G’day Dennis - sorry for tardy response…
By ‘early steel bodied’ , can you be more exact and advise Chassis Number? Maybe I have it recorded somewhere, but can’t immediately find it, apart from you having said before a simple June 1950… Simple dates can be problematic, as they are not always applicable to the exact date-of-manufacture, which for matters authenticity, is the only relevant date… But assuming your DOM is indeed June 1950, in my 2012 Original Jaguar XK tools Chapter you are looking for a then identified TYPE A or TYPE B Jack - given back in 2012 all I could then advise was a ‘mid 1950’ demarcation. With my latest research and new numbering system the two Jack variants in question are C.2953/b (with a clamped ‘H’-section Lifting Arm) and C.2953/c (with a welded on 1.2 x 1.2 square-tube lifting arm) - so probably the most significant difference with XK120 Jacks. Both of these have STEVENSON JACKING SYSTEM / SMITHS in raised cast letters around the top surface of the foot. Both these Jacks should have a mm/yy date stamped centrally underneath the foot, being the month-date that the Jack was actually made by Smiths Jacking Systems Ltd. Reliable evidence of Jack date to the Date-of-Manufacture of the XK120 so equipped originally, is minimal but some month to two months earlier, is typical given delivery times of new stock to be supplied, and lead time to be fitted into an XK120 on the production line and then its completed date-of-manufacture. I have reliable evidence of a bolted-arm C.2953/b Jack with a 7/50 date stamp underneath - this being the latest date I have reliably confirmed (at present) for an original XK120 C.2953/b Jack, noting demarcation dates are not necessarily the same with similar Jacks supplied to other makes/models. The earliest reliably original date I have for an XK120 C.2953/c welded arm Jack is 10/50 so I still have two to three months unknown.
But given this improved evidence, and given the zero to two months lead time tolerance, I can now more confidently say the likely demarcation month is as early as July 1950 and as late as October 1950, but if your XK120 is indeed a June 1950 DOM, then I would be extremely confident that your original Jack was a bolted-arm C.2953/b with a date stamp most likely 4/50, 5/50 or 6/50, albeit a slightly earlier date is not impossible depending on stock rotation and new stock delivery dates…, and indeed all things equal (re all other detail) an earlier date is not significant.
The C.2953E3 Jack currently offered by WELSH is of earlier Jenks Brothers manufacture, and without any advice of any date stamp, and pictures show as having no date, is from the messy/confusing/overlapping 1949 period of C2654 early Mark V only Jacks being superseded by C.2953 later Mark V/early XK120 Jacks. The WELSH C.2953E3 (sorry not E2) Jack on offer, is in fact an early Mark V C2654 Jack, and not an C2953 Jack…
Hi Roger, you are very kind to share this wealth of information and take the time to do so. Mine is ||12 June 1950|
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|Chassis number|670316|
A great help
Hello again Roger, I just received an original April, 2008 XK Gazette with your great article on the jacks used during my question period. Great article with pics, and great supplemental research in this tread. I have a question which may have been answered in your writings, but I can’t find it. I have a jack of type a designation, with a hexagon shape drive-nut, dated 9/49 on the base, but strangely only bears the words"Smiths Jacking Systems" on the top of the base rather than including the word “Stevenson”. Can you identify the car and period associated with that one. Many thanks for your help, as always!
Thanks for that Dennis - 12 June 1950, I am totally happy with my previous advice that you should have a C.2953/b Jack with the bolted-on-arm. AS it happens I do have a good picture of the Jack original to 670312, and exceptionally original car in Europe, where the Jack and its Ratchet Handle and the clips securing them, look to be still in exceptionally original condition and paint…
Note, there is something, but no apparent date stamping which I have noted before for this period, but note that the foot, body and clamp are painted RED, with the Lifting Arm and the bolt/nuts left black - as they were correctly, and also the two lock nuts and protruding bolt thread are on the tyre side (when installed) with the bolt head hard against the inner panel thus allowing Jack to be installed in clips properly. Also note the Jacks Ratchet Handle in black, with the securing rivets bare metal, as again they were originally… All the little detail included in my research as if you are into authenticity, its just not a case of getting correct tools, but also if restored they should have correct original finish applied - and not the good old days of a heavy coat of black paint all over everything…
Dennis, if you refer to my earlier postings, I mentioned that 1949 was a particularly problemic year regarding authenticity detail of Jacks as then supplied to 1949 Mark V, and also the very very earliest aluminium XK120s…
Two problems - the first January 1949 Mark V Saloons introduced with a C2654 Jack that was the first Jack with a 5" long lifting arm, but also had a 3/4" AF drive hexagon that was operated by the Mark Vs wheel-brace - with the Mark Vs wheels being held on with 3/4" AF nuts. The Mark V DHC introduced in September 1949 introduced the C.2953 Jack that was only changed by now having a smaller 5/16" BSF (.518") drive nut and was also supplied with a C.2954 Ratchet Handle for the Jack. Saloons continued to use the earlier C.2654 Jack intermittently up to Feb 1950 when they were then standardized with the same C2953 Jack as introduced with the DHC. XK120s all had the revised C2953 Jack and C.2954 Ratchet Handle from the first aluminium cars in 1949, with only a handful made in Jun 1949, but really only the first small quantity from Aug/Sept 1949 onwards, so I am presuming the C.2953 was more probably introduced for the XK120, but whether for the handful in June 1949 or not, or not until Aug/Sep 1949 or not who knows, noting however that the J8 SPC says all XK120s did indeed get the C2953 Jack and C2954 Ratchet Handle - so I have nothing that says otherwise.
Now to really further complicate things in 1949, all of these STEVENSON patented/Telescopic Jacks from 1936 onwards were made by JENKS BROS (who also owned the brands Jenbro and Britool) up until 1949. Over a period of 6 to 9 months the rights and manufacturing of these Jacks, and their supply to Jaguar, was taken over by SMITHS Jacking Systems Ltd. SMITHS made Jacks introduced a couple of Smiths Patented design changes, but the basic Jack still incorporated all the original STEVENSON Patented features. So all Jenks Bros Jacks had just STEVENSON JACKING SYSTEM / WORLD PATENTS in cast letters around the foot, and none included of course any of the SMITHS new patented features (including the new C.2954 Ratchet Handle), and they had a few goes at the revised branding on the foot… The earliest Smiths made Jacks had just the wording SMITHS JACKING SYSTEMS, but soon after this was changed - probably on legal advice to SMITHS /STEVENSON JACKING SYSTEMS. And you do also find just STEVENSON JACKING SYSTEM on a very few C2654 Jacks.
So the Jenks to Smiths transition, the introduction of the distinctive Smiths Patented design changes, the actual branding cast on top of the foot, all happened in 1949 whilst in parallel we had the change from C.2654 Jacks for Mark V only to C.2953 Jacks and C.2954 Ratchet Handles for all Mark V DHC, later only Mark V saloon, and all XK120s. So a real mess, that I have only been able to resolve/sort out after many years of extensive resercah…
But there is another bugger factor. My efforts are in the context of Jaguar only Jacks which were made/assembled by Jenks Bros and Smiths Industries to Jaguars specification for their C2654 and C2953. Both Jenks Bros and Smiths Industries were also supplying similar STEVENSON style telescopic Jacks to at least 25 other car/truck manufacturers to their own specification, and all my conclusions/evidence of the 1949 transition for Jaguar, does not necessarily align with Jacks supplied to others. So now, given the mix/match and modification intention of expedient owners, and maybe opportunist (lets not say dishonest) vendors, some of this dateable detail gets lost/confused when you are looking at RESTORED Jacks on offer, given the $s that a genuine XK120 Jack can now realize… But there are vendors who simply don’t know all these subtle differences, and still advertise non-Jaguar Jacks as ‘suiting’ XK120 but still expecting to get XK120 $s for them. So best to do your homework BEFORE buying any advertised Jack - especially if its been restored/repainted, with the usual buyer beware caveat…
Sorry, long winded response to your simple question… your Jack with just SMITHS JACKING SYSTEM on it, dates from 1949 if its a Jaguar C2654 or C2953 Jack, and probably if a non-Jaguar Jack - but cant 100% say that. But there are a lot of other detail that determines if its an original C2654 (more likely) or and original C2953 (less likely) or indeed a non-Jaguar Jack (most likely)…
There was a restored one on Oz FB here a fair while back, I alerted a forum member but there was huge EU duty, and with freight, it was going to cost him triple,( over EU700 as I recall )
Not sure what “variant” it was, but this thread would probably narrow it right down 
Apparently there are replica jacks available, but I don’t think that would be right for an XK120, especially if one got the chance to match your particular car, with the correct variant jack
Amazing knowledge on this very specialized subject-and all things XK.
Many many thanks Roger for taking the time to share your valuable expertise. I really enjoy having your books and many articles.
Best,
Dennis