Beautiful work, Paul. My hat’s off to you !
Cheers
DD
2 Likes
A position my shot shoulders reeeeeally dont like, no mo’!
Just another reason I have to work on cars, in 2-hour blocks.
Pau N.
I add my compliments. Almost think it is too pretty to drive??? Just kidding., I know you will drive it. a lot!!!:
I did a bit f cleaning on mine when the engine swap took place. All clean, and a lot painted in the bay . . The engine came clean, so, it went in that way.
Nothing got polished!!!
Paul W.
Yup, I have the shoulder issue. that is how I deal with it. blocks of time at a whack then rest or defer…
A PT gave me some help. Excercises. Sleep positions. And “straighten up”. shoulders back. It works!!! As good as new? No. Much better, oh yeah… when all go ugh, an Aleve fixes 'em for a day.
Carl
2 Likes
Andy,
Yes, that is a vintage 1950s or so gas pump in one of the pictures. Here is another picture of the inside of my garage showing some of the posters, paintings, and other items I have on display. It is first a working garage for me and our five Jaguars, but it is also a bit of a hangout and entertaining space. It is quite a mess today with my ongoing engine swap, but it has looked this neat once or twice. 
Paul
5 Likes
Rob,
Thanks.
I live in California, USA and cars built in 1976 and newer are required to have an emissions test every two years. The test includes a visual inspection to verify that all the original emissions equipment is properly installed and an analysis of exhaust gas emissions to ensure that they don’t exceed standards. If I removed any of the emissions equipment, including the air pump, the car would not pass the inspection and I would be unable to register the vehicle in CA even if the exhaust gases met requirements.
Paul
Paul,
I agree with Doug (I usually do) that getting to the lower intake manifold nuts is not too bad. I have removed and replaced Series III XJ6 intake manifolds several times now due to cylinder head work or engine replacement. I am fortunate that I can still get around quite well. I can easily reach most of the lower intake manifold nuts by reaching under from the front or rear, although one or two of the nuts usually prove to be a challenge. I will properly tighten all the nuts I can now. When I get the car running I will drive it up on my lift where I can reach them from underneath for a final tightening.
Paul
1 Like
Well, you bastid…
With display cases, and big, comfy chairs, to boot!!!
Seriously, great-looking Garage Mahal!
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Doug,
Thanks. But please hold onto your hat for now. 
As the ancient philosopher Yogi Berra said, “It ain’t over til it’s over”.
I still need to get the car running, pass the CA smog test (it is due in March), and get the A/C blowing cold again.
Looks like a lot of long days out in my garage for now.
Paul
1 Like
Not a bad place to be by the looks of it 
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Robin,
I am very fortunate to have this garage (see attached picture). We moved to a rural area
Paul
3 Likes
Now I’m really pissed off, TWO hoists???
Actually just really jealous, I used to have a workshop and being able to lift my cars any time I wished was great, trouble was there was a lot of time that there were NOT customers cars on them.
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Paul, that garage is SICK! That means beautiful. Just curious how your wiring are so clean! Do you have a source for the fuel injection wire harness that wont cost me an arm and a leg. Good stuff!
JR
JR,
Thanks.
I usually do all the repairs and restoration of the wiring harnesses myself. I clean them, remove any damaged vinyl tape or cloth covering, cut out the old damaged wires and solder in new pieces covered in shrink tubing, remove and replace the damaged connectors, and then rewrap the repaired harnesses in vinyl tape or cloth covering as appropriate.
Sorry but I don’t have a source for the fuel injection wire harness since I usually repair them myself. I have purchased new wiring harnesses for my 1957 MK VIII from British Wiring and Rhode Island Wiring. I am pretty sure they make wiring harnesses for the XJ6 but I am not positive of that. Check out their websites to see if they do.
Paul
Paul, may I ask what you use to get the connectors so clean? My best bet has been dishwasher detergent and to some extent kerosene, but they never got as white as yours.
Harnesses are remade and come at a price, but repair is very time consuming, too. So that depends on what one has to work with and expects.
Martin from the XKE-section bought a completely unmolested XJ engine with the old style fuel rail and expansion tank at the front of the thermostat. The harness is complete down to the little white rubber rings that are still legible. Also, the cloth looks very good and there are no cracks at all. Needless to say that I really do consider replacing my parts with his, as he doesn’t need them for his carbureted system and it would be worth buying. Also, I noticed a lot of small items like clips missing from my engine that I now need to source or swap. It is a shame that the headgasket is gone (and maybe more), but that will be part of the operation I hope.
The other question that came up is about a little blue thing that was connected to the coolant temperature sender (to the gauge) at the rail. It is a short plastic tube with a spade at each end, marked Pektron. Is that original or its purpose known?
Thank you.
David
1 Like
Probably the resistor used to correct gauge readings.
These are clearly shown in the Jaguar parts catalogs but I think we decided years ago they they were used only on a case-by-case basis, as very few cars seem to have them.
I muse that the guys on the ‘final inspection’ station of the assembly line each had a pocketful of 'em…and slipped them in when needed
Cheers
DD
1 Like
I dunno what Paul uses to replace disintegrated cloth covering on the wires but I’ve found that cloth electrical tape (Tesa is one brand that comes to mind) is a reasonably attractive alternative.
Obviously it isn’t the same as the woven cloth covering…but it looks a lot less wrong than using conventional vinyl electrical tape for re-wrapping looms.
Cheers
DD
1 Like
I was just looking at the pics again. Wow.
For those who have never ‘been there’, it takes a very high level of dedication to detail an engine bay as Paul has done. I’ve never reached quite the level Paul has but have come close…or like to think so 
If you have time and patience it is a very rewarding project, as I’m sure Paul will attest to.
Then, after all is said and done, there’s keeping an engine bay looking that good. And I’m sure Paul does!
Cheers
DD
1 Like
And THAT is all one really needs to lnow why the British car industry met the fate it did.
Doug,
Thank you for the kind words.
It has been very rewarding for me to restore this engine bay to this level especially when that work is appreciated by experts like you and others on this list.
I have done much of the same level of work to the engine bays of my wife’s 1990 XJ-S convertible and my 1990 V12 Vanden Plas and they both are holding up nicely.
I am glad that I started this thread to share what I have done with this engine transplant. I am having fun answering the questions and hearing the comments.
Paul
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David,
Those white hard rubber connectors in the engine bay are a big challenge to get clean. I used Simple Green several times on each connector with a small steel wire brush, some very small screwdrivers and some Q-tips. Some of those connectors looked black with old dirt and grease when I started and each time I worked on them they looked better and better. Up close you can see that they have aged a bit, but from a few feet away they look great now. Thank you for noticing. I think that the steel wire brush made the difference in getting the baked on hardened dirt and grease off.
I have parted out three Series III XJ6 parts cars down to the last nut, bolt, washer, clip, and screw. Each time I did this I kept any parts that were in usable condition. Some of the metal and plastic hardware located in the cabin were in almost new condition. When I reassembled this engine bay I replaced any component that was broken or discolored with like new looking components that I harvested from my parts cars. Individually this is not a big deal, but all together with the freshly painted surfaces the effect is amplified.
Doug already answered about that blue part. I have never seen one myself but I have heard about them.
Regarding the engine bay wire harnesses that you and others asked about. If you look closely at your car you will note that Jaguar used several kinds of coverings over their wire harnesses. There are a few kinds of weaved cloth coverings, some vinyl sleeves, and vinyl tape. The weaved cloth covering is the worst and they can be so bad that they fall apart if touched. While repairing and rebuilding the harnesses I try to use period correct parts from my parts cars, but also new materials like vinyl tape, to make everything to look as good and correct as I can. This ads to the complexity of the work and how long it takes me, but I feel better about the results when the look is like new but period correct.
Good parts are sometimes hard to find so if you can get a decent EFI harness you should not miss the opportunity. If you can’t use it others certainly can.
Paul