So last night my friend and I went out and purchased a 1982 Jaguar XJ-6 sedan for $100. The car has no engine, transmission, rear axle and suspension or brake booster.

As of right now, the plan is to haul it to my friend's house in Murfreesboro and pull off parts we don't need such as the bumpers, grill, intake manifold and a few other parts. But overall, our plan is to drop a completely different motor into the car and make it a bit of a rat rod kind of build since this thing is so beat. But hey, if things don't work out, we will part it out.

I am a BMW guy, dailying a 1987 BMW 325is and I'm not all that familiar with Jaguars and how they work so any help is very much appreciated! This post will probably end up as a bit of a build thread and seeing how this car comes together as my friends and I don't even know what all we are gonna do with it so stay tuned!



The rear or the car as it sits when we got to it last night.



Front end, the hood isn't bolted down or anything.

 

Hmmm. Not enough Jaguar left for Jaguar stuff to help much. someone has already harvested the running stuff.


Don't rat rod it. Just my idea. Yours so do as you please, though.


A "primitive' rear axle on coil overs to match the engine/transmission. At least, it would be easier to pipe true dual exhaust out the back.


If the interior is "ratty", just add a decent pair of buckets up front. Eliminate the rear set and just have a cargo bay.


Don't know about the regs in your town, here in CA, your plan would probably be illegal. The donor engine would have to be at least 82 in vintage and have all the emisions junk.


Do I surmise, that it's PO would have given it to you, just to get it hauled away, I suspect so.


Carl

 

I'm in Tennessee. Thing is here, if I register it as an antique auto I don't need to go through emissions. The interior isn't bad. Uncracked dash with good wooden trim, alright front seats and pretty decent rear seats. As far as rust goes, it seems to be all surface. The rear suspension mounting points seem to be in pretty good shape and relatively rust free. What would be your idea for the car? Most of what our budget can afford is just junk yard parts. From what I could see, two of these are about to show up in a local yard so hopefully some stuff like brake booster, rear suspension and axles are in decent shape.

 

Then, put it back as it was. Would the junkers be good running rust buckets?
Buy one intact, and swap. Carcass back to the junker for the crusher?


Carl

 

It looks like it's got the usual rot around the rear window, which probably means the front's gone too (can't judge from pic). That's the first thing I'd address, as it can be an expensive fix, especially if you can't do the work yourself, & it's an essential safety issue, rat rod or not. Even if you're an ace panel beater, it's still a difficult job. I wouldn't be surprised if that was the reason the car got stripped in the first place. Good luck with the build. I hope I'm wrong about the rust, & it's an easy fix. & don't forget to post plenty of pics, as the job progresses.

 

Well thank you for that notice! My friend is a really good welder so if worst comes to worst, we can cut that area out of there and weld in some patches.

As a BMW guy, I know a thing or two about rust on 30 year old cars! I'll get more pictures of it friday or Saturday doing a full assessment of the car and all of it's rust issues.