Mk2 rookie have no clue about it please help

Saloons
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Welcome! First off let me say I do not own a Saloon. I have a 94 XJS 4.0.

First off, I’d like to offer a tip of the hat to fine folks who have given you some good advice. Not often a young man is interested in these old cars and since most of us are getting long in the tooth, we need to nurture the interest. Thanks folks!

I purchased a 76 Triumph TR6 in 1996. Not well cared for but it had good bones and no rust. Read a lot on line, which was not much back then! There were all kinds of upgrades developed over the years. My thought was to get the car back to a stock, original condition car. So I ignored the upgrade fever and returned the car to as close to original condition as possible to experience the car as designed. I was quite surprised after the systems were rehabbed. The car was very sporty and fun to drive.

My advice to you is work through each system and return it to original condition. Drive and enjoy the car for what it is. Then, once you know how it is supposed to be, you can consider upgrades.

Good luck!

Gordon

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A WHOOOOLE lot more: the “easy” part is putting it in.

The hard part—and pardon my bluntness—is doing all the ancillaries, and is a VERY highly-skilled undertaking.

Learn the original engine and systems, first.

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Jose, when I was 17, I was “gifted” a British car –a Morris Minor Traveller (woody wagon) that didn’t run. I was thrilled to have it because I thought it was special and rare, which in Kentucky, it was! It took me a couple of years to get it running but that experience was worth every minute and every penny I put into it. I didn’t know much at first but I read books and found a shop manual to work on it. You have the internet (This forum, Wikipedia, YouTube, etc) and you can find a shop manual on Ebay. With few exceptions, the MKII has a fairly conventional design. So, you can learn a lot by just studying basic automotive topics like valve timing, carburetion, ignition; learn how to do basic diagnostic tests like a compression test, and perform that on the car. A shop manual will explain how to perform some diagnostics and repairs but will not explain too much about theory. Get one anyway and for the things you don’t understand, look online, or ask the group. If you take something apart, take photos and notes while disassembling so you can put it back together exactly as it was. This is very important when working on carburetors and cylinder heads!

A MKII in original condition is getting harder to find these days. I would advise you to do what’s necessary to make it run reliably while keeping it as original as you can. I agree with others that “lumping” it would be a lot harder to do than to work with what you have. It’ll take patience and you’ll make mistakes but don’t worry, I think you’ll be rewarded for the effort by having a special car that relatively few people besides Jaguar fans have ever seen!

Good Luck!

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As others have said, work methodically, and seek advice from this forum

get a copy of the Service Manual, these can often be purchased online or downloaded quite cheap, or Ebay a used paper copy…you need one

I generally like to get the motor running 1st, this facilitates further decisons

check the motor turns with a 33mm/ 1-5/16" spanner or socket on the crank damper bolt. In my opinion, removing plugs and some penetrant or oil should be done prior to spinning the engine with the starter

with regard to the fuel pump, there is a test outlined in the FSM for how much fuel it should pump into a bucket in a specified time. Does the fuel pump have 12V to it, does it work?

Do the flow test…dont blow yourself up :grinning:

I like to keep a bucket of water on hand when working with fuel

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Better to keep a fire extinguisher close by.

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EXACTLY!!!

Water is precisely the incorrect thing to use with a gasoline fure.

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Jose, welcome to the forum. Just a simple tip and first things first Check that the fuel filter next to the pump is clean, if your tank is old, it probably has corrosion which can block the first fuel filter. On my car I removed two cupfuls of crap from the tank, which was blocking the fuel filter, secondly check the second filter, which is alongside the carbs and has a glass bowl. Doing this first could save you the cost of a new fuel pump.

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I should have been clearer.

I agree a fire extinguisher is the appropriate device for fuel (and some other) fires), and water is seen as less than ideal.

I carry a fire-Ex inside my Jaguars.

An important “tool” for a new MK2 owner to own, what with SU carb overflow & 50+ yr old electrics

I was basing my comment on the young OP, maybe not having a fire extinguisher on hand ?

put out 2 fires, one a petrol in engine bay, one a weld/insulation, with water

An extinguisher must be right on hand, hope it works, makes a mess, definitely 1st choice

a bucket of water is instant, will quell the flames enough to give you a chance, even with a petrol fire

also good to wash fuel or any other substance instantly off you, or anything else, wash yr hands in the bucket when you are done etc etc

best bet, proper fire extinguisher, fire blanket, hose close enough to reach

It is wise to consider fire risk very carefully when pumping fuel, so that the power can be shut off very quickly to the fuel pump, do it outside, minimise static electricity risk, etc

I will end with the immortal words of Dirty Harry…in the event of a fire breaking out, and you dont have a fire extinguisher handy…do you want a bucket of water punk?..well do ya :grin:

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Update: thank you to everyone who’s given me the advice and I am soo grateful I never would have thought I’d get so much helpful feedback from you guys!!! And sorry for not replying sooner I have been so busy with reapplying for this semester of college and applying for grants and scholarships I haven’t had to time to check up on the overwhelming tips from you guys thank you Guys so much !!

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Here’s a tip for later perhaps…

The biggest performance boost you will get from a single change will be to dump the automatic, which really saps the power. I have a manual box you can have for free if you can arrange courier or collection from Maryland. It’s not a trivial job for a youngster, but it would mean that you can forget about power for a while and just get it correct and reliable. Going to manual will really wake the car up and still be totally by the book. Plus you will impress everyone by knowing how to drive a stick shift

I have a free console for the box but would need to charge a little for a bell housing and flywheel. Maybe we can ‘adopt you’ and somebody else might give you a clutch pedal or you could Google Welsh Enterprises for a used pedal box.

Welcome, anyhow. These are special cars for special people.

Pete

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That would be amazing please if you can contact me my phone number is 6264286502

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Yea that’s true out of my group of friends I am the only one who drives stick :sweat_smile: my dad has an old tacoma pick up truck that’s stick and I just have a blast with it !!

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My two cents don’t put an American lump in it, not only will you lose value of the car but the Jaguar engine is a very good engine and as previously mentioned the effort is not worth it, keep it original.

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The good news about putting a stickshift into a mk2 is no clutch pedal needed, there’s already one in there! They just bolted the brake and clutch pedal together under one big rubber pad.

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That’s news to me, I’m pretty sure that my ‘S’ type has the same set up as a MK2 and yes there is the large brake pad but only one pedal lever, when I swapped my DG box for the 4sp O/d I had to source a new clutch lever. Having said that the pedal box is common to either slush box or manual.
https://www.sngbarratt.com/uk/#!/English(US)/FindParts/Families/Classic%20Saloons/4/25/1179/1/10/1/viewassembly/24410/:BRAKE%20CONTROLS

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My Mk2 factory automatic has a clutch pedal installed but bolted together with the brake pedal.

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Very interesting, would be good to hear if that is standard, knowing Lyons approach to frugality I would be surprised to hear that they added cost where it wasn’t needed.

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I would assume it’s cheaper to make all pedal boxes the same and just connect the two pedals for automatics rather than making two separate parts and builds?

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Hey Theo Soares can you please explain to me some more because I’m still a little confused on how that works thank you so much

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The clutch pedal would be dumb in that it is not connected to anything other than the brake pad, the pedal box in the engine bay would have a blanking plate to stop any fumes entering the cabin.

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