Frank - that is a B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L engine!
But I prefer to use the numbers-matching original and it would require a lot of modification to make your engine work.
Although some assembly is STILL required
BUT
yours will still be more beautiful.
{Apologies to Harvey for side-tracking his thread
– and God knows THAT so rarely happens 'round here,}
I wonder why Harvey isn’t putting an XK into his Cayman? 
I would certainly be willing to try it, if you can lend my a magic shoehorn.
Harvey, have you talked to these folks?
RND M96/M97 Engine Rebuilds for Porsche Boxster, Cayman, and 911 Models (lnengineering.com)
Yes. They do fine work. There were just some small features about Hartech that won me over.
Well Harvey someone somewhere makes a kit to install a small block Chevy V8 in the Boxster. There’s a guy here in Victoria that has done it, and I’ve autocrossed with him in my modified E Type. The V8 in the Boxster really works well - it’s a rocket, handles and brakes just as well as the original car.
Frank I’m not D_Barnes, but maybe your cams are the so called parabolic cams they started to use in 68/69 that have a modified ramp with larger clearances to reduce noise? They are identified by having 4 holes for bolting to the sprockets and/or a fine machined line around the flange that bolts to the sprocket.
Harvey I saw a show on Motor Trend channel the other day dealing with the Porsche bore score problems and found it very interesting that Hartech with their machining and sleeves could take them from an open deck to a closed deck configuration . Will you be doing that to your engine ? All this is very interesting to me since is so similar to some of the Vega (aluminium/silicon) engine problems 50 years ago. When GM replaced the block for free in my '71 Vega my father also added a larger radiator to keep engine temperatures low even on 100F days in heavy traffic. He also impressed upon me the importance of gentle warm up periods. That block had 140K+ miles on it when I rebuilt the engine in 1984 and the bores were still in good shape. Even with steel sleeves I have always made sure my aluminium engines have very good cooling capacity for the hottest days and I think that has made them very durable. If GM had done this my theory is that the Vega engine would not have a poor reliability reputation.
David
68 E-type FHC
I note that in your article, above, you are mentioning that you will not replace the oil pumps: I assume that they spec out to within normal limits?
Reason I ask, is the pictures you had sent me in an email showing pretty scuffed bearings had me a bit worried.
Yes, my block will be sleeved with the closed deck design. Hartech has developed their parts based on their race experience with Spec Boxster. The closed deck may be a bit of overkill for a street engine but since my car is a dual track/street car, it’s all good. I am also adding a 3rd radiator since, yes, excess heat is postulated to bring the oil temps up into a range where the viscosity is falling off, which could be an initiator of bore scoring. Using some of the modern “designer oils” (Gibbs, etc.) that are aimed at track work seem to be beneficial. It is really hard to pin down exact causes of the bore scoring.
Obligatory Jag content: Noting that Bill Terry is retiring, it would be interesting to get his thoughts on what is required to keep those XK race engines alive. We might be surprised at the parallels to tweaks he made to features of more modern engines. For instance, I bet his engines run pistons that are substantially lighter then the stock ones and probably use speciality coatings on the crown and skirt surfaces.
Wiggles, all reports are that the Porsche oil pump is pretty durable. But yes, those main shaft bearings had a lot of blackened areas. The guy at my local machine shop (I took the crank to him for polishing) said he saw that when there was piston blowby that contaminated the oil.
BTW, it is hard to get “specs” and “wear limits” for these engines, at least not in the standard Porsche shop manual (which in my case is a bootleg pdf taken from their on-line service guide). I get the impression that they are not in the business of rebuilding engines. Anecdotaly they seem to lean towards replacement engines. On the other hand, I have an order in for about $7K of rebuild parts (seriously) that appear to be available through Porsche, so it is not like they have totally closed the door on rebuilds. It’s going to be more $$ than a Dick Maury rebuild of an XK engine but not by a whole lot.
Craig, looking very beautifull too, you V12 engine, I have one standing in my “parts room” upstairs, to look at it. It’s not a e type V12, but from the XJS injection. Look it apart and never build it back. Do have a the bearings and gaskets sets.
Did want it power coated some parts to make it nice.
Frank.
Are the new sleeves Lokasil?
Good question. This is from Hartech’s website:
We machine out the original Porsche Lokasil cast in liner preform and replace it with an aluminum alloy cylinder plated with Nikasil as used in the hugely successful 911 3.2 Carrera, 964, 993, 996 Turbo, 996 GT3, 997 Turbo cylinders
