yeah. manual steering isnt for the feminine of physique.

as far as what its like to drive.... its absolute driving bliss.

lastly, why was it so hard for you to believe my gutted cat with a lightweight powertrain would be in the 3300lb range when your big massive V12 car is only slightly above that with a full interior and a bit of the roof removed?

 

Last time I looked I'm definitely no light weight, but Ill be dammed if I ever drive one of these cars with no power steering. I actual find the power steering not that bad for its age, if anything you could always adapt one of the newer light weight systems to one.

Ron you bring up a good point about weight, its going to be very interesting to see how much if any weight I shed when I do the Motor-Box transplant, but mind you its still a V12, just a manual one, everything else will be stock standard factory.

M90 for my own curiosity, what motor are you running?

 

M90 tossed the 12, and now has a GM V6 cylinder engine.

my opinion is the car has been destroyed, very few here would drive anything like it,especially for a daily driver.

NO PIX inside and outside.

 

why?

 

This gave me a good laugh. Manual steering isn't as bad as everyone seems to think it is.

And I commend your v6 swap. I'm all for doing things differently. After all isn't that what hot rodding is all about?

If we did the same **** over and over again we'd still be killing our food with sharpened sticks...

 

[QUOTE=ronbros;1073708]M90 tossed the 12, and now has a GM V6 cylinder engine.

my opinion is the car has been destroyed, very few here would drive anything like it,especially for a daily driver.

I disagree. I would drive it and enjoy every minute of it. HE is building HIS car to HIS needs. He didnt destroy it, he changed it. Ive gutted many car to decrease the weight.
My 86 has a 350hp sbc. Would you not drive that because it doesnt have a V12.
You should cuz its lotsa fun.

 

I was at a bike event years ago with my best friend and he brought his sportster cafe racer and a guy said "you've ruined it" to him and his reply was "no I haven't hit anything yet"

 

ronbros is just trying to get me worked up. its not just a 6 cylinder engine. its a ~300whp, 340wtq supercharged V6 running 12psi thats a good 200lbs lighter than a SBC swap. the car is very light. the manual steering even at a dead stop is not bad at all. and the car is a complete joy to drive. it has no body roll to speak of no matter how hard i throw it into a corner. if i crack the throttle the tail will step out on command.

annnnd the car has retained much of its jaguariness comfort. the ride is very smooth, relatively quiet, not much road noise considering. to me its comfortable.

chopping that gorgeous roof off of a pretty car, covering it up with some sheet metal, installing an exhaust the size of a diesel truck, and throw on some of the most god awful ~19" wheels ive ever seen with terrible fitment, and then squawking around on a forum harassing people for doing things differently than you is how you ruin a car.

this is what the car looks like inside/outside. first drive with open headers. as for me fighting the steering so hard in the beginning of the video, it helps if you air up the tyres.

 

I commend you on your conversion, looks good and seems to drive well, but must say it's definitely not my cup of tea, the lack of power steering and blowfly sound would drive me insane.
Back to the subject definitely a T5 would help you as you now have only half a motor left (LOL)! Seriously with such a new motor in it wouldn't you better to look for one of the new 6 speed Auto/Manual style boxs that they are using now, paddle shifts are mighty cool and these things handle some insane hp.

 

It blows my mind that a man who drives a jaguar with no roof would accuse my car of being hot, cold, and noisy.

 

M90. Love it. Definatly not your grandfathers XJS

 

somehow you guys who put down a 12 cylinder engine ,just dont get it.

and never will ,till you drive one for some time, like at least a couple months or more.

the finesse and smoothness cant be had by any other engine,4/6/V6/V8, Ferrari used 12cylinder engines for racing,having tried V8/V6s,etc.

drivers,, after a long hard race, were more alert and more relaxed and in a better frame of mind!

and i have gutted more cars than most of the guys on this thread, chopped ,channelled, sectioned ,shortened, lenghtned,, built race cars,track cars ,road course, and DRAG cars, went 200mph back in 1965.

lets put some facts here, cant get a Jag V12 run, cant make a 700R4 stay together(all the while saying they are junk).
is it just possible there may be a problem with the mechanic and his skills.

and i have built some of those GM V6, and blew 2 Buick Grand national engines, into rubbish, finally put a GM LS2 into the buick,with a 4L80E with shift kit, a much better car now.

anyhow if i didnt light his fuse last year,his car now may never been running now!hehe.

this BS about mine is bigger than yours , could go on for ever.

 

Ronbros. We are not putting down the V12. YOU are putting down anything thats not a V12.
Dont slam people who dont follow your preferences. If you have nothing good to say. Keep your comment to yourself.
Do you understand what this forum is for?
FYI. We are suppose to support and help each other, share stories and such.

 

Guys, please be mindful that this is an easy going and friendly forum.....do not let things get out of hand!

We ALL have opinions here, we may agree with others or not in certain cases, and thats absolutely fine, but...

Please do it in a civilised manner and without having a go or winding others up.

Once it gets to this stage, things are said that shouldn't be and someone will be taking a holiday from the forum.....not what we want.

 

i dont ever recall hating on a 12 cylinder engine. the 6.0 is a great motor! the 5.3 unfortunately isnt.

that simply doesnt interest me. im interested in performance cars, having a light nose, being able to throw a car around. which is why i went with the smallest most potent, reliable engine i could.

then why am i even arguing with you?

way to start throwing low blows. a jag V12 that ate a timing assembly is to blame. not me
and as for the 700R4, i find it laughable that you imply yours is stock and holding up just fine. my stock 700R4 broke an accumulator spring in half after a few days of spirited driving and annihilated a friction unit.

i thought you bought your GN already swapped. i distinctly remember the thread you posted about it.

dont you dare imply that my XJS is running because of your input. if i listened to half of the things you say i wouldnt be working on anything. youre just a troll. always have been.

my XJS is lighter than yours, yours makes more power than mine. theyre on equal performance footing. more money than brains = more brains than money.

 

OK, the light went on, L67, I saw that earlier and was thinking, what the heck small block is the L67? Holy Canoli, it is the supercharged Buick V6! That is an interesting choice. And at 12 psi, that is about 2x stock boost? Any idea what the HP or torque output are? I am surprised the 700R4 did not hold up, they work pretty good behind a 350 SBC in a pickup while towing. I know all T5's are not equal, I would think a good one, WC, would hold up, but then again I thought the 700 would hold up. Either way, good luck. Interesting ride!

 

I guess this is all after the fact, the 700 is on its way out to be replaced with the T5. That 700 transmission should have held up to this car. The old Buick Grand Nationals used the much weaker 2004R behind a pretty hot turbo 3.8, they probably weighed more than your car, and rarely had a problem. The 700R4 was never tuned for your engine, and I suspect there was a problem with line pressure and/or throttle valve pressure, just not properly matched to the engine torque curve.

 

i had a 1982 Camaro (that I modified) put a 467" BBC, dynod 575hp, and a properly built 700R4, lasted for a couple yrs before letting go.

by then 1989, parts were available for incresed perfromance,out of 700s.

never had problems again,that is why i used a 700 in my Jag,with V12, i have a lot of experiance with the 700s.
19yrs and counting, and i run some serious tires for grip.

 

I've had to manouver my V12 without power steering... Holy moly! I think many trucks with no power steering are easier to move!

 

M90 your dash looks killer I'm planning on doing the same with mine