A John Coombs MK 1
All Videos Courtesy of Youtube.
Following on from this:-https://steemit.com/cars/@awgbibb/chronicles-of-alan-cars-i-have-owned-loved-jaguars
I was staying with Chris and our Baby Boy in a flat in Florida, working for the Post Office, studying to be a Telecommunications Technician at Olifantsfontein Training College.
As I travelled in with the 3.4 MK 1 , I saw a Black MK 2 parked under a tree on a plot near Kyalami Race Track.
I popped in one day to have a look at it, The owner wanted R500.00 for it , Race Car, with run Bearings!
Supposed to be a John Coombs Jag, came out from the UK for the Kyalami 9 Hour Race 1964!
Earning R65.00 per month , paid him off, and eventually went to tow it home!
Dropped the sump , one Big End was gone , but the crank was not damaged, Oil Pump was also suspect?
Already had 3 MK1's plus a spare motor( more on that later!). So no shortage of Parts!
Got it going , Henry and I go to test it , Ridiculously Powerful, .
Nearly pranged it on our First Trip in it ( also more on that later)
List of Mods:-
Fully Louvred Bonnet
High Compression Pistons,
Straight Port E-Type Head, Ported and Gas Flowed
Isky Racing Camshafts ( only came in at 3500 RPM)
Modified Front Suspension, Negative Camber on Front Wheels when pushing it in a corner
2.5 turn lock to lock steering Gear.
Extra Anti-tramp Bars on Back Axle( Limited Slip Diff was Standard on all 3.8 litre Models.)
Standard Car limited to 5,500, this one red lined at 6,500RPM.
The Mazda RX-2's had just been released, I recall one night stopped at a Red-light, racing a Fairmont GT.
2 x RX-2 's came speeding through the light as it changed to Green, we both overtook the Mazda's before the next Traffic Light!
The Fairmont GT's run 65MPH in first , The Jags Gearbox 35 MPH, so the extra Gearchange would slow me down a bit.
There were a couple of Quick Car's around that could beat it on acceleration , but very few could touch it on top end!
With Standard Gearing the Jag would do 147 MPH at 5,500 RPM in Overdrive Top Gear , a couple of times I saw 6000 RPM in this monster which would equate to 160MPH!
As soon as you revved above 3,500RPM you were hard on the cams,it would go hurtling forward , and deliver a paltry 8 MPG, under 3,500 RPM you could get close on 30MPG , needless to say as an Apprentice , I normally kept it under 3,500!
If you made the mistake of revving it up and dropping the clutch, it would have Blue Smoke pouring off the Back wheels, ( so that you could not see out the rear), you had to change to 2nd and then the wheels would start to get traction and you would go hurtling forward. A lot of fun to drive.
I used to say, you don't steer it, you aim it!
There is more to come on this subject, which I hope still interests,You?