A few short videos of a recent trip I took to Keystone Colorado, USA. The Eisenhower tunnel is a bit of 11,000 feet (3352 m). The MK2 performed flawlessly and you can hear it is pulling hard like a train at all times. Is was about 120 miles each way.
Most of the inclines/declines are 6% on this pass. I have all of the windows open as it was a warm day and I am wearing earplugs as things got loud. Nothing like that engine revving in many of the tunnels along the way. Not sure of European roadways, but we have run a way ramps that are deep with gravel which can stop a semi-truck/Lorry from imminent disaster.
Would be nice to see some pics of your car when parked in that area or when arrived.
Earplugs though? naahhh…I would love the sound.
If it’s too loud, you’re too old !! …as they say.
Nice gloves too…perhaps for summer though fingerless more appropriate?
Miss my Mk2. Noted you had a 5th gear? Trans upgrade then of some sort. Wasn’t aware there was such a possibility. Been away from this stuff for many years, certainly from my Mk2 having many other Jaguars since. I regret letting it go now…
I remember first driving mine home from engine rebuilder when I was kid, my first car, thought the transmission wasn’t shifting, unfamiliar with a car that revved so high! 3k at 60mph as you know.
Fifth gear in this case would be the overdrive, I just call it fifth. If one were so inclined here is a link to a specialist that can customize the final drive for better fuel economy if so desired. Its also the constant wind buffeting that takes its toll on the ears. Even with the ear plugs I was able to throw it into neutral in tunnels and rev it up to about 4500 a few times to really hear the bark!
In my S type I had two fuel tanks, so I could fill one with regular to drive at altitude, 5,000-9,000 ft. with the spark advanced and then switch to the premium tank when I got down to sea level. Otherwise I would have to get out and retard the spark below 2"000 ft.
P.
I run mid grade here in the USA and in the absence of that, like at Sam’s Club I just buy premium. Hopefully there is not a problem running too high of an octane rating. These cars were meant to run on higher octane leaded back in the day. I do live at about 5000 feet and frequently run up to 10,000 in Estes Park Colorado. I did not have any problems going all the way to 12,000 feet on this last run. My biggest problem is the ethanol which tends to boil the fuel out of the overflow pipes on hills. I have a manual switch shutoff to the pump which temporarily starves the carbs and the problem stops as the float drops for about 15 seconds.
I believe I am running 7 degrees BTDC at base point. No pinging or knocking here.
My four older British cars run OK on the 10% ethanol fuel but not so with my 1990 XJ6 which in hot weather has the fuel vaporize at the inlet to the high pressure external Bosch fuel pump causing the car to immediately stall. There is no warning, but a 25 minute cool down period will permit a restart or adding 1-2 gallons of cooler fuel will permit a restart. I am currently investigating solutions as this is a safety matter that needs to be resolved.
Mazda Cosmos—the mid-70s versions— had horrible vapor lock issues.
A friend of mine with one solved it, by painstakingly wrapping the cold return line from the AC evaporator with copper tubing, insulating it with foam roll bar padding, then hooking it to the fuel return line, to the tank.
After 45 minutes of summer driving, frost would form on the underside of the fuel tank.
I did not know about the 280Z, but should have been less cryptic, as I know it for a measured fact
depends on application. I obtained used Sunon 36W 4" square fans…they move +200cfm
DONT put yr fingers in one!..their original purpose is computer server cooling fans, rated 70C
they cost about $20 each, and blow gale, a duct to the area, if it works, maybe something more gracious
After much investigation the cause if this issue is that a high percent of the fuel send to the fuel rail is recirculated from the hot engine bay (about 150F on a run of 15 miles plus on an 85F day) to the swirl chamber in the fuel tank. This continual re-circulation of the fuel adds heat to it and over time, usually 2-3 hours of driving in ambient temperatures of 85F+, the fuel becomes so hot (probably exacerbated by the 10% ethanol fuel commonly available) that when the external Bosch pump attempts to pull fuel out of the swirl chamber it simply vaporizes causing the pump to cavitate, the fuel pressure in the fuel rail to drop, resulting in an immediate engine loss of power and stalling. A cool down period of 20-30 minutes will permit a restart or simply adding 1-2 gallons of room temperature fuel to the tank will permit a restart. As I understand it the fuel added drops directly into the swirl chamber (am looking for confirmation of this, not having cut open a tank for inspection) thus lowering the temperature enough for the pump to regain suction. The design deficiency was two fold, one, that the pump draws directly from the hottest fuel in the tank, and two, that Jaguar did not see fit to include a fuel cooler as part of the air-conditioning system as they did with all V-12 cars. Jaguar became aware of this issue, and in 1993 issued a bulletin which added a second Bosch pump that runs simultaneously with the original pump. This was their fix but I am not sure exactly how this eliminates the issue. By model year 1993 (IIRC) they changed to an in-tank pump system. As trial solution I have added a underfloor fuel cooler in the return line which per my measurements drops the returning fuel temperature about 10F (about 110F to 100F) but this has still proven inadequate. My next effort is to have the original Bosch pump (28 years old, 71K miles) replaced with a new pump in the chance the pump has become marginal, although the car performs fine in ambients of lower than 70F. I would like to avoid the overly complex official Jaguar solution of the dual pump set up.
