Hello gents,

Today, March 15 2016, my AJV8 engine celebrates its 20th birthday. Interestingly, today is also MY birthday, although I am far from 20.

Regular AJV8 engine production - Jaguar's first-ever production V8 -began in early March 1996, so this engine came together in the first two weeks of production. Yes, Nikasil and all. By the way, my Nikasil is in excellent shape, thank you.





Happy birthday, big guy! Anyone out there have an earlier example than this?




Still gorgeous after all these years.



.

 

Do you have a thread RE your bumper? I am thinking of painting the bar flat black and the riders/vane gloss black to give it a more modern look. I like how yours looks though...

 

I don't...yet. I did several exterior "clean ups" and plan to take some good photos soon. I'll do a post then.

For the front scoop, I've never really liked any of the OE or aftermarket options. So I removed the OE trim pieces, removed the front bumper bar, had it sanded, primed, painted and clear-coated Dorchester Grey to match the other exterior trim. When the bumper bar is finished off like the rest of the car, it looks quite natural with a nice, open scoop.

I've gotten a lot of positive comments on it, and not one person has said "hey, where's the trim?"


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You know that cats hate being in the rain.

Great looking coupe!

 

Seeing that, I think I might want to use plastidip on the silver bar to see what that looks like.

 

Shows how these cars hold up when treated right. I love the inset foglights on the original XK styling and the bumper bar looks excellent.

 

Where is the engine date? Mine is rapidly approaching 20 years, too, and still going strong.

 

The engine number...which is basically the date and time when the block was made, is etched into the top of the block near the base of the thermostat tower (to the left when looking from the rear of the car).

I could never find mine until I had the thermostat tower off and was able to really get my eyes down there and wipe the area clean.


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Always good to read about reliable Jaguars and especially the Nikasil ones.

Happy Birthday to both of you.

Graham

 

no words for rained photo......full of style , full of fashion, full of uk .


happy Birth you and your great jag!!!!!!!!!!

 

Hi
I "bumped into" this post when I was browsing for something
You really do have an early one and it is indeed an engine used as part of the PR / Press work for the car
As a result it was one of a batch of 49 that were tested to confirm their power was correct before fitting in their cars

Your engine was tested at Whitley and when tested produced 214kW and 388Nm
These are healthy figures as typically engines increase 1 ~ 2% over the first 10~30,000 miles taking it up to/over the claimed performance

I was in charge of Development and Test of the AJV8 for its entire development (1989 to 1996) and the list of engines and their power is one of the few sets of data I have from that time

Very nice and special car - take care of her well !!

 

That is the type of car data I bet no one ever expects to get from this forum. Too cool!

Now expect a flurry of requests for similar data for everyone else's car. 😁

 

Can only help with the 49 Press Cars
Earliest is 9603141100
Last is 9604231008

Note - these were not the only engines built in this period - the engines for the Press cars were not prepared in any special way, just randomly pulled from the line and then dyno tested to make sure they were correct (production engines are not dyno tested, only idle tested to ensure they start and run). We wanted all Press Engines to be within 2% of the claim whereas got general production they are are allowed to be within 5%

 

martin12345 & The Coupe,

Hey guys, this is really good information but I have a question? I realize the original Thread was sent in 2016 and this is 2019 but this is a little incredible. and I had to ask.
This beautiful Square Engine has been running for over 20 years now with the original Plastic Chain Tensioners? Are you saying that you have never had a problem with this Engine? In 143,000 miles? What type of Gasoline do you use? I'm just curious...

Billy Clyde in Houston

 

Billy, sorry for the very delayed reply. The original plastic tensioners were replaced with the later metal versions. High-octane fuel every time. Cheers.

 

Martin,
Very interesting to hear about your time testing the early engines. My XK8 engine number is CE9604111301. The VIN on the windscreen reads SAJJGAED3AR001213. Vehicle assembly date is 13th June 1996. Originally a Press Car.
Currently sitting idle in the garage since I don't devote the time I should to driving it. Mileage is 33,500 miles.
It would be interesting to have any data you hold for it.
I am in the Midlands UK.
I am sure there would be several XK8 owners in the region who would be interested in your history.

 

Hi, I am sorry I do not have your engine on the list of engines we tested for the Press Cars. The Press engines were built between the 14th March and 23rd April and your engine certainly comes from that time period having been built on the 14th April. The fact that I have no data means that your car was not intended to be driven by the Press when it was planned. Instead it will have been a photographic car, a dealer training car or some other Marketing use. Having said that, if you know your car was used in a Press article then it simply means that the cars use was swopped around which I understand often happened if a magazine asked for a particular spec or colour of car. Regardless of whether your car was an actual press car, it is certainly a "pre-production" car for internal use and then subsequently sold as a 2nd hand car after suitable reworks to bring it up to production specification where needed. And, it looks lovely and it's good to see one of the early ones in such great condition !!

 

Martin,

Many thanks for the detailed reply. You do seem to have a very interesting database. I inherited the car from my father in law who had it delivered straight from the showroom in August 1996. Jaguar Heritage have it down as a Press Car, but I guess they used that as a generic term. The number plate is two digits off from an XK8 that appeared in a promotional You Tube video.

Stay safe.

The Coupe - Good to hear from you again - sorry you no longer have the car.

 

Hi, I certainly wouldn't argue with Heritage. I think it is correct to say there are different types of Press Cars. Those for Road Tests, those for Long Term Tests, those for Photo shoots, those for Dealer Promotional Events etc etc. The engines which were power tested to check they were at or above the claimed power were those destined for the cars planned for Road Tests where performance figures would be taken (best foot forward!). Highly likely your car was for one of the other purposes and if if was bought in August 1996 then it can only have been used for a short period (likely the car was assembled in late April if the engine was mid-April)} so I would guess {(but only a guess) that it was a Photo Shoot car

 

Martin,

I missed your original post and have just caught up with it and the subsequent ones today. An excellent contribution and marvellous to hear from someone actually involved in the development of this superb model.

Graham