XK120 Judging Question

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Here is a picture of one of my XK120 tool kits with British Made Superslim "SHORT" open-ended spanners.

In my XK120 toolkit collection I have three XK120 toolkits. Each has all correct tools per JCNA judging guide, with one exception: Two toolkits have British Made Superslim "SHORT" open-ended spanners. A third XK120 toolkit has British Made Superslim "LONG" open-ended spanners.

QUESTION 1: I asked the tool restorer I deal with and he said he has never seen a set of British Made Superslim "LONG" spanners in his 40 years of working on XK120 tool kits. Has anyone reading this post ever seen such a set of British Made Superslim "LONG" open-ended spanners?

QUESTION 2: Most JCNA members who own an XK120 Jaguar know it is almost impossible to find a set of British Made Superslim "SHORT" open-ended spanners for their toolkit. How does a member submit a request to change the judging rules to allow XK120 tool kits to contain the common Made in England Superslim "LONG" open-ended spanners in their tool kits? I have also read and have been told that the factory would substitute SHORT spanners with LONG spanners when the SHORT spanners were out of stock. Does anyone know for sure? How many points are supposed to be deducted for tool kits using LONG spanners instead of the SHORT ones?

See pictures of my tool kit with British Made Superslim "LONG" open-ended spanners.

Mike the center bolt and plate was a common fix for leaky cams. Jaguar changed soon to the 6 extra stugs and nuts to "prevent" that.

Hi John,

When I got my XK120 in 1970 it had the later style distributor cap and an obviously homemade ignition coil bracket above the carburetor. I always wondered which location the coil was originally in. Since my chassis is 671187, I guess you've answered that question. One other thing: Does your cylinder head have a bolt at the top between the cam covers with a bridge holding the cam covers down at the front? Mine does, but I don't know if it was original or whether someone added it later.

Robert.re your question No, two , do not know how correct I am on this ,My 1951 O.T.S. came with the "crab" style distributor cap ,It is chassis No. 671184 The coil was also located under the right side of the head and the plug wires were routed to the rear of the head . All this is not easy to service.especially if a heater is fitted . Jaguar must have noted this and moved the coil to the top of the engine and routed the plug wires over the right front of the head and changed the distributor cap at the same time . when this happened I do not know , but if you have a heater I would suggest going over the front of head with your plug wires. If you have a bracket to mount your coil on top of your engine that would indicate how your car came originally.J.A.M.

Thanks!!!!! 4-Ply Biased tires it is!

Bob,
Sorry, radial tires are non-authentic for Champion Division Entries of XK120's, 140's, and 150's. They're OK on those cars if entered in Driven Division.

Dick

Thanks much Dick. You are the man!!!

I'm going for a 100 point car and hope it will be ready for showing in champion class at next year's concours events in South West Region. I am doing my best to get every detail correct and appreciate your's and everyone else's help with answers to the many questions I have asked so far.

I bought the car last December completely disassembled and began by sorting 2 buckets of nuts and bolts into plastic containers, which sit on the garage floor next to the chassis.

I am doing my own (body off) restoration from the ground up and am keeping a video log as I progress through all the steps of putting the car back together. The video Will be fun to watch later and I will make copies available to interested JCNA club members.

The restoration started out slowly as I didn't have a clue how to put the suspension and brakes together from a pile of powder coated parts on the floor. I began by installing new rear springs and rebuilt shocks. I moved on to installing rebuilt rear brake parts. Next I installed the fron upper A frames, lower A frames, steering linkage and rebuilt steering idler and steering box. I then installed new stainless steel brake tubing, new fuel pump, new tandem brake master cylinder and am in the process of installing rebuilt front brtake parts. By the end of next week I wiil have installed new fron wheel bearings, hubs and brake drums all around. By the end of the month I will install new copper fuel lines. I am rebuilding my gas tank and should have it installed in a couple weeks. I am also restoring my engine and hope to install it back on the chassis by June. Meanwhile I will be sandblasting all 5 wire wheels and painting them the original Cream color. By the end of June I hope to have a rolling chassis with new Coker 600R16 Radial whitewall tires. Starting in July I will begin the body work and eventually will paint the car it's original Cream color (once I get a sample).

Bob

Bob,
Some of the "color" questions are tough to document, but here are answers based on what I believe to be the best information available:

1. Just the water pump was painted black, the fan was its plain aluminum.
2. When the flat-topped distributor caps were used, the ignition wires went to the rear of the engine and then up into the cylinder head valley to the plugs.
3.1 & 3.2 On your car, the engine compartment and underside of the bonnet were both satin black. (This is a tough one because the quality of the original finish was very poor and something the factory stopped doing when they formally changed from lacquer to enamel under Service Bulletin 114 in December of 1952. There were a few cars done in enamel prior to this. They are listed by body number in the bulletin.)
3.3 The Boot should be black, same as the engine compartment.
3.4 The differential should be black. (I believe the red color you have seen was likely the special glyptol? coating to seal the casting.)
3.5 The brake fluid reservoir and cap support bracket should be gloss black.
3.6 The Jack should be red, tending a bit toward orange.
3.7 The Jack ratchet handle should be either black oxide or a "dark gun-blued" finish.
3.9 The painted wire wheels were most commonly body color but I believe that silver/aluminum was also seen.

4. Yes, the heater knob, on cars that still had the "Oil Level" switches, went on the dash panel to the left of the steering wheel column.
5. I don't know if there was a standard position or type of switch for the driving lights.
6. I believe that the correct tool roll for your (earlier) car is tan and orange with black trim. Green did not come along until later.
7. Tools... I'll get back to you.
8. Service Bulletin 95 authorizes converting standard cars to the SE specifications, including dual exhaust. If ever questioned by a Judge, SB 95 should constitute sufficient documentation for your configuration.

Good luck,
Dick

Dick,

I can't find anyone in JOC Los Angeles that can answer several originalty questions I have about restoring my 1952 XK120 OTS, chassis 672233, engine W5003-8. I have tried contacting several XK120 owners with no response. Here are my questions for anyone who knows the answer:
1. Are both the waterpump and fan blade hub painted black or just the waterpump?
2. My distributor cap has wires exiting the sides, based on factory info I believe the sparkplug wires for my engine are routed to the back of the engine instead of the front - can someone confirm this?
3. What colors are correct for my chassis# for the following:
3.1. Under the Bonnet - body color or Black?
3.2. Engine compartment - body color or Black?
3.3. Boot - body color or Black?
3.4. Rear end differential (middle of axel) - Black or Red Oxide?
3.5. Brake fluid cannister, lid and mount bracket - galvanized or Black?
3.6. Jack - Red or Black?
3.7. Jack Ratchet - Red or Black?
3.9. Painted wire wheels - Silver or body color?
4. On early dash is the Heater knob located on the left side just under the steering wheel? (I have holes on both sides of the factory issued aluminum backing plate)
5. Where is the Fog light switch located? Under the dash? Is it a toggle switch or push/pull switch?
6. What is the correct color for a 1952 tool pouch? Green or Brown/Orange?
7. Would a 1952 tool kit use long or short Superslim wrenches? (I have a set of both)
8. At some point in the early life of my car it was updated to "S" specifications per Factory Bulletin 95, which means it has dual exhaust insteard of single - will this be a deduction?

Thanks, Bob

Robert,
Although they are very practical devices, I'm not aware that any "wind wings" became factory "authorized" accessories for XK Jaguars. If present and judged at a JCNA Concours, they should receive a deduction.

Jaguar Cars Ltd. likely never authorized wind wings because, when they are installed, they interfere with the normal use of the factory side curtains.

Regards,
Dick Cavicke

Robert look at Appendix E Accessories.

George, I checked out the Coucours pdf - it's huge!

I looked under Jaguar Accessories to see if it's okay to show my XK120 with AMCO side windows (wind deflectors attached to both ends of fron windshield). I didn't see any info.

Is it a point deduction to have AMCO side window accessories attached during concours judging?

Thanks George I will check it out.

Robert the answer is no but you could save yourself a lot of time by simply reading the judge's guide--located here in the concours section.