before and after

[V12Smig]

thought I'd share this weekends activity!

[ptjs1]

Lovely!

Beautiful clean empty engine bays are a joy to behold!

Cheers

Paul

[davidr]

Was that the result of spit and polish or did you paint some parts as well? Either way, well done : it looks great!

[mike020150]

A Blenheim concours entry in the making? Mike.

[V12Smig]

Thanks guys for sharing my enthusiasm... What started out as a engine swap become a covid resto... jet washing the replacement engine wouldn't do so it ended up like looking like this, I think I may have used a touch too much gold though... certainly not one for the purists..

Every item on the engine was refreshed or replaced such as alternator upgraded 120A, FI loom and rail, water rails, fuel pumps, filters fuel lines all refurbished, the list goes on and on.
I also attacked all the spots of rust on the body work and doors, went through all the arches, sanded, painted, stone chipped and waxoled..

I have also sound proofed the whole interior..

Then obviously when you have the lump out you start attacking every other item you are not happy in the engine bay, all the rust and damaged paint work in the engine bay was attended to and my friend from Paint FX sprayed it the whole bay on Friday. The cross member painted, new anti roll bushes, clips, screws, foams.
Now I'm just waiting for a new 5 speed box from Simply performance then its off to get it all fitted and up and running, hopefully in time for Christmas and News Years day at Brooklands.
I have never done anything of this scale before, but with the help of a few good mates its amazing how easy things are when you just go at it!

[V12Smig]

few more pics

[ptjs1]

Excellent work! Well done! And the fact it's going to have a manual conversion? Even better!

I've just started a small refurb of my pre-HE XJS - all cooling hoses, radiator, fuel hoses, injection loom, cam covers and gaskets etc, so I'm really interested in where you picked up all your parts. Don't want to disrupt your thread so I'll drop you a line separately if that's ok?

Keep up the good work, it's going to look great!

Cheers

Paul

[V12Smig]

Thanks Paul, I'll gladly share my experiences here as its part of the thread in anyway.
Mostly, first port of call for parts is SNG Barrett. We get a discount through our membership and they are helpful and efficient with delivering the parts. Their website has all the drawings as well so its pretty simple to get the correct part. I got my hoses through them as well as many other items, expansion tank, gaskets, clips, air con dryer, etc.
The rad I had re-cored by Bagshot Radiator Services, old chap who has been doing it for years, it's been upgraded to a three core and I thought this was better then getting an aluminium one of the net and finding it doesn't fit.
The FI loom was mostly fine, the parts I needed I got from AutoSparks as well as one loom that was beyond repair. The loom was wrapped in funk motorsport protective wrap, https://funkmotorsport.com/product-cate ... n-sleeving it not only reduces heat to the cables but also hides the horrible brown cotton that Jag used back then.

The FI rail I bought the rebuild kit and also AC idler bearing assembly from jag.improver@gmail.com

The cam covers I did myself, I wanted to check the cams and it was an ideal time to have these shot blasted, I sprayed these with a few rattle cans from Halfords and my engineer milled the tops of the vanes.
New alternator was from Bexley Starters and Alternators. I found the back of our JEC mag to have loads of people willing to help and also went to Simply Performance for all other good used items.

Just slowly piecing it all back together now...

[V12Smig]

other side of the bay

[mike020150]

It would make a good article for the magazine... Mike.

[V12Smig]

Happy to do that Mike....

[V12Smig]

quick question, are all the Lucas Power resistors all installed at an angle?? Or have I screwed up!

[V12Smig]

Update.... here is a link to the current shenanigans..
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/top ... &t=1937103

[Andy P]

Hi V12Smig,
Thanks for the link,that's a great read and the photo's are superb.
Good luck on the home stretch.
Take care.
Andy

[V12Smig]

Your welcome, hope to post some more updates in due course