Working my way through the fluids on way to engine restart. I drained the “10 gallons” of oil from the pan. (used to my 1972 Ghia with 2-1/2 quarts!) Had to get two drain pans. It was very tan and cloudy. Not sure when/if it was every changed since the car only has 16k miles on it. I found 4 small bits of rusty chunks and two shiny silver bits. The silver bits came from the drain plug threads I believe. Not sure if that is common, but maybe from an old “cross-threading” in the past. The Green Book mentions removing a small plug at the bottom of the oil filter assy, but I could not visibly see thru the dirt/grime to find a nut.
Steve when I bought my '68 the float in the rear ZS carb was sunk and spewing gas out the overflow hole. I pulled the carbs off as a pair without separating them from the shaft in between them that ties them together. I just pulled to top and bottom off each carb and blew them out with out with carb cleaner and then replaced all the seals etc that came in the carb kits. That reddish fluid in your photo might be ATF fluid. That is often a substitute for the “official” type damper oil in the carbs and is what I have always used in the 18 years I have had my car. As far as the secondary plates I just removed the two screws holding each plate in the shaft and the removed the plate from the shaft. I left the shaft and all the linkage in place when I put the carbs back on so it would be easy to put back to original if things did not perform well by removing them. Seventeen years later the plates and screws are still in a ziplock back in the glove box since the throttle response is so much better on my car without them. My 2 cents
David
68 E-type FHC
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Update: after pouring water in the radiator… and cleaning up the puddles… Out comes the radiator!
Looks like this is becoming more and more of a tear down.
…I mean, OPPORTUNITY!
My dad likened the job of restoring a E Type to removing the string on a sugar sack, just a little bit at a time…
Kneeling at the front of the car, hold a nice block chunky of hardwood in your left hand and a large hammer in your right hand and tap that radiator support panel down straight on the wood. I can see it has been used as a jacking point by some buffoon in the past.
It is just crying out for it.
I used a spirit level on the underside on the panel to figure out where to tap from above. Now mine is as straight as the day it came out of the factory.
I pressure washed and then, scotch-brighted the frames, I then flatted down any chips with 400/800 wet and dry. There were a couple if very minor dinks in the picture rail that I filled. I then used panel wipe to degreased them and primed then and painted them with the rack in-situ I peeled the loom out of the way. It was not a big job with the engine out. I masked everything up carefully The primer I used was red, as that is what Jaguar used.
I would try some different solvents on that bulkhead, all that black might dissolve, leaving the original colour underneath. You could try some thinners and see what happens on a test area. Might take some paint off underneath.
From what I can see the frames look like they might be in good condition. Thats a few thousand dollars saved hopefully.
Before
After
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Unfortunately somewhere in the cars past the owner thought it would be a good idea to spray can the engine bay with black rubberized paint. Overspray ON EVERYTHING! I don’t even know if the engine will run yet. Leak in the radiator required it’s removal and I need to see what condition the engine is so I know whether it’s a rebuild.
My approach: clean fuel tank and lines, check for spark, rebuild carbs… LOST wandering in the lurch. Is there a way to feed water to the engine without a radiator? Or a way to flush the engine before a put a rebuilt radiator back in? Any suggestions on figuring out the engine condition?
You can use a flush gun.
As for engine condition: pull spark plugs, and crank it over to get oil pressure. Some bad assemblies can make noise, while cranking, but if nothing serious, fire it up.
You can do so for 10-20 seconds, with no coolant on it. That should quickly indicate what may be amiss.
If the rubber paint is bituminous, you stand a good chance of dissolving it easily with thinners. Lets hop, Wear gloves!
Starting an engine that has been stood is always a bit of a risk, it is up to you. I would have a go, but I would do the minimum to give it a chance of survival first.
Jaguar engines are pretty tough things.
You dont need much water If you only run it for a few seconds. Oil splash will cool the pistons. You could join the two radiator hoses together and overfill the expansion bottle to cover to piston liners if you want. Squeeze the hoses to expel as much air as you can.
I would remove the thermostat as the block will be easier to fill and it may well be past its sell buy-date.
The water pump could also be suspect as the impeller could be badly corroded. This does not matter for a test. One engine I had a water pump but no impeller. The motor had been stood 20 years and it had corroded away completely. You can inspect it later by removing the pump.
The important thing is the oil. Generally yours oil doesn’t look too bad from the picture. Those bits of toast dont look great. More might come out with a flush and after the engine oil is warm. The oil pump suck up through a gauze.
Worth checking the oil filter and replacing it.
Try and drain what is in the sump by flushing . If it looks like oil and is liquid that is good. If it looks like mu or mayonnaise that is bad. If it looks like water of antifreeze that is also bad. Yours looked ok i think.
When you fill then engine, you will automatically coat the exhaust cam shaft. The inlet cam may or may not be dry. You might like to consider removing this rocker cover and having a look prior to turning the engine. Tip some oil on the cam and buckets.
Tip some lubricant down the bores to lubricate the rings prior to turning the engine. Diesel from a squeezy bottle is a good choice. Leave it for 24 hours or better still a few days to penetrate. Don’t worry about overfilling as you will be leaving the plugs out to start with. When you turn the engine on the key bung rags over the plug holes to stop diesel squirting everywhere.
I might tip some oil in the rocker cover and watch it run out of the sump clear before filling. I might also run a tap through the sump hole to reinstate the thread.
With fresh oil and lubricated bores try and turn the engine 10 degrees one direction then back a bit a few times. You are trying to clear the bores with the rings gently before working up to a full rotation. To much friction all at once increases the chance of breaking a ring.
Then try a full turn clockwise with a breaker bar on the crank pulley. Hopefully it will turn freely and you might be able to pump some fresh oil around the engine from the sump. The more turns manually the better. You are trying to feel for and obstructions like a sticking valve interfering with a piston so be gentle to start with.
You also want to be as gentle as you can with the rear rope seal. They dont like drying out. You could go wild and overfill the engine to the top, to coat all the bearing surfaces, seals and the timing gear then drain it all out! Cant see it would do any harm. You could leave it like that for a day or two in the hope you re-impregnate the rope seal with oil I suppose.
To clear out the waterways you need a powerful pressure-washer. I have cleared them out through the freeze plug holes, the head deck, the rear engine plate and the water pump impeller hole. As a minimum you could run a hose pipe through the top and the bottom radiator hoses in different directions and see what comes out.
Professionals would remove everything including the piston liners then hot-tank the block but that is a bit extreme for now.
Assuming you engine now turns freely and you have oil pressure, with your foot on the clutch in neutral and the spark plugs out, turn the motor on the key. Any excess diesel will shoot out the top. The clutch could be stuck but may well free of as the motor warms. Thats why you need the gearbox in neutral.
Hopefully you will get full oil pressure on the gauge without breaking and piston rings or bending any valves! 50psi + would be nice. The senders are very unreliable though.
With an assistant, you could stick you finger down each plug hole to feel compression, hopefully.
The put the plugs back in connect it all up.
Carbs next, floats can sink, fuel will be old, I would rig up a separate temporary fuel supply. Until the carbs are rebuilt watch them as they could well be hazardous. Have a fire extinguisher to hand and watch them for petrol leaks.
Check the points for spark. If it runs dont run it for more that 30 seconds if the block is low on water.
See what happens. Listen for rattles, try and put it in gear! Good Luck.
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I hooked up a hose like this (radiator and heater removed):
Yeah, I turned the heater valve on after I took the pic. The system wasn’t too bad, this was more a matter of ‘why not while I’m here?’.
Thanks so much for the VERY useful information and tips James!
Geo, I’m confused by the setup you are showing, it appears that the in and out are connected to the same hose?
Flex-Seal on a Jaguar engine. Why didn’t I think of that?
Look for a new “Pumpkin Orange” color coming soon.
signed,
Phil Swift
I had the same puzzled look…
After dismantling the carbs, I’m convinced that is the damper oil they used. I was told sometimes it was common to use transmission fluid?
Atf, 20wt… both work fine.
Not just me them Whew thank goodness 
Yes I have used ATF fluid in my ZS carbs for many years now and has worked fine for me.
David
68 E-type FHC
They are both ‘in’.
As I recall, one direction is sending water thru the heater pipe that goes to the intake manifold then on to the top big hose that would have been connected to the radiator. The other direction goes thru the heater pipes that go to the pipe under the manifold that then goes to the water pump and out the bottom big hose that would have been connected to the radiator.
Sure looked dramatic when at full flow - cannot prove effectiveness one way or the other.
There is an extension to the 3.8 service manual which covers the Strombergs pretty well. It is called "SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION FOR 4.2 LITRE “E” TYPE AND 2+2 CARS (SERIES 2). It is included in the latest version of the Bentley manual.
Richard Liggitt