The 59th Mk2 3.4 result in completed work having to be reversed and undertaken again.
additional features, allowances had to be made to make room for them under the bonnet.
Finch Project Manager, Molly Spalding, comments that Chris was 'very involved' as a client. That can be a double-edged sword with clients disrupting the workflow and co-ordination through not understanding the process. This could have arisen when Chris arranged for the instruments to be sent to New York to be refurbished. Potentially, it could have resulted in delays, but before the gauges were despatched Finch were able to mock up the dashboard to ensure everything would fit. As Molly happily admits, Chris worked closely with them to keep things moving along.
Fitting the 4.2-litre motor necessitated some engine bay modifications, as did the decision by Chris to use triple SU carburettors. “We would probably have looked at fuel injection,” suggests Shane, but Chris wanted the traditional appearance of carburettors. This meant installing an inlet manifold from a 420G. To make room for it, the master cylinders had to be made more upright and the pedal-box geometry changed. For peace of mind, an external oil filter and cooler were fitted, as was a high-torque starter motor.
There was a long list of modifications. The best way to appreciate the scope of the work commissioned by Chris is to look at the list of modifications carried out on his Mk2 … it runs to two tightly typed pages! The 3.4-litre XK motor, as mentioned earlier, was replaced with a 4.2-litre sourced from an XJ6. Although this is a common swap, Shane explains that it required some adaptation of the engine bay for the new motor to fit. “One of the issues with Mk2s is that the engine is a tight fit to begin with, so there was a bit of trial and error and head scratching. The good thing about the 4.2-litre motor is that it fits in the hole and looks much the same.” Knowing the car would be fitted with
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The automatic transmission was replaced with a five-speed Tremec T5 manual gearbox. Typical of the attention to detail evident throughout the car, the erstwhile gear lever became the indicator wand, and the now-redundant unit on top of the steering column lost its auto transmission indicators and had neat Jaguar identification installed. It looks like it was there from new. The tailshaft was replaced with a correct length shaft supplied with the new gearbox. The additional modern convenience features such as air conditioning, central locking, cruise control, upgraded windscreen wiper unit, modern entertainment system, GPS guidance and rear-view camera all necessitated considerable up-grades to the electrical system. First change was to convert the system to negative earth, replace all wiring and the original dynamo with a Lucas 17 ACR alternator. The original
01 Created from Sir William Lyons' eye for a line, the Mk2 is a true cult car.
Opposite Triple 2 inch SU carburettors, performance extractors, sports air cleaners and the highest standard of finish. Modernised with all the sensitivity you would expect in such a superb car. Satellite navigation, wood-rimmed steering wheel, five speeds engraved on the manual gear knob and discretely fitted air conditioning along with all of the 1950s and '60s Mk2 sporting luxury fittings. The finish standards are beyond reproach. Finally, the ultimate - chrome triple-laced wire wheels and sports spats.
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EDITION 214 JAGUAR MAGAZINE
