Hi - I am new here on this exciting site and in this forum. I hope that this topic is at the right place.
2 years ago, I fulfilled a dream when I purchased an e-type 3.8 chassis number 887964 made in December 1962 in very very poor condition.
I have few information about the history of the car, solely that the car was dispatched in New York in January 1963. 55 years later, a French broker purchased the car and ship it to France before I acquired it. I am currently looking for more information regarding those 55 years and let you know if I find something interesting.
Considering the current body aspect, I can easily state that the car stayed outside for a long time. A full bodywork is needed since there is rust and many deformed panels. Replacement of the bonnet is also mandatory. Overall, I seems that the current state of the car is more a combined result of the weather, storage and time rather than the consequences of a car accident.
Regarding the engine bay, an MK10 ZA 3.8L engine replace the original XKE R9553-9. Similarly to the body, I need to perform a full restoration and change many parts.
I started working on the engine and making a significant list of all the components that need to be replaced. However, as mentioned, it is a MK10 engine, therefore, if some of you could enlighten me about the few differences between the Mk10 3.8 engine and an E-type 3.8 XKE engine that would be very helpful.
First of all congrats…I dont think you really need to be concerned about the 3.8 coming out of a sedan, other than the serial #, Im not aware of any differences. I would expect that only the block came from the donor car and the original etype intake/exhaust manifolds are being used.
Congrats- Keep in mind, the journey can be as fun as reaching the destination. It sounds like this is your first Etype so there will be a learning curve. Have you restored other cars before? What parts of the restoration do you plan on performing yourself? I am starting the restoration of a Etype FHC built on January 2nd, 1963 so our cars are close together.
Hi Jeff, thank you vey much. You are right, the block came from the donor as well with the cylinder head.
The only problem is that I cannot find the block engine number. The casting number is the only one visible.
Which raise the question of the compression ratio 9:1 / 8:1… but i understand that it is a matter of varying the crown design of the piston
Hi Harvey, yes this is my first e-type and as you said the learning curve is huge. This car is much more complex that the Datsun 240Z I restored in 2017.
I plan to restore all the mechanical parts of the car, engine, gearbox, transmission, differential etc. a lot of work ahead… as you can see on the picture.
Congrats also for your project!!! Indeed quite the same age, 3 months
Alexandre, in the way of a compliment to the French farmers, when my wife and I toured from Paris to Toulouse several years ago, she commented that all the farms are very neat and tidy. She was raised on a ranch and notices things like this. I see you have a nice equipment barn for your farming implements. And even the inside of your equipment barn is neat and tidy. Amazing!
The block serial number should be where the oil filter housing bolts to the block. This number should also match the cylinder head number. See the below link:
But keep in mind…I have a 3.8 in a 57’ Mk1 sedan that has no serial # on the cylinder head (assuming this may have been a replacement from the factory)
Alexandre, my website has two threads that follow my restoration process. From the Home Page, pick on the drop down for Jaguar E-Type. The thread on the White 67 2+2 is quite long. That car is basically done. The thread for the 63 FHC is just getting started.
If you have to do a bunch of body work, the book I reference, E-Type Jaguar Restoration Manual / Classic Cars with David Barzilay is really one of the best books I have found. It goes into more detail than most, at least for the body work and cosmetics.
Regarding the engine, my thread on the 67 2+2 has a series of posts that follow along with an engine rebuild by Dick Maury, one of our top guys in the world of Etype engines.
Welcome to the forum. Your comment about the engine being from a Mk X, and the photo make me wonder if your intake manifold/carbs may be a problem. A few more photos of the carbs and manifold would help. The manifold used on the E-Type tilts down slightly away from the head so that the carbs clear the bonnet. On the Mk X, the manifold tilts slightly upwards. Also, the carbs on the Mk X have an automatic choke, whilst those on the E-Type are manually choked. A couple more photos should allow us to determine what you have.
Now it is a true garage. The implements you see on the picture belonged to the former owner of the barn