My Jaguar XJ40 project
Discussion
Hi folks,
I thought I'd share some info about my current project car, a Jaguar XJ40. I got into Forties a few years ago, I was after a second car to have a bit of fun with and thought they fitted the bill very nicely. You get a big engine, refined comfort, and decent handling for a heavy car, all for beer money. I've since become a lot more knowledgeable about the model and am now putting together a modified car with all the tasty parts.
I bought this example, my third XJ40 for £450, a rare (only about 500 made) very late 4.0L 'S' model. The 'S' or sport model came with the so called sportpack as standard which is lowering springs, uprated dampers, thicker anti-roll bar, less steering assistance, LSD, and 16” five spoke wheels. The car was a bit tatty but solid and had six month t&t. I broke my previous '40, a knackered XJ40 XJR for the performance parts to fit to this car.
Here's my blog covering the build (can't be arsed to paste it all here), it's still quite early doors but I'm making progress. http://www.jaguarxj40project.blogspot.com/
Here's the planned spec, I have all this apart from a couple of items so it should just be a case of getting busy and nailing them all on:
AJ6 4.0L 24V twin cam straight six
ZF 4 speed auto box with sport mode
XJR ECU
XJR cylinder head
XJR inlet cam
XJR inlet manifold
K&N performance panel air filter
AJ6 Engineering silencer substitute pipes
Non-cat centre section
XJR non-precat downpipe
LSD
Powerflex/Polybush/Jagbush polyurethane suspension bushes all round
Sportpack anti-roll bar
Avo 25% uprated -30mm springs
Gaz adjustable dampers
XJR steering rack
16” Jaguarsport XJR alloys
Goodridge braided brake hoses
EBC Greenstuff pads
EBC drilled, grooved, vented discs
Jaguarsport XJR full bodykit
Jaguarsport XJR 'egg crate' grill
Refurbed twin-headlamps
Lucas FX65 fog lamps
Chrome rear light surrounds
Under-sealed body and chassis with POR-15 and waxoiled, etc.
Sovereign spec XJR black leather interior with grey piping
Momo black leather steering wheel
Jaguar walnut gear knob
Upgraded ICE
I thought I'd share some info about my current project car, a Jaguar XJ40. I got into Forties a few years ago, I was after a second car to have a bit of fun with and thought they fitted the bill very nicely. You get a big engine, refined comfort, and decent handling for a heavy car, all for beer money. I've since become a lot more knowledgeable about the model and am now putting together a modified car with all the tasty parts.
I bought this example, my third XJ40 for £450, a rare (only about 500 made) very late 4.0L 'S' model. The 'S' or sport model came with the so called sportpack as standard which is lowering springs, uprated dampers, thicker anti-roll bar, less steering assistance, LSD, and 16” five spoke wheels. The car was a bit tatty but solid and had six month t&t. I broke my previous '40, a knackered XJ40 XJR for the performance parts to fit to this car.
Here's my blog covering the build (can't be arsed to paste it all here), it's still quite early doors but I'm making progress. http://www.jaguarxj40project.blogspot.com/
Here's the planned spec, I have all this apart from a couple of items so it should just be a case of getting busy and nailing them all on:
AJ6 4.0L 24V twin cam straight six
ZF 4 speed auto box with sport mode
XJR ECU
XJR cylinder head
XJR inlet cam
XJR inlet manifold
K&N performance panel air filter
AJ6 Engineering silencer substitute pipes
Non-cat centre section
XJR non-precat downpipe
LSD
Powerflex/Polybush/Jagbush polyurethane suspension bushes all round
Sportpack anti-roll bar
Avo 25% uprated -30mm springs
Gaz adjustable dampers
XJR steering rack
16” Jaguarsport XJR alloys
Goodridge braided brake hoses
EBC Greenstuff pads
EBC drilled, grooved, vented discs
Jaguarsport XJR full bodykit
Jaguarsport XJR 'egg crate' grill
Refurbed twin-headlamps
Lucas FX65 fog lamps
Chrome rear light surrounds
Under-sealed body and chassis with POR-15 and waxoiled, etc.
Sovereign spec XJR black leather interior with grey piping
Momo black leather steering wheel
Jaguar walnut gear knob
Upgraded ICE
Edited by XJ40 on Monday 26th July 11:57
Thanks for all the comments so far, much appreciated!
I can't claim to know these car inside out, there's some older chaps on Jag forums who can tell you that such and such model year had a slightly different colour carpet, or whatever. I've a decent knowledge of all the performance variants and hardware.
With regards to the comment about the bodykit, it's quite a subtle affair and suits the performance guise of the car I think, I like it. It's a sculpted shape, not covered in vents and wings.
I can't claim to know these car inside out, there's some older chaps on Jag forums who can tell you that such and such model year had a slightly different colour carpet, or whatever. I've a decent knowledge of all the performance variants and hardware.
With regards to the comment about the bodykit, it's quite a subtle affair and suits the performance guise of the car I think, I like it. It's a sculpted shape, not covered in vents and wings.
Edited by XJ40 on Thursday 3rd June 15:38
Hey mate, sorry, I meant to get back to you about the front spring compressor tool I made!
I'll measure and take pics for you next time I'm down (sat), and I can lend it you for a while if u like, I don't need it for a month or two now.
Looks excellent anyway, lovely base car to start from and like-minded worthy mods planned.........love it!
I'll measure and take pics for you next time I'm down (sat), and I can lend it you for a while if u like, I don't need it for a month or two now.
Looks excellent anyway, lovely base car to start from and like-minded worthy mods planned.........love it!
oversteerxj12 said:
Hey mate, sorry, I meant to get back to you about the front spring compressor tool I made!
I'll measure and take pics for you next time I'm down (sat), and I can lend it you for a while if u like, I don't need it for a month or two now.
Looks excellent anyway, lovely base car to start from and like-minded worthy mods planned.........love it!
Hi ya, glad to see your here too, hope that Dino's coming on well, looks a awesome project that! I'll measure and take pics for you next time I'm down (sat), and I can lend it you for a while if u like, I don't need it for a month or two now.
Looks excellent anyway, lovely base car to start from and like-minded worthy mods planned.........love it!
As you know there's not a big choice of tuning parts for the '40, I decided to go for the Gaz adjustable dampers like your XJ12 as it seems the best way to go with non standard springs, not bought them yet though...
If I could borrow the spring compressor tool that would be great and much appreciated!
I've been making some progress, got the front subframe dropped off at the weekend, quite chuffed with that.
http://jaguarxj40project.blogspot.com/
Once I've got the wishbones off I can start the painting and rebushing...
http://jaguarxj40project.blogspot.com/
Once I've got the wishbones off I can start the painting and rebushing...
Xenocide said:
Bugger me that looks like it's off a truck!
Yeah, it's old school Jag barn door style engineering, I've had to buy various new oversized tools for this car. As it's so heavy duty it must be one of the cheapest ways to a RWD chassis that can cope with big power.lordlee said:
Very nice project. It will be lovely when its done. Just a thought on the pads - redstuffs will be better suited to a heavier car. Greenstuffs are really only for small hatchbacks and sub 200bhp cars. Will the car be supercharged?
Thanks for the comment regarding the pads, I'm open to a change of mind on those as I've not bought those yet.It is in fact my medium term plan to to go for forced induction and fit the X300 XJR supercharged lump, they're cheap these days and obviouosly have big power out of the box. I'm concerntrating on sorting the chassis first though...
Edited by XJ40 on Tuesday 6th July 16:44
Well my restoration/modification build is very much on a tight budget, I've not spent much really. Quite a lot of the parts I'm fitting came from a rusty, 180k miles, but rare Jaguarsport XJR XJ40. It was a previous car which I broke for parts.
I think the best thing to freshen up a 40 IMO is to replace the suspension bushes, it's a big heavy car that tends to eat them up, I'll probably spend a couple of hundred on bushes, that's to do the whole car.
My biggest outlay will be for the uprated springs (about £200) and dampers (about £80 each), not bought those yet though. My aim is to spend less than a grand on this project.
It's not a bad example to start with, the main thing I was looking for was a solid body that I wouldn't need to weld. If your going to modify an XJ40 then you may as well find a 4.0L that has some of the sporty forty parts already, like my 4.0S or the XJR I broke, or indeed a V12.
I think the best thing to freshen up a 40 IMO is to replace the suspension bushes, it's a big heavy car that tends to eat them up, I'll probably spend a couple of hundred on bushes, that's to do the whole car.
My biggest outlay will be for the uprated springs (about £200) and dampers (about £80 each), not bought those yet though. My aim is to spend less than a grand on this project.
It's not a bad example to start with, the main thing I was looking for was a solid body that I wouldn't need to weld. If your going to modify an XJ40 then you may as well find a 4.0L that has some of the sporty forty parts already, like my 4.0S or the XJR I broke, or indeed a V12.
Edited by XJ40 on Wednesday 7th July 09:29
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