Limited clearance between the left/rear SU carb and the heater box meant we had to custom make you a set of billet filters.

Serious road testing begins on Monday.

SU carbs a tight fit!	Plenty of room on RHS	Thank goodness for modern technology!

Time to see if we put everything back where it was supposed to go! Click on the picture of the oil cooler to witness the initial firing!

Note: Sorry about all the background noise - I am no Steven Spielberg!

Time for some serious Team CJ cooling!

Alloy expansion tank	New radiator	Cowl will be detailed

Today we installed your rebuilt engine and new CJ5 transmission. The CJ5 is actually easier to install than the original 4 speed and can be removed and reinstalled without removing the engine, should you ever need to install a new clutch!

Engine squeezed back in place!	Installing new CJ5 mount	Job finished
Drivetrain now 100% rebuilt	Per your request - a photo of the billet tie plate in place under the IRS

We now have your new CJ5 five speed mated with the rebuilt engine and the IRS installed back under the car. This afternoon we will detail the engine bay with a view to installing the engine and transmission tomorrow (5/30).

IRS rebuild now completed...

It is now time to work out the installation of your 4 x 2" SU carbs!

Installing intake manifolds...	Silicone hoses throughout
HD8 SU carbs	This set-up should pull you along nicely!

Your Stage One engine rebuild is almost complete....

Beautiful machine work	Monster cams!	Going together..
XK 140 provides a  nice backdrop	John C doing his thing....	One fully rebuilt Stage One V12 engine

Unfortunately, your differential is in very poor condition. It is difficult to capture on film how badly damaged the bearings are, but hopefully the second picture below will give you some idea. John will rebuild the entire unit next week.

Tired old differential!	Badly damaged bearings and races

Powder coated IRS components

While we wait for the machine shop to return your cylinder heads we have set about rebuilding your IRS. The following photos show that it was about due for a service ;-)

IRS removed	Disassembly underway	Grimy!
One shock 1" longer than  the other 3 ??	Bushing eyes way too big for the top mounts - they were rattling	Off to the powder coater
Cage will aslo be powder coated	Diff will be resealed	Badly damaged splined hub

Your new CJ5/12 gearbox

Not much to report this week as we await the return of your cylinder heads from the machine shop. The photographs below show your new 2 inch HD8 SU carbs and the billet crank pulley that will be installed for use with your uprated alternator.

Special billet crank pulley	New HD8 carbs will supply the 92 octane!

As you can see, John now has the bottom end rebuild well underway. The replacement crank was perfect, BTW. We hope to have the heads back from the machine shop sometime next week.

Rob Beere oil cooler kit	New pistons and liners	Special tool holds liners  in place
Installing oil pan	Chain cover
	Grade 8 hardware throughout

The news today is not good, I'm afraid. One of your thrust washers was living in the oil pan and the movement its absence allowed at the crank has worn away all the mating surface on the crankshaft. Although it is possible to weld up the crank and cut back the mating surface, it is not something we advcoate at Classic Jaguar. The proper way to deal with this is to locate a replacement crankshaft - which I am in the process of doing.

Hopefully the photographs below will tell the story.
 

Thrust washer are not supposed to live in the oil pan!	One side was mangled as it fell through the engine	Crankshaft thrust area has been beaten to death
Pistons and....	liners will all be replaced	The block with the crank removed
Someone has cut the input shaft, although we do not know why....	Good news! The thrust area in the block is undamaged	John installing a helicoil as your drain plug was stripped out

Better late than never! We finally have this project underway and you can see in the following sequence of photographs that John Claydon already has your engine out and is making a terrible mess of the workshop floor!

Time to get this job underway	John getting to grips with your engine
Car is super solid underneath	Loads of mess....