Jaguar Repair: XJ6 stake down kit, metal shavings, screw holes

Question
Howard,

  I got the rear end of my jag back in 2 weeks ago, sure is great to be driving the big cat again !  Thanks again for all your help with the brakes and driveshaft bearing set up.   My question is about stakedown kits for the exhaust valve guides.
I found an article where a fellow just drilled and tapped holes next to the guides and put cap screws down where the heads held down a corner of the guides.  This way he said he didn't need to take the camshaft out.  I didn't know you need to take the cam out to put in the kit ?  Do you have any opinion on the kits and whether just putting in a screw would be ok or not ?

 Thanks,

 Steve.

Answer
Hi Steve,

I install these kits in every engine I build and every head that I rebuild. It is something that Jaguar should have done.

I have installed the kit in several series III engines and in older Jags. No, I did not remove the cam on all of them. Some I installed them while building the engine and the cam was not installed yet and others I removed the cam to re-seat the lifter sleeves as some were coming out.

The only thing that worried me was shavings from the drilling getting into the engine as the placement of the screw holes are over an empty cavity for oil drainage. So I put a piece of shop rag in the cavity with axle grease on it to catch the shavings, especially when the drill breaks through into the cavity. If you use this method be very careful when the drill breaks through as it will grab your rag and wad it up. (did that once too)

I usually force the rag piece down as far as I can from the surface that the drill will break through. A hook bent on a coat hanger or welding rod will enable you to fish out the rag with the grease and the metal shavings after the job is finished and additional clean rag can be used to get any missed shavings.

An additional precaution would be good to cut a strip piece of sheet metal and grease it too and place it in between the shop rag and the drill. That way when the drill breaks through it will just hit the sheet metal and you can stop drilling before you get to the shop rag. But I would grease the sheet metal too to catch as much filings as possible. I considered doing that after wadding up a piece of rag on a drill bit once.

I have also run across two different brand kits with one it supplied self taping screws and the other one you had to tap the threads yourself.

Some supplied the screws and others didn't. When I supplied my own screws I used course threads and Allen screws with star type lock washers and also used thread Lock-tight.

These kits are needed because in time and especially if the engine runs hot some time, the lifter sleeves will loosen and work their way up until the cam lobes start chipping them away.

I was fortunate to learn Jaguar in a dealership in 1960 when I was shown how to install these lifter sleeves in a Jag head and stake them in place with set screws from the out side. Normally these sleeves don't come out but when an engine runs hot they can come loose.

Howard