New Jaguar Cylinder Blocks Available

[PJGD]

I note here: https://media.jaguar.com/news/2020/06/j ... gine-block that Jaguar [JLR] are manufacturing brand new 3.8 litre cylinder blocks for the classic market but at a pretty steep price of £14,330 each . I wonder how many they will sell, but I am sure that they will have done due diligence and are confident of turning a profit.

In the event that our spares operation should be thinking of having a batch of new Series-3 crankcases manufactured, it would be foolish to make a direct copy of the ~75 year old design since it is riddled with faults that need to be corrected first. Once that has been done, I would recommend getting a quote from Grainger & Worrall as being a very competent supplier for this sort of project: https://www.gwcast.com/en/.

Philip

[Forumadmin]

Hope I do not need one or two for my Aston!
But compared to other Aston prices that is reasonable.
The club did cast a dozen or so blocks but were let down on the quality of the machining. So yes if we were ever going to do it again then an expert would be needed.

When at Bicester Heritage there was a company there that scanned blocks, applied CAD to the result and then made molds or directly 3D printed blocks taht seemed to be ready to go. They had a Cosworth on show that had been reproduced. Being in the golden triangle around Silverstone they had lots of business from various racing teams. Cost seemed to be less so that company would be one of the ones to be considered.

[Bronteboxer]

That response does the team involved in the project at the time a great disservice. Some of whom were my very close friends are sadly not with us now and can’t speak for themselves.

Quote “if we were ever going to do it again then an expert would be needed”
Lots of experts were involved, both professional and non professional in the production of new blocks. Including the original metallurgists, who recommended and developed a new alloy for the castings.

Many years work went into the development and production of more than ‘a dozen or so’ blocks. The dedication of the team at the time, to cost effectively produce such major components was massive undertaking for such a small Club as the JCC.

It was a project to be admired and despite further technological advances probably will never be matched. I can’t think of a complex project where teething troubles are non existent. Yes, there were some issues with later cast blocks, as I recall, the moulds were getting past their best - some were sold off on that basis.

I can speak from personal experience of being involved towards the last two years in that project and committing early, my own money, to be a first receiver of a pair of newly made blocks, to build an engine for my Jupiter. This build was to be a test of the viability of the newly cast blocks and their suitability for use. My engine was built up by a very well respected and highly experienced club member, who also gave his time freely to build what was planned to be the first fully working, driving engine.

I spent over two years being involved in the final production and gathering parts for the assembly over that period. The project itself had been going for a number of years at that point. The unit was eventually built, installed and test run in Spring 2008 and early running in was initially commenced by a long touring trip from its home in Bradford, to Lincolnshire to visit friends and see the sites, where my wife spent most of her childhood. In the whole of the trip we had one gearbox top up. No engine issues and running was faultless. It has remained that way for the last 12 years. Due to many factors including personal ones, the full documented story and life of this very special engine was never published as was originally intended.

It’s very sad to see such a massive project undertaken by such a dedicated team of experienced volunteers and professional engineers dismissed in this way. JCS deserves better, indeed an apology to the members involved, who are still around wouldn’t go amiss.