Hi all,
I’ve had a successful first start up for Bettie’s 3.8 liter motor. As you may recall this is the result of a strange noise heard in the 4.2 motor I was running. Coventry West rebuilt the 3.8 and I installed a Ray Livingstone EDIS and an Alternator bracket. It took some time to find the right length V-belt for my set up which is a single V belt from the crank pulley to the water pump to the alt.
Still waiting on the replacement header to down-pipe gaskets and while I was ordering I added one exhaust stud and a set of taller brass nuts. Should be ready to drive this weekend.
The beauty of Ray’s EDIS setup isn’t just the electronics. It’s all the custom machined bits that make it integrate onto the XK engine that really adds value. Beautifully done. I’m really glad I got one before he discontinued production.
Moved her around the driveway and garage in the last two days and today I went around the block. She sounds good and runs good. Here is a link to my YouTube channel if you are interested to see Bettie moving on her own.
Yeah my first start without the exhaust brought my wife out of the house with our dogs barking along side her! It was loud coming straight out the headers.
John, how helpful do you think the undershields are? I don’t have them installed on my car even though I do have the shields. They didn’t seem to fit will and I never kept trying to get them in place. After the Oil Leaks that have rain I have a fair amount of dirt and grime on the frame rails, block and other under-bonnet areas. Should I make the effort to get them to fit?
During my recent brake and clutch rebuild, I replaced the undershield, but removed its black paint (and grease and dirt). I like the look better with the bare aluminum. Lightens up the area. I’ll look at trying to get to the right side without removing the carbs.
Drew,
I don’t know if they make a difference in driving characteristics or not but as Pete Crespin once said “jaguar didn’t spend money on anything that wasn’t needed” so I decided to get them installed to complete my restoration.
Larry,
Mine were bare but I painted them in black to be faithful to the original design. I have read that once they get doused with fuel or oil or whatever down there the paint came off quickly, so many cars looked like these were bare alum. I will see how they wear, but if the paint comes off I won’t stress about it.
Today I put the bonnet back onto the car and it went on easily- with the help of a couple friends. Only thing left now is to clean and polish the paint, polish the chrome and treat my tires.