Thread: Long Standing Jag Engine Start

G'day Garry, I'm workin with an iPhone, is there a reason I can't view the clip?

Being a lover of all things fine, I'd certainly love to hear her start up.

Sorry - cannot help with that one. Seems to be working for other people. Maybe you should a more modern phone - maybe one that uses Android

I tried it on my Android and it works on my phone but a little message does come up saying that the video is not optimized for mobiles but it still works - just a bit jerky.

Garry

What a sound. And in one of the most beautiful cars ever made too.

Unlike most carby V engines that have the carbies on top of a manifold inside the V, as you can see the jag V12 has its carbies on the outside with very long inlet tubes. It helped get the engine under the bonnet and helps with low torque off idle.

As a result it takes a while for the fuel to get sucked in from the carbies. In everyday use the engine fires up first go as the intake still has remnants of fuel but if left more than a week or so it takes a good 30 secs of cranking to suck fuel in from the carbies. This requires a battery in top condition though on starting this time around I was using a Supercrap 1200cca starting pack and its worked well.

I think the Jag V12 is one of the best mass produced car engines of its era. It was a "saloon" engine rather than a sports car engine and the equivalent V8 car engines in Aust of similar size produced much less power and at much less revs - the Jag has a readline of 6500rpm when the old V8 dinosaurs were lucky to get to 5000rpm.

Like many kids of my time I followed Aussie muscle cars of the late 60s early 70s and can remember seeing a pic of a speedo in Wheels or Modern Motor with a showroom version of the Falcon GTHO Phase 3 sitting on 145 mph across the Hay Plain and the caption "the Fastest 4 door sedan in the world". I later got confused because the series 1 Jaguar XJ12 (a four door sedan) was able to do 150mph so I thought the Ford claims must have just been propaganda. However when the XJ12 came out the GTHO had just ceased production and the XA Falcon released so I guess the claim was fair enough.

Sorry the sound on the video wasn't better because in real life the exhaust is crisp and raspy and not distorted. I do not have the rear resonator on at the moment and as it really dumbs the sound down I think I will leave the rear resonator off.

Garry

Garry, one more bit of info (that I am sure you are privvy to) is that the flexibility is amazing. apparently from 35mph to 150mph ALL in 4th gear is done with ease...show me a V8 of the time that would do that
I worked with a guy many years back that assured me his HJ monaro 308 TH400 would out pull a V12 XJS etc for top speed.....and driveability...

I had nothing to say to such a line.

JC

I will get beaten from the lights by a V6 Dunnydoor and when they think they have me at about 50kph the torque in my engine comes online and they are blown away. By todays standards there is nothing special about the performance of the car but when you look around what was available in the early 70s not much comes close. You needed something like a Ferrari or a GTHO Phase 3 to come close - Porsche did not even have a road car that was a match.

Just remind you mate with the Monaro what Jaguar did to the Holdens and Falcons in the mid 80s in just one outing at Bathurst with their XJS race cars. Wiped the smile off their faces.

Well I started it up again today - started on first turn. I soon had a large pool of petrol under it as one of the carby floats stuck open - a few decent taps with the hammer and all fixed. Brakes still work so took it for a spin around the block and dragged my mate away from working on his e-type to remind him that despite what he thought my car does actually work. (in my street we have 2 etypes, a Porshe 911 convertible, a 65 Mustang Coupe, a 65 Mustang convertible, a 2010 Mustang Coupe, my Haflinger and of course all my landies).

Here is my car as bought 30 years ago


Here it is this morning


So the work starts - along with the assembly of the 4.6 Rover engine, work on the front end of the 101, getting the haflinger on the road, digging the ensuite sewer pipe, putting an extra bay on the garage - and on and on.

Garry