Engine tried to crank, then…

Likely, and will be evident when the cam covers are removed.

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Thursday nights are our dedicated Jag project night. Appreciate all this input to get ready for next week. Guess this could be glass half full, will take this opportunity to really clean things up and maybe polish some of the parts that are lack luster… :shushing_face:

Trying to put a positive spin on constant setbacks.

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On a Jaguar, Rover, or Jeep, it’s just part of how it all works.

Sometimes, when you hit the wall, you just have to back away, take a break, have a beer, and have a think!

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That said, if you don’t find anything obvious under the cam covers, you may indeed want to pull the oil pan and look in the bottom end.

In addition, are you sure that the engine isn’t having some kind of bad interaction with the transmission? When you tried to turn the engine, was it in neutral?

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Paul,

Maybe we are too old, or perhaps not old enough, but having a hard time staying excited about this project when we seem to fight making any progress.

With most “projects” we do, the progress, albeit slow sometimes, keeps us going. Seems like every time we “gain an inch, we lose a mile”.

If this is truly the journey of the vehicles you mentioned, I might stick to a Chevrolet. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye::rofl::laughing:

J/K!

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Candiece, it’s just another engine that has a problem. If you only make progress Thursday nights, then you’ll know much more next week and then you can decide if it’s worth the trouble for you.

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I’ve done that so many times with the jag that I now have liver damage

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My first body/paint guy said he would never work on a Jag again. Its not that the setbacks are insurmountable its that they seem to be never ending . The car will come together but its very challenging and $$ sometimes.

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Don’t get too discouraged! We don’t even know what this problem is yet!!

In your original post you stated the engine has been rebuilt, and was briefly run, yet the car has never been driven. If the engine was run (successfully, I’m assuming), whatever the problem is can be overcome and it may not take as much effort as folks are fearing. If you had to guess, how long has it been since the rebuilt engine was run?

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My old racing friend, professional mechanic, own shop for 30 yrs, will never let a Jag in his shop, even for one of his guys to work on.

Which, in another thread, is one reason why so many of these cars ended up in a barn

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Just recall the words of Thomas Edison when someone asked him about his struggles to make a working lightbulb.

“After we had conducted thousands of experiments on a certain project without solving the problem, one of my associates, after we had conducted the crowning experiment and it had proved a failure, expressed discouragement and disgust over our having failed to find out anything. I cheerily assured him that we had learned something. For we had learned for a certainty that the thing couldn’t be done that way, and that we would have to try some other way.”

Edit:

Or, . . . Life is about solving problems, one at a time.

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The physicist’s version of that positive philosophy:

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If I had to estimate, probably 6 years. Ran last time with no issues. My dad passed 5 years ago, and was running just before he got sick.

Were I in the same position?

Chevy Vegas… Chevettes… Corvairs.

I sense a theme…:wink:

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I’m leaning toward a stuck valve: a lash check, with cam covers off will show that pretty immediately.

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I know a lot more unsolvable mysteries in newish cars. Is it the crank sensor? Is it the ecu? Is it the wiring? The plug? The other plug? Is it something else? Could it be the relay or is it an intermittent lack of fuel pressure after all - or is it the immobilizer?

If some shop refuses to work on any kind or type of old car it is either because they are not intelligent enough for the easiest ‚new‘ things or because they have enough of the same, familiar kind to work on…

If it’s private you either want to do what you can or you don’t. In that case there’s other nice cars that have other aspects.

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The shop owner, where the jag currently resides, said the same thing. He strictly works on Shelby Mustangs and Cobras. He has said too many times to count that these cars are the most infuriating and difficult he has ever worked on, he too will never take one in his shop again, only helping us complete this one to get it out.

Again, we are very head strong and not ones to give up. But on the flip side, life is too short and trying to find “joy” in this journey is a struggle.

The other car Dad and I had together was super easy to work on and enjoyable. The E-type; umm, not so much joy, more of an perpetual exercise in patience.

I often wonder if Erica and all you other guys that have obtained expertise in these cars were ever at this juncture, and just go to the point you either learned to accept the struggle, or became knowledgeable enough that you learned the answers to the things that slowed you down so hiccups were quickly overcome.

Thanks for all the inspiration. Again, we aren’t going to back out and give up, you have my word. I just may have to have a few times that I have to vent to get me mentally through the moment. :blush: :+1:

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Yes, and it’s done in an afternoon. Rectified… if all else is ok, three days of work if you do it for the first time, a week if you take time? A month if you drop something down the timing chain! :grimacing:

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That is funny… I hear ya.

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My condolences!
Sure it’s more challenging but all you need is patience. Everyone wants to shove their cars off a cliff at some point and that’s where you take a break and reach for the fridge. It’s just another overhead cam inline engine in the end, and not so bad to get at either.

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