Hi
Thread Starter
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ud
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 109
Likes: 9
From: ˙∆
Hi
I bought a 1999 XJ8 a few weeks ago and hope that it will be a good car for my wife. It's got 55K mi, good leather and the reason it was $3300 was mainly because there was a bad scrape/dent in the lower rear pass side body panel (between the back door and the end of the vehicle. You can get to it from the trunk and I have it mostly pounded out. It's possible it will be a no-bondo repair which wouldn't be the case on many cars.
The car is in good shape, the leather and wood are near perfect. The headliner, visor clips and cup holder are broken as expected. I'm in Hawaii and used cars are cheaper here than anywhere I've seen because of many factors.
I am a lifelong car guy, had over 30 large GM RWD's. There is pretty much nothing I haven't done to those cars and I'm hoping I can get into Jags because GM doesn't make real cars (translation: RWD) anymore and I don't like Crown Vics so options are limited.
I think the engine in the '99 Jag is too small. There so little torque that you need to go near double the rpm's with the Jag compared to a Chevy every time you launch from a stop and therein lies the Jag's mediocre gas mileage plus that is an absolute transmission killer. I seem to be doing 2K rpm to get up to 30 mph. In a Chevy 350 I'd only be doing say 1400 rpm.
So I have a hard time not constantly thinking what I could get for a 55K mi Jag 4.0 engine and it's matching trans. I'm thinking it would cover the cost of the conversion. I know the Jag needs those stupid plastic parts replaced in the timing chain and have a hard time putting any energy into that rather than swapping it out.
My preference would be stuff the XJ8 with a Chevy 350, 700R4 trans, no computer (YA!!!) natural gas conversion and pre-emissions Q-jet. That would be what I'd car a SuperCar.
The car is in good shape, the leather and wood are near perfect. The headliner, visor clips and cup holder are broken as expected. I'm in Hawaii and used cars are cheaper here than anywhere I've seen because of many factors.
I am a lifelong car guy, had over 30 large GM RWD's. There is pretty much nothing I haven't done to those cars and I'm hoping I can get into Jags because GM doesn't make real cars (translation: RWD) anymore and I don't like Crown Vics so options are limited.
I think the engine in the '99 Jag is too small. There so little torque that you need to go near double the rpm's with the Jag compared to a Chevy every time you launch from a stop and therein lies the Jag's mediocre gas mileage plus that is an absolute transmission killer. I seem to be doing 2K rpm to get up to 30 mph. In a Chevy 350 I'd only be doing say 1400 rpm.
So I have a hard time not constantly thinking what I could get for a 55K mi Jag 4.0 engine and it's matching trans. I'm thinking it would cover the cost of the conversion. I know the Jag needs those stupid plastic parts replaced in the timing chain and have a hard time putting any energy into that rather than swapping it out.
My preference would be stuff the XJ8 with a Chevy 350, 700R4 trans, no computer (YA!!!) natural gas conversion and pre-emissions Q-jet. That would be what I'd car a SuperCar.
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 120,439
Likes: 17,005
From: Durham, UK
Welcome to the forum Ian,
Interesting location you've given. Let me guess what the symbol means - you live on top of a mountain in H****i?
Follow this link XJ ( X308 ) XJ8 / XJR - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum to the X308 section for help and advice.
Remember to add vehicle details to your Signature to help others to give relevant advice. Go to the User ID button on the left of the top menu bar, then Settings & Options under Your Control Panel. Select Edit Signature and enter the details.
Graham
Interesting location you've given. Let me guess what the symbol means - you live on top of a mountain in H****i?
Follow this link XJ ( X308 ) XJ8 / XJR - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum to the X308 section for help and advice.
Remember to add vehicle details to your Signature to help others to give relevant advice. Go to the User ID button on the left of the top menu bar, then Settings & Options under Your Control Panel. Select Edit Signature and enter the details.
Graham
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 120,988
Likes: 6,648
From: PHX some of the time
Thread Starter
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ud
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 109
Likes: 9
From: ˙∆
Thanks!
Yes, I'm in Hawaii. Land of surfing, hula dancers and unbelievable rust.
One of the issues here is that to go into town I need to go over very steep mountains, about like the Rockies. In a low torque engine the car needs to shift down, in a high torque engine like a Chevy 350 it will stay in overdrive and that's massively better on gas mileage and also calmer on your nerves. If I lived in Kansas the 4.0 might work. The 4.0 is fine at gas-guzzling high rpms. In the low rpm's it feels mushy and unresponsive compared to what I'm used to.
If there were any easy mods I could do to get more low end out of the 4.0 I'd like to know but my gut tells me it's a result of the low displacement. The fact that Jaguar upped them later goes along with that.
Yes, I'm in Hawaii. Land of surfing, hula dancers and unbelievable rust.
One of the issues here is that to go into town I need to go over very steep mountains, about like the Rockies. In a low torque engine the car needs to shift down, in a high torque engine like a Chevy 350 it will stay in overdrive and that's massively better on gas mileage and also calmer on your nerves. If I lived in Kansas the 4.0 might work. The 4.0 is fine at gas-guzzling high rpms. In the low rpm's it feels mushy and unresponsive compared to what I'm used to.
If there were any easy mods I could do to get more low end out of the 4.0 I'd like to know but my gut tells me it's a result of the low displacement. The fact that Jaguar upped them later goes along with that.
Thread Starter
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ud
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 109
Likes: 9
From: ˙∆
[QUOTE=Norri;549239]Welcome to the forum Ian,
Good to have you with us.
That must have been a tough choice, Crown Vic or a Jag.
Thanks. For me it wasn't a hard choice. The same condition 1999 Subaru or Kia would likely fetch more here because people view them as economically safer. That's how crazy it is. From $75K to $3300 in 12 years. ouch! Good for me!
I bought it from a BMW dealer mechanic, and he said it well; "these cars are made for rich people, and when they're not pretty they're worthless".
I am not sold that the engine, transmission or build quality of the Jag are superior to the Ford. The art sure is and so is the handling. The seller put new Michelins/wheel alignment on the Jag before we got it so it rides nice except the rear shocks are bad.
For sure my wife will like parking it better than the '92 Caprice wagon!
Good to have you with us.
That must have been a tough choice, Crown Vic or a Jag.
Thanks. For me it wasn't a hard choice. The same condition 1999 Subaru or Kia would likely fetch more here because people view them as economically safer. That's how crazy it is. From $75K to $3300 in 12 years. ouch! Good for me!
I bought it from a BMW dealer mechanic, and he said it well; "these cars are made for rich people, and when they're not pretty they're worthless".
I am not sold that the engine, transmission or build quality of the Jag are superior to the Ford. The art sure is and so is the handling. The seller put new Michelins/wheel alignment on the Jag before we got it so it rides nice except the rear shocks are bad.
For sure my wife will like parking it better than the '92 Caprice wagon!