The 'E' Type Forum

1968 Series 1.5 2+2 "Edna" as seen in various editions of the E-Type club magazine

I need to resolve 2 issues with my XKE engine- namely a leaking rear seal, and now a sporadic 'tappet' sound (probably loose buckets apparently).

Is there a previous post someone can point me to, that summarises the good/bad/ugly UK engine rebuild specialists? Ideally I'd also like the crank mod to the lip seal. I've already seen a huge range of pricing just form a quick internet search, but clearly before such a big job I'd much rather know who is good in the trade, and their likely costs/turnaround times. I'm not averse to a complete engine swap if that is the most cost-effective- whilst 2+2 prices are increasing I'm not after a concours winner, just a working/reliable car!

thanks in advance
Tom Fussey

Hi Tom....where are you located.....will help others give reccomendations........there is no link that gives the good and bad.....bad experiances are best kept to a Private message...Steve

Hi Steve,

I'm in Cambridge, but to be honest for the right man/deal, I'm happy to get the engine out and ship to wherever is needed in the UK.

Our car is currently in Ely with Jagutek awaiting a solution, and is still driveable- just about.
They've also been helping me with research on suitable engine specialists, and I believe they have an offer of a refurbed engine, delivery mid Oct, for around £5k ex VAT, and excluding the labour needed to remove current engine and fit the refurbed one. This seems fairly reasonable, and does include the lip seal, but I'm very keen to understand other options before committing to this.

thanks
Tom

The lip seal is a contentious alteration . Some people have had good experiences, but quite a few have had bad experiences, and the real problem is that if the process is a failure, one cannot revert to the original rope seal : the only recourse is to have a new crankshaft . For this reason I am against it ; a properly prepared ( soaked in oil for a week ) installed and sized rope seal will work well

I used the lip seal from Bill Terry (Terry's Jaguar Parts), which is of a different design than the more common clamshell/spring design. I had both kits in hand before making the selection. Mr. Terry's kit goes in all of his high dollar/high horsepower race engines. The one in my engine has absolutely no leaks. There are other threads on this subject.