hey JT thanks man! yeah i have been racking my head for a while about keeping it or not. now that i am about to pull it from the car, i think my choice is cemented. thanks for the support and stay tuned for progress

I think you guys missed the part where he said he wants to autocross. I don't care what sort of transmission and rear end you put in there, it's still going to be heavy. Autocross is all about lightness and agility!

just out of curiosity, and i mean 0.5% curiosity, how much of the hoses and all crap on the engine can i remove and still have it run? i want it as basic as possible, no a/c, no cruise, etc, if possible. after seeing/hearing that video Alan posted of the xjs hauling ***...

you don't need the A/c or Cruise, in fact that Harrison compressor weighs as much as a small planet. I slalom mine twice to three times a year on the JCNA course and sometimes with the local corvette club. I'm running open exhaust all the way back to the straight through resonators ( to include empty down pipes and cats) "H" pipe, open flow air cleaners, stage 3 shift kit, B&M adjustable modulator, single coil set-up. It'll hold first as long as you want it and squawk the tires on all up shifts. Next up is a different rear gear set.

My Firebird didn't fair much better then my XJS.😉

The M22 "rock crusher" close ratio WAS a great trans. IMOP I would go with the TKO 600 5sp. 2.87 first, fifth gear .082, 3.54 diff = 1,800rpm @ 60mph on level road. Very close to a Muncie 2.20 close ratio feel. Much stronger trans also. The weak part of your driveline will be your diff (dana 44) & the IRS in general. Hole shots and 500 lbs of torque with a stock Jag rear won't stay together.
Lawrence

Crafty. You can get rid pf most of it and increase reliability by buying quad manifolds and modify a lucus distributor with a Crane ign system.

great info guys. being my first project i'm sure there are going to be a learning curve. having this car as a daily drive as well i am going to have to have the cats on, just to keep it clean but taking everything else out and maybe some small mufflers to not **** the neighbors off too much. i plan to make carbon fiber hood, trunk lid, fenders, race seats and remove the sunroof and replace it with a carbon panel to fit and maybe the dash if i get inclined enough. i looked at the dual quad looks great but looks like a pain as well. then i'd have to buy 2 efi conversion kits and rig all that crap up. trying to simplify the whole mechanical operation of this car. i'll have to keep my eye out for a tko 600 and a bell housing and pedals and figure out what wheels and tires to redo the rear end with better gears. planning on 16" rims. 8" in the front, 9" in the rear

finally got the rad/fan/housing out. man could they put any more antifreeze in this engine? also, discovered a nice drain on the elbow and enjoyed a antifreeze fountain. needless to say my floor is really clean now. the body parts about to be prepped for molding

More food for thought.

Since we're posting V-12 inspirational videos.

Dang, that's some aggressive shifting!

man those are some really nice videos/cars. so, since the canadian dollar is doing so well nowadays and will be for the foreseeable future, i'm going to stick with the v12. still going to pull it and give a once over. would still like and manual trans in it but if there is a manual auto kit for the 400 i will most likely be sticking with that as well, stay tuned

We did it!!! We convinced him!!

What is this "manual auto kit" you're talking about for the TH400?

haha yeah. i cant get that hammond car sound out of my head for some reason. i know there are kit for automatic cars to make them manual, drag cars use them, not with a clutch but it wont change gears unless you change it, like tiptonic or something similar. something like this i suppose: TCI Full Manual Valve Bodies 221200 - Free Shipping on Orders Over $99 at Summit Racing have you guys had any experience with this type of transmission?

I have not had experience with it, but it does increase my prospects for getting an XJS. Do you know if they can downshift on deceleration? Or would you have to blip the throttle?

He's talking about a shift kit.


This is what I put in JagZilla when it was still an automatic. Nice kit. I was able to hold any gear to redline, and I could downshift to 2nd, or, low at any speed. That's pretty important when you consider that the V12 doesn't make its power until around 5,000 rpms, and the stock Turbo 400 shifts at a much lower rpm.
TransGo Performance Shift Kits 400-1-2 - Free Shipping on Orders Over $99 at Summit Racing

Not trying to hijack the thread, but what happens if you shift into low at say, 15 mph? Will the car lurch? Also, are the shifts controlled through the normal shift lever?

I see this as an interim solution until I could justify spending the dough to install the TKO500 manual transmission.

Yes, you just use the gear selector to shift as you normally would. Gear changes, up, or, down, work pretty much as they do with a manual, except you don't have a clutch, and, you have fewer gears to choose from.

thats what im worried about: do a shift kit and then realize its just that, a shift kit on an auto. i'm going to be on the lookout for a trans and pedals and all that, 5 speed, maybe from a donor camaro or something of the like.

does anyone know what type of power gains, completely ballpark, headers and high flow intake manifold/throttle body would make? similar to something like the pic attached.