I'm trying to help a friend evaluate an XK 140 Roadster that he may purchase. Did some 140's come with wheel covers and skirts, or did they all have wires with knock-offs. I recall that there are four numbers to match when checking for originality. Can someone tell me what they are and where they are located? Thank you
Submitted by tgman@ix.netcom.com on Mon, 10/20/2003 - 01:01
John - XK140 standard equipment models have disc wheels and spats. The SE models had wire wheels and driving lights. The four numbers you are concerned with are: chassis number, engine number, body number and transmission number. All are located on the vehicle commission plate. The component numbers are located on the engine, head, transmission top and case, for the body, on a small plate riveted to the upper firewall. According to the title page of the Spare Parts Catalogue, in the chassis number, prefix A denotes a special equipment model fitted with a standard cylinder head; an S prefix denotes a special equipment model fitted with the 'C' cylinder head. In the engine number, a suffix S denotes the engine fitted with a 'C' head and the suffix -7 or -8 denotes the compression ratio.
Hope this helps - for additional information, refer to Steve Kennedy's 'Jaguar - The Classic Marque'.