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New Member Area - Intro a MUSTNew to Jaguar Forums? Drop in and tell us about you, your ride and location. This is your chance to introduce yourself to the forum.
So this is my first Jaguar. The back story- I actually grew up around this car, but in my lifetime (I'm 36) its never run. My father has a '68 XKE convertible, and loved Jaguars. One day out at the family farm visiting his parents (my grandparents) my father, grandparents, and some of their friends were all talking and the conversation moved to cars. The guests found out my father liked Jaguars and happened to have a Jag they no longer wanted. It didn't run and was just taking up space. They tried to just give it to my father but he refused, insisting that he pay for it. They politely accepted and asked for ONE dollar. My father obliged and got the car from the Hershey family. I was about 3 years old at the time. So over the years my father would start working on it, but as you know life happens, and he kept having to put it off. Well as for my father and the Mark 10: after divorce and traveling for work, the Jag ended up at the family farm. Parked in an abandoned chicken coupe, covered in a plastic tarp, and the opening to the shed boarded up- for about 25 years.
Grandparents passed, farm was being repurposed, and the Jag needed to go off the farm. My father asked if I wanted it, and if so, he would replace the bearings and put new tires on it so the car could be rolled around easier. I gratefully accepted and have had the Jag sitting in a shop for about a year. Still not sure what I'm going to do with it though! Its a cool car, but I know it would cost way more than it's worth to restore. My current thought is to put in a Chevy V8 & transmission, make the car drive able, and just have fun with it as-is. Probably just junk or sell off the original engine and bits I don't need, but I don't know, the motor still spins freely but has low compression in 2 cylinders. I'm already pulling a high performance V8 out of my '70 Chevelle as that car is getting an LS1. Hence the thought of dropping it into the Mark 10.
Anyways, sorry for the long intro. Hoping to get suggestions on the V8 swap or any other thoughts.
I'm sure the purists wouldn't be happy with that, I understand. But- after dealing with multiple classics I look at it this way; when a car like this is in this condition, I'd rather see it alive and on the road, than on a truck heading to the crusher.
Thanks Ya'll Took the roller rims off the '70 Chevelle to see how they look on the Jag. (same bolt pattern) Proof of previous owner. This was inside the owners manual.
I would keep as is, as they are a simple car in any language. Our S2 V12 had a similar future proposed, and V8 was on the floor, previous owner, and I established the cars heritage here in Adelaide, and took the car off him, refitted the original V12, found the errant wire (not too many in a V12 engine bay), repaied that wire, and fired it up, that was 25 years ago, still motoring along very nicely.
BUT
If you are not doing this yourself, a very different situation, as labour $$ would be out of the question.
What a Very Cool Car! Congratulations!
There are Many among us who will tell you, Keep it ORIGINAL at nearly any cost.
And there are those of us more pragmatic; Get the thing running and have FUN with it no matter what power plant.
It certainly deserves to be on the road again, and to that end you will have to sharpen your pencil, count the cost, and make the decision.
Because it is YOUR car, and whatever you decide to do with it is YOUR right!
Welcome to the forums. Save the car the best way you can, if it's a chev transplant so be it.
If you are going to junk the engine I'd be willing to pay the postage for those tripple SU's with manifold and linkages to be saved. Oh and the rocker covers with oil cap & nuts.
Pack them in a box and send them to Australia,
My current thought is to put in a Chevy V8 & transmission, make the car drive able, and just have fun with it as-is. Probably just junk or sell off the original engine and bits I don't need, but I don't know, the motor still spins freely but has low compression in 2 cylinders. I'm already pulling a high performance V8 out of my '70 Chevelle as that car is getting an LS1. Hence the thought of dropping it into the Mark 10.
Anyways, sorry for the long intro. Hoping to get suggestions on the V8 swap or any other thoughts.
I'm sure the purists wouldn't be happy with that, I understand. But- after dealing with multiple classics I look at it this way; when a car like this is in this condition, I'd rather see it alive and on the road, than on a truck heading to the crusher.
Thanks Ya'll This was inside the owners manual.
For the love of common sense, you realize this car is worth some money, right? Secondly, there is a third option ahead of lumping or scrapping the car, it's called rebuilding the factory engine.
You could probably just put it up on ebay right now as-is and an enthusiast might pay you a decent dollar for. Especially considering you have the original paperwork for the car. These cars are very rare here, more so than even the Series I XJ6.
If you haven't done so already you should add your car details to your signature to help others to help you.
If you need help with getting around and using the forum follow this link for some help Forum Help
Thank you for the welcome ya'll!
I tried adding the signature, lets see if I did it correctly.
Also thank you to the one person deciding to knock my common sense on my very first post here- I do realize you can rebuild an engine. I've rebuilt several. I just is not worth that cost to me when I have another engine at the ready. I've restored multiple classics, I even own a car dealership, so I get the value of vehicles. I'm sure someone would pay a fair price for it- But this car isn't for sale, I'm not after money, just enjoyment.
Anyways, for now I will be moving forward with the V8 swap. I might just moth-ball the original engine and keep it- just in case. I did the same thing with my '59 Cadillac (also getting an LS1).
Once things get rolling and I get some progress pictures I'll start a new thread in the appropriate section to show the build.
I think I'll be taking the car more Mad Max style than classic cruiser... maybe.
Welcome, Regul8R, In short: your car and your choice. That said, I personally would not do an engine swap without at least exploring what it would take to get the original engine operational again. You can always sell that V-8 and use the proceeds towards getting the Jaguar engine running.
Have you pulled the plugs and put some oil down the cylinder bores and at lest attempted to see if the engine will rotate with a breaker bar on the crankshaft? At 67K on the odometer, if it was properly maintained, the engine should not be totally shot.. Of course, sitting unused for decades surely would not have helped the condition of the original engine. It is sad to say that the worst factor leading to the premature demise of XK engines was inept American mechanics...
He did mention two cylinders have low compression. Sounds like an easy top end rebuild or valve work. Can't imagine it being more expensive or difficult than dropping a dime-a-dozen Chevy engine into. The interior wood work in these cars is amazing, not just quality but quantity. Plus coupled with the fact they are generally larger vehicles than the XJ Series made them thorough RR/Bentley competitors. The sheer elegance and simplicity of the XK engine is unmatched. Why can't something like this ever fall into my hands?
1st Jag - 1964 Mark 10
