Fully Fueled – Replacing the fuel tank in a 1971 Jaguar XJ6

Picture of By Craig Ranson
By Craig Ranson

If you’ve been following along with the progress of the 1971 Jaguar XJ6 we have here at Bridge Classic Cars, you’ll know of the trouble that our amazing technician Dave has had with getting the car to fuel properly.

What began as a simple carb rebuild and set-up has grown into making the fuel system work (and look) just as good as the rest of this underappreciated classic. The old tank once removed looked fine from the outside, but after one look inside Dave knew he had got onto the right track. Rust. The dreaded oxide that plagues all classics but something that we here at Bridge Classic Cars are well used to dealing with and overcoming for our amazing customers.

Replacement tanks are available for this generation of XJ, but this being a very early XJ6 our technician Dave noticed some changes between the two. This is no problem thanks to Dave’s unrivalled skills. He has swapped out the supplied fittings for the return style system (for use on fuel injection cars) on the new replacement fuel tank to a returnless style need for this particular XJ6 with its wonderful set of Webers. Dave has made new plugs for the lines that are no longer needed for this beautiful classic.

Along with the new tank is a brand new set of fuel lines. Because of the rust issues that Dave found through the fuel system, it is best practice to replace the lines from front to back for the longevity of the car. Now the next step, get the new tank fitted up into place along with the new carefully made lines to begin testing to make sure that this XJ6 runs as good as it looks.

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