msabbasi;4016462]Dear Asim Mohydin sb.,
I did not do justice to you post in my earlier reply compelling me to write again. The car you have in you garage, the Daimler Sovereign Ser. II is by no means something to take lightly. These are very beautiful cars with a silent silky ride. I could sit there and stare at it for hours without tiring. Dare I ask if it is a V-12? Or in Daimler speak a double six?
I was so touched by you post that I changed the title of my writeup to include "Sympathetic Restoration".
I am intrigued by your mention of the Jag in Pindi for which you offered 3500/-. If it was a black one in running condition then it is very likely that the gentleman you made the offer to was most probably my dad!!!!
I am, indeed, highly envious of your close proximity of the Browns Lane factory. Utterly envious.
Cheers[/QUOTE]
Abbasi sb, thankyou for your reply. For some odd reason I thought you were Karachi based till you mentioned the lack of rust on the jaguar which made me wonder how could that be if indeed you were in karachi? I then noticed your location
It would be a pleasure to meet up whether in Lahore or Islamabad. I will "pm" my contact details to you, although I must admit a trip to your city is warranted just for the delight of seeing your car in the metal. You mention your wanting to get a workshop manual which would be literature in itself now. I have one for a '50s Mark VII which I enjoy going through just for the quaintness of it. I would be only too glad to help in any research. In any case you must contact the Heritage Trust giving the chassis, engine no etc and acquire their certificate which will even show the gearbox number, date of production etc.
I don't remember the colour of the "1972" car and have no idea what became of my friend either! I don't quite remember the time of year but this lovely old car with swooping lines, which said friend immediately recognised as a Jaguar, was parked on the mall in front of the then newly constructed state bank building not far from the PC hotel. We were on our bicycles and pulled up for a closer look. The car was unlocked, we had a good look in and out and left a note inside with our query and our offer and phone nos! If indeed it was your father, he did the wise thing and ignored us:) Now come to think of it, I do remember seeing it once more after that. If indeed it is the same car..........
Good to learn you drive a relatively modern Jaguar also. Am sure it stands out from the usual "glitzmobiles" these Saudis drive. The XJ40 was a much awaited model after the XJ6's 1969 to 1986 production run. In fact the XJ12 and 6/6 Ser 3 carried on even after the 40 hit the market. At the time critics didn't like the dashboard layout or the modern look but it still was a huge success. There are 3 here in Lahore.
As for the car I have, it's not a V12, it doesn't even have its original 4.2 six either. I got it in 1997 when it was in the process of a so called restoration. The cylinder head had been skimmed too many times and the engine would overheat and then finally a valve popped and holed one of the pistonheads. I had the engine rebuilt but it just wasn't right. As you rightly say, these cars are phenomenally smooth and an XJ was always my car of choice during my years in the UK and I kept over half a dozen so I knew how one of them SHOUD be. To make matters worse, the so called recon gearbox sourced by the prev owner turned out to be rubbish when it lost all drive. Having to get an original replacement engine AND gearbox was horrendously expensive at the time so i was in a dilemma especially as was finding out these engines don't do too well in hot climates as the aircon also takes a toll on them. It is after all a design from the thirties ! I had no choice but to consider an alternative. I was sure there was no way was going to put in a crown engine or worse, a nissan diesel. The very idea.....and the copious advice to do this really got to me. However, by then I had learnt that Chevy V8s were a popular conversion especially in the Middle East. I was intrigued by that, because as legend has it, the story goes that British leyland were contemplating installing the Buick V8 intended for the Rover cars and Range Rover in the XJ also. The design team at Jaguar were appalled at this and designed and commissioned the firewall and transmission tunnel so that the V8 wouldn't fit!! Interestingly, the V12 wasn't a problem bec it's a 60deg V as opposed to the Buick's 90. On further looking into this at the time, a mech based in the gulf told me that the firewall has to be cut to enable the exhaust pipe of the left manifold ( standing facing the car) to pass thru. Amazingly so, I came across a 350 cu.in (5.7L) V8 GM engine complete with gearbox and took it to be a "sign from the gods" to go for broke. I was very sure in my mind that no way was I going to cut the body in any way. All fabrication needed was done in such a way that everything could be put back to original if need be. Lo and behold, we hit a snag with the exhaust of the left manifold. To my mind the solution was charmingly simple. We just inverted the manifold so that the exhaust pipe emerged from the front part of the engine, doubled back along and slightly above the base of the valve (tappet) cover and disappeared down the transmission tunnel. A heat shield took care of any chance of frying any engine parts. The result was a car with a lot more power and a lovely sounding woolly V8 note. It's very rare that I resort to any sort of music when driving it, the twin burble from the exhausts is symphony enough. Generally am a stickler for originality but sometimes things work out for the better by deviating from it, not to mention that was able to fit a V8 despite the fact that the car was designed to prevent that.
My apologies! I got carried away with that story and made it worse by giving too much information but am still attaching a couple of pictures for your viewing