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First post here, though I have been lurking about for awhile now.
My wife has always had the 80's XJS as a childhood dream car and we decided it was time to get back into working on cars.
My previous experience has always been with older 60's Buicks, etc. and I have to say Jaguars are quite the challenge!
I originally acquired an '85, somewhat worn, but in overall good shape and the color blue my wife likes (Code JEF). What I DIDN'T know at the time, was that the knock I heard was what is most probably a valve seat, as the previous owner had overheated the engine.
Enter the '88.
Low miles, runs smooth, but otherwise a rough car.
The plan is to remove the '88 engine and transplant it into the '85, along with stealing various bits and bobs from the '88 to replace worn items on the '85.
Current state:
88 is in the garage and we're ALMOST ready to remove the transmission from below as our garage ceiling is too low for a full list as one unit. Not the preferred route, but I want to have the engine out and the destination 85 in the heated garage before the winter weather hits.
The issue is, somehow, someone managed to get the 9/16 bolt into the upper starter bolt position instead of the T12 that is supposed to be there. Grinding down sockets to make them thinner walled has proven ineffective, and I believe my next option is to grind the head off.
I am not overly concerned about damaging the transmission housing since this has shifting issues as well as a bad parking pawl and I do not intend to use it.
After seeing all of the other posts here and thinking about how much help you all have been to me while lurking in the background I thought I would share my own adventure!
Victory!
I also now realize this "low lift" transmission jack is, in fact, NOT low enough, and I'm going to have to roll the transmission off the jack onto something lower
Thanks!
I have the 5000 extended, and I cant say enough good things about it. Not having to constantly jack and place jackstands is quite the change.
After talking with the helpful folks at bendpak, the Jack points are exactly .5" too far for the standard version to fit comfortably.
Originally Posted by jal1234
Welcome!
Yeah, that bolt is a bear even when it's the correct one.
What version of Quickjack are you using? 5000lb? Extended version?
When I dropped my trans, I had it in a floor Jack and a 2×8. When the floor Jack bottomed out I set the 2x8 on a stack of 2 bricks on each side. Then formed a ramp and did it to the floor and dragged it out.
That is a great idea about forming a ramp, I've been thinking all week about how I wanted to get it down from the jack this weekend before the engine removal.
Also, replied!
Originally Posted by Xjeffs
When I dropped my trans, I had it in a floor Jack and a 2×8. When the floor Jack bottomed out I set the 2x8 on a stack of 2 bricks on each side. Then formed a ramp and did it to the floor and dragged it out.
Rolled the transmission off onto some foam pads I had around, worked perfectly.
The engine pull went perfectly, however I don't really trust the engine stand with the full weight. The amount of flex is somewhat concerning with such a long block, especially loaded.
My current plan is to grab another engine stand and some more steel, and weld up a stand like over at
An Update,
Now that Summer projects (Deck build) are complete, I can get back to this thing.
Merged 2 hand-crank stands and am quite pleased at the balance and ease I can rotate the motor!
Greetings, and what have I gotten myself into!
