Buying engine oil and car stuff costs

Mine is similar to what Canary made. I found that a piece of plumbing pipe (1 1/4 inch I think) could be squeezed in a vise around a 1 5/16 inch nut to form a perfect-fitting six point socket. I made two sockets and welded them to a flat bar turned 90 degrees apart. The two sockets welded this way give the advantage of a 12 point socket. Plenty strong for the task of turning over the XK120 engine.

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Canary–perfect tool…makes a frustrating task easy…(with all spark plugs out). and way better than trying to bump the starter, or roll the car forward in 4th–then back in neutral–then forward in 4th…ugh.
Nick

12 point Combo wrench from Amazon, $18.93 including delivery, ordered Friday night, arrived Sunday afternoon.
Fit is perfect, even clears the garage floor.

No maker’s name, not even a “country of origin” label. I thought that was illegal, has been since 1930?

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All right for you XK only guys, but the 15 degree cranked angle head will not reach the nut on later Jags with multi pulleys, like any vehicle with A/C

(I know this is an XK forum)

You can see that in my 1st pic

The sample car is a 420G though, no cars or tools were harmed in this experiment

The Whitworth spanners I bought at an auction from Transfield when they shut their Newcastle depot at the end of the last century. They are extremely well worn, and would probably be at least 70yrs old, you can see one of the 3 has been bent.

The foreman who was retiring had started there in 1957 as an apprentice

I still have some drills left out of the lucky dip box I bought for $5, among other things it had a steel box full of “hardened drill bits”. Would cost well over $1000 to buy in the shop

I am rummaging around for a 1"W which is the same as 42mm, I need an open end spanner to get in on a jam nut, shifter wont fit, although I do have a slim adjustable toothless tool like a pipe wrench that may fit, its in the vinegar bath atm

I am about to put many of the old spanners and other rusty tools in a molasses bath, the chrome is mostly long gone already, and they are very high quality, mainly Sidchrome

One more thing. I can easily crank my motor from below without removing the spark plugs. There is too many parts on the later cars to swing the wrench far, so you do have to reposition the wrench, but not an issue, as its usually not far when tuning etc

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My old 1-5/16" King Dick slogging spanner works.
Chris T.

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I saw a new set of those for sale recently and thought they probably dont sell many

You have probably been asked the same stupid question I have got

“Why have you got so many spanners” ?

In a rare moment of extravagance I actually bought that hefty 2nd hand spanner out of my own pocket. It fits BMC A & B Series engines too. I however inherited most of my tool collection from my grandfather who worked in the Experimental dept at Harry Ferguson tractors in Coventry in the 1950s. Some of the tools date back to his father’s pre-war workshop “Tunnies Garage” also in Coventry. Many of the Whitworth spanners show signs of having served very hard lives.

A friend assures me that the man who dies with the most tools wins.

Chris T.

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Nawt ut: the wife of the one who dies with the most toys, wins…:wink:

I must be missing something about rotating the crank via a wrench on the crank bolt. Doesn’t this need to be done while looking down on the top of the engine so you have a reference as to where the rotation is, i.e.; flywheel mark or valve position? If you are on the floor (as the photos suggest) rotating the crank from below what are the references?
Alan

IMG_2635

Turning engine to get to eithe piston position Or timing mark is eithe an observer helper or a lot of down, up, down up yourself.

I believe the XK120 was the last car to have the timing mark on the flywheel. All later XK engines have the timing mark on the bottom of the damper, where it is easy to see while turning the big bolt.

Timing mark seen through the hole in the bell housing.
I believe this was also true on XK140/150 and Mark VII/VIII/IX.


My 140 has the timing mark on the fly wheel. I can’t locate any marks on the damper.
Alan

Also true on 6-cylinder E Types.

My 150 (3.4l) has the marks on the damper. My MKIX (3.8l) also on the damper.

My XK140, MK 1, MK 2 and MK IX all have the timing marks on the damper, as shown in the illustration.

Thanks, that’s good to know.
What about the hole in the C.5068 bell housing, do you all have that?

I ask because a 140 engine I have here has the hole, and the dots on the flywheel, and the pointer on the front of the oil sump, but no identifiable marks on the damper, and I’ve always wondered about that.

All my cars still have a hole in the bell housing, although there is no flywheel visible on the A/T equipped MK IX. After a few decades the paint showing the timing marks on the damper falls off, and the only thing left is a scribe line on the periphery of the damper denoting TDC. Check for that on yours.

You speak of “dots” on the flywheel. The XK120 has an arrow complete with fletching on the flywheel for TDC. I didn’t notice an arrow on the XK140 so I gave up. What should I be looking for?

Here is what is on my 140 flywheel. No arrow.

Just for reference, here is an arrow on a 120 or Mark VII flywheel.

Rob, when are you coming out with your picture book, or do we have to collect the pictures piecemeal from your posts?

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