Interesting reading...and the final cost will be....?

 

You're a bit behind. The engine is already apart.

 

As to the question of the two quotes, taking the more comprehensive route was a wise choice. Throw in a thermostat and waterpump.

 

I did consider this, but after speaking to the Jag man these aren’t big job on their own if they ever need replacing at a later date, the water pump has been replaced for a later one already but it’s not the latest one if that makes sense, let’s call it a phase 2. So I think I’ll leave it for the time being but I’ve taken your advise on the under coolant hoses.

 

Yeah true thanks for the reassuring comments

 

As above £1900 all in

 

You've taken the right option & if I was in your position I'd have gone down the same route. After everything you've done to the car & all the bodywork restoration, the market value is irrelevant anyway & the true value of the car is what it's worth to you personally.

At the end of the day you'll have a classic Jag with full bodywork restoration & now with a full top-end engine rebuild-you've also got a steel-linered block & will have all new tensioners fitted, so you've had all the major work done & have effectively got a new car.

These were £50,000 cars in their day so of course the repair bills will be more than for a VW Golf etc. But you've got a classic Supersaloon that's now been virtually rebuilt mechanically & from a bodywork point of view as well.

A bill of around £1900 is about what you'd expect for this type of repair on a complex V8 engine-but it should be a once-in-a-lifetime job & effectively give you a 'new' engine, as you've not got any Nikasil worries either. Provided you keep doing regular oil & filter changes & never let the oil level drop below the MAX mark on the dipstick, you should be fine for another 150k miles.

These days you can easily spend stupid sums of money just to have small modern hatchback cars repaired, but you've got a classic Jag supersaloon instead-and I know which I'd rather be driving home from the garage in after a big repair bill

 

All very true cheers Red

Hoping to get the car back next tuesday/wednesday so Ill next update on my findings. Hopefully it should run sweet and return a little power from befores HGF and warped heads.

 

Ok peeps, got the car back and I’m pleased to say she's running sweet as a nut!! The guys seem to have done a good job on her. The missing on cold startup has gone now and also the idle is much smoother. The bill came to £1894 in the end with 20 hours labour, skimmed heads, replacement gaskets on the heads and cam cover, replacement chain kit including metal upper and lower tensioners and guides. The water pump was checked and proved to be a phase 2 pump in good working order. Oil and coolant change. Also a few other things.

I have a couple of concerns, I can smell coolant in the car still and I’ve been driving it around town for a couple of days now, I would have thought it would have burnt it off by now. I have questioned the bloke that did the work and he said a lot was split while taking the pipes and engine apart and he had to top up the coolant level with 2 litres when he put it back together, So he said this was normal but it I still have concerns next week to take it back toget it checked out.

Also I check the coolant level this morning and it seems to have used around half a coolant filler tank of coolant, he also said this would happen as there would be air in the system to start off with. I will top up later and hopefully the level should stay steady from this point on.

I also had my wheels refurbished yesterday, they are in a “bling”ish silver but I don’t think it stands out as being cheap and nasty and quite suits the car, opinions welcome.

She 's off next week to have rust scab on the drivers door seen to and alsorear arch, the bank holiday weekend I hope to give her a good 4/5 hour detailing session so will post pictures on the results.

I’d also like to thank every-one who has posted in this thread and helped me out over the past few weeks, the support on this forum is fantastic and the people that contributed went a long way to towards helping one make the correct decision in this situation.

 

I could smell coolant for a couple of weeks after replacing various parts, so don't worry yet. Your coolant reservoir should maintain level after 4-5 drive cycles. Have you set set the heat to max to be sure the heating system is purged. If the odor and coolant level problem persist much longer, look for a leak around the thermostat tower and in the area of the heater.

 

Ok Ill keep my eye on this...

One other thing I forgot to mention, Ive noticed the temp gauge hovers around the bar below the half way mark, never seems to get much warmer. Any reason behind this? New coolant/headgasket?

 

The temp. gauge is for entertainment only. As the coolant temp increases to about 185 F the needle will go towards mid-scale, but it will not go over that until about 235 F, when it will suddenly go red, but then it may be too late to save the engine if you do not shut down immediately. However, if the coolant level is below the sensor located on the water outlet pipe at the front of the engine, you will not detect an overheating condition.
The best way to be better informed is to buy the Realgauge mod from whitexkr. Check his website, I think it's thejagwrangler.com.

 

Great thread and really enjoyed your journey.As just mentioned the RealGauge from the jagwrangler would be worth while for your peace of mind..having gone this far.(it works for me)
Looking forward to the "final" product picture and hope you get many years of enjoyment from the jag.
It's a nice sunny day so might get mine out for a wash and a Sunday Drive. Thanks Again and Cheers,Neil

 

Thanks,unfortunately on the other side of the world to you there is no such thing as sun at the moment, so taking the old jag out for a wash and drive in the snow is out of the question.

 

What is a phase 2 pump?

 

As in not the orginal water pump which where unreliable but not the latest 3rd generation one you can get.

 

Glad to hear your XJR is back on the road again. The temp gauge may be reading low as it's so cold here at the moment & short trips around town won't really get enough heat into the engine-especially as you're likely to have the interior heaters on high as well. You'll get a better idea after a 30-50 mile motorway run or cross-country, which will put some heat into the engine.

Regarding the coolant smell-just check the coolant level each morning when the engine is cold & keep an eye on it. With airlocks, what usually happens is that the coolant level will drop noticeably over the first couple of days as the air vents upwards-then it will settle down & should remain reasonably constant.

As you say, the garage will be happy to investigate for you if there's any leak in the system, so just keep an eye on the coolant level & gradually 'break' the car in with progressively longer journeys each day as you become more confident that everything's ok with the overhaul.

I did this after doing the Bentley's head gaskets. The first session was an extended period of fast idling in the driveway to warm everything up & recheck liquid levels. Then I took it round the block on drives within walking distance of home if there was any serious problem!

Once they were done satisfactorily, I took it down the motorway & gradually extended the trip length & engine rpm/throttle position-after about 100 miles of this I was then confident enough to start driving it normally again & let the engine 'breathe deeply'

 

Final post in this thread, I promised some photos of the finished car back on the road and here we are (for any-one thats interested), with a nice english spring sunset to boot.
Please to say all is well with the car running sweet as always. the temp gauge still hardly moves from 1/4 way but I'll investigate this soon.
Enjoy.....

 

Stunning photos of a superb looking car....you can be justly proud ;o))
Thanks for sharing.

 

[QUOTE=Red October;703996]Glad to hear your XJR is back on the road again. The temp gauge may be reading low as it's so cold here at the moment & short trips around town won't really get enough heat into the engine-especially as you're likely to have the interior heaters on high as well. You'll get a better idea after a 30-50 mile motorway run or cross-country, which will put some heat into the engine. - END QUOTE]

Believe it or not, there are two thermostats available for this engine....in F degrees either 195 or 175.
I fit the 195 for Winter use.
BTW...these thermos are excactly the same as that used by Volvo's 850 series engines.