A potato peeler would work, wouldn’t it?
Yeah, none of that damage would worry me.
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Since this engine is going into a pre 1975 car I don’t have to comply with emissions so I am deleting the smog pump and other emissions stuff, do you think the stock computer will care or do you think it will run a little rich due to it expecting to have some air injection? or will it compensate with the MAP sensor? I plan to add an o2 Sensor, so when I go stand alone ECU I’ll already have one installed. so either way i’ll find out if its running too rich. just wondering if anyone has done this without touching the fuel injection ecu.
*** to clarify I plan to add another separate o2 sensor on top of the stock ones***
The ECU doesn’t really care if the air injection system is removed.
Although the air injection pump turns at all times, the output is diverted from the injection pipes to the RH air filter housing as soon as xxx-coolant temp is reached. I can’t remember the exact spec but I recall that it is 150ºF or something like that.
Anyhow, by the time the system is in closed loop, and exited the cold enrichment phase, the air injection is out of the picture.
Cheers
DD
Good to know! I am not too familiar with these old style smog systems, I am glad to hear they are super simply to get rid of!
The smog system in and of itself isn’t so bad. It’s the crazy vacuum advance control system that will really dazzle a fellow 
Cheers
DD
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A little update, I have been busy the last month or so and haven’t really worked on the engine as much as I would have liked to. But I did do a little project for peace of mind, I know that these engines are not that heavy but they are long and it sketches me out to have it hanging by just the bell housing bolts off of an engine stand so I made some struts to support the front of the engine, which is super overkill but they put my mind at ease when I have my head under the engine, or I am trying to get a stubborn bolt loose. super easy to do I just reversed the engine mount plates and used the wheels bolts on the stand. only cost me about 40-50 bucks.
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Hi William
That is a nice neat fix. I didn’t do anything when I had the engine on the stand, and wound up with a crack where it was clamped to the support.
Once I saw this, I quickly got out a bit of 2x2 and supported it.
I am getting ready to pull the heads, and I am making my own head puller tool set based on what Kirberts book suggests. this is an unfinished example that will have the edges cleaned up with a file and painted. I decided to be safe and I am going to make 7 to fit each cam bearing, I will try and post a 1:1 scale template of the 5 normal plates and the 2 offset ones when I get a chance.
William, your heads may come off with very little effort or they may be a real pain, only time will tell. If they turn out to be a problem the individual type pullers may not be as efficient as a one piece unit. While 5 of the cam stud to head bolt sets are close they are not all the same and do vary slightly in offset and the remaining front and rear positions are offset so much as to prevent a straight up pull causing those pullers to twist quite a lot, particularly the front one.
The one piece unit is likely no more time consuming nor costly to make and ensures a straight pull on the cam studs.
Mine cost me under $100.00 AUD including all hardware, steel plate and laser cutting. I have CAD files or drawing available if you wish.
That would be great if you could send over the CAD and drawing Files! I do agree that the one piece is better but I am going to try the single units first if I feel that I am having to put too much force on them to get the head to pop then I will definitely make a one piece unit. I think they will come off just fine as everything else on this engine has come off easy, but you never know! Thanks for the advise!
Okay a little change of course, I have decided that I am going to do it right the first time and I am going to be adding a manual behind the V12 right off the bat rather than rebuilding the Th400 and swapping a manual later on, so I have a full new rebuild kit, shift kit, adjustable modulator available. I recently purchased a Veloster N (great hot hatch) for my daily driver which is a manual and is great fun, its the first manual car I have over owned apart from an old beater truck with shift throws as long as a drag strip. It has spoiled me and there is no going back. I just purchased a bell housing from 5speeds.com ebay store. it allows you to bolt a few different transmissions (TKO 500/600, JT5, T5, Ford Toploader, and a few others) I will have to modify a stock E-type clutch with a different friction plate and a few other things.
Link to bellhousing: https://www.ebay.com/itm/JAGUAR-V12-12-CYLINDER-E-TYPE-5-SPEED-CONVERSION-BELLHOUSING-NEW-USA-MADE/323645385536?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649
Shift kit link: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/bmm-20261
Modulator: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/bmm-20234
Rebuild Kit: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-705001
OK, war story time. A friend once asked me to help him pick up an old van. It was a 2-person job because we’d have to drive to it, then drive both vehicles back. He asked me to help because he knew I could drive a manual transmission, and the van we were picking up had a manual transmission.
By manual transmission, that meant it had a 3-speed on the column. While some of us love the sportiness of a nice 5-speed stick, there is nothing sporty about a 3-speed on the stalk. Those shifts are about 120 degrees around the column. It feels like you’re gonna coast to a stop between gears.
And, of course, that van had great heaping loads of power, probably something less than 100 when new and it was far from new.
I recommend an aluminum flywheel. The OEM E-type flywheel is waaaay too heavy. And you can have it drilled for whatever clutch you choose, perhaps something from a Corvette.
Back when these cars were made, flywheels were secured to the crank with bolts with tab locks; after torquing the bolts, the tabs were bent over the corners to prevent them coming loose. This idea is now out of favor, as the tab locks had to be soft metal to be bendable, and tightening the hard bolts onto them would tend to smoosh them and come loose anyway without turning. Today such assemblies will be assembled without tab locks but rather with Loctite on the bolt threads. You will need new bolts there, as the flywheel flange is thicker than the flex plate and requires longer bolts as well as longer alignment dowels.
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Thanks! yea I am new to the Manual game, I need to do waaay more research before i chose a clutch and flywheel. I already wanted a lightened flywheel and I assume this one(https://xks.com/i-6917134-jaguar-v-12-alloy-flywheel-17-1502-5.html?ref=category:1207353) is what you are referring to. Since I am new to the manual game I will probably be asking some silly questions so sorry in advance 
. and about the 3 speed on the “tree”, I have heard about them and always thought they were kinda cool but probably the most inefficient way to change gears ever. One day I’d like to try one though, just for the fun of it.
I had not thought of that, thanks! that kind of tidbit of info is really valuable for a first timer. if there is any other tidbits and info you have on swapping to manual on one of these engines it would MUCH appreciated!
In my family there was once a 1962 Volvo and a 1969 Volvo. Both of these cars should have had a shift linkage from the shifter to the tranny, but neither did. Rather, the shifter was mounted directly on top of the transmission, which was pretty close to the driver’s right foot. Then there was a shift lever about two feet long to put the knob up where you could get at it. 2nd gear was a couple of feet away from 1st, and in any gear you could just bend the shifter six inches in any direction. Not exactly sporty, but still better than that three on the tree nonsense.
Ya gotta ask yourself: Why would anyone put a manual shifter on the column? Even on a van, the transmission is under the floor. The linkage to connect that shifter up on the column has to be a nightmare.
I had a three on the tree in one of these:
If you didn’t go through the correct plane to change gears you confused the mechanism and had a devil of a job to get into any of the 3 gears.
Another time I was driving the father-in -laws MK11 Cortina and parked nose first into a parking space. Getting back into the car I realised that I didn’t know how to select reverse.
Thinking back to how the FiL drove I smashed the lever towards the dash and then down, phew, it went through the detent and into reverse
Ok, more exciting news, I have always wanted to build an engine with ITB’s but they have always been extremely expensive. especially for v12’s. Well, I have been getting to into 3d modeling in Fusion 360, my father has been teaching me. I realized that it really isn’t all that difficult to design adapters and intake runners for some ITB’s. So I said screw it and went looking on the internet for ITB’s off of old BMW’s as I know that BMW had a liking for them in the '90s and early 2000s for their cars and motorcycles and what do you know I run into a guy who is/was going to use some BMW motorcycle ITB’s for his Jaguar V12. after a quick search, they come from a BMW K1200 motorcycle and dirt cheap when it comes to ITB’s. So I decided to pick up a set for 4 for 60 bucks shipped. I realize that this may require extensive testing of intake design for power gains, but I am mostly doing it for the sound and looks. I also Know that It is going to probably require that I run fuel injection with a Megasquirt. But its all part of the fun.
Sorry if this is a bit of a mess but I am a little excited 
Are you going to fit air filters?
Yes, probably the low profile ones. something like these probably http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads26/air_cleaner1494109160.jpg
