So for the past 6 months life has been grand. I have been barraging the streets of Atlanta in my long time dream car. I love it. I can't bare to kill it, but i also can't afford to pay Jaguar 5k for a head gasket job. I have a mechanic who can do it but I can't find a place to get the supposed 3 tools that only Jaguar has. If anyone knows a mechanic that works for less than another car in the Atlanta area I'm in desperate need. Or any advice, hopefully some thats not as heart breaking as what I have received so far.

Option 2: I am not opposed to doing the LS1 Swap but I wanted to see if anyone has tried it/ looked into it/ really anything that should make me forget this and send my nobel companion of the road to the great beyond.

Thanks
Max

 

Welcome to the forum and I am sorry for the problem!

Not sure what tools you are referring to but if they are the cam alignment tools they are easily available and I am sure you can get the head gaskets changed for less than half of the dealer quote you mentioned.

Long time discussions of the swap of a Ford V8 into my '82 Volvo said that it could be done for $4000. With all my labor and except for mounting tires and some minor welding I had over $8000 in it before it was close to road ready.

http://www.ipdusa.com/blogs/311/cust...orter-1982-245

http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=250257

Allow me to guarantee that any cost estimate that you might have heard for a LS1 swap into a Jaguar should be doubled.

 

The 'special' tools can be bought iro $200 on ebay, check this out...
Land Rover Jaguar LR 3 7 4 4 Timing Kit | eBay

This set will ensure the head goes back as it should, locking it in place for easy install, timing isn't an issue. Heads have been a recent common problem on the board, and a number of good threads by members who carried out their own work.

 

Check with Coventry West in Atlanta. I bought a replacement engine from them. They also have a person there that works on cars. Some Jaguar clubs have tools as well.
Google "Jags that run" , that will give you so SB chevy info. Any way you do it, you will spend more than you wish, but in the end you will still have car you enjoy. Spend the $$ and don't worry about it making logical sense.

 

Thanks so much for all of the advice, I am going to make some calls tomorrow and see what route I am going to go with this, but I gave my mechanic a call and he says if I can get the tools he can do it no problem. I will update you on my path of action over the next couple days.

 

I would be just a little concerned about the mechanic who did not know where to get the required tools. Maybe he also does not know how to use them.
The chevy swap was old news... If you really live in ATL, you will never get it through emmsions, even if you fool the various modules enough to make the car run!

 

If you really live in ATL?(If I lived somewhere else why would I be looking for places to get in fixed in ATL just saying) I live here for graduate school, I have a South Carolina drivers license so no worries on emissions.

 

An LS1/4l80e combo out of an F-body is usually around $3000-$4500 depending on condition. The Jaguar Specialties swap kit is pretty comprehensive and is around $1500 all together with the electrical side. Having done an LS swap on an 87 RX7, I figure you generally need about an extra $1000 for unforseen stuff. So figure on at least $6000 for the swap using an LS1, doing ALL the work yourself and spending some time hunting good deals. $7000 is probably a safer bet. And that's assuming you have all the tools you need, including an engine hoist, complete set of hand tools, etc. so your tooling cost is zero. You can get by cheaper (about $2500 cheaper) with a 5.3, but you'll be down on power until you start modding the engine, as the 5.3s are around 300 hp stock (although it isn't hard to get around 350 chp with $500 in mods, i.e. a decent cam, tune, and an LS6 intake).

There are some advantages to the LS. It is a bit lighter than the supercharged AJ if you use an iron block engine like a LM7 or LQ4/9, and a hell of a lot lighter with an aluminum block engine like an L33 or LS1/6. Maintenance parts are cheap as dirt and maintenance is easy. Your eventual power ceiling is higher with the LS, and it will be cheaper to make BIG numbers. It's a hell of a lot easier to find a shop that can work on an LS1/4L80 combo for a decent price than it is for the Jag engine and especially the Merc trans.

That being said, if you only want in the 400-500 hp range, you can get a drop in a replacement 03 XJR engine for about $3000-$3500 and it will be a hell of a lot easier than the LS swap. My uncle recently got a 60k mile replacement engine for his 01 XJR that overheated for about $2800 bucks. The AJ is a great engine and it already drops in. And with a pulley, tune, and exhaust, 450 crank hp isn't hard at all.

So it depends on your goals. The LS swap can pay dividends in future maintenance costs, weight, and power ceiling, but it's going to cost a lot more than just replacing the AJ. If you are happy with the R's stock power, I'd just buy a replacement engine, do the freshening stuff you should do while the engine is out (heater hoses, water pump, tensioners, etc), and stick to the AJ.

 

The issue with just swapping in a 03 XJR engine is that the MY 99 XJR is an AJ26 engine and the MY 03 is an AJ27, so there is more too it than "dropping it in", although it is well defined in posts by AVOS on this forum. I have a low mileage MY 03 SC engine I would likely let go for about a bill less than the quoted prices. For that reason, one option for you would be to sell me your car... Unfortunately for you, a non running car is not worth squat!

By far, the easiest approach is to fix the one head gasket and be done. You should find someone to do it for abotu 2 big bills or less. Either way, it will be much less $$ than your other options, assuming the engine is otherwise known to be good.

And... If I had some reasonable expectation you would return them for sure, I will gladly lend you "the tools". For free.

 

I am currently looking at just fixing the head gasket. I am going to the North Georgia Jaguar Club Meeting on Saturday to join and discuss the possibility of using the club set of tools. The tools are the main thing holding me back at the moment, but my motor will hopefully be fine it still runs and drives, I just decided to park it until I can find a solution. I have a full drive train out of a 2004 Escalade with the 6.0 (why I was considering the LS Swap), but if I can get it back going that is my plan of action.

Also if your interested in loaning me your tools I have collateral you could hold to lessen your worries : )

 

Why not use better 4.2 head gaskets?

 

We are tearing it down this weekend to make sure that it hasn't done more damage than I think it has. The 4.2 gasket set will work the same? If its better then that definitely sounds like the way to go. Thanks for the tip!

 

Is the head leaking H20, or lost compression? Losing water, I used a can of Bar's Leak on an Audi diesel with a blown head gasket. One can lasted for 4 years until my ex had an accident.
No problems with the stuff. Been using it since 1967. Just follow the directions. If the head is off, or cracked between valves, different story.

 

Do not use it in the Jag. I used it many years ago also, but there are too many places in the Jag for it to collect and cause trouble, like the heater core.

 

You do realize that this thread is more than 2 years old, correct?

 

There is NOTHING special in doing the head job and it can be done for $200 parts. No special tools are necessarily required. It is all a function of the skills of the repair engineer.