My Abomination - 1984 Jaguar XJ6
Discussion
Hello All!
I stumbled across this forum the other day and thought why not share my car here. Its a 1984 Jaguar XJ6 which originally came with a 4.2L inline 6. Super slow and rode like a dream, also was a pain in the butt from day one, but I feel like that makes me love it more. Heres a couple photos from when it was first brought to my house. I went out looking for a reliable car to to take to university everyday and came back with this. It cost me $2,000 CAD and with another $500 in tires and some engine maintenance it was on the road.
After driving it for a couple weeks I completely fell in love with the car. I deleted the factory exhaust and had it running out the side of the car in front of the rear wheels. Did a few "upgrades" like an air filter and stereo, but other than that, I just drove it for about 8 months form August 2013 to March 2014.
-SIDE NOTE = this was probably the most reliable car I have ever driven in the winter. From December to February it was consistently -15 to -25 Celsius and the car started first try every time-
In march I discovered I had broken the mount for the rear drivers side hub carrier. So randomly the car would have very bad toe in and then go back to normal. So I took it off the road for what I told myself would be a "light" rebuild. My plan was to fix the engine bay wiring, fix some of the rust spots, and replace the rear hub carrier. Well now I think everyone knows that it did not go to plan. Once I dove into the mess left by the Lucas wiring there was no turning back. Most of the wires were so brittle that when I tried to remove sensors they would just break. So out comes the engine and gear box.
After that came out I began to work on the various systems on the car. First I rebuilt the front subframe. All new bushings, bolts, washers, and brake parts. And powder coating of parts I was reusing.
Once that was back in the car, there was the body work which I wanted to address next. I did a lot of research and tried to find the bast place to get what i wanted done, done well. I found a shop about an hour and a half away from me which specialized in custom body repairs, so I phoned up the owner and hatched a plan to get this thing done. He suggested i strip the car as much as possible to save some money to the next week involved 14 hour days of pulling off parts and organizing into bins I would never look at again.
After that was finished the car was loaded on a trailer and shipped off the shop for the next 6 months.
I stumbled across this forum the other day and thought why not share my car here. Its a 1984 Jaguar XJ6 which originally came with a 4.2L inline 6. Super slow and rode like a dream, also was a pain in the butt from day one, but I feel like that makes me love it more. Heres a couple photos from when it was first brought to my house. I went out looking for a reliable car to to take to university everyday and came back with this. It cost me $2,000 CAD and with another $500 in tires and some engine maintenance it was on the road.
After driving it for a couple weeks I completely fell in love with the car. I deleted the factory exhaust and had it running out the side of the car in front of the rear wheels. Did a few "upgrades" like an air filter and stereo, but other than that, I just drove it for about 8 months form August 2013 to March 2014.
-SIDE NOTE = this was probably the most reliable car I have ever driven in the winter. From December to February it was consistently -15 to -25 Celsius and the car started first try every time-
In march I discovered I had broken the mount for the rear drivers side hub carrier. So randomly the car would have very bad toe in and then go back to normal. So I took it off the road for what I told myself would be a "light" rebuild. My plan was to fix the engine bay wiring, fix some of the rust spots, and replace the rear hub carrier. Well now I think everyone knows that it did not go to plan. Once I dove into the mess left by the Lucas wiring there was no turning back. Most of the wires were so brittle that when I tried to remove sensors they would just break. So out comes the engine and gear box.
After that came out I began to work on the various systems on the car. First I rebuilt the front subframe. All new bushings, bolts, washers, and brake parts. And powder coating of parts I was reusing.
Once that was back in the car, there was the body work which I wanted to address next. I did a lot of research and tried to find the bast place to get what i wanted done, done well. I found a shop about an hour and a half away from me which specialized in custom body repairs, so I phoned up the owner and hatched a plan to get this thing done. He suggested i strip the car as much as possible to save some money to the next week involved 14 hour days of pulling off parts and organizing into bins I would never look at again.
After that was finished the car was loaded on a trailer and shipped off the shop for the next 6 months.
So once the car was at the shop things progressed rather quickly. After finding more hidden rust the rear arches, the decision was made to widen them 1.75 inches. the bottoms of the front guards were rotted to they were cut off. And finally after losing my least favorite part of the car (the diving boards on the front and back of the car) custom front and rear facias were made. A few other touches were done, like smoothing the rain tray, and cutting out one of the filler holes (went with a fuel cell, both saddle tanks were rotted). So now ill let the photos take over. Enjoy!
Also photos might be slightly out of order, as a whole they progress chronologically but some sections might have the finished part first then the progress photos. Just FYI.
More Photos coming soon!
Also photos might be slightly out of order, as a whole they progress chronologically but some sections might have the finished part first then the progress photos. Just FYI.
More Photos coming soon!
So while the car was at the body shop getting its makeover, I needed to either rebuild or replace my engine in the car. I mulled over some ideas and thought about what would be the best course of action. I settled on either a Gen 1 small block chevy or a 2JZ. The small block chev has a swap kit that bolts it right into the car. the 2JZ would need to be fabricated into the car. Seeing as i didnt have a welder or the skills to fab anything, and that i got a small block for cheap, I went with the small block.
After that was finished, I went about bolting it into the car, which was actually very simple.
After that was finished, I went about bolting it into the car, which was actually very simple.
Wow, some serious skills here. When the thread started, I did not expect it to become such a comprehensive rebuild.
I love old Jags and I love American V8s but I wouldn't normally say they were well matched... but why the hell not? A hotrod Jag could be a brilliant thing, especially when executed so skillfully.
Love it..!!
I love old Jags and I love American V8s but I wouldn't normally say they were well matched... but why the hell not? A hotrod Jag could be a brilliant thing, especially when executed so skillfully.
Love it..!!
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