Eric:


Budgets always are precarious, no matter where one looks. From national to personal. Each individual must develop his/her own.


Will it stand up? Probably not! A guide, definitely. At one time, I used an Excel spread sheet for my swap. Busted it wide open But gained so much. Catharsis from stress in business. Added computer skills. Good for business ands personal use. And, last, but surely not least, success. The "busted engine" Jaguar back on the road, better than ever.


1. Plot what Andrew or other can provide and at what cost.
2. Plot parts availability and costs.
A. Engine transmission.
B. Out sourced service, ie, exhaust, AC.
C. Bits and pieces. Tach and speedo correction modules.
D. Smog stuff, parts and inspecion.


I busted my budget, big time. Some my fault, some otherwise.


But, in the end, I won. Although imperfect, looks great, runs and drives so nice.
In auto tech, by far my greatest challenge . And I won !!r


Carl

 

odd how things just showup when a subject come along!

friday at local car show, a 1964 Corvette comes in with a 427 LS from a ZO6 Corvette.

manual trans.

it had an Adaptor plate from block to transmission, i ask about it , owner said it uses a 5 speed LENCO unit,(shifts at full throttle, NO lift).

OK to each his own, so do auto. trans shift full bore, something some may not be aware of is a manual trans loses about 6/10 ft of acceleration on each shift, compared to a good automatic.

also usually when 1st starting a modified car project, money is important, but after you are hooked , it becomes less of a concern! the dream can overcome logic!

Ahh, who cares ,you cant take it with you, the kids have grown past you, and they either fight over it , or taxes get it! LOL>

 

Auto vs manual. An age old issue. No person can out speed shift an auto that is set up for that purpose.


But, my first car, 23 T had a way beat conventional stick shifts. Few if any auto boxes around at the time. A Ruxtel after market two speed rear end. I set it up to shift on "torque relief. Hold the shifter forward or back as desired. Lift off the throttle and back on. Much in the way a much later BW Over drive shifts.


Daughter just got a middle sized Nissan four door hatch back. Powered by a little four. And, a continuous variable rate transmission. Some say great, others not so much. Curiosity will get me to read up on just how it works.


The Passat project is done. It fired right up and ran sweetly. Daughter a bit nostalgic as it boarded the flat bed under it's won power and went to the dealer. where it was traded in on the Nissan.


Carl

 

I have another question for you, Andrew.

I noticed in your site that the XJS v8 conversion headers weren't legal for sale or use in California. If you wanted to make sure your conversion was California compliant, what do you need to do?

 

For the California cars, we would use the correct GM cast iron manifolds that both fit the engine/chassis and are ok with the state for inspection. Then the car is legal.

I hope that helps

Are you doing a conversion here or upgrading one already done, or????

Thanks
Andrew
Jaguar Specialties

 

I'm still shopping around and still getting an idea on what I might be taking on and how I would need to budget.

I have family in California and might end up moving there for professional reasons so California legality is something I try to keep in mind.

Part of why I've been asking about how things work with cars already converted to old 350 SBCs is that the most obvious candidates for a swap where a person would not be needlessly doing away with a functioning v12 are the "lumps" or bodies that used to have older SBCs.

Some of them can look fairly nice like this. I wish I was a fan of red:
https://hartford.craigslist.org/cto/6093142032.html

 

Interesting car. I'd ask the seller for some pics of the engine mounts and other pieces he has. Then we can see if they are professionally built pieces (good) or something cooked up in the back yard (run away....). The radiator is no big score there as the correct units for the different applications are modern plastic/aluminum units that only cost $100-$150 brand new anyway. I'd be interested to see what kit he has. The car is a little pricey for what it is but if it's really that far along, it may be worthwhile...

FYI- to be legal in California, that car needs an engine and trans that is 1985 or newer, from a passenger car originally (no trucks) , and set up just like it was in the donor. You'd probably want a modern fuel injected and overdrive transmission which both make for a better conversion in the end, and there are several choices there...

BTW, those wheels are BMW...

I hope that helps

Andrew
Jaguar Specialties