Cloth Tag on Clutch Bell Housing?

E-Type
1

HI, all…
Was wondering if any of you had ever seen a whitish “cloth” adhesive tag ( approx. 2" high x 4 3/4" long ) affixed to the top of the clutch bell housing on your XKE ?
I just took the engine out of my unmolested original '65 XKE OTS yesterday…and I found the above. Pretty tattered on one end and faded, with obvious heat/some oil staining…but the writing in green (?) ink was faintly visible: it had my cylinder head number ( 7E3124 ) written on it on one line…and immediately below it are the letters GGFFFG…and something else at the end of that line that was too faded to make out.
In my 22+ years of owning this Jag and reading about all aspects of the car, I never came across a reference item such as this.
So my questions are:

  • has anyone else seen or heard of this before?
  • what is the significance of the 6 letters written under the head number ?
    This is pretty cool, since it is further evidence that I have a numbers-matching car…but I never saw a reference to this type of marking before.
    Any info is appreciated !
    Thanks,
    Harold
    '65 XKE 4.2 OTS
2

The GGFFFG are probably the piston selective sizes.

1 Like
3

Hi, Bill…not sure what you mean.
But I was also thinking that perhaps this engine was apart ( trans from engine ) before…and this was a way of connecting the two pieces in reassembly ? And maybe the letters mean G: good and F: fair ?? But again, don’t know what they could be referring to, unless it’s the compression ??

4

These are what Bill is referring to. Page B.X.s.6 pf Bentley

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image1129×745 9.91 KB

John North
S1 Roadster

5

Thanks, John…now I understand ! Is it unusual to find this info where it was ?

6

I have not seen it before, but my experience is limited to two vehicles, so that probably gets you nowhere :smile:

John

7

Understood. I’ll do some digging…and let you know.
Best,
Harold