1961 Jaguar Factory Tour
- Thread starter davidd
- Start date
Thanks so much, David. My first car was a 1961 Mk2 3.8 manual. A bit like a Vincent, really. I couldn't afford to own one now. Cheers mate.
I found this glimpse into times gone by absorbing and fascinating, what great industries we had, I knew two people back then, one had a Rolls Royce and the other an XJ6 Jaguar, they swapped cars for a test drive and both agreed that the Jaguar was far superior, I also found it interesting that the narrator was Deryck Guyler, stalwart of British comedy, and playing the washboards, the very last clip of the film shows an E Type Jaguar overtaking an Austin A40 Farina, at that time my fathers chosen method of transport, I did drive it occasionally until the master cylinder failed and I failed to stop at the garage doors! I really wish my dear old Dad had had the E Type instead, far more fun.
Last edited:
I particularly liked the use of a trained ear as a definitive testing device. Balancing the crank by hand on a grinder was also enlightening. The film is also a revealing documentation of the selective fitting required at that time to make these things run well. My brother has an E-type and the inablity to find anyone to work on the engine with that sort of skill and experience is the reason it is not running right now.
I had good times with Jags, Worked on them at 2 Garages, Lucky enough to own 3 over about 40 years.
Best one was the 3.8 Mk 10 1963, Bought from a Vin owner in West London, Only £300 !!, I was only young
And knew it would last till 100,000, And it did.
Shame Jag bosses messed up with the 4.2, It was a backward step, But they would not admit it.
Nice to see all the Special tools being used. Cheers Bill.
Best one was the 3.8 Mk 10 1963, Bought from a Vin owner in West London, Only £300 !!, I was only young
And knew it would last till 100,000, And it did.
Shame Jag bosses messed up with the 4.2, It was a backward step, But they would not admit it.
Nice to see all the Special tools being used. Cheers Bill.
I spent a short time on an automobile assembly line. We were told that it was part of our training, but I think they were sending us a message that we should be thankful for our jobs and not grumble about the fact that we had to wear monkey suits and travel a lot. The pace in modern factories is a little different. The bench testing of engines and flushing of oil was not evident. End of the line... it was onto rollers, driven like it was stolen and then outside to the track for another beating to seek out squeaks and rattles etc.
The 3.8 was a fine engine but I rather like the 4.2. The 3.8 crankshaft crack a lot more often, maybe because their lighter counter weights. The 4.2 crankshaft is quite a bit more robust and the extra torque it produces I enjoy . Balanced hundreds of Jaguar engines over the years and for the most part they did a fine job , except the later 70s seemed they got a more sloppy. Early engines even had counterweighted shims to balance the water pumps. Still I love the way a nicely tuned 3.8 E pulls with it's lightened flywheel.
Had a ‘73 XJ6 for years, a lovely thing except for the electrics. We later bought a Lucas vacuum cleaner as we new it would suck. Just bought another Jag for Irene because it has a bore and stroke of 84X90 and it even rattles a bit like a Vincent, what’s not to like about that? Hopefully Jaguar has gotten the Lucas problem sorted by now.
Time is money !, They don't have time now.
I thought the small ends were a bit tight ?.
Mr B, Did you never see the Drunken Bores of the early 4.2 ?,
Where the Block sunk below liners, The Factory told us to Araldite the surface,
What a Bodge, It never lasted, We had to do many.
Cheers Bill.
Welcome to the UK, John/Irene, Cheers Bill.