I have to ask, what are spats? Having 16" wheels and wanting to run radials
someday, I keep hearing about spats. What are they?
153xk12FHC
A “spat” is a wing valence 
Seriously, though, it’s what we call a fender skirt on this side of the
pond.
Bruce-----
Eident youth maks easy age.(Scottish proverb)
Bruce Cunningham - Slainte Mhath
What’s a 153xk12?-----
Eident youth maks easy age.(Scottish proverb)
Bruce Cunningham - Slainte Mhath
Melvin,
They are fender skirts----- Original Message -----
From: “MELVIN SALTER” m1955s@msn.com
To: xk@jag-lovers.org
Sent: Monday, January 15, 2007 9:04 AM
Subject: [xk] What are spats?
I have to ask, what are spats? Having 16" wheels and wanting to run radials
someday, I keep hearing about spats. What are they?153xk12FHC
Melvin,
This car (mine) has no spats.
http://www.xkdata.com/cars/detail/?car=681467
This one has got spats
http://www.xkdata.com/cars/detail/?car=681463
Look at the things hiding the rear wheels.
Wire wheels cars were dispatched without spats because there was no room
the the spinners.
Bernard
MELVIN SALTER a �crit :> I have to ask, what are spats? Having 16" wheels and wanting to run radials
someday, I keep hearing about spats. What are they?
153xk12FHC
They’re the part of the body that needs to be removed in order to change the
rear steel wheels. See page A.17 of the service manual. If you have wire
wheels you don’t have them.
Mike Eck
New Jersey, USA
www.jaguarclock.com
'51 XK120 OTS, '62 3.8 MK2 MOD, '72 SIII E-Type 2+2----- Original Message -----
From: “MELVIN SALTER” m1955s@msn.com
To: xk@jag-lovers.org
Sent: Monday, January 15, 2007 10:04 AM
Subject: [xk] What are spats?
I have to ask, what are spats? Having 16" wheels and wanting to run
radials
someday, I keep hearing about spats. What are they?153xk12FHC
Thanks Bernard, and everyone that set me straight. Your xk looks just like
mine. Only yours is a year newer. Looks like the same color. Mine does not
have spats, I have wire wheels. Now it makes sense. Boy do I have a lot to
learn.
Mel from Brighton, Colorado.
Jeepers, I thought a spat was the past tense of spit, and usually
resulted when a spit was spatted, or am I confusing the NFL here and TO
and DeAngelo Hall??
Actually the guys have got it right. Some love them, some don’t.
Craig
1954 XK 120 OTS (spatless)— Bruce Cunningham bcunning@gmavt.net wrote:
A “spat” is a wing valence
Seriously, though, it’s what we call a fender skirt on this side of
the
pond.Bruce
Eident youth maks easy age.(Scottish proverb)
Bruce Cunningham - Slainte Mhath
Cheap talk?
Check out Yahoo! Messenger’s low PC-to-Phone call rates.
http://voice.yahoo.com
I have been using a lead additive in my fuel since I have bought my car. I
have heard that since XK valves are hardened this is not required? Is there
any truth to this, or should I continue with a lead additive?
Regards,
Jeff Dinkle
#837270
150 DHC
Oh didn’t you know they built one xk 120 with a V-12. Yep they dropped a
Rolls Royce Merlin in there. They had a bunch left over after the war you
know. Talk about some power! Gas mileage is not so good, but runs great at
30,000 feet! Just kidding, I must have made a typing error. First mistake
this year. Man I made it till February last year before I made a
mistake:-( Now I am going to get a bunch of emails, how did they fit a Rolls
Royce Merlin engine in a xk 120? With mirrors, that how.
153xk120> What’s a 153xk12?
Eident youth maks easy age.(Scottish proverb)
Bruce Cunningham - Slainte Mhath
This is a sea snake.
I guess it depends on the fuel available in your country and the way you
drive your car.
XK valves are supposed to be strong enough not to need lead-like
additives, actually I use an additive every other time I fill the tank,
and at low dose.
Bernard
Jeff Dinkle a �crit :>
I have been using a lead additive in my fuel since I have bought my car. I
have heard that since XK valves are hardened this is not required? Is there
any truth to this, or should I continue with a lead additive?Regards,
Jeff Dinkle
#837270
150 DHC
it’s the seats that should be hardened. The ones you have are fine and
a lead additive is not really needed if you have enough available octane.
Jeff Dinkle wrote:>
I have been using a lead additive in my fuel since I have bought my car. I
have heard that since XK valves are hardened this is not required?
In reply to a message from Jeff Dinkle sent Mon 15 Jan 2007:
Jeff
The lead additive is not necessary. It acts as a lubricant for the
valve guides, and to cushion the impact of the valve against the
seat. The concern is with the valve seats, not so much the valves.
The engines with cast iron heads and integral seats had to evolve
to a flame hardened seat to hold up to the unleaded fuel. The Jag
head already had hardened seat rings, so no change was necessary.
The other change was to bronze valve guides. Cast iron guides are
no longer used in the rebuilding of a XK head, so unless your head
is 100% original, it probably has bronze guides. If you are unsure,
or just want a little extra protection, use an upper cylinder
lubricant in your gasoline like Marvel Mystery Oil. I think the mix
is 4 oz per 10 gals of fuel.
Joel–
The original message included these comments:
I have been using a lead additive in my fuel since I have bought my car. I
have heard that since XK valves are hardened this is not required? Is there
any truth to this, or should I continue with a lead additive?
Regards,
Jeff Dinkle
–
ex jag, '66 E-type S1 4.2, '56 XK140dhc
Denison, TX, United States
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
–Support Jag-lovers - Donate at http://www.jag-lovers.org/donate04.php –
In reply to a message from ex jag sent Mon 15 Jan 2007:
Hi,
I had my engine given a major overhaul in one of the famous XK
garages in England. I was told that they converted the engine to un-
lead by changing the valve springs to harder ones. Probably to let
the valve go harder into the seat.
Comments?
/Frank
XK150 '61–
The original message included these comments:
In reply to a message from Jeff Dinkle sent Mon 15 Jan 2007:
Jeff
The lead additive is not necessary. It acts as a lubricant for the
valve guides, and to cushion the impact of the valve against the
seat. The concern is with the valve seats, not so much the valves.
The engines with cast iron heads and integral seats had to evolve
to a flame hardened seat to hold up to the unleaded fuel. The Jag
head already had hardened seat rings, so no change was necessary.
–
1R10815 Denmark
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
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In reply to a message from 1R10815 sent Mon 15 Jan 2007:
Frank
I think they used harder seats, not springs. The strength of a
valve spring is not determined by its hardness, but by the diameter
of the wire and number of coils. If a spring gets hard it will lose
its resiliency and become brittle. You don’t want a broken spring.
Although the original valve seats were hard, many shops will
install an even harder seat, like stellite. They are so hard, it
takes a special stone to grind them, and they will never wear out
in a gasoline engine.
Joel–
The original message included these comments:
I had my engine given a major overhaul in one of the famous XK
garages in England. I was told that they converted the engine to un-
lead by changing the valve springs to harder ones. Probably to let
the valve go harder into the seat.
Comments?
/Frank
–
ex jag, '66 E-type S1 4.2, '56 XK140dhc
Denison, TX, United States
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
–Support Jag-lovers - Donate at http://www.jag-lovers.org/donate04.php –
Changing the valve seats to harder ones would make sense to me but I don’t
know about springs. The original XK heads have hardened seats already
(otherwise you would have valve banging against aluminium) so unleaded gas
isn’t really a problem to begin with. Other more modern engines with cast
iron heads needed hardened seats inserted to accommodate unleaded gas but
many owners (including me with my 1939 Plymouth) of older engines with iron
seats used Amoco white (unleaded) gas with no problems.-----
Eident youth maks easy age.(Scottish proverb)
Bruce Cunningham - Slainte Mhath
In reply to a message from MELVIN SALTER sent Mon 15 Jan 2007:
I believe there were a few 150 cars made with wire wheels and a
special made spat. The spat had a coutout to accomodate the extra
space needed for the spinner. I remember seeing a pic somewhere, I
believe Jerry Oliver sent me a pic.
Frank–
XK150 DHC, '66 Healey PhII,'03 Vette
Auburn, CA, United States
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
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It’s the seats that have to be changed (in some opinions).
Bruce Cunningham a �crit :> Changing the valve seats to harder ones would make sense to me but I don’t
know about springs. The original XK heads have hardened seats already
(otherwise you would have valve banging against aluminium) so unleaded gas
isn’t really a problem to begin with. Other more modern engines with cast
iron heads needed hardened seats inserted to accommodate unleaded gas but
many owners (including me with my 1939 Plymouth) of older engines with iron
seats used Amoco white (unleaded) gas with no problems.
Eident youth maks easy age.(Scottish proverb)
Bruce Cunningham - Slainte Mhath
Joel,
The seat hardening process used on cast iron heads was by induction.
I helped develop the process at one of Detroit’s once “Big Three” back when
unleaded gasoline was mandated.
Stellite alloys are not that hard at room temperature, 350 to 480 Brinell,
but they keep their hardness well up to the 1400�F range.
Stellite has less than 10% Fe, but high content of Cobalt,
Chromium,Tungsten and Nickel.
Just because it is not super hard at room temperature does not mean that it
is easy to grind.
The force the valve spring exerts on the valve face / valve seat interface
is minimal compared to that of the combustion pressure on the valve head.
FWIW, Roar (672229)> Frank
I think they used harder seats, not springs. The strength of a
valve spring is not determined by its hardness, but by the diameter
of the wire and number of coils. If a spring gets hard it will lose
its resiliency and become brittle. You don’t want a broken spring.
Although the original valve seats were hard, many shops will
install an even harder seat, like stellite. They are so hard, it
takes a special stone to grind them, and they will never wear out
in a gasoline engine.
Joel
In reply to a message from Jaginabox sent Mon 15 Jan 2007:
Since the subject of cutout spats has been raised, there were a few
XK120s fitted with ‘‘notched’’ spats leaving a cutout area for the
wire wheel knockoff hubs to protrude.
I have never found evidence of such a car from the factory, but I
believe Hoffman, the NY dealer sold a few cars with them so they
were dealer installed options.
Karl–
The original message included these comments:
I believe there were a few 150 cars made with wire wheels and a
special made spat. The spat had a coutout to accomodate the extra
space needed for the spinner. I remember seeing a pic somewhere, I
–
karl
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
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