I Has Jag Again! (1977 Jaguar XJ6 Series 2)

[devilishdesigner]

After a couple of years without I will be collecting a Jaguar XJ6 to enjoy again this weekend. The car has minimal rust (a little in the front guards, a bubble in one back wheel arch, a couple of pimples under the back window and some surface rust on the sills) and interior is good aside from split seams in the velour (only the stitching has broken, fabric is still good).

Was at a price I couldn't say no to and comes with a great story which I will share when I get it home.

Mechanically there are a couple of things to do. It has bee sitting for about 3 years and as a result
- Fuel pumps are not playing - haven't investigated this at all, current owner has simply put a big electric pump under the bonnet to get it running so I can drive it home
- Missing on the number 5 cylinder - believed to be a stuck valve from sitting around, no rattles, no smoke, just rough running/idling and a plug that fouls up. Does anyone have any experience with this? Owner claims it is a common issue.

Otherwise it seems OK mechanically, brakes and handbrake work fine, power steering was low on fluid (hopefully from sitting), engine is believed to have never been removed and possibly only have done 95,000km from new (the oil/grease build up on the engine, gearbox and diff certainly suggest they have never been removed)

I am keen to put the old girl on gas once we have it registered, does anyone on here have experience with Jags on LPG/gas? How is the performance/economy/durability?

[grifterkid]

That looks ruddy wonderful...!!!

I love these cars with the velour interior...

Lovely!

[GT4ME]

Lovely.

[colintempest]

Love a Jag like this! You guys are so lucky in comparison to us Dutchie's. Impossible to keep a Jag on a budget if we pay road tax for a 1700 kerb weight car.

Good luck with this one!

[eternaloptimist]

Loving that. Should never have sold mine.

[devilishdesigner]

Symptoms of 'stuck valve'
Mechanic diagnosed issue over phone listening to engine running and claimed common issue
Rough idle
Runs poorly at low speed under load
low compression on no.5 cylinder (tested by current owner)
No exhaust smoke
No loud noises from engine (but my hearing isn't great)
No signs of headgasket issues in coolant/oil

Does this sound like a stuck valve?

[dodgerover]

Its possible if it was stood for a long long time and not run at all, moisture might have got into it and caused issues, but its more likely to be a burned out valve I would have thought? Otherwise are the tappet clearances adjustable on these - they might have tightened enough to stop the valve from sealing? Especially if its been run on unleaded?

LPG wise I would have thought it would be an IMPCO gas carbie or go straight gas with some gas research or OHG LPG carbs.
You could run a valve saver set up with the gas dripping in a bit of flashlube which would save the valves and the cost of hardened seats once its running on all cylinders

[eternaloptimist]

Might be a sticking valve, might be a burnt out valve seat. Try squirting a load of engine oil into bore no. 5 - if the compression is still down, it's a valve issue or HGF. if the compression gies up, there's a ring/bore issue.

[rust4life]

That looks great - hope you get it running ok. The series II would be my pick of the bunch - they got the looks just right, I've had a hankering for one of these for ages - it's on my 'list'!

Re the sticking valve - It might unstick itself with more running but it might be worth taking the cam covers off and turning the engine over to see which one(s) is/are sticking? You could then lubricate and give the end a 'bop' with a soft mallet to unstick it after taking the rocker off...

Look forward to more updates!

[79cord]

Always nice to see original number plates.
With the last registered owners consent you might be able to get the plates transferred into your name for future use, even upon another car. Made sure I did that for my purchases even when buying without RWC & intending to put cars on CH-plates.
I'm another who likes S2 styling the most, especially with vinyl roofs & hubcaps! Shame they lost the SWB option though.

[devilishdesigner]

Good spotting on the plates. Previous owner had not registered the car with the plates but confirmed that he had talked to Vicroads who were happy to have the car re-registered with these plates due to having history of them with the car.

I agree about S2s as well. At first I loved the S1, but after viewing a few in the flesh my preferences definitely switched to S2 for overall balance. I like the proportions of the grill (less aggressive than the S1) and the fact that the front and back bars are in line with each other. At the moment I think my ultimate XJ6 would be: Series 2 with series 1 dashboard, rebuilt electrics, full hubcaps, rich coloured paint (there was a lovely blue in the S3), and a later DOHC inline 6, either a late jag one or perhaps a BMW unit?

[79cord]

Sounds good. Usually plate entitlement stays with last registered owner of the car, though Vicroads does have a plate transfer form. Otherwise they might want to charge for they as custom plates. I was lucky asking for some de-registered old plates once and they posted them out for the ($60?) price of replacement plates... Some questions were asked when I went to register the car with them, but went through thanks to the shiny newly re-issued plates I had.

[devilishdesigner]

Not the best of starts. Checked all the fluids and jumped in the jag this morning for the big drive home. Engine was running well, felt sluggish under acceleration but actually sounds like it is running on all 6 when it is over 2000rpm. Stopped 10km down the road for fuel and there was smoke pouring out the rear end. Rear brakes were both half seized on, getting things hot enough to make the diff bleed a little oil and cook the brake fluid. Thankfully we found a mechanic who was open on a Saturday. As soon as it was on the hoist you could feel the brakes stuck, so he will rebuild the rear calipers for me during the week, then we will attempt the drive again next weekend.

[devilishdesigner]

So, both rear calipers were stripped and rebuilt by a mechanic during the week making Ivy good to go again. We picked her up this morning and headed home. She was rolling far better but still pulled to the left slightly when backing off the throttle. Oil pressure was down, possibly due to old oil/old filter, never read above 40. About 20km from home i started to smell burning rubber. Pulled over and the front left brake had stuck on, getting hot enough to cook the wheel bearing grease. By this time Ivy sounded closer to running on 6 but had a rattle at idle, so we popped her on a truck for the last 20km home. Will start playing next week and see how much of a project I have bought

[bigsaloon]

Jan 12, 2015 12:15:34 GMT grifterkid said:

That looks ruddy wonderful...!!!

I love these cars with the velour interior...

Lovely!

I love the looks of the Series II - the unloved classic XJ.

I once had a 1980 Ser III Daimler Sov 4.2 in white over black velour. The car was 13 years old at the time and the velour was like new. Wonderful car. One I should have kept. OGK 919V.

[devilishdesigner]

Some good news, had a play this evening, a giggle of the wires at the headlight fuses and how have all 4 front lights working. I have removed the aftermarket fuelpump that was jerry-rigged into the front of the car due to issues with the factory pumps and as soon as I did that the car ran perfectly smoothly on 6 cylinders until it ran out of fuel in the carbies. Going back out to take a look at the fuel tank switch now.

[grifterkid]

That sounds like superb progress...!!! Nice one!

[devilishdesigner]

Neither fuel pump working, fuel gauge not budging on either tank, where is the fuel system supplied with power? I am thinking my issue may lie there.

[bigsaloon]

Jan 27, 2015 11:14:09 GMT devilishdesigner said:

Neither fuel pump working, fuel gauge not budging on either tank, where is the fuel system supplied with power? I am thinking my issue may lie there.

Is there a dedicated fuel pump relay?

[smeden]

Did you get it running ;-) There is porbably a fuel pump relay stuck in there somwhere. May be at the at the torpeo wall right behind the engine (it's there on the S3?