The 'E' Type Forum

Hello, this is my first post and I would be grateful for some advice. By way of introduction, I have owned my series 2 OTS IR1430 since 1977 after which I used it almost daily for 6 years before taking it off the road for a little minor refurbishment. Familiar story no doubt but, as many may have guessed, it is still off the road. Career, lack of funds and a new family meant I was not able to do what was needed until 3 years ago, when I decided with a friend's encouragement to restore it fully, doing everything possible at home. We have rebuilt the rear suspension and differential, engine and gearbox and pretty much everything else and all is nearing completion. I have encountered numerous problems and gained a lot of experience so would be more than happy to help others in any way.

My current problem is with the exhaust manifolds. The nice new stainless downpipes and gaskets don't fit and after much head scratching and finally inspection of another old manifold it seems that the manifolds are not from an E-type, although I am pretty sure they came off the car. The problem is that there is no recess to accept the gaskets and therefore there is an insufficient length of stud to tighten the clamp (downpipe to manifold). I have come across several modifications in what appears to be a very late series 2. Does anyone know if this is another or do I have the wrong manifolds? If the latter, does anyone know what car they might be from?

Welcome. Are you sure that you don't have the old sealing rings stuck in the manifolds? A picture would help.

The manifolds without recesses are probably from an older Jaguar - possibly XK150 . They might be from a Mark 2 although I cannot remember if these had vertical downpipes. If you find that they are in fact without recesses ( see Angus's post above ) I'm afraid that the only viable solution is probably to get hold of another pair, this time with the recesses. There are , in fact, plenty of them around s/h because of the number of people who have installed fabricated manifolds . You might try a wanted thread in the appropriate section of this forum

Thanks for the replies, Angus and Christopher. No, there are no old sealing rings. I think you are right and I will have to source some more manifolds. I did consider changing to fabricated manifolds but on balance decided against.