Engine - Pt 8

It has been quite a while since my last post. So after being rather busy recently I have finally had the opportunity to sort out measuring the length of pushrods I need for my particular engine.

I ordered these from Peter Knight racing and they arrived about weeks or or 2 later.

Now comes the task of fitting and adjusting the valve train.

First job was to clean all the pushrods making sure that they are nice and clean particularly inside as oil flows through these for lube for the rockers etc..

One thing I did notice was that there are a number of different designations on the rods. I am assuming that this is OK but will call and check just to be certain.

So... After cleaning each pushrod I carefully applied a little Graphogen to each end of the rods making sure that the holes are clear and then carefully placed then in their respective positions, all 16 of them.

After this I prepared the adjuster's and locking screws before getting the lifters out of their oil bath. I fully unscrewed the locking screws to leave just a thread or so engaged so I could clearly see which ones were still un-locked. Just had to make sure that the locking screw was not interferring with the adjusting process.

Rockers in oil bath. Been soaking for quite some time.

I then cleaned the excess oil off of the lifters and coated each of the rollers with Graphogen. Also the top of each valve was given a coating of Graphogen too.

With and without Graphogen on the rollers

Pre adjustment.

There's alot of information on the web regarding how to adjust/pre-load the valves (some good and some not so good). In the end (2nd time of course!) I very carefully followed the information given with my Compcams camshaft, which I should have done first. Still, all now seems to be good now.

One last thing. I thought I'd have a check/look at fitting the rocker covers but as I had suspected there is a height issue due to me changing to roller rockers. I knew when I purchased the rocker covers that they may not be tall enough so have already purchased 2 sets of gaskets, just in case. All I need are the spacer plates. The parts that touch rocker cover baffles are the adjuster nuts. I did also rotate the engine to make sure the rockers were at max lift but these are well below the adjuster nuts. You can just make out the 2 areas that touch in the photo below. It is quite tricky to measure the interference so I used the gaskets I already had. With 2 gaskets there was a little interference but with 3 there was clearance. The gaskets are 4mm thick each. I'll get 6mm thick spacer plates laser cut and polish the edges. When I fit the covers, spacer plates and gaskets I'll use some suitable liquid gasket to give a little peace of mind as well.

Not quite what I had hoped for but it will be fine with the spacer plates and a gasket either side.

Thats all for now until the spacers are made.

Wheels 1

After alot of discussion on the UK Cobra Club forum I decided to go for Vintage Wheels in the US.

There was alot  of discussion about either 407 or 427 styles. Both look really good.

407 Style

427 Style

Eventually I decided to go for 18" 427's as I simply prefer the look of these. 407's are great but actually a little 'too' smooth for me.

The main concern highlighted to me by Bob was that due to the high offest values on the front wheels the 427 style is slightly outset from the rim. For me this is not a problem.

Bob Lacey at Vintage was really helpful and a great bloke to deal with. I can't recommend him or his company highly enough. The wheels are a work of art and licensed by Shelby too.

Tyre/Rim sizes as follows:-

Front - Rim 8" wide, tyres 225/45 R18 Y (91) Continental Sport Contact 5 SSR
Rear - Rim 9.5" wide, tyres 255/40 R18 Y (95) Continental Sport Contact 5 SSR

At the time of order I also purchase chrome wheels nuts, spinners and the wheel nut covers.

After ordering on the 22nd March they finally arrived on 2nd May and I must say that I am really delighted with them. All fits well on the XJ40 hubs so that is a relief too.