Change all electrical to USA.

 

.

right on mac, GM Delco/Delphi, the best in the world, not counting some Japanese stuff!

 

Good thread - I think about this all the time.

89-ish coupe:

FRAME & EXTERIOR:

- strip to bare metal
- reinforce chassis
- latest corrosion resistance applied
- latest sound deadening applied
- the most abyssal shade of black known to man slathered 7 layers deep
- the bumpers need… something. what happened to the talented design student with the “modern xjs” sketches from a few years back?

SUSPENSION & BRAKES:

- I don't know enough, just that it needs to be pliant around town and reassuring at speed
- think we'll ever see ABS as a retrofit kit like AC? Not fond of the XJS ABS
- I agree that the rotors need to be of sufficient diameter to not look silly behind modern wheels.

WHEELS:

- also agree that 18" seems to be the max for these cars: they need some sidewall. Definitely need to fill out the wheel wells. I like Mish Mish's BMW wheels. Beautiful.

INTERIOR:

- more soundproofing
- modern Car Area Network or whatever they're calling it
- modern ICE with stock vintage Alpine head unit appearance
- probably delete the spare for a subwoofer
- of course heated and cooled seats
- programmable LED lighting. nothing garish, would be nice to have mood and task lighting
- steering column stalks from a Mercedes or Lexus or ANYTHING
- HUD for GPS, etc
- interior would be really close to stock in appearance

POWERTRAIN:

- must be a V12. Mercedes TT fits the bill nicely. adequate power with the right characteristics


EXHAUST:

- hire Maserati engineers to make me something nice

 

go for it Flint ,cant cost much more than few hundred thousand!

i'd like bumpers Chrome that look like the early HOT Rod NERF bars!!

 

I think I got this one covered. I bought a badly crashed Aston Marton DB7 with 5881 miles. There was a battery fire in the trunk so the FD covered the car with soda. It will all clean up and I'm still dismantling. Has all the good stuff... but I don't know if it's all going in an resto-mod XJS or XJC at this point. AM was owned by Ford at this time so I'll be using 2 Ford Mustang V6 engine control units just like Aston did. This will interface well with the existing sensors. It will have sequential injection and coil on plug ignition. And... its all gonna fit becasue XJS, XJC and DB7 all use the same platform. Gonna be a hoot!

5.9L v12, 48 valve with equal length headers.
T56 Six Speed
3.73 rear gears.
Brembo Brakes with 14 in Alu hat front rotors.
2.5 inch dual exhaust.
Sport rack
Locking Diff
Bilstein Shocks.
18 inch wheels
I've done retrofit ABS, chassis stiffening and NVH abatement on other coupes, so that will be proforma.

I've learned a lot about high end auto construction too. The Db7 is a XJS on steroids. I got to learn how and where they reinforced the chassis and saw the techniques and materials used to assemble the car to a very high level. I will apply all this to my next and current XJC project.





















Mangled front brace. Will use as a design template. 1 x 0.5 x 16ga rectangle tube is on order and will make one for my red coupe's up coming track day.
T56 is from a Viper, known to be a good variation of that box.

 

ICS this is going to be interesting. Jaguar Martin XJDB please.

 

I used to have a '69 Mustang, fastback, 302 CI and I always thought how nice it would've been to have everything modern under the skin. To replace the body of a latest/hottest Mustang with that of my '69. So, it would be a '69 Mustang on the skin, but a modern monster underneath. Probably not that easy to execute, but, well, that was a dream, just a dream.

So, how about doing such a dream job on one's XJS? How would you like your XJS body placed on one of the latest 5.0 L supercharged Jags, if that was doable? Heck, just the thought of my XJR's running gear in my XJS really makes me day-dream, what about everything modern, convenient and powerful under the glorious XJS body? Don't just dismiss the prospect without stopping to give it a minute of thinking what it would be/feel like if it came true. Wouldn't that be one heck of a Restomod? Nothing wrong with dreaming....

Cheers,

 

Yes but after spending all that money you will have an out of date drivetrain in your classic car in 10-15 years. Better to modernize the 302 or V12 with heads, exhaust, stroker crank, modern ECU, etc then you will always have a classic...

 

I always dream about this, and maybe with this new project car I'll slowly start working towards it.

My vision is for it to be the ultimate driver's car - lighter, more direct and responsive, modern electronics and tuning, manual, cammed, ported, intake with ITB's, tubular exhaust, side pipes, etc.

Singer does a reimagination for the Porsche, something along these lines for the XJS (maybe not to the extent that Singer does their cars), I think, would be a hit.


And a wide body of this style:

 

By ten years may not be all that out of date, but 15 or 20 years I may not even be driving it. And a proven and truly sophisticated V12 instead of trying to fix that dated old Jag V12. Or, even the 5.0 L supercharged V8 from an F-Type that I mentioned on the original post.

 

I think the resto mod idea can get out of hand. Barring the endless ability to spend unlimited amounts of money on a project, the whole idea of improving the early car gets lost. Let's take early Mustangs for an example. I sold my '70 a couple of years back, but I had a '66 back in the day. Here's a car with a very poor designed suspension and weak bodyshell. The ergonomics of these cars is terrible, and the inherent safety aspects even worse. Now there are complete all independent suspension, four wheel disc brake, rack and pinion steering, frames available to set your Mustang body on top of. Add a Shelby style supercharged motor and transmission. What's left of the original car? What's the point in all this? Driving a vintage car is about reliving an experience that you had or wished you had. Improving that Mustang with upgraded suspension, steering, and brakes a fuel injected motor and a/c, would make it a better and more fun car to drive. Enjoy the Mustang for what it is Enjoy the XJS for what it is. Make some reasonable improvements. There are XKRs and F types available if you want more performance

If I could afford an XK120 I would make it as roadworthy as possible and drive it as much as possible. I wouldn't try to turn it into an F type! Not to rain on everyone's fun, just the view of an old guy on a fixed income.

 

"To each his own" certainly applies here.

While not disparaging resto-mods, I agree, Rivguy. Personally I'd rather perform some upgrades but leave plenty of original DNA intact. And, of course, the entire point of a full-on resto-mod is just the opposite: to remove as much original DNA as possible! Two divergent paths.

Besides oldie Jags I spend a huge amount of time working on older Mustangs, Corvettes, musclecars, ...all sorts of cars..as part of my job. Right now I have a 1947 Jeep project and 1971 Datsun 240Z project going on. They're all cool and enjoyable *in their own way*.

All could be vastly improved but I love 'em for what they are, not for they aren't.

Other people see what they could *become*.

Somewhat related:

I'm reminded of the old yarn about the man having marital problems. His wife, he says, made him change his diet, the music he listened to, his political beliefs, his style of clothes and haircut, and made him shave his beard. She made him stop drinking, forbade him from hanging out with his pals, and made him give up hunting and fishing. Five years later she complains "I don't know what happened, You're just not the same man I married"



Cheers
DD

 

I don't know if there are any US options like this (outside of contacting ICS? ), but there's a company in England that basically restomods Jaguar XJSs as well as classic XJ6s and Aston Martin DB7s.

Home - XJS & XJ from KWE Cars

As you can see on the website, they offer to do transmission upgrades and more modern electronic engine management installations on top of the more conventional usual restoration and detailing services.

They might have gotten super busy ever since Top Gear featured them in a segment with James May. I can't find a good clip of the segment, but I did find the car that was featured in it. It's pretty much my dream car!

https://www.silverstoneauctions.com/...xjs-v12-by-kwe

I've read that even though they don't work in the US, they answer questions and will sometime talk shop with you if you're working on your own project.

 

It used to be a tradition that you just did not alter those nice original cars from stock, but when you see the current auctions you realize that the trend has changed significantly. Restomod '55-'57 Chevy's, C1 through C3 Vettes, '50's trucks, etc., have been quickly growing in public interest with the basic cars' looks being preserved but with a state of the art running gear and modern conveniences while fetching incredible prices. I truly don't see anything wrong with this trend and the on-going market seems to agree with it. If people prefer to just fix the old existing gear that's fine, but that's just pure restoration. This thread is more about restomods.

 

my dream resto was that AUDI V12 twin turbo DIESEL engine, BUT he who hesitates loses, it sold for $20,000. USD the engine!

supposedly the only NEW Audi V12 Diesel engine in the world available!!

ron

 

@icsamerica do you have a build thread for your project? Holy cow! That's the V12 that's 2 Fords welded together? or a Jag development?

Those headers!!! It's gonna sound GOOD.

Ron, I've yet to see another one (audi TTV12 diesel) - not even at a wrecker's. You could always go Mercedes! Wouldn't be diesel but a $1200 tune will give you insane numbers! And you'd still be in the V12 club

 

You sound like my X wife, I never knew you were married before, I wasn't.

 

Sound good...I think so. I've got a bi-mode exhaust planned too.

I think it is 2 Ford's but I don't know which one. Perhaps it's the 3.9 V6's front to back or two 4.0L I6's side to side, and destroked. That would make sense from a manufacturing stand point becasue modular engine design was all the rage at this time. I'm fairly certain if Jag continued on with a V12 it would have been this engine. Kind of like the Audi S8 had the detuned Lambo V10. No way for me to know that fore sure, though.

I dont have a build thread yet becasue I've not made up my mind weather it's going in a XJS or an XJC. I already have another XJC in a sorry state but was considering an XJS becasue the chassis structure is way better to start with and that would get the car on the road sooner. The chassis of an XJC with 400+ HP will need lots of work to feel right and that takes lots of time. For now, I will wait and see what opportunities present themselves as it's not a desiccation I need to make at this time. I'm still working on my other Series 2 coupe / XJS hybrid and will need lots of time to get v12 the engine running as it sits.

The whole donor car was very cool and assembled in a hands on low production way. For example there are many place where an item would have two fasteners and one side would have more nylon washers than the other so it fits in a perfect way. Lots of black tape, wire ties and black silicone, and black windshield ribbon holding everything together. It's all very personal and aspirational and clear the designers and assemblers were struggling to make a great car out of what they had available to them.

 

ICS
The Aston V12 is two Ford Duratec V6s welded together front to back. Great engine.

 

Thanks, good info, so it's a AJ30 too. Good to know. That opens up some performance and parts options for me. I read on the interweb that a fully dressed Durtec V6 is 365 lbs, so if we add an estimated 300 for an additional bare durtec we can extrapolate 665lbs. Add 200lbs for a t56 and clutch... and at about 900 LBS as a package it's reasonable considering it's an exotic.