It's a coupe. With the excitement of getting ready for an ashmart kit i went to go fire it up today and basically blew the bottom half of the motor. looks like i had some rodent damage to some wires and the engine detonated roughly 4 seconds after starting it.. Only took an hour to pull the engine and upon removing the pan i could see a bent crank, bent rods and i am sure the bore is toast. No bother though as i was not a big fan of the lack of power in a jag. i have looked into jaguar specialties engine swap, but do not want to go with a chevy, The mustang V8's have an identical sound to the true AM as the blocks are pretty much the same. and i wanted to swap to a manual tranny. only problem is, there is no "kit" for the swap, so i might have to bribe Jag Specialties with a little cash to get it done. I have found a used 4.6 ford V8 for $800 that i intend to buy this week, and am still looking for a 5 speed tranny. I also found a wrecked AM vantage for 8K about 400 miles from where i live that hits the auction block through copart next week. its only the front half of the car as it was ran over by a semi and the back half was pretty much cut off. but the engine looks good, and i could harvest the front seats, headlights, front clip, dash, emblems. ect. granted that takes the price of the build up about $10,000. but its still cheaper than a real AM. for now i just want the parts, i know putting an AM V8 in the jag would be next to impossible. but the hunt begins for a 4.6 V8 swap kit or instructions to put a sound 500 hp in the jag frame. i am stripping the body over the next few weeks. and will be welding in cross members and re-reinforcements so it will handle the HP without twisting to pieces.

Thanks for the reply it put my mind at ease about the shipping. i would love to see some photo updates with your progress. also, could you share a picture of how the front clip mounts to the frame. i want to weld in some supports for structural integrity in preparation for a 4.6 and would like to see how the front clip mounts.

 

Sad to hear Nomad! You must be power hungry if you're saying the xkr power isn't enough! Lol I contemplated going the 4.6 ford route... Chevy was just cheaper and the deal on the 6spd I couldn't pass up. Maybe to your luck (or at least compensate for your bad luck), Carkitinc on eBay has an Ashmart kit listed for $2000! Does say local pickup only but I'm sure freight quote could do that for ya. search for "ash-Mart" and you should find it easily...

 

Ronnie you are a man amongst men. i just found it on e-bay. There closed for the night already but i will be calling first thing in the morning. Yes, i am power hungry, there is not much in the lines of performance upgrades for an XKR, and i want at least 500HP, i went ahead and bought the wrecked AM on a cash and carry deal for 9k got it home this afternoon. went to town on getting all the salvageable stuff. Unfortunately the engine wasn't part of the salvageable stuff. pulled a head off to take a look and the engine is toast. but i got the front seats, guages, and i am in the process of harvesting the AM key hole for the cool square key thingy, still on the hunt to find a 4.6 conversion with manual trans. haven't gotten an e-mail back from jag specialties yet.

Would it be possible to sweet talk you into sharing a pic of where the front clip mounts to the frame still? i wanted to get some welding done over the weekend.

 

If you do any searching around on this forum, you'll find you can easily get above 500 hp; even 600+. It won't be cheap, but it should be less than what you paid for the AM front clip.

 

I don't have the front clip mounted yet, just fitted since I haven't cut te good out yet... I will take some pics though where it will be mounted from the underside and it'll make logical sense. Bummer on the engine being toast! And, what I'd give for the cool glass AM key! I saw the db7 key is just like our jag key... I've been photoshopping the rear windows to see how I can make them more AM like.. Pics up this evening. Stay tuned. R

 

Well bud i suffered that dilemma myself with the rear window, and having one of the real thing sitting next to the jag now. i can tell you its a waste of time. i think the best thing to do is reshape the trunk lid to have the dovetail higher a bit like on most of the mansory AM's and maybe a rear wing. not like a F1 gaudy ulgy plane wing, but a nice low profile rear wing, the AM i got had a carbon fiber rear wing on it (although its cracked and smashed) and it hid the contour of the window quite a bit, might work with the kit as well.

As for the Emotion Control Unit ( key thingy ) its nothing more than plastic and acrylic. i could make a mold from the real key for the plastic parts, and there is a shop in town that could make the laser etched acrylic. probably cost me $45 to make a replica that you could stick the jag key fob guts into. but it wouldn't start the car like the real AM. although you could make a replica key slot and place a push button start at the bottom with a spring load to eject it. kind of like clicking a pen. I might try making a mold over the weekend to see if it can be done.

Still on the hunt for a 4.6 conversion kit or at least info on how to do it myself. funny thing is, the AM 6 speed is only a few millimeters off from bolting up to the 4.6 liter, and looking at the 5spd mustang tranny and the AM tranny, they dont look that different. but i dont even want to begin on the logistics of what it would take to pull that off. i'm putting the tranny up for sale on e-bay, local mechanic said it was in great shape.

 

Here's some pics. I'll probably hood pin mine in 4-6 spots but it looked like cutting the hood out and mounting it to the original hood hinges would work easily.

 

Wow. Now I'm looking forward to seeing updates on both projects.

 

Ronni,

I'd be lost without you bud, those were exactly what i was looking for. time to get torching and welding, i harvested the lower front clip off the bumper of the wrecked AM and delivered it to the local fiberglass shop, they are going to fix it up for $250 without paint, then i am pulling a mold and making a glassed replica, i am going to trim off the ashmart kit lower valance and use the more open AM lower bumper. should only be about $300 in supplies to make the front bumper, also getting the headlight lenses and housing fixed so they are usable.

 

Ronnie,
Did you have any issues with the car throwing codes due to the exhaust mods? I did something similar to my 2000 xk8, removed the middle resonators and center baffle, replaced that section with straight pipe. The CEL has been constatntly illuminated for various things. Two of the codes are P1646 & P1647 which are the upstream O2 sensors. My local Jag mech says because I deleted the cross pipe section there is not enough back pressure causing inaccurate readings. Just wondering ?
Keep the pics comming I am slowly working towards acquiring parts for the same project and need the inspiration.
Thanks,

Ron

 

Hey, Ron. Upstream means before the cat, right? I reluctantly admit to knowing some import tuner people(j/k) and some have luck with adding spark plug foulers to the sensors.. Personally, I haven't gotten a single CEL since my initial tuneup.. Maybe I will though since I only run the car intermittently in the garage.. Inspiration?? I probably discourage more people than inspire... :P

 

I pulled the center muffler, the two resonators, and the tail mufflers and installed an X-Pipe, then worked backwards with Mina Gallery mufflers and Vibrant Resonators. Never got a single code. But I never ran without the pipes connected.

 

Thanks Rob,
What are the differences between the Mina pipes & mufflers and Magnaflow or another reputable manufacturer?

 

I've heard some Mina exhaust setups on YouTube. Sounded more refined than magma flows and flow masters.. Lil more bark I thought. Mina = expensive though! Not for me for only that reason..

 

I thinks I'm going with the Magnaflow x pipe kit offered on e-bay.That with glass packs down stream where the first set of mufflers were. The stock aft axle mufflers are fine, a little raspy now w just the straight pipes. I just uploaded a video to you tube at this link.

 

I like how your car sounds, RJ! Got a nice brap when you hit the throttle.. I'm sold on getting an x-pipe!

 

Ronnie,
That is just the straight pipes from the cats to the axle. I'll hopefully have the x pipe and glasspacks in a few weeks. I'll post an update.
Regards,

 

They fit, Mina sold me the mufflers alone for around $350 and they tuck right in where the old ones did. They are polished stainless so they look nice under the car as well (you can see the mufflers from the side of the car low. The mufflers are set up for under axle so we had to do a bit of cutting and welding for the fit but they look good. In hind sight the resonators were overkill, now I think it is a bit too quiet. I'd started with the Mina rear muffler delete and that was OK, just wanted some more volume, then took out the center muffler and put in a Magnaflow x-Pipe muffler (which would drag as I left my driveway), it sounded like a Chevy, then took it out and put in the X-Pipe, and it got too loud at all speeds (though some folks, in their late teens, thought it sounded "cool"), then the stock mufflers went back on but they really looked like crap and it was still too loud at full throttle (kind of wake up god loud), that's when I went to the resonators and swapped the mufflers out. I should have tried without the resonators first as I think it is a bit too quiet, however at full throttle it is just about right, and wife loves it so figure I'll stop here.

 

Rob,
I understand keeping the wife happy ;-) If I understand you correctly, from the cat down stream you now have , Magnaflow X pipe, resonators, under axle Mina pipes and rear mufflers? Do you have any video or audio files?

 

Ronnie,
I was studying the front clip pictures you have posted. I have pondered several different methods, from attaching it to the existing hood after some trimming, to creating a new traditional hood. How are you planning to mount the hood once you cut it out?