Was remembering a modification that Kirby mentions in the Book to make the bleed screw a bit easier to work with by cutting slots in the head for screwdriver application instead of via a wrench, and saw this item on Amazon. Although it says it is for various BMW and Mini Cooper models, note the dimensions (0.9 cm. o. dia/threads x 1.8 cm. overall length x 1.6 cm. dia/head) and wonder if this would work also for the XJS (in my case, '92 5.3).
And, at the same time, I was looking online for an āupgradedā banjo bolt, as Kirby mentions in the Book as well. Found this one that appears to be an excellent version, from Lithuania:
Kirby (and others āin the knowā), does that one look like it would do the trick? Iām a bit nervous though in ordering something from a vendor in Lithuania, but the price is right and they claim they have free shipping to the U.S. with 7 business days of arrival time. All sounds almost too good to be true ā¦
Kirbert
(Author of the Book, former owner of an '83 XJ-S H.E.)
3
Yeah, those are Johnās. I joked that the only way to make them better would be to put the Jaguar logo on them, and damned if he didnāt up and do it! Iām sure those would work perfectly. The plug from Lithuania I have no idea, but itās not a big risk to find out.
Was just checking Johnās other items that he makes on his Ebay store, and the man is an enterprising genius. Seems like he has just about all the āweak spotsā of the 5.3 covered on there with his custom innovations, at least as to the oil and coolant systems (dang, Kirby, if youāre not getting a āpiece of the actionā you should be! ). Only thing I would suggest though (the lawyer in me) is that he not put the Jaguar logo on his parts. I have heard that Jaguar (Tata?) very jealously polices their trademarks in their logos as far as going after violators, in part to make sure there are no inferior products out there that appear to be their own (go figure ) . Hence, why we no longer see aftermarket floor mats with the leaper logo on them. Instead he might want to come up with his own logo to put on them, so that when an owner sees that logo he knows what it is and that itās the āgood stuffā.
btw, one thing I noticed that John has on there are the āupgradedā banjo bolts for the oil feeder lines. Just wondering how much work it entails in r/ring those bolts. ?
I donāt know about the Amazon items. As far as replacing the oil feed banjo bolts- I have not had to do that as mine donāt leak. When I had my transmission out I was able to see both of them pretty well, and I would describe replacing them (with new washers) as āfiddlyā. Kirby mentions this fun job in the book!
Small hands help a lot
I think the book ir a CV thread ccx somewhere talks about using small string to keep the washers stacked/mated until all in place
Kirbert
(Author of the Book, former owner of an '83 XJ-S H.E.)
11
IIRC, the trick to replacing the oil feed banjos with the engine in the car is to disconnect all three oil feed lines at once: the two to the tappet blocks and the one to the pedestal in the V. That way the oil feed line can be maneuvered around to where you can get the new banjo bolts in place. Otherwise there may not be enough room between the firewall and the tappet block. And yeah, it helps to hold the copper sealing washers in place with a loop of dental floss while trying to get everything together.
Donāt be nervous Although Lithuania is small, it is a nice country and people are not bad here after all
One thing though it is strange that it shows you 7days shipping timeā¦ Iāll have to check my listing or it just might be just eBay bug. Usually it takes ~ 2weeks to get to US.
Seriously??? Iām just fixing the parts they screwed up
1 Like
Kirbert
(Author of the Book, former owner of an '83 XJ-S H.E.)
15
It has nothing to do with them leaking. You replace them because youād like oil flow to your cams.
Kirbert
(Author of the Book, former owner of an '83 XJ-S H.E.)
16
Waaay back when I was looking to have some decorative badges made for my cam covers, I discovered that some of Jaguarās logos are proprietary while others are free to use as long as they are used to denote Jaguar automobiles. That makes sense to me; some logos people can use for things like markings on custom parts while other logos can only be used by Jaguar.
Two weeks ??? dang ā¦ I really didnāt want to start driving Superblack until I had all my āis dottted and ts crossedā in order to prevent dangerous issues cropping up ā¦ Guess she may have to just sit and be patient awhile ā¦ Yes, Lithuania seems to be a beautiful country from what I have read on Wiki ā¦ The only bad thing I ever heard about it was whenever my late dad (who had Polish/Russian/German parentage) would talk about his first wife, who was a good-looking Lithuanian blonde. They had a rather stormy relationship and breakup before he met my mother, so his memories of her were not exactly happy ones and he made sure people were aware of it. Apparently his family had warned him at the time they got married that Poles & Lithuanians are supposedly not a good mix for marriage, but he refused to listen to them. She turned out to be very temperamental and stubborn, so sounds like they might have been right.
Iāve also just discovered Lithuania as a source of S/H parts. Just snagged a rear bumper beam for my facelift XJR-S, and also a classic SAAB 900 ABS ECU - only Ā£10! Delivery was about 7 days to the UK.
) . Hence, why we no longer see aftermarket floor mats with the leaper logo on them. 
Instead he might want to come up with his own logo to put on them, so that when an owner sees that logo he knows what it is and that itās the āgood stuffā. 
Although Lithuania is small, it is a nice country 
and people are not bad here after all 
Guess she may have to just sit and be patient awhile ā¦ 
Yes, Lithuania seems to be a beautiful country from what I have read on Wiki ā¦ The only bad thing I ever heard about it was whenever my late dad (who had Polish/Russian/German parentage) would talk about his first wife, who was a good-looking Lithuanian blonde. They had a rather stormy relationship and breakup before he met my mother, so his memories of her were not exactly happy ones and he made sure people were aware of it. Apparently his family had warned him at the time they got married that Poles & Lithuanians are supposedly not a good mix for marriage, but he refused to listen to them. She turned out to be very temperamental and stubborn, so sounds like they might have been right. 
