Engine Oil

[Glyn Ruck]

3.8's Typically had 2 bolt oil pipe flange.

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[cass3958]

I am not doubting what you say Nigel but I think Beere might have pulled a fast one on you in changing the pipes. Even if the pipes were a larger diameter where the two bolt flange attaches to the block unless the block had also been machined to accept the larger diameter pipe I don't see how it would fit. I can't see the requirement for a larger diameter pipe from the pump to the block.

If it was the pickup pipe you replaced I can see that. A larger pipe on that side would allow a higher volume of oil to be picked up by the higher powered pump. The pump would then squeeze the oil through the standard sized pipe to the block and on to the parts it needs to get to at a higher PSI. That would mean your oil pressure would be higher but you might then need a bigger sump to carry the greater volume of oil required for the pump to suck up or it would run dry very quickly. Your oil pressure would then drop like a stone and the engine would be toast. Problem is the XJ6 and S Type part number for the sump to pump pipe is the same so therefor the same diameter.

On my Lotus Seven I had a larger sump fitted that had wings sticking out the side (could not go down due to ground clearance) to increase the amount of oil it could hold. My Ford Anglia has a dry sump but a massive catch tank to keep the volume of oil high.

[Glyn Ruck]

It's why you could thrash a 4 cylinder little twin cam Alfa flat out all day every day once warmed up & clearances normalised. It had a close to ten litre baffled, multipiece, aluminium wide spread finned sump that exposed itself to airflow under the car. No further oil cooler required. Large diameter suction intake to the pump. It was one car that you could genuinely drive as fast as it would go all day with no ill effects while many US/continental cars of the era would break if you tried that.

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Alfa 2.JPG (243.69 KiB) Viewed 2422 times

Baffles continue up into the main sump body.

[NigelW]

Rob, i don't think anything untoward was involved in the purchase of the pump as I didn't buy any pipes from them, I found some in the piles of Jag parts I used to have back in then as I had a few engines in bits - various Xj6, Mk2 and S Type. My memory is hopeless regarding the parts used at the time to build the S Type engine. I still have a 1959 3.4 Mk2 engine in the shed that I bought for £40 in boxes and fitted to the S Type in 1979 and used the head from the original 3.8 untill I could get around to rebuilding the 3.8 and used parts from both engine blocks to make one engine that worked at the time. For example the alloy sump replaced the tin sump of the 3.4 so the pipes could have got mixed up along the way and putting the 3.8 back to geather again with correct block, head sump etc. So this is maybe the reason I had to get replacement pipes to fit the 3.8 oil pump. It was a mad time back in the 70's for me as I had five lockups full of cars and parts and suddenly I was evicted from them when the Department of Transport decided to build a new road through them and my house, imagine trying to find a home for that lot?