Hello
I just inherited a '74 V12,manual trans., 29,000k on the clock,totally neglected garage queen. Owned by my cousin who knows very little about cars and keeping it running became more than he bargained for. After 2 years of arm twisting I now have it in my shop.
I've been taking inventory over the past week as to what has been done to it, what needs to be done and am trying to come up with a game plan. While it does run,it is rough. Given it has been sitting for over 5 years with only sporadic operation I'm aware of many issues it could be suffering from. Thankfully the seals appear to be in good shape, oil pressure is up there,compression is good and consistant, no smoke other than rich carbs eminates from the pipe and in general all seems to be right inside the motor. I'm not pushing it though.
The car runs poorly at best. First and formost is the fact that at some point in time the air pump was disconnected via belt removal. I'm sure this was in a misguided attempt to improve performance. In the minds of those who know volumes more about the E Type than I, what are the options one has for dealing with the emission control devices. Do they rob that much power? Is pulling them and dealing with subsequent issues even worth the hastle as opposed to hooking it back up and living with it?
I hope I'm not coming off like too much of an idiot here. I do know my way around cars and working on the Jag does not scare me.I have had many British cars, still own several BMW's and don't own a vehicle that is newer than 20 years old. I have enough respect for the Jag that I'm not about to tackle it without doing as much homework as possible. If anyone has advice I am all ears.
Thank you for your time
Bill Ruttger
N. Minnesota
Submitted by pascal@jcna.com on Fri, 10/21/2005 - 10:00
first do the obvious... hoses, belts, all fluids, etc...
if the car has been sitting, rebuilding the carbs is probably going to be a must do as well. clean the sump in the fuel tank, check the fuel pump, clean, etc...
Other things to consider is the fuel pump, they are often a weak point on these cars. leave it alone for now but just be aware of it. they cna be rebuilt although i've replaced mine with a modern holley (carters work too)... has to be low pressure/high volume
Ignition is also a source of realivbility headaches... heat build up can cause the ignition module to fail.. then work agains when it cools off. again, leave it alone for now, just be aware of it.
Unless you plan on competing with the car in championship division where the engine bay is judged, you are better off removing all the emission control junk. Air pump, air rail, gulp valve, plug the air injection holes, etc... This stuff really does little to clean emission and is a nightmare to maintain.
Mine only has ONE vacuum hose left, going to the brake booster. that's it. it runs great and is far more reliable. with all these vac hoses, one leak may cause you a lot of headches.
Pascal Gademer