Jensen Monday Club

Steve Payne

136-8494 left the factory in 1973 in BMW orange (not Jensen orange) and remained with the original owner until 1995. The original owner had the car re-sprayed metallic Emerald green in 1992, by a Jensen specialist.

Steve has covered 125,000 miles in his car since purchasing from it last owner in 2000, the previous owner covered 50,000 miles in the last 5 years of ownership.

Steve's car won Best Interceptor at the 2023 JOC International

The car passed on to it's second owner, who used it as a company vehicle, adding 50,000 miles to the odometer. The owner purchased the car from the company on his retirement, but found he was using it too little to warrant keeping it after  a gearbox and front suspension overhaul.

He sold it to Steve in 2000, and the car came fitted with tubular "header" exhaust manifolds, and a very "hot" cam, which gave poor idling, and no vacuum for the braking servo!

After 10 months of ownership, Steve decided that the engine was worn and need a rebuild, and that a cam change was required to make the car more drivable. The engine was removed and the block re-bored. New Keith Black 9.7 -1 pistons were fitted, along with a more drivable cam (this would become the subject of another change later, as the cam supplied was incorrect.

The car also received Holley Commander fuel injection. The following year the Holley Commander EFI was fitted together with a crank trigger and wide band lambda sensor.

During the engine rebuild, Steve found an article on the web regarding cylinder head gaskets, and one of the reasons the 440 engine overheats (see the technical menu for details). Steve modified the new cylinder head gaskets, and along with 2 extra cooling fans mounted on the front of the radiator (with automatic and manual operation), and a modified radiator, the car has no overheating problems, even with the air conditioning running on the hottest days.

The larger cooling fans required an up rated Mitsubishi alternator which can supply up to 95amps
at idle, where as the original would only produce 75amp and it had to be revving at 2500rpm to do this.

Steve developed a Radiator Fan controller that controls the engine temp by fan speed rather than switching the fans on and off as the temp climbs and drops. He also sourced some 450watt fans that allow the engine to stay cool in even the hottest of summers.

The car has just received a 7 piston Sanden air conditioning compressor, mounted on Brackets from K and D Enterprises. This has given the car modern air conditioning performance, with much greater access in the engine bay due to the much smaller compressor (an article on the fitting will follow soon in the technical menu).

A couple of years later a A518 automatic gearbox was fitted to give an overdrive top gear and lockup torque convertor. This means the engine is doing 2000rpm at 70mph rather than 2700rpm. This allows for better fuel economy and a more relaxing drive. His car will achieve 20mpg
on a long run cruising at the legal limit

The car has since received:

1. Remote central locking
2. Polyurethane suspension bushes
3. Avo Coil over rear shocks.
4. Avo adjustable front shocks
5. Cold air trunking to allow the engine run on cooler air
6. Single touch electric windows.
7. An electronic controller for the overdrive gearbox.
8. Edlebrock alloy cylinder heads ( Ebay bargain)
9. A/C powered fuel cooler.
10 Roller cam
11. Engine oil and gearbox oil cooler with cooling fans
12. LED Instrument lights

The car is an ongoing project, with restoration and modifications taking place on a regular basis. Watch this space...