Does anyone do Singer Porsche like conversions on jags of any sort?


Singer Vehicle Design | Restored. Reimagined. Reborn

 

Hard to do on an X100 because they are all post OBDII.


A '90 Porsche you can do just about anything you want to it and Shhhhh... if you register it in Texas (or about 30 other states), it doesn't even have to pass emissions.


Maybe in 10 years people will be re-imagining X100's. Stranger things have happened.

 

Someone like Tom Lenthal (there will be others). Will be hugely expensive.

 

 

You can keep your E Types, dont like them. I know everyone seems to oooh and ahhhhhh about them but they were a radical design when they first came out and set Jaguar out on a new path that then developed into the X100 and the X150 etc.

The good old days of simplistic motors you can keep those too. Been there done that. Had enough of carbs and rotor arms to last me a life time. A real pain in the spark plug. Ok you could bash a starter motor with a hammer to un-stick it etc but that also came with ill fitting doors and a host of other problems.

To me the X100 XKR Convertible is the best of both worlds. I accept it has its faults, plenty of them, but once you get the car sorted you have a car that starts first time every time (touch wood etc). Rotten MPG by todays standards but a joy to drive, look at and work on.

If you hanker after simpler cars go and get my old MK1 Ford Escort, the ones with square headlights. It will only cost you around 30K in the UK. Then you will have a simple car etc. But I bet you end up putting in an electronic system to replace the rotor arm etc.

In conclusion if you want simple buy simple. Simple is not always best.

 

So, I'm going to try to better clarify my intentions when I started the thread. What I had in mind when I started the thread is bringing the car back to basics. Sure there are reasons to be happy that cars today are loaded with technology. It has made cars safer for sure. But some things just make them bloated in my opinion. Do you really need an electric parking break? I know I don't. The safety features are for the most part welcome. But I can really do without gimmicks, gadgets and superfluous and unnecessary things. Especially in a sports car or weekend car or any vehicle that‘s it‘s not my groceries getter as they say.I tried finding out what were some of the equipment the X100 came with to see what I would get get rid of to bring the car back to basics. I'm going by a list of options and equipment I found online.


So here is a list of things I can do without:

• Auto transmission
• CATS
• Power door locks. It‘s a two doors and narrow enough not to be a bother to reach across. Probably would save some weigh and just be one less thing to go wrong.
• Emergency trunk release. If it‘s a cable fine. If it‘s electric, it can go. Don‘t need yet another electric gizmo to weigh it down and fail in the future.
• Heated mirrors. Don‘t plan driving it on winters anyway.
• Electric mirrors. They can go. You set it once and you are done, unless you share the car, which I won‘t. Don‘t need yet another electric motor to weigh it down and fail in the future.
• Rear parking aid. Not sure what that consist of. If sensor, sensors plus camera or what. But if it can save weigh and make it less complex with ones less thing to go wrong in the future, I don‘t need it. It‘s not a bus. Easy enough to parallel park. I did several years with a much bigger car.
• Power seats. They can go for sure! You set it once. And how hard is it to move a seat? I much prefer than waiting on slow electric seats.
• Heated seats. Ditto! Gone!
• The so called premium sound. Gone! Would just enhance the V8 sound instead. That‘s all the sound I need. A basic radio for news and traffic update is fine.
• Power antenna. Gone!
• Navigation. Gone! Stand alone navigation when I need, which would be rare with the X100. Just stick it to the windshield or dash. Stay out of the car when not in use.

Now these are things that I would possibly take off from the car, which is the idea of the thread. Not how I wish the car would have come from the factory, since it‘s pointless as it‘s too late. Otherwise power windows for example would be gone too. But to take them off and install something else is just not worth it. There are few things that fall in this category. Automatic climate control (simple AC would have been fine), electrically adjustable and telescopic steering column ( a mechanical adjustment is more than fine), ARTS, etc. But these are probably more headache than worth to take off. So I guess they can stay in.

Again this is not a wish list of how the cars should have been, but rather a list of what you would do with yours to bring it back to basics. For those saying they like all the tech, weight and complexity, fine. The thread is not for you then.

I understand people have different opinions.

This is just a start as I would have to research more about the cars and have more experience with them to make a deeper analysis. Hence why I asked current owners and those with more experience with the cars here.

 

Never vere from the true intent of the OP... You will get told off!

 

Specially when that OP is Jeagar.


Honestly, you can make it a project if you'd like, make a build thread and document it on the forum. I'm more than sure it would make for some interesting reading. On the other end of the spectrum, the complete opposite to what you want, there is some guy in Japan who is converting his XK8 into an EV. He is on this forum and you can find his thread pop up every once in a while.

 

Did it come across like I was telling people off? It wasn't the intention at all. Since people were posting things that didn't have much to do with the original topic, I thought maybe the reason was because they didn't understand my intentions for the topic. So I thought I would take the lead and post my own list, so people could better understand what I meant.

 

Here you go. Jaguars latest simple car.

 

Uh???

I don't think the idea is this far yet, to become a project. The point was more to generate discussion.

Not discussion if it makes sense or not, or if more toys and more tech is better than back to basics or not, as that is redundant in this case. But more discussions of the type "oh, you want to get ARTS off but keep the aribags? Well that is not possible. You either keep both or lose both" and things like that. Not that what I just said is technically accurate. Just an example.

But the idea was to chat about the possibilities, gains etc of such an approach.

 

I think people thought they knew what the intention of the thread was but then you confused them by moving the goal posts.

Several times it was stated there were no rules only to have rules imposed even to the point of taking to task those who mentioned fuel injection/ carburettors, the very example you used in the opening post and yes, it is exactly what you said.
I believe you can as the thread starter set the flavour of thread but you seem to be trying to micro manage rather than just allow the branches to grow.




_

 

A lot of the things on the take off list don't really weigh that much. Seat heaters are maybe 1/2 a kilo, power locks aren't much, etc.

The XK8 isn't a sports car its a 2+2 GT car. Its designed to be comfortable for long, high speed trips. It uses big cushy foam/rubber to isolate the suspension from the the cars body and tall gears. Sports cars don't do this.

To make an XK8/XKR a proper sports car, that is no longer as comfortable for long, high speed trips, the rubber and foam in the suspension has to at least be replaced with something harder and the back seat removed. Modify the front shocks into coilovers (so the camber/tire wear is at least adjustable), replace the rear mufflers with under axle straight pipes for noise and flow, add brembos, 3.27 rear gears with a Quaife LSD.

If you think this is making a "race car" you can just buy an XK8 where all that stuff you don't want is broken/doesn't work. A tilt/telescope wheel goes "back to basics" on it own. Heated seat, power mirrors, Power seat, etc. might all go "back to basics" on their own, eventually, too. Then you get it experience the joys of motoring in a simpler era and it doesn't cost extra,

 

I'll weigh in with a couple of thoughts. In the vein of going simpler, I could lose the leveling headlights and wouldn't miss them at all. Same with the back up sensors (which are on the fritz again!). Rarely use the heated seat feature and wouldn't miss that. If the electric seat adjustments were reliable I would be fine with them but since they really are not, manual would be fine for the added reliability. With all the nightmarish problems it gives, a manual convertible top would seem like a good idea. The rear fog lights on mine have never been used, (by me) lose them and their button. Don't have the CATS on mine and don't want it, more complexity with minimal additional capability. I like power windows but they are overly complex on this car with all the tricks they have to do and the door switches are also problem makers. And do we really need four different ways to get in to the trunk (key, external button, internal button and remote)? I could do without the power antenna if there was a good windshield mounted one but I will keep the nice sound system. A manually adjusted steering wheel and column would be adequate as well. I wish there was less rubber pluming under the hood (especially valley hoses) and that a lot of the hoses could be replaced with metal tubing and just use rubber for short connections, not long runs. A simple package shelf instead of the rear seats would be an improvement but doesn't really simplify anything unless you count getting rid of seat belts. The auto headlight and dimming mirror features are both overkill and I think overall reliability would be better with out them. The compass is just a toy and not really needed. The integral garage door features seems superfluous; does anyone still use them?

I would definitely want to keep the fuel injection and electronic ignition! I grew sick of piddling with carbs, and vacuum advance distributors long ago.

Make the ZF less complex and less electronic without all the adaptive nonsense. I know a lot of folks want to go with a manual tranny. No thanks! I love to drive them but in my experience most automatics last longer with less repairs than the more finicky manual clutches. Was always having to adjust or replace clutches, throw-out bearings and resurface flywheels. I do wish the ZF was a bit more robust and reliable. I have a Dodge with an automatic that has 250,000 miles and only had the transmission repaired (not rebuilt) once!

A couple of things would need to be added also. Put a filler tube and dipstick on the ZF along with an actual metal pan with a low point drain plug, for gods sake! And real working gauges for temp, oil pressure, etc. An external fuel pump with an easy to reach fuel filter would be a huge plus IMHO. And all the XK100 's should have come with the louvered hoods to promote cooling.

My 2 cents and worth what you paid!

 

A much better idea would be to keep the weight of things like electric door mirrors and steering column adjust and offset them by getting the supercharged version of the car.

Honestly, the OP needs to stop dreaming and just go out and buy an XKR, then fix the things that go wrong, rather than worrying about what might go wrong.

Seriously, how much faster and more reliable will the car be without heated wing mirrors, lol?

 

Before the Brainstorm passes: Does anyone else fondly remember the 2000 F-Type Concept car?
https://jalopnik.com/this-is-the-jag...een-1773855349

 

I wish they had actually made that car.

 

Or the XK-180 that preceded it:

https://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/first-drives/reviews/a5944/jaguar-xk-180-drive-flashback/

I think I have a scale model of one or the other, around here, somewhere

Granville

 

Anyone for the XK120 / XK150.

 

You are right. Many things on the list don't weigh a lot. But it's not only about the weight but also about making it simpler, with less things to go wrong. I have had electric mirrors and electric windows fail on me before and I must say, unless you want to DIY with a part you pulled out of a junk yard, the price of repairing it is almost not worth it. So since we are throwing things out anyway, why not? And as the racing motto goes, grams will eventually amount to kilos.

I'm all for the modifications you mention in your second paragraph, with the suspensions mods etc. I don't think this makes it a race car. What I meant by not wanting to make a race car is that with a race car you can ditch pretty much everything. You can leave just the steering wheel and a single seat in a bare interior without any lining, isolation or anything. This is what I meant I didn't want. I want to keep the leather, I like the dash the way it is etc. But I'm fine with the mods you suggested above. They don't make it a race car in my opinion.
About buying a XK8 where all that stuff I don't want is broken/doesn't work, well the broken stuff would still be there, bloating the car. So they would still need to be taken off.