Jeffrey the Jag
Discussion
Here's Jeffrey, my 1991 XJS V12. I've had him for a couple of years now and he's just gone in for some intensive bodywork restoration.
Previous owners have treated him to a quite a few tuning goodies from AJ6 Engineering, so he's a bit quicker than your average XJS. Most importantly, the previous owner had a manual gearbox conversion carried-out, which makes it much easier to tap into the engine's power.
Pictures of the bodywork restoration, some of which are a little frightening, can be found here as I can't work out how to get the pictures off the website. It didn't really look that bad before, bu there was some serious rust lurking underneath.....
http://www.mistyle-weymouth.co.uk/photos/jaguar-xj...
Plan after the bodywork is to get the diff changed for a shorter one as it was originally matched to the auto gearbox and is now too long. Then some fruitier rear silencers to make the most of the V12 sound and then hopefully we'll be good to go.
Previous owners have treated him to a quite a few tuning goodies from AJ6 Engineering, so he's a bit quicker than your average XJS. Most importantly, the previous owner had a manual gearbox conversion carried-out, which makes it much easier to tap into the engine's power.
Pictures of the bodywork restoration, some of which are a little frightening, can be found here as I can't work out how to get the pictures off the website. It didn't really look that bad before, bu there was some serious rust lurking underneath.....
http://www.mistyle-weymouth.co.uk/photos/jaguar-xj...
Plan after the bodywork is to get the diff changed for a shorter one as it was originally matched to the auto gearbox and is now too long. Then some fruitier rear silencers to make the most of the V12 sound and then hopefully we'll be good to go.
Edited by HeWhoDaresRoy on Saturday 27th July 08:15
Fat Albert said:
Very nice, I do think that my XK8 would be fantastic with a manual 'box
Bet it would. I'd have an XK8 if the back seats were a bit bigger. I think they're aging really well.A few more pictures of the on-going work. Unfortunately the new paintwork has reacted with some previous rep[airs, so the car has been scraped back to bare metal and is being painted again:
Lovely jag. Imagine how good you'll feel when she's all finished and back on the drive
I'm getting some serious work done to my lancia right now. It's going to be epic having her returned all fresh and rust free..
Edited due to predictive texting on new phone......
I'm getting some serious work done to my lancia right now. It's going to be epic having her returned all fresh and rust free..
Edited due to predictive texting on new phone......
Edited by deltashad on Sunday 8th September 10:57
deltashad said:
Lovely jag. Imagine how glow you'll feel when she's all finished and back on the drive
I'm getting some serious work done to my lancia right now. It's going to be epic having her returned all fresh and rust free..
Can't wait. Hope the Lancia lives-up to expectations. We had a Thema when I was young - quite liked it.I'm getting some serious work done to my lancia right now. It's going to be epic having her returned all fresh and rust free..
Bought this little number a few weeks ago. Four litre, manual with an LPG conversion.
If it's the usual HE type 2.88:1 diff it'll need a complete diff change because unlike all the rest the ratio can't be changed.The best idea is to get a complete rear suspension set up from a later facelift 4.0/6.0 litre car which has the outboard brakes and then get it's diff re built by Dana with 3.06:1 gears which is what I did with the series 3 saloon and you might as well try to find a 6 litre engine for it too in the case of such major work which can also be rebuilt with bigger liners taking it up to 6.8 litres.If it's a Getrag box that diff ratio is awesome for acceleration and provides around 30 mph/1,000 rpm in 5th with 16 inch wheels which are needed if you fit an AP racing brakes conversion at the front which is also worth every pound and works great with the vented X300 type rear brake set up.If money is no object Haywood and Scott do some interesting exhaust manifolds which would work great with the usual AJ6 silencer substitute pipes and straight through TWR rear silencer boxes.Then to make it sound and go even better there's the Weber Alpha manifolds and throttle bodies,injection system and DTA management with distributorless ignition option to add to all that which is miles better than the original set up.For suspension mods the Bilsteins used on the XJRS together with the uprated Harvey Bailey type roll bar kit works great with standard springs.
Edited by XJ Flyer on Saturday 21st September 14:49
Edited by XJ Flyer on Saturday 21st September 14:51
Edited by XJ Flyer on Saturday 21st September 14:54
Edited by XJ Flyer on Saturday 21st September 15:00
strummerville said:
Looking at the garage's website, I notice the OP has a rather nice Saab 900 too.
Yep, that's my Saab there, too! 210k miles and still going strong.Olivera, that's a lovely looking XJS. Can I as what sort of wheels are fitted? They look top-notch.
XJFlyer, I'm certainly considering a stand alone engine management system, but will have to see if funds allow. 6.8 litre engine would be awesome, but must be pricey? Thought I'd go for standard brakes and suspension as they ride nicely as standard and always found the brakes pretty powerful. I guess there's always room for improvement, though...
HeWhoDaresRoy said:
Yep, that's my Saab there, too! 210k miles and still going strong.
Olivera, that's a lovely looking XJS. Can I as what sort of wheels are fitted? They look top-notch.
XJFlyer, I'm certainly considering a stand alone engine management system, but will have to see if funds allow. 6.8 litre engine would be awesome, but must be pricey? Thought I'd go for standard brakes and suspension as they ride nicely as standard and always found the brakes pretty powerful. I guess there's always room for improvement, though...
Just using a 6 litre engine is better for torque and some extra top end power than the old 5.3 without increasing it's capacity even further because the extra capacity was arrived at by increasing the stroke measurement.The bigger piston and liner kit isn't cheap at around £3,500 the last time I looked on Rob Beere's price list but does seem to be a cost effective way of moving things even further forward 'if' funds allow which is what stopped me from doing that job on my 6 litre engine.Olivera, that's a lovely looking XJS. Can I as what sort of wheels are fitted? They look top-notch.
XJFlyer, I'm certainly considering a stand alone engine management system, but will have to see if funds allow. 6.8 litre engine would be awesome, but must be pricey? Thought I'd go for standard brakes and suspension as they ride nicely as standard and always found the brakes pretty powerful. I guess there's always room for improvement, though...
But in the case of brakes and suspension the inboard rear brakes are a liability in terms of heat and maintenance and the handbrake caliper idea was always hopeless compared to the later facelift outboard set up while the AP racing set up at the front really is also in a different league in helping to get rid of the speed on entry to corners effectively and without fade which the big heavy Jags need.In terms of suspension there's lots of room to improve the handling and steering without affecting the refinement much at all as I've said just by concentrating on uprating the damping and the roll bars.Using solid mounting bushes for the rack also helps with improving it's location which is hopeless with the original ones.
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