XK120 banger racing!
Discussion
XKman said:
The 3.8 engine has been rebuilt by VSE in Wales, with hardened valve seats for unleaded petrol, and looks fabulous. I have also had the triple 2" SU's from a Mk 10 rebuilt and polished.
Great to hear the project is progressing. You need to be careful with the manifolds if you want fit triple carbs.
The XK's 3.8 will have a B-Type head (unless it was a 150S). The Mk10 had a straight port head, the manifold from the Mk10 won't fit on the 150's head. You'll either need to use a straight port head or you'll need to get a triple carb manifold for the B-Type head. There have been 2 sources of these, back in period someone (Warren Pearce I think) produced one as he felt the torque characteristics of the B head where better suited to the heavy Jag saloons for most tracks. More recently Guy Broad have made a triple carb manifold to allow fitting them to original B-Type heads.
You'll also have to play with the inner wing to make enough room.
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Wow, I have just read all of this thread in one go and it is fantastic!
XKMan, I admire your dedication and cannot wait to see how it turns out!
But I also admire plonker751, not least for coming on here! He got the car as it was, offered more money for the car to be kept complete which was refused, so just raced it and presumably still had a healthy profit from it! So at the end of the day nobody really lost out except maybe the person plonker751 got it from, but given their requirements that is their fault and nobody else's!
I remember my Dad taking me to a race meeting at Wimbledon in the late 60s that had a banger race with an all Jaguar grid - over 30 of them, mostly MKIIs but a few S-Types and a couple of 420s! I was still at primary school then but remember it so well - that sort of event using what were £50 wrecks at the time probably helped the remaining cars gain the value they now have!
I also have a great mate who raced bangers at Arena Essex before moving on to various formulae with Spedeworth, including 1600cc Hot Rods when a certain Rob Collard was racing them - but he is in the BTCC now!
Thanks to my mate I raced a 1970s Ford Consul at Arena Essex (handled well but too slow with a 2 litre V4) but that venue must have done a lot for the values of MkI and MKII Granadas as well as every generation of Cortina!
BTW there is an all Cortina meeting scheduled at Arena Essex this year, so maybe time to look away Cortina fans!
Ironically my same mate now deals in classic cars like MKII Jags, S-Types, 420s, Daimler 250V8s, Zephyrs and Zodiacs! (When he can find them)!
Anyway as a result I think I can see both sides of the debate but the end result of this thread will surely suit the purist, and if someone else had some fun on the way then good for him too!
XKMan, I admire your dedication and cannot wait to see how it turns out!
But I also admire plonker751, not least for coming on here! He got the car as it was, offered more money for the car to be kept complete which was refused, so just raced it and presumably still had a healthy profit from it! So at the end of the day nobody really lost out except maybe the person plonker751 got it from, but given their requirements that is their fault and nobody else's!
I remember my Dad taking me to a race meeting at Wimbledon in the late 60s that had a banger race with an all Jaguar grid - over 30 of them, mostly MKIIs but a few S-Types and a couple of 420s! I was still at primary school then but remember it so well - that sort of event using what were £50 wrecks at the time probably helped the remaining cars gain the value they now have!
I also have a great mate who raced bangers at Arena Essex before moving on to various formulae with Spedeworth, including 1600cc Hot Rods when a certain Rob Collard was racing them - but he is in the BTCC now!
Thanks to my mate I raced a 1970s Ford Consul at Arena Essex (handled well but too slow with a 2 litre V4) but that venue must have done a lot for the values of MkI and MKII Granadas as well as every generation of Cortina!
BTW there is an all Cortina meeting scheduled at Arena Essex this year, so maybe time to look away Cortina fans!
Ironically my same mate now deals in classic cars like MKII Jags, S-Types, 420s, Daimler 250V8s, Zephyrs and Zodiacs! (When he can find them)!
Anyway as a result I think I can see both sides of the debate but the end result of this thread will surely suit the purist, and if someone else had some fun on the way then good for him too!
Utterly brilliant! I love that the roll cage is still in there, will you compete in her?
I have only one small bit of advice, at least think about putting on some airfilters, however rudimentary. One small pebble or stone casually flicked from the front wheel and into the bellmouths and it can spell disaster to the engine. You're talking to someone who didn't put a cam cover on his Alfasud; I still have no idea how the pebble got there, but never ever again!
I have only one small bit of advice, at least think about putting on some airfilters, however rudimentary. One small pebble or stone casually flicked from the front wheel and into the bellmouths and it can spell disaster to the engine. You're talking to someone who didn't put a cam cover on his Alfasud; I still have no idea how the pebble got there, but never ever again!
XKman said:
If anybody is still interested in this, I will post some pictures.
Wow! This has the making to be one of the best PH threads ever.You should also be elevated to a "Hero" status.
I will never be able to get my head around the mindset of the person who banger raced it - regardless of what the justification or purpose was. Utterly ridiculous no matter what.
PLEASE keep the pics coming.
G.
Edited by Gallen on Wednesday 1st June 14:25
Hi all, thanks for all your comments. Really motivating. You need encouragement when doing any project, so been out there today with my son, Tom, doing some welding. He is much better than me.
Mr Tidy, good comments, I feel no animosity towards Plonker.if he hadn't done what he did, I wouldn't have the car now.
I think it was Andy, , the roll cage in the car was originally scaffolding pole origin. I managed to get this proper one off eBay. The other concern about filters on the carbs - they have meshes, just can't see them on the photo.
Anyhow, as soon as there is more to report, will let you know. Nearly got the repairs done to the hinge boxes and body mountings, so in a week or so, will lift off the front body, paint the chassis and rebuild the front suspension. Then, start to put bits back on.
Mr Tidy, good comments, I feel no animosity towards Plonker.if he hadn't done what he did, I wouldn't have the car now.
I think it was Andy, , the roll cage in the car was originally scaffolding pole origin. I managed to get this proper one off eBay. The other concern about filters on the carbs - they have meshes, just can't see them on the photo.
Anyhow, as soon as there is more to report, will let you know. Nearly got the repairs done to the hinge boxes and body mountings, so in a week or so, will lift off the front body, paint the chassis and rebuild the front suspension. Then, start to put bits back on.
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