I’ve been asked to help sort a collection of rare XK spares. The owner tells me that this engine came from the USA so I am wondering if its possible to reunite the engine with the original car? If the engine is of interest please contact me via a PM.
I have not used the classifieds as im trying/wanting to find the original car and thought I would get better coverage using the normal forum. everything looks in remarkable condition with no waterway corrosion, bore wear, the head has never been skimmed either!! .
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Phil, You might want to ask Tom Kent? Along with a couple of XK140 chassis, I saw this and another SE engine in his parts lockup 10 years ago. His records may reveal a connection.
Will do thanks
Hi Phil
I am no expert but from doing a quick Engine number stack from XKData the G-1362-8S could be from a late1954 car. There were very few numbers earlier than it although not all cars are yet on the database and maybe the older ones perished first…
Yes funnily enough I was getting my 1955 C Type head ready for machining only this week and I saw the inverted word TOP on the never been skimmed head. There are a bunch of letters on the opposite side too which I am trying to make out. Perhaps they contain a date code.
Hope this helps - Geoffrey. LONDON UK
Hi again
Just recently Roger Payne summarized the casting ID history and here is what he said
First up - all your photos are 100% consistent with your pictured Cylinder Head stamped G1499-8S is a genuine/original XK140 C-type Head regardless of yours not having the cast in large ‘C’ in the middle of the Spark Plug Valley…
I would like one more photo however please - at the very rear of the spark plug valley there is another stamped in number that I call the HSN (Head Sequence Number), and I estimate yours will be about AU8??
Your cylinder head is a casting made by West Yorkshire Foundry, and on the underneath side adjacent to the RH711 cast number, you will find their WYF logo (in overlapping letters). The RH711 is the Casting Sequence Number (CSN) applied by the foundry, in sequential order that they made these raw castings. The C-type head castings started at a CSN of RH1 going up to RH999, then RHA1 to RHA999, RHB1 etc etc, so your RH711 is one of their earliest castings (noting not all castings survived, some being scrapped by quality control). Now many years examination of these castings reveals that all these earliest RHxxx castings did not include the large cast in ‘C’. Indeed the earliest XK140 literature advises a C-type Head could be identified by its being painted red, but Jaguar quickly realised that it was easy to paint a standard A-type Head RED. So the cast in large ‘C’ was a later addition to facilitate quick identification.
Once the raw castings (quality control OKd) were delivered to Jaguar, they were stored until drawn out by the Jaguar Machine Shop, to machine them up to C-type specification, and once finished the HSN was stamped into the rear of the spark plug valley, noting HSNs were stamped in order machined up, regardless of whether batches of A-type (for standard XK140s or Mark VIIM) or C-type heads for XK140MC. So you will find HSNs are a bit all over the place, relative to the raw castings CSN…
So the casting on the Head in your photo makes it even earlier than the one he was discussing in that thread- Was there a C letter in the plug valley?
regards Geoffrey
No. No cast C in the valley
That word was not put there to make sure you didn’t put the head on upside-down. It is actually embossed on the head gasket and was transferred to your head.
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Hey thanks Mike
That font is exactly what made the markings on my head too. Do you have any writing on the opposite side on the same face of the gasket? I assume your photo is from an early steel gasket that you have, possibly unused?
Thanks Geoff
Yes, I have a couple of new Payen gaskets that I acquired several decades ago. They have various numbers stamped into them…
Here’s one with a part number C19122 and UK patent 697854; funny they abbreviated it PATT.
And an older one marked PCIA534 and K PHUV 20157
Funny the patent wasn’t granted until several years after the XK engine was in production. But at least we can see where the number 20157 came from on the first page.
GB697854 1.pdf (91.4 KB)
GB697854 2.pdf (105.2 KB)
GB697854 3.pdf (102.6 KB)
GB697854 4.pdf (54.1 KB)
GB697854 5.pdf (25.3 KB)
GB697854 6.pdf (26.1 KB)
GB697854 7.pdf (23.3 KB)
The knowledge and information available within this forum is stunning !
Hi mike, Rob, Phil
Do you think the PATT might be an abbreviation of PATTERN?
Usually prior to the Patent being issued products often displayed Pat. Pending.
Geoff