Trying to fire up a 50-yr-old Jaguar after over 4 years of hibernation

We could hear the fuel pump starting up but then the fuel spewed out everywhere from the front carburettor.

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Yesterday I drove over to my spanner mate Peter, with two carburettors and some tools in the boot!

Time to put these things back on and start up this 50-year-old Jaguar.

We completed the last few jobs on the carburettors on Peter’s workbench.

Putting the carburettors back on the engine was fiddly, but not difficult:

Before:

After:

On purpose, we left off the air inlet filter and a bunch of other hoses related to the emission system. We just wanted to see if, after all this work, we would have fuel leak-free carburettors and whether the engine would start.

So with all the important and relevant bits tightened up, Peter turned on the ignition. We could hear the fuel pump starting up, which was good. But then fuel spewed out everywhere from the front carburettor. We took the cover of the float chamber off and I adjusted the float valve arm a tiny bit, which would ensure the fuel valves get closed properly in the up position. Worked well.

Attempt two and we were pretty sure this would work, so I rolled the video camera!

We were very pleased. After more than four years, we managed to bring this engine back to life. Obviously, we still need to do a lot more in terms of adjusting and fine-tuning. And that is before we start on the list of (many) other things still to be done on this car.

I had to leave early because our grandson Ben was coming to stay with us for the night. And I had promised to take him on a bicycle ride, go to the playground and eat ice cream. So we did!

Ben loves sitting in all my cars!!

Today Peter called. He had started up the Jaguar again. Drove it to the local petrol station. (Because one tank was empty and the other was half full with four-year-old petrol)

He also gave the Jag a quick wash, which was really needed.

One small additional job though. During this first outing, there was a loud bang and the muffler exploded!! The engine is running very rich, so that can happen. A well, on the to-do-list!

Anyway, very pleased to have this car running again. Still lots of work to be done on the engine and other bits.

This week I will probably pop over to my friend Berndt to work on his Austin Somerset (which won’t start) and his Mini ( which won’t honk!).

Still waiting for the clock spring for my Jeep. So I can fix the horn/airbag alar and cruise control which are all not working due to the broken spring, currently under the steering wheel.

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