THE INTERNATIONAL JAGUAR 'S'-TYPE REGISTER FORUM

Nice one Jerry. I find it is always the small things that catch you out and how many times is it something you have not even been working on?
I once changed the HT leads then the car would not start. So you checked and double checked everything, even put the old HT leads back on only to find there was a bad connection on the fuel pump so no fuel was getting through. All been there.

I did not end up replacing those compression fittings. I was at that point where I wanted to be done. I did change the longer hoses from the pump to the hard line, but since they were functional I decided to put the one back that I had removed and move on. I had an issue with the sending units lock ring on the right tank. At some point during this adventure the ring and popped out from behind one of the tabs on the tank- I'm not sure when, I was using that tank when I put it there. This made a rather large mess when I installed the fuel. It was an easy fix though with a couple of love taps on a small drift. The seal was fine- I had replaced it not too long ago. After one last look around the area, I pushed the button and it started in less than one turn of the motor. I have good oil pressure, there wasnt any fluid pouring onto the floor, and most importantly, there was no "sudden unplanned self disassembly." In short, Its ALIVE!!!! Thanks all for your advice and input.

Thank you for your compliments. In all honesty, this has been an as-low-budget-deal as possible. I am fortunate that there was much less wrong than I had planned for or feared to find, so the budget was not nearly as strained as it may have been. I have also been going to pains to stay on task and not get derailed Too Much with the whole "while I'm in there" bit.
Anyway I must say I am quite jealous of your chrome. That is impressive.
And Now! You all knew it was coming!-- My next bonehead question-- I had in my head to replace the plastic fuel tubing in the trunk. I have fresh 5/16 fuel hose and thought that I would just cut the old off and install the new with the hardest part being removing the right side pump to get at the banjo fittings. Immediately I ran into the compression fitting at the top of the tank. Of course my modern rubber hose wont come close to working with that, so I am intending to go to a hose barb at that joint instead of the compression nut. Can anyone tell me the thread size of that nut? It seems to be an 18tpi pitch, but i dont have anything the correct diameter to compare it to other than its bigger than 1/2"- perhaps 9/16? Thank you for your assistance thus far.

Great looking engine bay. Back when chrome plating was relatively cheap I had the large air cleaner and some other miscellaneous brackets chromed for more bling. Yes, I know, not stock.

The original bracket is as yours with just a brace between the two to keep it as one piece.
The painted air filter housing makes the engine bay brighter and more interesting rather than the Hammarite grey which tended to blend in with the top of the engine.

A small thing I wanted to get done during this escapade was to get or make an air filter box bracket. Here is my filter box mocked up. I ended up simply making 2 "C" shapes out of some flat steel stock that I have. It was quite easy and took much longer for the paint to dry than to make them. I also found the silicone sleeve at the head of it on a site called Siliconeintakes.com of all places. Its an excellent fit.

For everyones further info, I let the problem simmer in my head for a couple of days and concluded that I needed to re- remove the camshafts yet again. My initial plan was to put a puller on the back sides of the sprockets but there still was not enough room for one- I tried several. I ended up risking all (dropping things into the oil pan below) and removed the guide pins holding the sprocket and plate in place, fiddled the assemblies out of the chain and then knocked the plates out on my workbench. The plates were both stuck quite solidly in the sprockets and I dont think I could have done it without collateral damage while they were on the motor. I left the parts to soak in a can of parts cleaner. Im sure some other little problem will crop up soon and I will be back with another numbskull question. (Why doesnt he just read the manual?!?!?)

Thats fine, Ill try asking there. i think I know the answer I'll get though..... Heat. I dont want to scorch the chain after Ive got this far but done evenly enough I suppose it will be fine.

Sorry Jerry never had to do this on my engine as I had the machine shop set the cams and shims for me.
You might be better taking this question to this Jaguar forum as there are more members who have Mk2s and the same engine than just the few of us here on the S Type forum.
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/mki- ... aimler-61/

I did finally get the last 3 studs out using heat, Kroil, and a big visegrips low down just above the lower threads. I was initially very leery of using uneven heat right next to the cylinders like that, but no apparent harm was done.
At this point head is back on, cams are mounted, tappet guides checked for gap and reshimmed as needed (3 pairs appeared to have simply been swapped). I believe that the problem valve where the low compression existed was because of a too- thick shim. The valve does not appear bent or damaged but there is evidence of some activity in that area, including the cam timing not agreeing with the crank timing and the shims mixed up. (It seems like every time I fix a problem in the engine bay, I end up wondering why this car ran when I got it.)
I am at the point of setting the cams timing to agree with the cranks' TDC mark. There appears to be about 5 degree disagreement. I have read the shop manual, and maybe my Queens English is lacking (I wouldnt be surprised) but I dont understand how to remove the adjustment plates from the cam sprocket gears. I have the clips out. I found a pair of nuts to put on the guide pins to hold the assemblies off the cams, and tapped- as the manual stated- on the sprocket to try to knock it off the plate but no luck. I was contemplating sliding some sort of shim between the front of the cam and the plate, but am worried that whatever it might be would fall into the abyss below. As it is I tried Kroil there too, along with a bit of heat, but I am essentially ending up hammering against that front guide plate via the nuts I have on the guide pins. I also read another thread here which stated that to install them, the plate and sprocket must be square with each other or they will bind. I suspect this may be my problem but it seems like a special puller would be needed to overcome it. Thoughts?
Thanks guys!