Having recently acquired a Series III V12 saloon, I thought it was time to
get serious. I have been active on the xj list for years and have owned a
total of 4 xj saloons, two 4.2 cars (one of which I still have) and two
V12
Series III cars.
The V12 I have presently is a pristine 1988 Vanden Plas in concours
condition (in fact in its first concours it took a “first in class” with
99.9). It is totally original, including its crimson paint, and runs
beautifully. It has a mere 48,000 km (30,000 miles) on it.
I have a very short list of projects: #1 replacement of the white
radiator fan with the new-style black fan. I did this over the weekend: a
45
minute job requiring no dismantling other than moving one coolant hose out
of the way (the one that runs over the rad). But it would have helped to
have elfin fingers! Getting the nuts back on the hub was a trick. With the
fan removed, it was a good time to tidy up the front of the engine, and
the
fan clutch assembly. Here is my question: The new black fan (OEM) has a
smaller diameter hub, and therefore longer blades. The blades are in fact
one inch longer than those of the white fan (and yes, it is white when
new,
not yellow). Am I correct in assuming that more air will be drawn through
the rad with this new fan, or is the air flow mostly a product of the RPM?
#2 I want to replace the four catalytic converters and pipes with the
UK
pre-catalyst pipes. (I live where there is no regular emissions testing,
as
it is not a “problem” area, and this car will be seldom used). I want to
do
this because I am concerned about the increased heat generated by the
converters, but the issue of freer breathing also occurs to me. Question:
would the UK pipes fit with no modifications?
#3 This car has the Delanaire Mk III climate control, which allows a
manual selection of temperature as well as the usual automatic regulation,
and it works very well. I believe that the XJS models from 88 to 92 have
the
same system. But the Mk III system retains the one drawback of all the
Delanaire units: no fresh air intake with the system OFF. On the Mk II
unit
it was possible to install what is called the “Gardiner modification” to
allow the fresh air flap to open with the system off. Thus you can get
fresh
air flowing either at ambient temperature or heated, as you wish, by
simply
removing the ground to the vacuum valve. This is controlled by connecting
the ground from the valve to a console switch (the master window lock-out
switch being the most handy). This system works perfectly and I have used
it
in both my 4.2 cars.
Question: can the Delanaire Mk III system be converted this way? Is
there a similar vacuum valve that controls the fresh air flap, and if so,
where is it? If such a valve exists, it should be possible to perform the
same mod. which I find useful a good part of the year. Can anyone help
with
this?
Thanks in advance.Gregory
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Jag-lovers Forums - Jag-lovers Original Message -----
From: “Dr Gregory Andrachuk” <@Gregory_Andrachuk>
To: V12@jag-lovers.org
Cc: xjs@jag-lovers.org
Sent: lunes, 14 de agosto de 2000 9:17
Subject: introduction