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Engine  

Engine Rebuilds
 

Terry Lippincott has rebuilt dozens and dozens of XK engines over the past 35 years, including his own race-prepped engines.

This experience has been developed into a well-defined rebuild procedure, one that he shares with his trusted machine shop. This experience has also taught him which upgrades work and those that don't.

For example, the XK head responds very well to porting and polishing. Done properly, reshaping the port walls can improve the quality and quantity of the air flow into the combustion chamber resulting in a significant increase in engine power output. With years of practice, backed by air flow bench testing, Terry knows how to port and polish the XK head to maximize breathing.


Machined block, surfaced, bored and painted.

Terry also routinely uses modern, higher compression pistons to achieve additional horsepower while still requiring only premium octane pump-grade fuel.

Many engines also receive slightly-hotter-than-stock Isky racing cams.

These piston and cam upgrades along with the head work described above and proper carburetor settings combine to create a noticeable increase in torque and horsepower without altering the streetablilty of the engine.

These are modern, high compression pistons that work nicely with the XK engine's hemi combustion chamber.
Crankshaft fresh from the machine shop.
A newly machined engine block with crank installed.
Installing the pistons.
Pistons, bearings and oil pump installed.
Installing the lower timing chain and tensioner.
A new, improved style of tensioner is being used here.
Timing chain cover and water pump are installed. Next we're cleaning up the head bolt hole threads by running a tap down the holes.
High compression pistons and head studs installed.
Using a hoist to lower the head into position over the head bolt studs.
Head installed. Note use of tappet guide hold down kit. This customer requested that the kit be installed on both the intake and exhaust cam.
Almost completely buttoned up.
Intake side of the almost-completed engine assembly.

CC'ing the area above the piston to the top of the block. Careful measurements assure that we get the correct compression ratio.
For those interested in originality, a set of domed, OEM-style pistons ready for installation.
The photos above show a 1968 E-Type head with larger valve seats installed, ready to accept the later-style, 1 7/8-inch "big valves". You can also see where the ports have been cleaned up. This setup is very well optimized for maximum air flow.

Cylinder Head Corrosion Repair  

It's not unusual for the aluminum XK heads to suffer from severe corrosion due to the lack of proper coolant maintenance. Serious cases will find the water jacket openings near the block surface literally eaten away from years of neglect.

Many of these heads can be sucessfully repaired by the careful and skillful welding-in of new material to replace the decayed aluminum, followed by surface machining.

 

 

The water jacket openings on this head have been built-up to repair a case of severe corrosion.
The repaired head is machined smooth. The new valves are also installed.
 
This is a closeup view of the repairs. Next, the head surface is machined.
Closeup view of repaired water jacket openings.

 
Repaired and machined head.