I be been running an MSD 6 with crane optical pick up in my series 3 for 22 years. Never had a problem, never lost spark. Probably over 100k miles. Cars fires right up whether hot or cold
I replaced it 3 years ago when I have the engine rebuilt but just because it was 19 years old. It was still working
MSD is compatible with various systems so I recall one or two extra wires that may not be needed. One of them is for kill switch.
The MSD box has nothing to do with timing, you will still have to adjust timing just as you would with points.
I’d tighten it up. If it’s loose enough to move by hand, it’ll move while driving, maybe slowly but it will
It’s a 1 1/2 which means it could have anything a 1 or 2 has- whatever was in the parts bin that day
I’ll bring it to the mechanic then to hopefully time it right- that is once the new alternator is put in. I plan to hook a syringe to the vacuum canister n apply neg pressure n see if it moves anything inside the dist. n to put that dial in the middle of its adjustment range. Thx.
Timing guns that use a strobe light are pretty cheap , and I find mine quite usefull . Easy to use , you can check the timing at idle and right through the rev range , then compare that to the factory figures . Checking with or without the vac connected will tell you if the vac advance is working or not .
If its running ok then thats the main thing .
I haven’t touched a timing gun in my short life and four XK engines run well. I just set the static timing, that’s good enough, go for a test drive and if it sounds odd I retard it a bit and try again. If not I leave it or advance it until I can tell I‘ve gone too far. I believe every engine is a little different.
Timing lights must be good to make sure the distributor still works right.
The distributor must not move as it will do that due to the vibrations.
You are not even curious to see how your ear compares with the timing numbers on the damper?
And here I was thinking the notion of the Series 1.5 comprising a random mishmash of S1 and S2 parts has been debunked. Yes, it was a transition model, but the changes were incremental and deliberate. That said, my Series 1.5 (or, as Jaguars labelled it, my “open headlight variant Series 1”) does indeed feature some particular non-S1.5 items - rod mounted rearview mirror, eared spinners and toggle switch centre dash - but ‘twas I who installed them, not the factory.
Does anyone have a verifiable example of the “whatever was in the parts bin” story?
Maybe an indirect example. When I replaced the leather front seat covers on my 2+2 I found the factory had crayon marked the inside surface of the seat backs and bottoms with car numbers. So, two different numbers, neither of which matched the car number of the car but they were both within 10 or 20 numbers of of my car. That tells me they weren’t all that careful about enduring the intended part went on any particular car; after all one black bucket seat looks pretty much like any other.
That and Jaguar’s parsimonious reputation would leave me to believe the company tried to use every part in the storeroom even if they were superseded by a revised part.
First couple of times, yes: then, the ear was calibrated.
Both seat covers were consistent with the S2 spec, though. Now, if your S2 had non-perforated leather seat covers from the factory then that would be a valid example of a series to series mishmash.
Not really, no!
I have a coffee machine that makes espresso. Some people always weigh the beans and adjust the temperature, buy pid machines and time it to exactly 24.7 seconds to get an extraction of 27 ml at the very moment it starts to go blond.
I don’t, what comes out is very drinkable and I‘m happy. It means that some shots go down the drain for a while but once you have it figured out you only get confused and the result suffers. I did weigh and measure once for a starting point so I knew what I was doing and went from there. Play around a little and learn what does what and adjust to it. It’s temperamental and sometimes inconsistent.
Since mine started to ping when I advance it more than just a little bit more I think I‘m well near good enough.
Do S1 E license plate lights count? I think the left and right were different for a time as they used the old ones up on one side of the line. And bolts all over the place of course.
The license plate lights on the S1 and S1.5 are ambidextrous. No left and right.
I agree, Nick. But I think it shows a lack of production discipline, a “Just-grab-the-nearest-item-that-fits” mentality.
I wonder what sort of parts inventory system Jaguar used?
https://forum.etypeuk.com/viewtopic.php?t=2006&start=30#p35522
#46
With two per car and knowing the approximate chassis numbers (~ 1,250 cars) to which they were fitted it seems likely the ‘short order’ was for 2,500 units. With long term E-Type production confirmed Lucas would have taken over. At around the time of the change over cars have been consistently observed with a Butlers light on the l/h side and a Lucas on the r/h side . Maybe this was due to parts bins on either side of the production line being filled differently with the last of the Butlers and the new Lucas units.
Doesn’t really count does it?
I would expect the trimming department wouldn’t throw out a set of perfectly usable seat covers simply because the numbers scribbled onto the inner hides were different. Now that would be taking the numbers matching paradigm to even more absurd heights 
As Nick has already stated, this is pretty much a myth - certainly for parts with emissions significance. The US 1968 Model Year cars (1.5s) were the way they were because of US Federal Regulations. If the factory fitted the wrong distributor to such a car it would affect the emissions certification, so it’s hard to believe it would have happened. Your 1968 would have had a Lucas 41207A distributor with no vacuum capsule (neither advance nor retard) originally.
Not really. That happened during early 3.8 S1 production. Same series. What I’m seeking are examples of S1.5 cars with inconsistent and random S1 and S2 parts across the production timeframe.