Let me start by saying that Ive been a lurker here for a while and have finally decided to post my build thread. If your sensitive to your jag looking good, having pretty paint, and believe only a Jaguar power plant belongs under the hood then you might want to turn away. Or grab a drink and enjoy.

Here we go,A little less then a year ago I purchased a slightly used 1976 Jaguar XJS. Why an XJS? After all its not small, light, nimble, or a japanese sports car. In fact its not even a manual! The idea was to build a car that had personality, presence, and demanded attention. My version of this idea was to remove the original drivetrain, replace it with some America, slam it, widen the stance and drive the snot out of it. The paticular XJS I found was sitting in a garage in Belmont shore. It had been sitting there since '95. The previous owner had hired a shop to drop in a Chevy 350. He drove it like that for a year, then wasnt able to register it due to smog laws. So he parked it, and it sat until I found it and brought it home. First thing I did was drop the front end, it was sky high with the lightweight chevy powerplant.







Still has a bit of the 'ol stink bug stance.


It stayed like this for a bit, then got a stereo, nothing fancy just something that worked as the previous (stock) speakers were done. Then one day while walking through a junkyard in Norcal with my brother we found a '95. So we snagged the bumpers and supports. Before I could get the bumpers back to socal and on the car I happened to be in a so cal yard and found a Nardi steering wheel, and a front chin spoiler. Both of these went on first.

From this


To this


and some chin spoiler with the rear lowered, and new bumber on the rear<



followed by the front and some paint.


much better


not long after that I had a blow out, and it was cheaper to buy new tires on wheels then just tires so I found some Corvette C4 wheels. 16x8.5 front and 16x9.5 rear wearing 245/50-16 and 255/50-16. bad camera phone pics....





then came the roof rack.

 

frankenstein has nothing on this project...did the vette wheels just bolt on, or did you need those hub bolt correction things?

 

The car sat like that for a while while I gathered parts for a 5 speed. Yup I wanted a manual trans. Seeing how there really isnt that many in the states with the third pedal, like none, I had to start searching. I found a guy on e-bay that sold the pedal, master cylinder and instructions. I went for it after a bit of thinking and looking around and seeing that it was the best combo of price and availability. I also did some research as to the master and slave cylinder for the clutch. After some math I decided on the S-10 slave at 15/16 of an inch.

Let me start off sayin that this is a bit of work and not for the faint hearted. Almost none of the parts that were supposed to fit did so. Just about everything had to have some form of modification and or fabricating to make work or even fit. The clutch pedal that was SUPPOSED TO BE A BOLT IN didnt fit without the hammer and grinder to make room for it under the dash. None the less the T-5 is in, the clutch line is routed, and functional, and only the drive shaft needs to be made.

Let me start off sayin that this is a MAJOR bit of work. Almost none of the parts that I read that I needed and would fit did so. just about everything had to have some form of modification, Fabricating to make work. Even the clutch pedal that was SUPPOSED TO BE A BOLT IN didnt fit without the hammer and grinder to make room for it. None the less the T-5 is in, the clutch and line is routed, and functional, and just the drive shaft needs to be made.

Pics
The Clutch Pedal kit
MC is a Willwood 3/4" unit.


All the electrical 'plugs' looked like this. Just wires and prongs, no real plug at all. No wonder the magic smoke get away.



A sneak peak of the mess under the ski slope...



The mess..... yuck.



The whole mess under and behind the dash, ski slope.



Work on the pedal housing. I ended up breaking off the bit I was using for the pilot hole, so I got creative and cut the head off a bolt and used some JB Weld. Worked like a charm



Then the MC wanted to start a fight with the part for the resivior....



Made that fit....



Got a bit busy with making things fit/ work...... the trans tunnel needed some BFH to let the Trans fit and the brace for the slave cylinder needed to be trimmed and re drilled for the smaller bolt pattern of the S-10 SC that was required. While the Willwood unit is the same bore as the stock Camaro one the throw of the Jags clutch pedal is much shorter. This means that the 1" SC that the Camaro uses wouldn't even move. The one from an S-10 is a 15/16" . While needing a manly man leg to press its easier then using a 3/4" and still provides plenty of travel. You can also see the steel clutch line.



Where the shifter fits in the car. Just about perfect. The trans tunnel itself still needs some love to look pretty but you get the idea. The Hurst shifter makes the throw quite short.





Wanting a wider stance for improved footprint, grip, and over all good looks I needed wide wheels. Seeing as I had a bit of work to do everywhere else on the car I opted to space the current wheels out and wait on buying new ones for a bit. I went with some bolt on 1.5" aluminum ones.

1.5" of widened stance!



front on the car..



and rear



This shows the other reason for the spacers, to fix the bad offset of the Corvette wheels. The rears were ok with the 3/8" slip on spacers but the fronts were not. 16x8.5+32 with a 3/8" (8mm) spacer looked liked this. Rubbed on the tie rod end almost constantly making the car undriveable



This is how it looks now. Much much much better. And a more aggressive stance. too!



At this point the Jag was still sittin on Jack stands and awaiting its new Drive Shaft and starter.

 

The driveshaft was finished yesterday so I got off work and picked it up. After installing it and the Starter I started the beast. She roared back to life for the first time in over a month like a champ. Off the jack stands and back on the ground. New stance, new drive train, more confidence. Its starting to look like a real car now. Some minor details to finish up concerning the swap (it is pretty rare after all) and some fender rolling/pulling and she will be ready for the serious sorting business, and some track time.

Ill be training in Bridgeport through the end of July so work on the car will have to wait untill after that.

Only a single pic to hint at things to come.

 

Sadly they did not just bolt on. Bolt pattern was perfect but the silly hubs are huge. 74.1mm. In the rear I got away with using a 8mm slip on spacer. The fronts though....that hub just got in the way. I machined the wheel a bit and used the spacer. Even with that the tie rod ends still rubbed against the rim. I think with a 15mm spacer things would be perfect.

 

A few more just to show how low and wide this thing really is. My buddy (whos house my car is stored at) took these this morning. He wasnt there when I put it on the ground and was quite surprised.

 

Looks good keep us updated, I was toying with the idea of fitting 17" 8.5 and 9.5 Corvette rims on my XJS.

Here are a couple of pics of my XJ S1 with 350 before being lowered with guards flared. One tip the rears will contact the inner guard about 30-40mm above the lip, this is due to the suspension geometry so you might need to flare the entire rear fender.

 

Go on I'll bite, and the roof rack is for.... moonlighting as a window cleaner when on leave?

Interesting project, look forward to the updates. Esp, your fender mods.

 

I don't like it, looks stupid.

 

How were you able to stance the XJS. I just picked up one and would love to have your stance any info would be great.

 

Xclusive, this thread is over a year old and I believe the original poster has probably moved on.
I must say that everyone is entitled to their opinion and what they believe is "right" for their car. Having said that, I personally don't understand the concept or reasoning of taking a car that had proven itself multiple times in LeMans racing, gutting it, castrating it, altering the suspension to the point of making it barely functional on the street, and then...what?
To me, it's like altering a Ferrari to look like a Ford Escort.

 

I am still very much still here. Im in the Marines and deployed in Feb, just got back not long ago. Hence the looooooong delay in updates, replies, etc.

xclusive_s
The stance is done quite easily. The springs have been cut (couldnt find anything else at the time) about 1.5 coils, and Spacers of the bolt on kind have been added. other then that its just stock corvette wheels with stock corvette size tires.

I have to say that it is a bit low. like really really low. esp with the later bumper skins. They rub on EVERYTHING. the stock front end is still under them and it never touches the ground. Id prefer it to be about an inch higher.

JameyXJ6
I understand where your coming from with the cutting up great cars. However the ones your talking about where hardly stock. Even further from US stock where we got nothing in the sporting variety. They were gutted, caged, and had their suspension altered. Being a luxury brand Jags here really dont get sold with manual transmissions and always have power everything. Besides having an engine thats more reliable, weighs less (over 150lbs) and easily attainable replacement parts is not just a good racing improvment but also a good idea in general.

Is this stance for everyone? not at all. In fact it was a trial by myself to see where the car would end up with very cheap work done. It needs real suspension. Ill admit that. however this one has a full interior (minus the headliner) and still works great on the street.

 

What's up Death Kitten, glad you made it back in one piece. I have to say the stance is pretty aggressive. I can understand it being a bit much for the street, but a little lowering and some fat new wheels / tires go a long way in freshening up the XJS.

What are you planning to do next?

 

Honestly Im not really sure. I should really freshen it up after sitting for so long. Other then that I dont really have too much lined up, may be a track event to see if all the work was worth it and the parts work well together.

 

Thanks so much for the prompt feedback (Death Kitten). My XJ6 is a 1994 with a ls1 swap, i'm planning on going pretty crazy with it. But the suspension is very sluggish and i wanted to lower the vehicle. I think if you rolled your fenders a bit more and slight pull you should be able to ride good with good cornering ability. i didn't want to cut the springs but it seems like no other real option other than spending 700 bucks from that site wheelman... JAGUAR XJS V12 Lowering Spring Kit - 43-003 wonder if this is any good.. plan on running some bilstein shocks.

 

its not the tires that rub. They clear the fenders. lots of practice fitting tires and fenders together. All the time spent drifting s13s. its the front lip. its so far in front of the wheels that every driveway wants to eat my bumper. Sporty suspension of any type is very hard to find. You can find some shocks that are adjustable. if you pair a set up with cut springs and turn up the dampening they should work pretty good.

 

UPDATE
roof rack is gone. was only there for the pics

 

edit: nm, just reread.

 

my car modded it 15yrs ago. widebody & lowered,, but just enough for a good ride, without hittin the bump stops, everything is fine and no rubbing

Enkei 9-18 frts

Enkei 10-18 rears, Nitto tires

 

that original red car turned out great.. hella flushed out old Jag.. crazy. Id drive it.. very cool.
You should see how far they take this with the 350z platform.. its insane.