Normally a sport rack is slightly "quicker", that is marginally more highly geared, thus needing fewer turns lock to lock, and so providing greater steering turn at the wheels for the same turn at the steering wheel. It may have slightly less power assistance too.
Greg

 

In 1990 the "Sport" rack was introduced, using a .235" torsion bar. This rack was optional on the XJS with the Sport Pack but the rack can be installed in the earlier cars. The rack mounts were also improved, allowing less side-to-side movement. The ultimate pinion was in the XJRS rack, which used a .250" torsion bar. This is what is on my XJS and it really gives a wonderful road feel. They are very hard to come by these days as they did not make many XJRS cars.
From Georgiajag.

 

OK, got it. After reading more about the the inside of the Sport Rack I understand what torsion bar your talking about.
Lawrence

 

Most of this job is patience and not skill, though you can often chalk up being appropriately patient as a learned thing.

90% of this job is getting those hoses fitted up as they want to twist at an angle, getting them seated is really difficult. This is definitely a top tip for doing the rack, bushes, hoses, etc on an XJS. Put them on before and feed it through!

 

So I just hd this job done at a local shop. They charged 8 hours labor, as AllDiyData didnt have an estimate. I provided the rack, bushes and hoses.

The hydraulic lines had alredy been loosened when we did the subframe swap 5 months ago.

I think 8 hours is a bit excessive. It was less than an hour to loosen and replace the hydraulic fittings. The harded part was getting the factory bushes out of the rack I brought them.

At $85 an hour, thats $680 labor.

Opinions?

 

Whatever the market will bear.

IMO, it's a mistake to bill the job in terms "hours" when it's really a case of "That's my price. Take it or leave it".

A lot of people have trouble just finding a shop willing to work on a Jags. Most shops are unfamiliar with them and don't care to learn...especially if their driveway is full of easy-money Hondas and Toyotas.

Shops that are familiar with Jags, and/or who are happy to work on them, charge a pretty penny.

The job isn't all that bad if you have a hoist and disconnect the hoses at the pump first....giving you some slack to ease removing and reinstalling the fluid pipes.

Cheers
DD

 

Well, this shop is pretty good for me. 2 blocks from where I store my cars.

And they give me 30 mins or so to clean the undercarriages after they are done.

They are pulling the 928 engine for me so I can re-gasket it. They say $900 for the pull and replace

 

Dude, a friendly shop is a shop paying extra for. I wouldn’t lose sleep over this. You’re gone end up overpaying somewhere to keep the car on the road, I’d easily support this mechanic, if you know he’s doing the job the right way....remember, you’re not letting him make any money off the parts, and that’s part of the math he needs to make his money too.