Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[lowdrag]

A call out of the blue, and a very interesting piece of Jaguar history fell into my hands. During the war, whiling away their time fire-watching on the factory roof, plans were being laid down for the new range of Jaguar engines. The XF and XG came and went but the XJ seemed set for production after the war. A four cylinder 2 litre DOHC engine, it was in the end killed by the eponymous XK 3.4 litre engine we all know so well. Four of the XJ engines are known to exist, and now I have one. Here are the photos:-

[Rick]

Fantastic, did any of these engines ever see use in a test car?

RJ
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[mikeC]

Do you have plans for a 2/3 scale D-Type?
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in the garage: 1938 Talbot Ten Airline
Recently departed: 1953 Lancia Appia, 1931 Austin Seven, 1967 Singer Chamois, 1914 Saxon, 1930 Morris Cowley, 1936 BSA Scout, 1958 Lancia Appia coupe, 1922 Star 11.9 ... the list goes on!

[peter scott]

That is certainly a very rare find. I think the four cylinder engine was also called XK rather than XJ. Apparently there was "no mention of an XJ in the immediate post war period" ("Jaguar The Engineering Story" Jeff Daniels https://tinyurl.com/yczz6hm3) The engine was XK4 and intended for the XK100 car. The engine was record breaking for MG.
https://tinyurl.com/ycjusach


and two of the cylinder heads found their way into a two engined Mini.





Peter
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https://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[Ray White]

Didn't John Cooper crash a two engined mini on the Kingston bypass?

[peter scott]

Looks like Cooper's used A series x 2.

Peter

https://sites.google.com/site/minifanclub/Home/mini-s-birth---biography/mini-s-father---alexander-issigonis/mini-s-life-history/mini---in-a-word/mini-s-milestones/mini-s-production-model-timelines/the-mark-1-models/the-mark-2-models/the-mark-3-models/the-mark-4-and-later-mdels/the-mini-clubman-models/the-riley-elf---wolseley-hornet-models/the-estate--countryman--van--utility--and-convertible-models/the-mini-moke/the-mini-cord-of-venezula/the-john-cooper-connection/the-twini-mini


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https://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[Penman]

Hi
There was also a Twin Moke. Perhaps they could have called it The Twoke

https://www.minimarcos.org.uk/altpics/twini.html

If you go back on that site to the index page there is a veritable plethora of Mini variants/conversions.
https://www.minimarcos.org.uk/altpics/index.html
Warning! be prepared to spend some time, if browsing.
_________________
Bristols should always come in pairs.

Any 2 from:-
Straight 6
V8 V10

[emmerson]

The Mini Moke paid a visit to the BMC dealership where I worked. It was called the "twinnie Moke"!

[lowdrag]

The story becomes more and more interesting. The engine started out during the war as the XF prototype and was based on a Standard push rod block. It developed into the XF engine, but was considered unsatisfactory on noise and unreliability. In 1948 the factory then started to develop the XJ engine, which was to be a cheaper variant for the XK120 of the XK six cylinder version, this planned for 32. litres but later with a longer stroke became the 3442 version that we all know so well. In 1939 the MG went to Germany to do record runs in the MG. Here is an except on Goldie Gardner's history taken from Wikipedia:-

After accompanying Sir Malcolm Campbell’s expedition to Daytona Beach, Florida, in 1935 to witness the World Land speed record attempt, he returned to England and concentrated on speed racing records. On 31 May 1939 just before the outbreak of World War II driving his special engineered MG, in Dessau, Germany, on the Dessauer Rennstrecke, now Bundesautobahn 9, Goldie Gardner took the 750cc up to 1,100cc class records over 2 kilometres, 1 mile, and 5 kilometres distances, at average speeds of 203.5 mph, 203.3 mph and 197.5 mph respectively. After an overnight engine rebore, on 2 June 1939 at the same venue he gained the 1,100cc to 1,500cc class records over the same distances at average speeds of 204.3 mph, 203.9 mph and 200.6 mph.

Again taken from Wiki, here is the story of this XJ engine:-

In September 1948 immediately before the announcement of Jaguar's new engine since named XK he broke the flying mile, kilometre and five-kilometre Class E records on the new motor road near Ostend. At the time it was considered remarkable that his engine was unsupercharged. This engine, commonly known as X100, was one of a series of development engines which started with XF and then XG. These were under 1,800cc and push rod operated, Then came th XJ engine, which is the engine here, sporting double overhead camshafts and a capacity of 2 litres. Four are known to exist. It was intended to be a cheaper option for the XK120 but was dropped in favour of the 3442cc Jaguar six cylinder XK engine. The new records were: mile 173.678 mph, kilometre 177.112 mph and five kilometres 170.523 mph.[4]

I have photos of this record attempt - in colour too - with brown shirt Nazis wearing the swastika armband in attendance. Remember, this is only a couple of months before the outbreak of WW2.

I have been contacted by the JDHT about the engine which they had no idea existed. Furthermore, they tell me only four were made, one of which is in the JDHT museum, one behind the scenes in pieces and one in the Hawthorn museum of Nigel Webb, (although this might be the earlier XF or XG version).

So, here am I sitting on an unknown quantity. I think that the only thing to do is take off the cylinder head and examine the valves, as there is a very slight chance that it is the engine that did the record breaking run.

I have been contacted by someone who has the 144 pages of the development of these engines, and when I have all of that we can know more. A USB key is in the post to me. we know that it had larger diameter valves and other mods, so taking the head off is a no-brainer. We shall see more anon.

[peter scott]

"Jeff Daniels, an aeronautical engineer by training, is well placed to write the story. As a young motoring journalist he knew and interviewed many members of the original Jaguar team including Sir William Lyons himself, Bill Heynes, Bob Knight and Harry Mundy, all major players in Jaguar's engineering history. "

From wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguar_XK6_engine

"There are some misleading claims of an intervening "XJ" 4-cyl prototype but it seems the only person who referred to them as such was William Heynes in a paper presented to the IMechE in 1953. Heynes stated there were many 4-cyl variants following the XF but it was he alone who loosely grouped them as XJ. The last mention of XF was in July 1945 and the first mention of XK (XK1) was in October of the same year. This doesn't give much room for a series of XJ engines.There are no mentions of XJ in the archive (other than in Heynes’ paper). If there is a XJ, the first one is likely to have been referred to as XK1 internally. There were three others of nominally 1790 cc capacity called XK2, XK3 & XK4. It is likely these are what Heynes referred to as "XJ". The first "true" XK was called "XK Number 1" (distinct from "XK1") and was of 1970 cc nominal capacity with an 83mm/91mm bore/stroke."
_________________
https://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[lowdrag]

It is somewhat confusing, isn't it Peter?. In an earlier document I read it specifically mentioned an XJ 2 litre, but this archive material seems to prove you are right. If I misled people, it was through lack of detailed knowledge of this engine and the history. In this document I found they refer to the XJ as being 2 litre, then "XK No 1" so we'll go with XK from now on! The only trouble with that is that the majority of people will confuse it with the six cylinder range.

https://www.jaguarheritage.com/jaguar-history/jaguar-engineering/4-cylinder-xk-engine/

Moving on, I have borrowed a trailer and will have the engine home this week. I can't wait to firstly test the compression ratio if possible to see if this could be the Gardner MG engine. More anon.

[peter scott]

Hi Tony,

I agree, that JDHT article should carry some weight. I think you are right that Heynes used the XJ designation but it just didn't appear in Jaguar official documents. See: https://wikimili.com/en/Jaguar_XK6_engine

Here's Heynes reference to "XJ" in his "The Jaguar Engine" paper.





Peter
_________________
https://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[lowdrag]

Finally got the engine home yesterday and this morning took off the inlet cam cover. It is very strange, and perhaps someone can give me a clue as to what is going on here. We have the usual four lobes on the cam, but a square fifth one. Is this some type of pump to raise oil or what is it? If the cam rotates at half engine speed, then this square cam rotates at twice engine speed.

[peter scott]

There is an odd thing in the top right corner of the XF cross section showing what looks like a square cam acting on a spring without connecting to anything else! As you suggest, perhaps an oil pump? The cam on the other side of the engine appears to have a feed pipe but no twin on the RHS.

Peter
_________________
https://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[lowdrag]

I've not removed the exhaust cam cover yet, but the latest thinking is that it could be similar to the Lanchester/Mitsubishi balancer shaft to cut down the vibration of the four as opposed to six cylinder engine. Unlike all the other (well - four!) known motors mine has the engine number cast on it and the bearing caps are numbered, as even is a chromed nut on the water rail. We are taking this very slowly indeed, and I am tempted by an offer of a serious specialist Jaguar company to take it apart and put it back together just because they want to learn more about it. It is seized solid of course, not having turned for probably forty years and more. Here's an interesting photo of the cooling system for the head.