I have a 1995 XJS with an AJ16 and a 1995 XJR with a AJ16 SC (Supercharged).
Can I swap the XJR into the XJS?

 

It's been done. A couple have even shown up on Ebay.

Others might have more details.

Cheers
DD

 

Awesome. Very encouraging. My worries are trans bell housing and drive shaft length. I'll do the research.

 

Worried about the bellhousing, how?

The idea is swap in both the supercharged engine and the 4L80E transmission that goes with it. As your 1995 XJS is set up to accept the 4L80E transmission there shouldn't be a bellhousing interference issue...if that's what you were worried about

Cheers
DD

 

I just put a new tranny in the XJS when the rad went and crossed over coolant into the trans. I used a tranny out of a 95 VDP and had to swap the bell housing. VDP bell was 3 inches shorter. My XJS has a ZF4-HP22 tranny. Dunno what the XJR has. Won't pick it up until next week.

 

I don't think the ZF would be the best choice behind the supercharged engine...if that's what you were thinking. Might not be tough enough. That's why Jaguar used the GM 4L80E transmission behind the supercharged engine (and the V12).

Plus, using the 4L80E (along with the XJR engine and transmission control modules, and all the wiring) keeps the original electrical architecture largely intact. You won't have to worry about communication and compatibility issues

cheers
DD

 

Hence my concern about the drive shaft. Hoping to keep the whole XJR drive train but the drive shaft is a different length. At least I'm pretty sure. Won't know till next week.

 

I looked it up. According to Andy Stodart it's doable. I just purchased another one of his CPS brackets and shot him an email. I figure if you're going to ask anybody why not go with the guy who helped build the XJS.
Here's what he has to say in a previous post.
"I know this is a very old thread now but people might be interested to know that several DIY AJ16SC XJS conversions have been performed. I helped get one of these running myself. It was LHD. When I worked at Jaguar we actually built an AJ16 powered XJS prototype but the project never went any further. As Doug suggested the best quality conversion would use the complete powertrain from and XJR6, but you could cross your fingers and retain the ZF4HP24E gearbox. It isn't really up to the job which is why the XJR6 uses the GM Hydramatic 4L80E. However, I would accept that using the 4L80E and its TCM will make the wiring much more complicated. I would still argue that putting an AJ16SC engine in an XJS is easier than turbocharging an AJ16 NA engine or fitting a different engine that was never designed to go in an XJS."

 

Those are the least of your worries. A driveshaft is cheap and easy to get made up if need be. The electronics will be a much bigger project, as it won't be a "plug and play" conversion. You'll have to become very familiar with the Electrical Guides for both cars.

In addition to the engine, the transmission is different as is engine and transmission mounts, wiring harness, ECU's (both engine and transmission), air flow meter, air filter box, exhaust, fuel tank and pumps, shifter and shift cable, driveshaft, radiator, plus the addition of the intercooler and pump, plus the plumbing for it. There is probably more, but that's off the top of my head.

 

In a slightly different project, I know a man who put a 4.0 (not R) from an XJ40 into a Daimler DS420 limo and kept the 4.0's ZF transmission. The Daimler weighs close to 6,000 lbs and the ZF transmission didn't last that long behind the 4.0. There was a reason that Jaguar went to the TH400 in the limo application, even though they used a low compression 4.2 XK engine making 164hp. It was the only Jaguar to use the 4.2/TH400 combo.

In a roundabout way, I think that the ZF is at the edge of it's power/weight capabilities in the standard X300, and it wouldn't survive behind a supercharged engine if you intend to use the power. And that's the whole point of doing the conversion isn't it?

 

Jimmy James 905,

If you use the XJR ecu setup then one of the challenges that you have to overcome is fooling the ecu into believing that it's still in the XJR. This is because Jaguar have programmed some of the car security into the ecu. There are ways of getting around it as some owners in the UK have done this transplant.

Go for it!

Good luck

Paul

 

He's in luck there, the North American cars don't have the fuelling inhibit like ROW cars did, so that makes it simpler.

 

I also believe there may be some fit issues with putting the supercharged engine in a left hand drive car. It has been done so all issues can be worked around.

Sure would be nice if someone who has done it would write up all the steps needed so those that want to do it would have a guide to help them through the process.

I have always felt that Jaguar did not offer this supercharged option on the XJS because they knew the XK8 was coming out very quickly and did not want a 4.0L XJS 6cyl. with more HP then their new V8 coming out. Would have been a very cool and highly desire able factory XJS if they had.

 

Supercharging was never going to be an option for the XJS, certainly not by the factory. All the money was going in to the development of the XJ40 which basically took nearly a couple of decades to come to fruition and then it still wasn't right when first delivered.
Lister did (twin) supercharged conversions but they cost an absolute shed load of money to develop and then buy.
Jaguar never had a forced induction engine until the XJR6.
I think that a supercharged XJS would be an absolutely fabulous car and I know that there a couple of them around but then would it still be an XJS?

 

For North America in 1996 it was convertibles only, I suspect that Jaguar though the convertible didn't have the rigidity for a supercharged version. Might have been packaging issues too, no place for the intercooler.

 

I think it just came down to the fact that the XJS was only going to be around for a very short time when the AJ16 was put in it. Why spend the money to put the supercharged set up in what really amounted to no more then two years of XJS production.

If a person can put it in and make it work out of their home shop no doubt Jaguar could have done it very easily but then you have a 6 cylinder XJS that can beat the new XK8 with a V8. Would have been a very rare and sought after XJS if they had done it.

 

I don’t know if this old thread is still going but i just found this advert in the Nertherlands for a 96 XJS-C with a AJ16 SC engine! It looks like it was originally a US car imported to the Netherlands. Looking at it photo’s of the engine bay it looks like a nice engine installation job.

https://www.autotrader.nl/auto/voert...&safemodel=xjs