Today the 29th Annual Father’s Day All British Car and Motorcycle picnic was held Beacon Hill Park.
We had the privilege of debuting the 1976 Jaguar XJ6C Coupe which we completed in conjunction with Jetstream Custom Auto. We also ran into a highly original 10,000 mile Morgan which was recently puchased by David Mass. More to come from that one.
At last the Federal XJ6C engine bay is done! We decided to keep the original look and feel of the engine bay instead of opting for earlier polished cam covers that wouldn’t have matched the rest of the bay.
Much clutter was removed by deleting both the EGR and air pump and their supporting brackets. The air conditioning was also re-routed straight to the firewall instead of around the entire bay to cool the fuel rail.
Long gone are the Strombergs in favor of twin SUs with a manual choke cable. The European version of these cars came with twin SUs and a starting carburetor that nested in between.
Cleaning. That’s basis for any cosmetic restoration and our XJ6C was no exception. This particular model is pretty heavily laden with an inordinate amount of pieces which make it even more time consuming than your average E-Type restoration.
With power steering, air conditioning, exhaust gas recirculation, secondary air injection and pneumatic climate control systems, the series 2 XJ6 should not restored on a whim.
To exemplify our argument, we present three corners of the engine bay with before and after photos. I don’t know what possessed the Jaguar engineers to use white butt connectors and clear slip on connectors, but they took considerable time to clean.
Whereever possible the original CAD-plated bolts were retained, as well as the clear harness holders, green washer lines, white braided wire sheathing and correct rubber. After we get the car back from the trimmer, we can reveal the engine bay in its entirety.
Today we got some of the final pieces for our Federal XJ6C from David Boger at http://www.everydayxj.com/.
Included are some very rare pieces like the often missing undershield that protects components beyond the front valence. Also included are the fragile exhaust manifold shields and some fitting bits that the engine lost during its first rebuild.
Many thanks to David at Everyday XJ who carefully found the parts and shipped them to us at a very reasonable rate. His impressive NLA NOS stock extends from the E-Type to the 2009-2012 Jaguar XF. Great business!
As is with any restoration, new parts have to be considered over refurbishment. For the most part the new parts can be bolted on, but for the discerning owner reproduction parts just aren’t good enough.
Take for instance the Double ‘S’ Exhaust which was ordered for our Federal XJ6C. While superior in anti-corrosion benefits, the whole system was not made with the same care as the original XJ6 units.
Our argument is exemplified by the Double ‘S’ Exhaust tips compared the original unit on the right. The Double ‘S’ Exhaust on the left has some nasty bends and a rolled end which frankly looks cheap to the original stainless steel piece. Our recommendation for anyone considering a Double ‘S’ Exhaust on an XJ6 is to definitely save the original tips!
Next we can make a case for new parts with the ignition system and the highly popular Pertronix kit that replaces the breaker points with solid-state electronic logic. The performance benefits are minimal, but the maintenance-free system is a real bonus. Because the XJ6 used a complex Lucas 45D distributor with first generation Prince of Darkness electronic ignition, we opted to use an E-Type’s Lucas 22D distributor as recommended by Jaguar afficianto Malcom Ives.
After considerable consideration we have chosen to fit two SU HD8 carburettors in lieu of the Stromberg CD2s with their automatic water temperature-driven chokes. This will mean fitting a standard choke cable that will be manually operated from the cabin. The SUs will be used in combination with the Federal intake manifold with water chambers making this car somewhat of a Euro/Federal Hybrid. The Original SU carburettors came from a Rover 2000.
