How to Power Tune Jaguar XK 3.4, 3.8 and 4.2 Litre Engines

Des Hammill is a professional engineer with huge experience of building successful and reliable racing engines and solving the problems associated with all aspects of high performance applications. Des has written many of Veloce's SpeedPro series books.

A(c) Des Hammill & Veloce Publishing Thanks & introduction 6 Using this book & essential Information 8 Chapter 1 Cylinder block 10 General checks & advice 10 Compression ratio (CR) 15 3.4-litre cylinder block - notes 16 3.8-litre cylinder block - notes 16 4.2-litre cylinder block - notes 16 Long head stud blocks 17 All short stud blocks 17 Freeze (Welch) plugs - strapping 17 Main bearing crush - checking 18 Thrust washer register - checking 21 Chapter 2 Crankshaft & conrods 22 Connecting rods - checking 22 Crack testing 22 Straightness testing 22 Connecting rod bolts 23 Little end bushings 23 Big end bearing tunnel bore 23 Big end bearing crush 25 Crankshaft 26 Cleaning oilways 26 Grinding journals to optimum sizes 27 Thrust washers 28 Chapter 3 Cylinder heads 30 Cylinder head choice 30 Exhaust ports (all head types) - Modification procedure 31 Inlet port (all head types) - Modification choices 34 Large inlet ports 35 Valve guides (all heads) - removal & replacement 35 Inlet port (B-type head) - modification Procedure 37 Large inlet port 41 Inlet ports (straight port heads) - Modification procedure 43 Large inlet port 45 Valve seats (all heads) - widths 47 Valves & seats (all heads) 48 Cylinder head (all types) - Refacing 51 Tappet guides (all heads) - Securing 53 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 4 Camshafts & valve springs 56 Camshaft choice - road going 56 Camshaft choice - racing 57 Inlet valve closing 58 Exhaust valve opening 58 Valve overlap 58 High performance camshafts - sources 58 Some other considerations 59 Valve collets and keepers 60 Valve springs 60 Standard type 60 Stronger valve springs 61 Valves springs - checking 62 Valve spring retainer/oil seal - checking clearance 63 Camshafts - timing 64 Chapter 5 Ignition system 69 Contact breaker points 69 Vacuum advance 69 Static advance 70 Centrifugal advance 70 Pre-ignition 70 Distributor modifications 70 Crankshaft damper - checking TDC & adding other timing marks 71 Finding top dead centre 71 Adding other timing marks 74 Static (idle speed) advance - setting 75 Ignition advance - checking 75 Ignition timing/total advance - finding optimum 76 Engine testing to find the optimum ignition timing 76 Summary 77 Chapter 6 SU carburettors 78 Twin 13/4 inch SU carburettors 79 Twin 2 inch SU carburettors 79 Spring loaded (swing) needle SUs 80 HIF7 SUs 81 Triple 2 inch SU carburettors 81 Modified SU carburettors 82 13/4 inch SU needles 82 2 inch SU needles 83 Conclusion 83 Chapter 7 Weber & Dellorto carburettors 85 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Choke sizes & jetting 86 Tuning carburettors 87 Before starting the engine 87 Balancing airflow 87 Pump jets & inlet/discharge valves 87 Air correctors 87 Chapter 8 Exhaust system 88 Primary pipe length 88 Primary pipe diameter 90 Main pipe diameter 90 Silencers (mufflers) 90 Chapter 9 General information 92 Camshafts 92 Tappet adjustment/valve stretch 92 Engine balance 92 Crankshaft thrust washers & clutch pressure plates 93 Summary 94 Clutch (driven) plates 94 Lightened flywheels 94 Timing chains 95 Oil pump 95 Sump (oil pan) 95 Oil cooler 95 Cooling system 97 Crankcase ventilation 98 Engine tune-up 99 Index 111 A(c) Des Hammill & Veloce Publishing