From what I can discern from the pics he posted I don't think that Joel(?) has mutilated the car. And I don't doubt that the power upgrades have improved the car's overall electrical system.

I get that he sees this car as a testament to his late brother and finishing it will give him some comfort after such a traumatic loss. I am all for that and respect his efforts.

I reserve any judgement till after he finishes. And I encourage him to consider starting a thread to capture both brothers' work and add some detail that might be useful to others. Pics are cool but info about components used, difficulties encountered, etc. are valuable too.

So far all the mods look well executed except for the subs in the back seat which are still a WIP. Based on their size it seems like this car would be a good candidate for the complete rear seat delete that a few others have done. The subs could maybe then be tastefully tucked away and some storage space regained.

I am looking forward to seeing the finished project. Hoping that he continues to share his progress too.

 

thanks for the positive compliment. The box I'm building now will be vaneered to match the dash and engraved with jaguar xk8. It should come out nice. Those subs needs the air space or else they don't perform properly and will bottom out. According to the manual I have just enough room with my box design to get the bass where it needs to be. Believe me the upgraded alt and wired have juiced up the stock electrical system. The windows roll up much faster and even the top operated quicker. When the auxiliary fans come on I lose no voltage and the trunk once it's finished there will be no wires showing besides the ones going to the amp. I'll never have to worry about the voltage issue these cars have with the upgraded wires. Sitting at 14.7v and 14.5 with the ac and fans on is a huge improvement over stock. I think the mods were done tastefully as well and the radio yes it blocks the controls however the head unit can be folded in with the push of a button and I can can access every control I need. I don't think the stock wiring is sufficient. It has a small 4 gauge wire coming off the alt that has all that current to pass through to power the car. I've noticed in city I average 15mpg and that's stop and go. That's average combined and I rarely do any highway driving on my route to work. The computer claims I get between 24 and 26mpg on the highway. I doubt that is accurate but I would say it gets a solid 24mpg on the highway. The rear speakers are components with tweeters. Re audio triple x 6.5s and the same for the front doors. The high pass filter is set on the radio at 120hz so all of my bass comes through the subs created quite and orchestrated sound. I still have the stock speakers if anyone is interested in replacements and they sounded good but those re sound 100x better. Equipped with a neodymium magnet and The ones in the middle the triple x are the speakers I'm running in the jag on an old school Rockford 800a4 with a dyno certificate of 932 watts. 2 inch voice coil just for door speakers and the tweeters are the soft dome tweeters and have a beautiful sound. I'm not a fan of the titanium bulllet tweeters. My brother was all about sound quality and they take every bit that amp has to offer and sound amazing. They have cross overs with them as well. Great sounding speakers for 230$ a pair
​​​​​​huge improvement over stock.

They tell you when you install an msd ignition into a vehicle to have a high performance electrical system or else you may not get the results that they claim. I'm going to be changing the coil packs soon as they're the originals with almost 110k miles on them.


I did post this because I received a pm from a member because they had an issue with their fscgkrj head unit and the dealer wanted over 200 to replace the unit. I am documenting my progress in case there are any others who would like to do the same thing to there vehicles. I understand there are few to none that would do it to this extent however due to my knowledge of car audio from my deceased brother I am willing to help anyone who may have any questions about upgrading their audio system in their jag. I would be more than happy to provide information on products and how to's for those who are looking to improve their stock system or add new technology to their ride. Bluetooth is nice wireless hands free communication is great. There are many units on the market that are affordable that will provide these features. You can even get kits for the steering wheel controls. My brother spent a lot of money on this car and time so my guess is he just was comfortable using the remote the radio came with. You can even hook the stock Alpine amplifier up to the new radio you buy and greatly improve the sound of your ride. I have a 12 band parametric equalizer and multiple different options to increase sound quality. I'm very impressed with the pioneer x7800bt. It is an expensive unit but provides many features to fine tune your audio system to whatever types of music you like.

 

I know everyone is going to flip out but I'm excited to say I'm in the 150db club now with my convertible jaguar. These cars having amazing acoustics and the air it moves is unbelievable. My brother would be so proud I just wish he was here to see it. 😭

The port is almost 13 inches long and I can still see out of my back window to check for traffic behind me. Due to the convertible top there is absolutely no rattle except where the top latches to the frame. I'm going to put a layer of sound deadening material to cushion it. Maybe 2. It is amazing how great it sounds because most people have to layer their car with deadener and this car has absolutely no rattles except that one and it's not very noticable. The logo didn't come out as well as I had planned because the stencil blew off. It's .75 MDF then the outside layer is .5 oak. Very strong and heavy box. Sounds amazing. My brother would be so proud!!!
​​​​​​Im young and this was my brother's request so please keep your negative comments to yourselves.

 

It's a discussion forum Joel so you are going have to expect comments good and bad as long as no one is abusive that's what the forum is for.

 

Joel.
I think your brother would be proud of you for completing his project. There's a lot of personal stuff involved here, and none of us is trying to take any of that away from you.
What you have done is what most of us would probably not have done, but this forum is full of enthusiastic owners, some of whom have modified their cars to reflect individual taste or a desire to be a bit different. No problem with that until - and this may never be the case with you - it is time to find a new owner. If it can be "retro-fitted" to somewhere close to original specification, then go for it, and be fulfilled that you finished the work your late brother had started.
Drive it, turn the volume up to 11 and enjoy !!

 

No my brother left it to me so I plan on keeping it for a very very long time. I take great care of it. It is in perfect running condition. It gets compliments all the time and with the stereo addition I have people taking videos of it all around town. It's awesome