Other Vehicles

There are several XJ6-like Jag Saloons sitting in driveways around here with flat tires and all that.

Wondering if anyone here has put a Chevy v8 w/trans into one of these using a kit from John's Cars in Dallas?

http://www.johnscars.com/xj/xjv8.html

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1973 Pale Primrose Roadster. A nice 10-footer!
SUs, Datsun 5-speed

what about a small block in a MGB?

not my cup of tea.

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1973 Pale Primrose Roadster. A nice 10-footer!
SUs, Datsun 5-speed

In a past life I've put in a small block Chevy in an XJ. Transforms the car's performance. The SBC is smaller lighter and more powerful than the Jag engine. The best part is the Jag uses a GM THM400 trans so the conversions is easy. At the time no kits were available so I ended up making my own mounts, that was decades ago. Another consideration is using a Ford engine. The benefit is the SBF is narrower than the SBC and the distributor is in the front.

Be prepared for the Jag purists to throw rotten tomatoes at you for doing such a swap. They're just jealous, they didn't have the courage to do the same swapin their XJ.

Strangely enough, from something I read about John, when he did his first such swap, decades ago, he was afraid of being tossed out of the local Jag club. He wasn't. Instead he got orders!

The car I noticed seems to be a long wheelbase model. And from the street looks in decent shape. $300!

Wish I were 20 years younger and richer<G>

Another swap I've seen, an early E-Type with the Pontiac SOHC swapped in, similar to the Car and Driver "project car" back 50 years ago, is not as gracefully accepted by Jagists. This one was owned by a local lady who had had it for 30-40 years and sold it earlier in 2014.

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1973 Pale Primrose Roadster. A nice 10-footer!
SUs, Datsun 5-speed

Over 10 years ago, I replaced a broken Jaguar XJS V-12 which had caught on fire (they were notorious for leaking fuel rails) with a Chevy 305 I had rebuilt, and it was the best money ever spent on the car.
The car was a constant problem before the swap. After, it was driving and changing the oil now and then.

I used an old Caprice 305 which I rebuilt 30 over and a mild cam, bolted up to a 700-r4 overdrive transmission from the local trans repair shop I got for $700.
No fuel injection, just a 4 barrel Holley feeding the V-8.
Cheap and easy swap... No engine modification needed, had to use headers or ram's horn manifolds to clear the steering, but most of my time was spent interfacing the gauges and speedometer. I used a manual switch for overdrive, and had the drive shaft cut by a local shop for $100.
The swap can be done in a day, and you can clean it all up and wire it while waiting on the drive shaft.

The 305 gave it enough power to chirp the tires when it shifted into 2nd and 3rd gear, which the V-12 would never do.
The cars look great, and are exceptionally expensive to repair and maintain, and the Chevy engine makes that all go away..
At the same time I did mine, my neighbor put a 350 Chevy and Turbo 400 in an '87 XJ6 sedan. He started out without John's kit, but found it was little fabrication and much easier to do with it.
We both used our Jags as daily drivers, and we were both very pleased with the swap.
I sold mine after 8 or so years, and got almost everything back out of it. I had put on 60,000 miles, and it ran like the day I finished the swap.
No other car has been so much of an "investment" for me.

Get a nice car and do the swap. You won't regret it.

I wish I'd bought that late 70s one with the 350 in it when it was for sale near my house. Wanted less than $1000 for it if I remember right. I once saw an ad where someone put a Mopar 440 backed by a 727 Torqueflite in one