simon,
good to see you back, I was fully aware 6 years ago that it had the C7707 stamped 7 number on underside. ie a C type minus the C casting.
What I must admit was that I had missed the traces of red paint on the head presumably indicating that it had been painted red at some point the day I was at Dragone the lights in the showroom were off but it was very dark from memory.
terry
No, come on Terry,
This detail is very new to us all. At XK70 last year we openly discussed C Type racing engines (XKC 016), 9:1 cr XK120s and early competition C7700 / C2 heads machined to C7707 & C7896 spec. You offered no supporting evidence to suggest XK120s were originally dispatched from the factory with C type cylinder heads. Details from Alex about the C part number is and the WYF RH casting number on this head will be new to us both.
Alex, many many thanks for sharing this information. It is great now to have historical accuracy and provide the opportunity to dispel years of myths propagated by some aficionados.
To be added to the list of 33 9:1 XK120s are the two lightweight cars; LT2, 660746, W3593-9 & LT3, 660741, W3594-9
Regards
Simon
Guys, here is the casting mark and number found on the underside of the head. That number is: RH232. Please let me know what these numbers mean. Thanks
simon don’t forget this car is so late that they were probably already building the first XK140’s.
Whilst I haven’t bothered with the WYF RH casting numbers I have checked a lot of the straight part numbers ie C####
I have seen this C7707 stamping on other heads.
One particular head which I did photograph the RH number is this one
As recently as yesterday I came across another of the mystery heads C type with C casting on N4337-8 number at rear of valley said to be BJ418
So besides the head which is the center of the discussion here apparently, what do we know about how these special order cars came about? I wish someone could shed light on how these were offered to a customer who walked into Jaguar in 1954. Many, if not, most XK120’s that were purchased were raced at some point in their lives. With that being said, most XK120s that were ordered had the A type head, H6 carbs, and 8:1 compression ratio. If ones intensions were to race than I would assume the 9:1 SE cars would be the more obvious choice, unless they were not catalogued to the public, or were only offered in short supply to dealers, or only offered for racing purposes to select few or they were just considerably more expensive with the performance accessories such as the 9:1 compression and other things. Its a mystery. Does anyone have a sales catalogue from Jaguar from 1954 showing the XK120 and options that were described that were available to any customer who walked in?
http://www.jag-lovers.org/brochures/1950_section.html
http://www.jag-lovers.org/brochures/xk120sales.html
Many thanks for the photo of RH232.
RH232 is the West Yorkshire Foundries CASTING SEQUENCE NUMBER (an expression I coined) - or CSN for short. This is an important detail in understanding the development of the XK engines competition head, into what is now generally referred to as the C-type head. Its a very complex subject that has yet to be fully documented/published in any forum.
Roger
Alex,
If you want more information on this topic, please email me directly at rogerpayne@bigblue.net.au
It appears the private message feature of this site is not working.
Roger