Early XK Timing Chain Oiler Boss Height?

Hello All –

Per another thread, my timing chain spray oiler failed in the past. It looks like the pin that secures the lower spring blade came loose and whoever attempted a fix then drilled it out and did a poor job of fitting a threaded insert which also came loose. In looking over the old aluminum part I decided to make another – but of steel instead. It’s mostly done – except for some holes still to be drilled – but I’d like to confirm the height of the boss that the spring blade pin screws into. I’m thinking it should be 5/16" in height? Can someone please confirm with whatever you have lying around? A previous owner may have shaved some metal off the height of my original.

Thank you.

Nice work.
I measure 19/64" on this one.


It looks to me like the spring pin is screwed in and then smashed on the end, to keep it from self-unscrewing with chain bounce, like it was never intended that you should pull it out.
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Maybe that’s how the DPO wrecked it.

Thank you for that dimension Rob. I was able to shave off 0.060" on the mill to get it to that thickness. I’ll add that my spring (as part of your pictured seat, ball and spring assembly) must have actually worked in the past as the outer surface of the coils were showing wear from having worn against the inside of the bore. A trip to the local Ace hardware with my trusty caliper had me leaving with an exact match of the original – except for length which was a little long. No problem there as I just trimmed one end. I’d wager that this is one of those items that almost never gets looked at during an engine rebuild.