13 years in the making but finally gonna go for it.. I know this isn't going to be cheap or quick, I will be going Carls route with the lt1. Going next Saturday to buy the entire drive train from a wrecked 96 vette, they wont sell entire car as I guess they have plans for it. They are giving me all ancillaries though, along with harness and ecm.. already seen and heard it run, my question( I'm sure there will be many)
As im.not getting whole car, what else do I need to make sure I get?
Thanks
Darren

Before you guys ask why, it's due to my engine having next to no oil pressure, I'm lucky to get 20 psi hot at 3000 rpm, I just no longer trust it..

 

The pedal if it is throttle by wire.

 

Ah, yes. that "Trust" thing.
If ya can't trust it, there's no fun driving it.
Life is too short to not have Fun driving a Jag!
(';')

 

Had to Google that to make sure... started in 97.. phew

 

Other stuff. Not sure if it will work, but at least food for thought.

1. E fans
2 Radiator.
3. Drive shaft.
4. Cat converters
5; Down pipes with O2 bungs and sensors.,
6. Exhaust manifolds/headers. Might work. Center dump ?
7. Cruise control stepper motor. Better than vacum bellows!
8. Power steering hoses and remote reservoir


A great adventure. Enjoy it!!!!


Caveat !!! A bad OP sensor can read low! Been there! New one fixed it!!!!! It was the Jaguar unit on my LT1. Durn near 0. but as the lifters were quiet, I knew I had OP. No panic. Verified and swapped in an NOS unit via David Boger....

.
Carl. .

 

Good list.. thank you..

As a side note, I have hooked up a mechanical op gauge, and there may be a few pounds difference, but not enough to make me feel comfortable..
I pretty much only drive jag now around immediately area, if I roam more than 50 miles from home, I feel very uneasy, especially at a stop when oil light comes on and stays on until revs come up..
I have no knocking or ticking, but driving and worrying arent fun at all!!

 

Get your swap kit from Suncoast or Jag Specialities. I used the same kit as Carl and I am in the process of replacing it with either a Suncoast or Jag Specialities kit.

 

"The Jaguar Speedometer circuit (cruise control, interface, interval counter, speedo, etc.) needs an 8000 PPM signal as put out by the Jag transducer. The GM ECM/PCM is looking for a 4000 (TBI - 2000 PPM) signal from the VSS). OBD 1 (On Board Diagnostic version 1 )
GM used a VSS buffer on some applications to achieve the proper signal for the various diff ratios that might be used ...can be calibrated or use a Dakota digital (SG-5?) magic box.
These can be used when the trans output comes from a reluctor wheel on the trans main shaft rather than a mechanical gearset for speedo output. Also the speedo will not read correctly unless the trans output is the same as the Jaguar trans (old BW 66) was,... .447.
SO you will need an 8000 PPM signal for the Jag speedo circuit stuff, and a 2000 or 4000 PPM for the GM ECM/PCM. to make it all work well".

I used a 700R4 tranny and I had to change the gearset located in the tail cone of the tranny and purchased a transducer from Suncoast so that the speedometer will read correctly. I am off by 1 MPH.
I also used a Dakota Digital Interface so that the 6 cyl tach will read the 8 cyl tach signal. You can make your own using resistors.
You need an adapter to install the Jaguar temperature sending unit on the Chevy motor and a T setup for the Oil light and Oil gauge to function.
I used the harness from a Chevy 1500 and re-pinned the ECM connectors to suit my needs.
When you are ready, let me know and I will bring my car so you can see how it is set up.

 

Wouldn't it be easier to just rebuild your original Jaguar engine than go through this conversion process?

 

It might not be easier but it can be a whole lot more fun. I have a pristine stock 87 and a 79 with a very mild 305 cid with 4-speed automatic. The 87 is a thing of beauty but the 79 is a blast to drive. One of the Florida conversion guys told me that an experienced mechanic should be able to do the conversion in 40 hours. Don't know if that included gauges, etc.

I would definitely try to get the corvette cooling system. You didn't say but I'm guessing your getting all the hang ons like alternator, power steering pump, a/c compressor, belts, brackets, etc.

Good luck; looking forward to reports, pics, etc.

Jeff

 

@ Yellow Series3

40 man hours @ 8 hour days + 5 days
I did mine alone and I am an experienced mechanic.

Based on my experience:
Removing the Jaguar engine and transmission:
a) Remove hood. You need a helper. Disconnect battery
b) Remove front support, oil cooler, AC condenser and radiator.
c) Jack up car. Remove Driveshaft and transmission cross member. Disconnect all electrical connections under the car. Put a drain pan under the tail shaft of the transmission. Lower car.
d) Disconnect all electrical and mechanical connections in the engine bay.
e) Pull engine and transmission as a Unit.
f) I am sure I have missed stuff but you get the idea. You still have to clean up the engine bay and it goes on and on. so figure 2-3 days to prep.
Having the kit hardware makes putting the engine and transmission into the Jag a piece of cake. 2-4 hours.
Now, the time consuming part.
If you have all of the required bits and pieces, which you wont; the driveshaft has to be measured after the engine and transmission is in place.
The exhaust also has to be done after the engine is in place.
Then comes the electrical. Making your own harness takes days.
Buying an aftermarket harness also takes a few days to a week to get to you.
I did mine and from start to finish, it took about 2-3 weeks working 10/12/14 hour days, then when it is all done you now have to attend to the front suspension height.
JUST SAYING................................

 

My '72 LT1/700R used a John's kit that I would not use again. I used the Suncoast/Jaguar Specialties kit on my '71 XJ 383/200R....much better and friendly support.

I used the '95 Camaro/Firebird radiator, AC condenser and dual fans that "snap" together.. they fit the Jaguars perfectly and are cheap and available everywhere.. If you
are going to add a side type cold air intake, push the set to the passenger side for enough room for the intake of cold air. The AC condenser needs the GM orifice tube removed by pulling out the hole to be compatible with the Jag AC system. I used a custom cold air intake that drew air straight in from the Jaguar radiator top support through the front grill..it cooled the intake air down a lot when the car was moving forward....

I used a Painless Harness and it worked fine. The PCM was left under the hood on the passenger fender side. A local muffler shop made my down pipes and I ran
the exhaust under the IRS. I ended up using Ram Horns that I ported after replacing the headers that continued to crack at their flanges.

Other than problems with the Optispark that was finally fixed with a new "genuine" GM part... the conversion was fine. The '72 XJ6 had rear end gears that were too low
for this conversion with the 700R first gear...3:31 or 3:07 would have been better. I have plenty of photos/information left if you want them..

 

Thanks for all the replies everyone..I no doubt will be taking people up on their offers of pics and docs etc.. I do have one question for now, what haven people done about the aldl and check engine light setup? Should I expect that to be part of the harness? Im thinking not, therefore wondering what to do there..

 

I put the ODB1 connector under the glove box door for easy hookup of my scanner for codes. I do not have a picture of that for you.

 

Pull as much of the ALDL harness as you can. It is in the under dash wire loom. I pulled about 14 inches of the wires connected to the ALDL. The one I pulled had 7 wires connected to it.
I will show you where to pin it to the ECM connector. On mine, I connected 5 ALDL wires to the ECM but presently I am only using 3 for OBD 1.The other 2 are for future plans if I go to OBD 2. I installed the ALDL in the engine compartment. The ECM also resides there. See box sitting on the passenger side near the battery on the inner fender in the pic. You can also see the ALDL between the red and white relays on the firewall where all the other relays go.


The wires going to the transmission, I could not access because the vehicle was sitting in the JY with no wheels, I made up my own harness for the VSS and Torque Converter lock up
The TCC wire was powered through the Jaguar Cruise Control switch at the brake pedal and and another wire from the ALDL up into the dash for the Check Engine light.
I have the GM schematic for the ECM. You will still be using the 5 wire harness on the passenger side of the engine bay as these wires go to the gauge cluster and ignition switch.
I integrated the Jaguar and GM electrical schematics.

 

Chasing Low Oil Pressure? When I had my 72 V12 XKE, I am more than embarrassed to say, I spent 8 months chasing low oil pressure, just as Darrenmd describes. Got all fixated on oil temperature being the issue and even spliced in a separate oil cooler (from a deHavilland Twin Otter aircraft). Nothing worked, even changed to a heavy oil. Turned out to be a clogged oil filter, causing the bypass valve to dump pressure! Oooppps!

 

One thing I don't understand. I appreciate the value of fuel injection as much as the next guy. And my 79 has fuel injection (OBD1 under the passenger seat). But if I ever re-do my car I'll just replace it with a crate engine without all the wiring. Buy a salvage car for the accessories belt, etc and pop in a carburetor crate engine (maybe change it to modern EFI later). One phone call and you can buy a brand new engine with a factory warrantee with anywhere from 200 to 500 horsepower. The whole wiring harness problem prety much goes away.

 

1996 LT1 is a great motor but less than ideal for a swap becasue its ODB2. This requires few changes to make it run perfect. If close enough is good enough for you then a VATS emulator and chopped up OE harness will get the job done.

OBD2 requires four O2 sensors and and a variety of other sensors to be "ready". So you will have to live with a check engine lamp and a less than ideal tune. The 1996/1997 ODB2 LT1 is not well support by the aftermarket however there are still a few tuner out there that reprogram them.

You may want to consider a stand alone harness and OBD1 PCM. Since the 1995 LT1 was OBD1 its somewhat easy to convert to an 1996 OBD2 LT1 to OBD1.
The stand alone harness and OBD1 PCM will greatly reduce your install time and may be lower cost in the end. Best of all the engine will run right and the OBD1 LT1 is still well supported in the enthusiast community. If you want some more technical info on how to go about this... PM me.

 

A perfectly viable alternative; there are a hundred ways to skin a cat.

I fully appreciate the appeal of simpler solutions but, personally, going thru all the effort of a conversion while staying with to carburetors seems like a retrograde step.

Even if the theme is 'quick and simple', Chevrolet's old (and thoroughly proven) Throttle Body Injection represents quite an improvement over carburetors.....and it doesn't get any simpler as fuel injection systems go!

Cheers
DD

 

Well this sounds like an interesting project, and the LT1 is a great choice for our Jags- fantastic power (with potential for more if you want to get into it) good mileage, and the engines are dead reliable. We built our first LT1 Jag some 16 years ago (my own car) and it was fabulous. That LT1 went into an 88 XJSC (also using a 6 speed manual trans, but that's a side note) and what always surprised me was how hard that engine pulled. This was an 80's Jag that had a lazy 2.88 differential so not exactly aggressive gears- many of my friends and customers were amazed how quick it was. And I never had a lick of trouble, even with the Optispark (which gets some bad press online, all undeserved in my opinion). You can see a full, complete documented series of articles on that build on our website here:

Jaguar Specialties (as I mentioned above, this was a 6 speed car but if you ignore the pedals and shifter, all else will apply to an XJ6 project)

And since that project was done, we helped many many other Jag owners do similar projects, almost all of them automatics, and the results were similar. I can safely say we know more about these later fuel injected (LT1 and beyond) Jag conversions, top to bottom than any of the other suppliers.

I'd be happy to share some tips with you as you get into this, so please feel free to get in touch- phone or Email- to talk further..

Also as a parting comment, although the 96 Corvette is indeed an LT1, there are many things about how that engine is prepped for the Vette that don't make it the easiest or most practical choice for the Jag. And often, the Corvette label makes it more expensive than it should be, when in the end we have to change much to make it ready for the Jag. I can fill you on on that and maybe save some money to boot there.....

Again, this looks to be a great undertaking and I look forward to hearing more about it.

Thanks
Andrew
Jaguar Specialties

PS Attached is one of our customer's cars- this one an 86 XJ6 that was converted with a 96 Impala SS LT1 using all of our pieces. It performs even better than it looks and this customer has been enjoying it for better than 10 years now. He went a little wild on the intake system, but in general what you see in front of you is a standard Impala SS package, using a factory wiring harness, down to and including the GM factory fuse and relay panel there in front of the battery....