In about1975 or so I was part of a group that bought what I was told was a Mark 2 sedan. The running car was purchased as a donor because one of the buyers had destroyed the front end of his Jaguar in a front end collision doing severe damage and he was finding almost no replacement parts at a reasonable cost. I had just purchased an XK150 with almost no oil pressure and being ignorant about Jaguars purchased the complete engine/trans as I was told it was “the same” and would drop right in. I found the problem with my engine to be the oil pump and stored the extra motor/trans.
I later found the motor to not be of use to me but it has been stored, indoors, since 1975.
The serial numbers on the block and head match and are KF 3749-8. The trans serial is a bit harder to find but there is a number stamped on a raised block in three rows “GBN”, “22810” and “JS”. Also cast into the steel main case is what appears to be L 9815.
Thanks for any help as I want to sell this and do not know what to list it as.
Not sure about the full engine number but one ending in dash 8 would indicate an 8:1 compression ratio. As I recall most US spec Mark IIs came with 9:1.
Thanks for the information. I had pretty much determined it was a Mark 1 from the “KF” and info on this site but had hoped to learn the year from the serial number. I’m going to presume the transmission and the electric overdrive unit were original to the car as I saw no indication it had ever been separated, or if it had it was quite some time in the past (I got it in '75) as the grime buildup was evident of that.
The motor turns freely by hand (no starter or generator) and even after 47 years (stored in dry but not temp controlled) it seems to have good compression when turned. I may pull the plugs and do a video probe to see what the cylinders/pistons look like. The trans shifts easily into all gears and almost no slop/lash felt. May pull the cover to inspect if someone is serious about purchasing the motor/trans.
Any idea of what to ask for them crated and ready to ship?
Have a look on saloondata.com. KF3410 is the nearest number to yours and listed as a 1959. Lots of info there.
the ‘GBN’ prefix and ‘JS’ suffix indicate that it is a Moss gearbox (no synchromesh on 1st gear.
The number is early, so late 1950s??
Thank you OldJagNut and Registrar!
When I bought into the donor car I was told it was a 1959 so I guess they were right about the year but wrong about it being much use to me ;-(.
I’m going to try to get the motor/trans out of my garage before it becomes a fixture like it did in my warehouse. 47 years stored is great for a classic French Cabernet but I don’t think aging in my warehouse did these parts any great good.
I’m not sure about it not being much use to you. I’m not ultra familiar with XKs, but the basic engine should be pretty much the same as a 3.4 XK150 SE model ( ie not XK150S); same block, same head, possibly same induction system, exhaust. Maybe different sump, oil pump setup, not sure about that, but you could always swap over what parts you need. Not so with Mk7, where the oil pump setup precluded using the smaller sump.
Back when I first got the car I figured it was going to need a new motor even though the original owner’s son had several thousand dollars in engine rebuild receipts. It had been double checked for making sure the 5 Lbs hot reading was correct. No engine noises at all and oil up on the cam when I checked under the cap, figured it had spun a main and already rebuilt so a crank at least. Checked compression and all six cylinders at factory spec.
Pulled the motor/trans and the crank was mirror smooth and all main and rod bearings plastigauged to right on factory spec. Pulled the oil pump and the rotating ring had broken on the thin end of one of the notches and the clearance was about 20 times factory specification.
Thought I was home free but then couldn’t find a pump. Jaguar dealer was helpful ($900+ but an obsolete part). This was mid eighties, no such thing as a home computer or the internet. Tried the local BAP/GEON “foreign” chain and even adds in Road and Track type mags with no luck. Thats when I bought the “spare” engine/trans, for $900 in 1985 dollars.
Before I got around to breaking that motor down I found out an early XKE pump would fit with a little modification to the inlet/outlet pipe, just required expanding the XKE pipe a bit, sliding the XK pipe inside it and brazing. Bought a pump, cut the pipes, had them expanded, brazed it while installed and what do you know, great oil pressure.
Had one other problem that I thought was going to be a game ender but worked out. Front end was loose and shook BAD at anything over 50MPH. Bought the new ball joints and brass inserts only to find that the existing balls had worn through the brass and destroyed the casting they sit in, also an obsolete set of parts! Luckily one of my friends worked for a machine shop in Alameda CA. that rebuilt Navy Carrier airplane Catapults. Took the parts to work and had them heated in the blast furnace and special welding done and then he machined them to fit the replacement inserts. Happy me!
I’m still a ways from getting my "67 Camaro factory SS/RS Restomod out of the garage but the Jag will see a complete disassembly and up on the rotisserie some time in the next year (maybe two).
LOL, should read my own text before I send them to make sure they make sense. To clarify the above, the only motor that got worked on was the one in the XK150. The Mark 1 motor just sat.
It’s hard to believe that back then (30, 40, 50 years ago) these things were hard to keep on the road, finding parts and\or expertise. With so many parts now being remanufactured (dubious quality aside) and internet search available, it’s somewhat easier. I had my E Type upper wishbones repaired where the balljoints had flogged them out, and rear splined hubs welded and resplined back in mid '70’s. Parts were possibly available, but prohibitively expensive, with huge delivery delays.
Your right OldJagNut, it was hard to source parts in the '80’s. Mostly because of no internet so no one had access to posting what they were selling for free, newspaper was too local and magazines were slow and expensive. Also because the cars were not yet “Classics” a lot of the ones that did have good parts on them were just crushed and became scrap.
I’m really glad my XK150 is 98% all there and original. Even though all the chrome will need replating and virtually nothing is pristine enough to stay “as is” I don’t have to “find” much. Rubber seals and complete interiors are available “reproduced” and I even think the missing chrome trim above and below my front window can be found.
High torque starter, alternator-negative ground conversion, upgraded disc brakes, 5-6 speed OD transmissions etc. All you need to do now is unleash your credit card and click a button!
I’m a widower so I don’t even have to explain the $30K+ I’ll on the card to anyone. LOL.
Nirvana! I’m sure you’ll end up with a treasure. Good luck. FWIW, I’d keep it totally stock, but I’m a purist. If it’s got overdrive, legs’ll be long enough, I like the Moss 'box and brakes more than adequate for normal use. And I’ve never had an issue with standard charging system and starter ( Mk1 and 2’s, S Type, E Type ) all +ve earth and generators.
OJN,
Your right about the stock stuff being “adequate” for almost all use, and original is probably the best for keeping the cars value. I do not plan to change anything I can’t put back to “stock” and will crate and store anything I take off. On the other hand I do drive the cars I build and since I have a few cars to pick from it’s in the “cars best interest” (LOL) to want my attention over others. I also will take it to my favorite race track, ThunderHill up in Willows CA, occasionally if I’m still in HPDE driving shape when I finish it. I would fade out the round puck front disc just on midnight runs through the local hilly back roads when I was much younger and much less inclined to obey speed limits ;-). Better brakes, smoother shifting and OD to make the track and cruise up and back nicer are on my “going to do that” list. -/+ ground isn’t all that important but I drove cars with generators in my youth and just like vacuum windshield wipers going electric I won’t miss ditching that old generator technology with its dim lights/discharge at idle.
I also plan on dropping the two lead acid batteries and using a modern tiny but just as powerful unit at about 5-10% of the weight so modern charging will become essential. I’ll use that weight savings to allow adding as much sound isolation as possible to cut out road noise but leave the firewall alone because you just have to hear the motor to enjoy any sporty car.
On the other hand I’ll probably keep the mono Blaupunkt AM/FM/SW radio as I usually drive my “old” cars with the radio off. The Blaupunkt has a separate power supply you can set for 6-12V and -/+ ground so it will adapt to whatever I do and having the short wave playing the BBC World News while others are blasting 5K watts of rap should be fun at cars and coffee meets LOL!
Sounds like you have given it plenty of thought and aren’t racing into it eyes closed. Nothing that can’t be changed back, and meets your specific requirements; perfect. All the best with it.
Well, that’s music to my ears! It is your car, and you do with it what pleases you, bottom line.