1958 XK 150 roadster (JB) Major mechanical overhaul

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Specification (briefly) for this project is as follows: This is a nice, presentable XK that we are going to mechanically upgrade from stem to stern. The car will receive uprated Team CJ cooling, ignition, braking, suspension, a Stage One E Type engine, triple SU carbs and a CJ5 five speed transmission. The finished article will be the proverbial wolf in sheep's clothing!

We now have the cylinder head completely rebuilt and installed and have started installing all the other engine bay ancillaries, such as the new Mallory distributor, spin-on oil filter and of course the polished stainless steel headers. We should have the old car back on the road in the next week or so.

Modified cam/tach drive worked out perfectly	Lifting hooks added for  convenience	Polished valve covers add the finishing touch
Headers installed	Note new mallory distributor and modern oil filter	Rebuilt carbs squeezed into place

Although we are not quite finished with the cylinder head yet, we went ahead and rebuilt the block and installed it in the car, along with your new CJ5 five speed. We have also completed the carb rebuild.

Bottom half of the engine now completly rebuilt	CJ alloy flywheel being installed	Attaching the CJ5 to your original bellhousing
Engine and trans now installed		Carbs completely rebuilt

With the new engine sleeves installed, the following photos show the new cylinders being finish honed.

Crank has been ground, balanced and polished	Cutting out the old cylinder  sleeves	Pistons are carefully matched to their  respective cylinders
Finish honing the newly installed sleeves

We have been steadily gathering  various new components while we wait for the engine machine work to be completed.....

Some of the new components going into your cylinder head rebuild	Beautiful new aluminum radiator
Polished SS headers will provide the sounds....	New HP stainless exhausts

The first photograph below (scanned from Philip Porter's excellent "Original XK" book) shows how the factory cut away the right hand engine bay sidewall to make room for the triple carbs used on the 'S' models. The next photographs show your car, before and after the same side panel has been removed.

Photo of an original 'S' model engine bay	The masked area had to b removed to make room for the triple cabs	Bonnet support rod will have to be moved to the LH side
Valve covers back from the polisher

With the front suspension rebuild completed, we have now installed the upgraded brake booster and the new Koni shock absorbers at the rear of the car. We have also received most of the carb parts back from the polishing shop.

New brake booster installed up inside LH front wing	Carb parts have been beautifully  polished	New Konis going in place at the rear

Your original suspension was in a terrible state and required a complete rebuild, including new shocks, torsion bars, Poly bushings, upper and lower balljoints, wheel bearings, etc, etc.

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New Koni shocks, front and rear	New torsion bars being  installed
RH front suspension rebuilt, new Wilwood brakes installed	New CJ5 five speed built

The engine and transmission have now been removed and we have the front suspension rebuild well underway.

Removing the seats	Which were incorrectly secured
Exhaust had to be cut off as it was welded as one unit	Old and rusty exhausts will be replaced	New stainless steel headers and  exhaust have been ordered
Chassis has a number of these 'patch' repairs	Front suspension was very grimy	All this will be stripped and rebuilt
Engine and trans removed	Modified #5 cam cap	Team CJ alloy flywheel
Bill Terry upgraded rear crank seal	Carbs disasembled and sent out for polishing	After market brake booster
RH front suspension removed	Disassembled, cleaned and blasted	Poly bushings will be used in the rebuilding process

The following photographs show the mechanical rebuild/upgrade getting underway.

	4.2 E Type donor engine	Block ready for machine shop
Crank will be modified for upgraded front and rear seals	Rear seal housing will be machined to accept modern seal	Head will be polished and ported with uprated cams, valves, etc
E Type cam cap (A) will be cut down  for use with XK tach drive		Tach drive will be replaced
Valve cover will be repaired and machine polished	Triple carbs will be totally rebuilt, cosmetically and mechanically	Coolant drained, radiator removed
	Carbs removed	Mixture of old and new parts on your shelves

I hope you enjoy watching as we give this car the full CJ treatment!