Since I am looking to modify the engine on my newly acquired 76 XJS eventually and the fact that it has been sitting for a while, I figured stripping the engine down and giving it some fresh components may not be a horrible idea.

Things I plan on doing:
Raise compression (likely euro spec 9:1, but I wouldn't mind 10:1 if possible)
Port and polish heads
Valve job
???

I plan on converting over to a megasquirt based fuel and ignition management and most likely run a EDIS ignition system.

I am hoping some of the more experienced members can chime in on potential pitfalls of this plan or other factors that I should be looking at as well. I'll be starting a proper build thread soon, but the overall plan is to strip out the car as much as possible, go with a fairly minimalist dash and interior, and have a fun weekend warrior type of car (on a modest budget).

Thanks in advance!

 

What are your goals? I recently did a performance build flathead motor so I'm pretty familiar

 

lol couldnt resist. leave compression stock and boost it! ))))

 

Haha profit indeed. I haven't decided on a specific HP target, but in the region of 400 (of course more would be nice, but I'm trying to be realistic) sounds like a good ballpark. I've considered boosting it (and am certainly not against it), but I have always loved the sound of a nasty naturally aspirated motor more.

Overall I plan to to do a 5 speed manual swap, I still need to get it up on the lift and verify gear ratio (potentially has a 3.31 rear end, but again I haven't verified this yet), and strip the car down for a group 44/ TRW inspired road car (with the occasional track use).

 

Port and polish the heads are a good start. If I were you I'd look into custom pistons. They can be made to work with the jaguar rods with the pin bushings bored out. These can make a whole world of difference, a guy I was talking to locally said they used to be good for 70 hp.

Then look into cams and exhaust.
I'm making my own intakes and exhaust headers.