I'd say leave the engine exposed - how else can you shock and awe people if you try to conceal the controlled chaos that is a Jaguar V12?
Could use that extra legroom myself, mind....

 

As far as I know, only the 6.0 engine had covers, with a different fuel rail to the 5.3. I don't know if it could be retrofitted to a 5.3.

 

Yes, didn't they move to a Denso ignition system? Certainly not the early facelift Marelli.
This thread suggests it might not be possible, and certainly won't be easy:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...covers-128217/

As JagZilla said in that thread, this would be my concern: "The cover holds the heat in the vee longer, taking an even greater toll on spark plug wires, vacuum hoses injectors & hoses, cruise control bellows, etc. You're better off without it."

 

Only the 1995-97 XJ12 saloons. The XJS kept Marelli. Finest tradition of Jaguar, where the Series III V12 saloons kept Lucas while the XJS went Marelli.

 

That would explain why I'd heard about the V12 moving to Denso in the final years. Hadn't realised (remembered) it wasn't for the XJS. Wonder how hard it would be to put in a saloon V12 ignition.... Weird how the X305 was changed when its production was ending at about the same time as the XJS.

 

Thanks to all for the responses, yes I agree to leave it exposed. I had concerns about holding heat in as well. I just thought it would add a nice touch. I have not yet detailed the engine but it is pretty clean as is so once cleaned up a bit she will shine like new.
Thanks again

 

If I can get the seat extensions I will let you know. There is just 2" back there but some would say an extra 2" is a world of difference.

 

When all parts are sparkling, there is no need to hide anything... The last thing i'd do is put a cover on that gorgeous V12...

 

I'd actually think about removing the cover if I had the six-litre....
Which of these would be more impressive?



This is a modern Jaguar XJ engine. Er, cover. I assume there's an engine under there. No idea how big, how many cylinders, or anything.

As Mick "Jaguar" Dundee said, "That's not an engine... THAT'S an engine!"

 

Although that V12 picture shows a crazy engine bay with kind of like 'unplanned' wiring and vacume routing Wait until I'm done.. Totally tidy and cleaned up... The factory condition will then be a step below mine

 

Hi Someday

That Engine looks like something out of a 'Alien' and Totally Intimidating if you've never looked at one before, so no small wonder that some shops could

charge you a fortune to work on an Engine like that.

Those Plastic Covers are a most definite No No!

 

Hi Daim

When is the big day?

 

Something out of Alien, you say? Time for a repost....


Though it also reminds me of this....

 

I don't think there's much I can get rid of in mine. I definitely need aircon, though replacing the A6 with a later Sanden is in the cards, and I am fairly sure I need the air pump stuff to pass emissions testing. I'm not sure how much cleaner a Megasquirt would look, but they're pretty bloody expensive anyway.

 

I never did understand the engine covers purpose. I'm trying to get rid heat and some are trying to retain it with that cover. Go figure that out. I thing it's nothing but a type of greenhouse

 

This: https://jalopnik.com/5439414/engine-...he-devils-work

Wow. This is what's under a Lexus hood:

 

Zero difference. Still needs the same sensors and components as the stock ECU. The biggest part of the V12's "messiness" I think is the distributor and plug wires. If you got rid of the distributor ( as Megasquirt allows you to do), you still need coilpacks and wires to go in that spot. You're just changing components, not eliminating them.

 

Unbolt the seat and take a look at the runners. Sometimes there is a second set of holes, or room to drill them. For a friend, I once made extensions about 2 inches long, which set the runners back that amount, one end bolted to the seat runner holes and the other end to the floor fixings.. I used 20mm wide 5mm thick steel. Slight pain to get the rears in, but easily doable.

 

I tried something similar, noticing two sets of holes in my early facelifter. First minor problem: the bolts were torx bolts. Once I found a set of torx wrenches that actually included the right size, I took the bolts off, which was easy enough. And then I found the second, insurmountable, problem: the holes are the wrong sizes. The ones at the front are too narrow for the bolts to go through, and the ones at the back are wider. So I had to put the bolts back in their original positions, which naturally was not nearly as easy as taking them off, with one of the front ones refusing to go in straight. Turned out the seat wasn't quite straight on--I'd shifted it out of position a bit. The trick is to put all four bolts in, and then tighten them. As the seat has to be moved right to the front to do the rear bolts, and right to the rear to do the front bolts, and it's electrically moved and for some reason only moves a short way with each press (though the passenger seat moves steadily), that was moderately annoying. But not as annoying as buying moderately expensive wrenches for a grand plan that won't work.
Oh well. Torx wrenches can be used for other things - where there's one set in a car, there's bound to be more, for starters....

The additional extension bar might work, but in my case, there's not really any room for using 5 mm thick additional runners, as my head would be perilously close to the roof. What I would really like is to be able to adjust the pedal position. But that would be an Operation, with a capital Oh no you don't....