No photos sorry!
I finally wrestled my new mufflers on night before last. Wrestled further with the pipes under the IRS last night. I can’t get the resonators on due to some deformity in their shape from the person who clamped them on (not me!) The pipes are very crooked at the moment, but at least they are on! I figure I’ll get them on first, then fine-tune the position of them later.
The sun came out briefly yesterday evening and I moved the E-type from the barn to the garage (the wife’s car needed some maintenance and I wanted the space on the scissor lift for the tasks.) It took about 25 seconds of cranking for the XK to fire. Sounded great once running. =) The new tach gen I installed is working perfectly… not so the JEC OP gauge… hmmm. When I turn the key ‘on’ the gauge runs up to 50-some PSI, even before I hit the starter. Obviously I installed it wrong.
The work on the wife’s car done, I went to move the Jaguar back to the barn to finish the exhaust work… as the clouds had parted for a bit I could not resist the temptation to take the car for a wee run around the neighborhood. This time the engine started immediately. Mmmmmm… what a wonderful sound!
About a half-mile down the road I stopped at the fire station to fiddle with the OP gauge wiring… and a lady hung a u-turn and came back to complement me on the car. “That is such a pretty car!” I thanked her and chatted for a bit. After she left I went down to the highway to get the car up to speed. Man, I forgot how nice it sounds and how good it feels!
Even without the resonators the exhaust note was very pleasing. The new mufflers are a huge improvement over my old cracked ones! 😉 The car now purrs instead of snarling and screaming like a cat that just fell into water. Still roars when the right foot presses forward but now with quiet confidence rather than hysterical shrieks.
The car is back in the barn. Now I just have to wrestle these resonators back on the car and sort out this new OP gauge.