Jaguar Super V8 Project

[alec.e]

Trexthedinosaur said:

No idea how I have not seen this before as I do like a S/C Jaguar, I like what you are doing too, keep It up!

Can we see a few pics of the interior with the new mats etc and suede parts fitted, where else are you planned to suede?

Here you go, parts labeled 1,2,3 have been retrimmed so far, the rest of the grey headliner to do!


Lambswool mats in rear footwells, unfortunately the colour match is so good, you can't see them:


Boot carpet handle repair:

Note the snapped clips, the brown blocks provide a much stronger hold (kindly suggested by Ben on Jaguarforum)



Cleaned the carpet too:

[alec.e]

Time for an update. The car went to the Jag Specialist Monday 9th last month for valley pipe replacement and coolant flush. Chris set to work stripping the car down, only to find that he could not access the bits he needed to remove the Supercharger, due to the LPG system. That settled that, the LPG kit had to go, seemed like a terrible waste, but really the only way in the long run. The car was loaded onto a truck and sent to a LPG specialist Chris works with. Apparently it was a real pain to remove, wires and pipes everywhere! They had to MIG weld up old injector tap-ins on manifolds.

Had a S-Type 3.0 as the courtesy car, could not resist giving it a small going over.
The yellowed headlights needed sorting, before:


After:


Also cleaned the exhuast tips from sooty black to shiny stainless.

Very impressive fuel economy, my old XJ never got these figures, note 90s sytle dash...


My initial impression of this S-Type was that is was a bit of an old mans car, light blue exterior with brown/beige interior. Surprisingly seemed very different to my X350, much more American Ford. However, the engine was great in that car, I had so much fun with kick-down and using the full rev-band, it loves to rev. People often criticized the 3.0 as being underpowered as it does not have the low-down torque of the diesel and V8s, but gets moving nicely after about 4k.

Collected the car friday late afternoon and Chris commented that the car drove fast and was definitely faster than a regular 4.2 S/C, which was nice to hear.

Edited by alec.e on Thursday 9th February 22:49

[alec.e]

Gave some parts a refresh while they were off the car
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After scrubbing and paint:




I fitted my new polished intake and new S/C duct seals also:


Supercharger teflon coat still looks great after 100k:


Done!


A big contrast to as bought:




A improvement I think

Edited by alec.e on Thursday 9th February 23:00

[alec.e]

Stedman said:

What are your thoughts on the intake? I've seen mixed comments about any breathing benefits.

The upper pulley's are tempting on these cars

Yes it is worth it, the only negative comments I have heard about the tube it from people who have not tried them. On the US forum someone did a before / after dyno and it picked up 10 wheel horsepower. The increased supercharger whine is worth it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO0ISWGPz-o

The chap who makes them John (Caldoofy), is great guy to deal with.

[alec.e]

More re-trimming done, the third brake light interior cover:




The challenge was to make the visible edge neat, I used thin masking to follow the edge and trimmed with a scalpel.
View from outside:


Headliner roof handles now black, leather re-coloured with Furniture Clinic products in Jaguar Warm Charcoal.
Handle disassembled:


All done:

[alec.e]

Ta-da!





The headlining is in a what a real PITA it was, but got there eventually. It is not a perfect result, quite a few things to learn from in the future, but I am loving the contrast look against the ivory leather.

[alec.e]

kamilb1998- Wow, a small world, hope you had a good trip?

[alec.e]

I have just completed a European roadtrip, this is something I have wanted to do for years after seeing the adventures that others have posted. First stop is Monaco:


I took the Ferry from Dover to Dunkirk, I would have much rather taken the Eurotunnel, if the DLVA had not messed up having my car still registered as LPG...

A 2am start from my house, I arrived at Dover around 7:35 and topped up the tank. Caught the ferry 8am and a few hours later arrived in Dunkirk:


I let Google maps do all the hard work, which meant using the very smooth/quick but extortionate toll roads, with booths on the left...
A fuel stop / break:


I tried to get some sleep at midnight, but only managed a hour. Decided to press on to Monaco, as I was finding the car so relaxing and not really tired.

Arrived about 4am and parked outside of the city and got a bit more sleep:


Average MPG through france:

Getting about 500 miles per tank, not bad for a V8!

This was the view when I woke up:


The next, or technically the same day, I thought I would familiarise myself with the town. Walked about 16miles and Monaco is very steep uphill!
Gorgeous E-Type undercover in underground car park:


Photo stop in harbour:


Got checked into my hotel, in Monaco the roads can be so tight! The scooters/bikers are suicidal, squeezing along side your car/overtakes in busy roads.
My parking spot, takes about 6 point turns to fit in:


Photos around Monaco, Casino Square:


A casual Lamborghini Countach and Ferrari F40:


Lovely sea view:


Part of the F1 circuit:


Wednesday I got to drive a Supercar, thanks to Geekman on this forum who recommended a supercar experience company locally.
The meeting point was Eze Village, just outside of Monaco. I had a choice of a Ferrari F430 or Lamborghini Gallardo, I went for the Ferrari.





Obligatory shot of the Ferrari and Jaguar togther at the Perfumery:






After the Ferrari drive, I had dinner at the Cafe de Paris in Casino Square:


A great day!

I spent an afernoon across the border in Italy:







Some evening photos of Monaco Harbour:









Last day in Monaco, I also saw a Koenigsegg Agera R driving around, but too slow for a photo!


Time to go


The next day was the German Autobahn, this has been a dream of mine for years. I have driven on it very briefly years ago in my Mum's diesel Skoda, did not even get to its terrifying 105mph top speed due to weather lol. I knew there was a very tight window if I wanted a high speed run, as the weather was not on my side. I waited till about 5am then hit the autobahn, it was dry and roads were almost empty. I have driven fast before, but never maxed out a car, so was a bit scary where the road was not 100% smooth. I had the navigation running on Google maps, so I could assess the sharpness of a corner ahead and back off if needed. The 260km/h limiter seemed to come up quickly with minimal fuss, appart from the squeal from my S/C belt in between gear changes. I video recorded the drive (handsfree before anybody asks!!):


The car was only in 5th gear, and had plenty more to give. I tried the documented trick of manualy selecting 5th and Sport mode, made no difference, where did that rumour come from? Slighly disapointing, I wanted 170mph+, but still very fast.

I got to the Netherlands very quickly! I visited Jag Parts & Cars of Gorinchem while I was there. I have wanted to visit for a while. Richard the owner was very accommodating and gave me a tour of his workshop. The website shows only a tiny part of it, has to be seen to be belived! Hercules1 sourced my Portfolio wings/vents came from there a few years ago.








Richard also has many Jaguar wheels in stock:


A very wet drive back to Dunkirk after. This British Audi Quattro joined me at my final hotel stop:


Drove back from Dover to Carnforth yesterday, progress was very slow due to the traffic, but it is good to be back.
My verdict of the trip? It was definitely worth it and I would recommend it to anyone, especially Monaco if you are really into cars. I would love to live there!
2800 miles covered flawlessly by the car, driven through 6 Countries (France, Italy, Luxembourg, Germany, Netherlands and Belgium).

What next for the car? Seriously thinking about the next project, so (with heavy heart) probably go up for sale in a few months.

[alec.e]

Geekman- Will do! Very kind of you to say so, it is far from perfect, but pretty good for nearly 14. A few tidying up jobs to get done in the next month.

SJC- Replied

Tobinen CdeG & Oa, thanks, I really enjoyed it, I would recommend it to anyone!

Stedman, I was not going very fast on the autoroutes, just 73mph, as in no rush. How did you get past the limiter & and how fast?

Edited by alec.e on Saturday 23 September 22:33

[alec.e]

A long overdue update for this forum. I bought another car to run alongside the Super V8 instead of selling it:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

The highlight of the year was winning the XJ trophy at RAF Cosford in April and a mention of the car in Jaguar World magazine


Of course a bit of polishing


Brand new engine bay plastics


An eventful 3rd aniversary with the car, on the way to work


I met up with my friend Niall, 8bit of this forum for some proper photos




I have been on a bit of a spending spree with the old barge, loads of goodies fitted.
My Andriod OEM head unit is fitted and working great, thanks to Ben Willcox for building it






Nissan GTR gauges anyone


Bluetooth retrofitted


Bosch AMG uprated IC pump:


A big one, geniune Arden Sportline 3pc wheels. Bought these 2 years ago, they were in a really bad way. I have completely stripped, painted & polished these over the last month. Finally, they are on the car. 295 tyres on rear






Lots more I have probably forgotten about. She goes to Viezu tuning for a custom rolling road map next month.

[alec.e]

Oilchange said:

didn't like the previous wheels frankly, too big in the arches, these look much better. Are they smaller rims?

Yes, they are 19". I was a bit concerned they might look a bit small, as 20" is the best looking size for the X350 imo, but I am loving the look of extra sidewalls.

[alec.e]

Thanks for nice words chaps. I have had the pleasure of meeting Craig at Cosford, a gent!
The main purpose of this car is to be OEM, but with a bit of indivduality, I don't want it to look like any other XJ.

Another project started, OEM DAB radio.
Sadly not as easy as buying a DAB module...


The DAB module is easy enough to get, any JLR one will work, but the Gateway module is super rare. The Gateway module converts the X350s D2B into MOST (as used on new Jags/LRs). A new CD player with BAND button is needed too. I have sourced these parts from a broken 2009 X358. A new fibre daisy chain cable is needed.


Yes all those connections are needed, new on right

The magic word, GATEWAY


The module itself


I know I would have spent a fraction of the price of these parts to buy a DAB dongle for my Odriod and yes, you probably are right, but:
a. It is fully OEM, so all the steering wheel, rear ICE functions, ect all will work.
b. I find this sort of thing facinating, as it was such a rare option

[alec.e]

I had the car re-mapped by Viezu tuning on friday. It has been documented that the gains for these engines are low, but I wanted to see what difference it actually made.
These guys are the creators of the F-Type Predator, apparently, the fastest in the world:


Mine on the Dyno to obtain a before/after reading:


Before: 346 wheel horsepower and 397 foot pounds torque at wheels
After: 361 wheel horsepower and 410 foot pounds torque at wheels

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUZljMNk_JQ


They say the proof of the pudding is in the eating, so the next day I went to Santa Pod to get a 1/4 mile time. Previous best was a 13.4 seconds.
I could not believe the result, first run of the day was 12.89 seconds at 107.2mph! My dream with this car was to eventually get a 12 second time.







For a bit of perspective, a stock XFR ran 12.87 and Twin Screw X350 12.81 at Santa Pod.
The next job is to try and get a bit of consistency with times, I will be improving the intercooler setup, most times got progresively slower- due to heat.

[alec.e]

Another annoyance nearly fixed for good! As the car was previously painted silver from factory, the spare wheel well was in primer with a dusting of silver over the top. The LPG tank was also housed here, with holes drilled... The tank for the suspension had been moved also.



I patched the holes with thin alloy sheet and glued with JB Weld 2 part adhesive. New rivnuts installed to secure the air tank in correct location. The whole area sprayed black to look factory.



I removed the battery, ect to get full coverage.





Spare look good in there and the foam tool insert fits


I had the pleasure of attending the Royal Automobile Club show, Regent Street, early November
There was a lineup of XJs from Series 1 to X351.

I set off 3.30am and arrived at Pall Mall to join the others




Arrived at Regent Street, which was closed off for the show






I have been sent some photos of the Super V8, taken by the show photographer:




David Wilkinson, owner of the fantastic Series 1, very kindly hosted a little lunch at his tailors shop on Savile Row, what a place!

On the whole, a fantastic day out. Proof that the XJ old and new can draw a crowd.

[alec.e]

cornershop said:

I was there for the Regent Street show, but with a sleepy 4yr old and no stroller, i couldn't hang about!

Tempted by the Jagdroid - can you advise on costs please? Does Ben do fitting too?

I need one of those Bosch IC pumps too - at least i think i do. Is there a benefit to standard cars too?

I think the cost is around the £700 mark, worth asking if he can do the install, PS it is pretty straightforward. Ben is local to Telford area.

Regarding pulleys, not sure there is much benefit to a car as standard, I think it is only worth doing if you start increasing the boost with pulleys.

[alec.e]

To conclude my ownership, here is my summary.
Purchased May 2015 - 89,000miles, sold April 2020 - 124,000. The car did not depreciate, excluding the cost of work done.
It has been a very reliable car, never once broke down or failed to start. I have driven it to: England, Scotland, Wales, France, Germany, Monaco, Italy, Luxemborg, Belgium and Netherlands.

Here is the last photo of the car after I said goodbye, to begin its new life in Folkestone:


The car was finished as far as I could do, without doing work like resprays, ect.

I wish all the best to Dave, the new owner.
I am pleased to finish nearly 7 years of X350 ownership on a high note.