That's interesting. Like I said, I thought with the T-bird and LS having the same engine things wouldn't be so hard to get a hold of over there.

About prices, cars in general are much cheaper there, as they are in the UK. I wish cars were as cheap in the rest of Europe.

 

No haters here. It's understandable that people buying Jaguars might want their cars to be Jaguar powered.

About the swap not decreasing the resale value, I can see that being the case over there. But over here in Europe, and somebody else in Europe please correct if I'm wrong, that swap would make the car hard to sell. How many people over there looking to buy a Corvette would want a Corvette with a Toyota engine? That's the same case in the eyes of people here. At least I would think. I know that's accurate regarding the car enthusiasts I hang with.

Maybe that example would help you to understand where I'm coming from. There is no hate.

 

Sorry but the AC is not a good example at all. Like I said, some cars land themselves better to hot-roding, such as cars by small manufactures which don't have their own engine. That's exactly the case with the AC. They didn't have their own engine. They used other manufacture's engines. The car the Cobra was based off of used a Bristol engine. At that point it doesn't really matter what engine you drop in there. The car is already a mutt of sorts.

If you want a fitting example and would like to keep it in the AC Cobra's era, it would be like taking a Ferrari 275 GTB and dropping a Ford V8 in it. Or even an E-Type or XKSS with a Chevy engine. As Enzo Ferrari used to say, we don't sell cars we sell engines. They just come wrapped with a body (paraphrasing). The engine IS the car.

But I digress. I don't want to beat the dead horse, which is why I didn't reply to the first reference to the AC Cobra. But since it was brought up again I just wanted to point out the difference in the scenarios. Besides, it's clear Jagolet made the right decision as it's his car and the swap seems to perfectly fit his needs. In the end this is what matters.

 

Not just XK8's can be had for less than $2000, but XKR's, too:

2003 XKR - $1,600

Over here, LS1 swaps are a hot rodding, cultural thing, way bigger than any "Jaguar Thing". It gets you into circles and lets you hang with crowds that a 20 years old Jaguar won't... Maybe a XKE will get you into those circles, but an XK8 won't. The '59 Chevy, '91 Miata, '78 Buick or '96 Nissan guys with a LS swaps all want to hear how you did it and trade info.

We get 400+ cars at a monthly Car's and Coffee including over 150 "Supercars" and few in the crowd would look twice at an XK8 or even an XKR, but an LS swaps into unusual cars always draws interest.

Normally aspirated LS motors can make over 500 HP reliably, with no weight/complexity penalty of a supercharger and there is no easier way to put a manual transmission in an XK8 than a Jag Specialties LS1 kit.

 

I'm afraid the Brits do it too.
The picture is of a Norvin, a Vincent motor in a Norton featherbed frame.
best of both worlds

 

If you put in 400 to 500 HP should you also upgrade suspension. Seems like a lot of power for car designed around the 4.0.

I rebuilt my transmission, I kind of wish I just trashed it and swapped.

 

The XKR's have 400 Hp with basically the same suspension as the XK8 and a LS1 is lighter than a XKR motor. I already have the larger XKR/XJR brakes for mine and will jump on the first set of Brembos I run across.


The only handling/performance issues one would run into are the same ones XKR owners run into daily - the need for a limited slip rear end and the lack of availability of a more acceleration based rear axle ratio like 3.27:1.

 

Sunbeam Tiger (Ford SB), Jensen Interceptor (Chrysler 383/440 BB)... The newest Lotus Evora has a Toyota Camry engine in it with a Vic Eldelbrock supercharger for gosh sakes.


So much for those British purists who don't like motor swaps.

 

I don't think you understand what's being talked about or even know what an engine swap technically means. A car coming from the factory with the engine from another manufacturer is nothing new. The ones you listed above don't even start to scratch the surface. It has been done since forever by American, British, Italian, French, Swedish and manufactures in many other countries. That is not an engine swap!

 

Yeesh, condescend much?

Some people like the looks of the Jag but need more the 290 HP and a crap transmission and overall mediocrity.

Some people have the tools and mechanical ability to do successful motor swaps. Some people don't. I know which type of person I'd rather be.

 

Sure. But that has nothing to do with what you had just said before and we were way past what you said above. Props were given to him for the swap and he understood where people who are not ok with it are coming from. Done! So I'm not sure the reason for your last reply, beating the dead horse. Especially that it was not even accurate to the subject being brought forward.

 

Hello all, this is Andrew from Jaguar Specialties. I just noticed this thread and wanted to add a few comments if that's ok.

First of all, congratulations to Jagolet on this conversion- it indeed came out very nicely. There's no doubt that the LS is a good fit and a nice option to keep one of these cars on the road as opposed to being junked. For those not aware, 95% of our customers for conversions like this have cars that will either go this way or get junked/sold, even if they are are in nice cosmetic condition.

Here in the US where repair costs of the Jaguar drivetrain have continued to stay astronomical (even though the cars themselves have decreased far in value), an LS drivetrain is a good way to go. And anyone who drives a car like this with LS power will understand in a second why this is a good option. This is not a carbureted small block Chevy- it's a modern, smooth, all aluminum sequential fuel injected V8 with very tractable power and impressive reliability. Again, not trying to convince anyone to do anything, just stating the facts.

Resale? Well, this conversion has been around for about 4 years now (we developed it in 2012) and few of the cars have come up for sale since (like single digits). All I can tell you is from personal experience. About a year + ago, a customer of ours who had done an LS swap on his 97 XK8 had a change of family situation and decided to sell the car. It was a nice convertible with good paint and interior and an LS-automatic conversion done nicely. We helped him sell it and the car went for $12k, which is at least 2x what it would have sold for in stock form. Where we are, a similar standard 97 XK8 would, at best, bring $5-6k here (California) and there are plenty of them for sale, looking for new homes. (As a side note, out here, the broken ones in good cosmetic shape sell mostly in the $750-$1500 range- amazing, no?). Again, that one sale is not a trend, just the only data point I have and it is not an encouragement for anyone to do anything. I thought it was interesting to share.

And I wanted to toss out one technical tidbit. In regards to performance, due to the way we handle the driveline in the LS conversions, we have many other differential options available, including some with limited slip. Rather than live with the stock 3.08 open unit, we can use more aggressive 3.27 and 3.58 units (and a few even numerically higher), some with limited slip and all as a bolt in upgrade with no other mods to the car. (same goes for the LS powered XJ8's using our kit- I have a 99 VDP that has a 3.58 instead of the stock 3.08). These units come from earlier Jag models using very similar rear suspensions- we don't sell the parts, but can direct customers on how to go about making it all happen, and the prices are VERY REASONABLE, in fact, surprisingly so). The point is that there is the potential to realize even greater performance from an engine package of even modest output. But these options are open only to the LS converted cars, not to those with stock drivetrains.

Thanks to all of you for a spirited discussion- we all love these models in one form or another and I am glad we're sharing our experiences in an open and respectful way.

Spring is here and in the next few days I plan to roll my LS1-6 speed manual 98 convertible out of the garage for a run after sitting inside for winter. Always a lot of fun....

All the best

Andrew
Jaguar Specialties

 

when the xk8 was being developed Ford made their new v8 available to Jaguar if their engineers wanted to use it. Jaguar felt that the European market would want a European engine for the model to be marketable. is this a matter of "feel" to the car or a perceptual matter? when i first test drove the xk8 the engine's delivery of power was smooth and refined with nice torque at the lower end. the 4.0 is intended to be rev'ed a little more which is part of the experience. it should be noted that this engine achieves respectable fuel economy without cylinder shutdown routines. modern Corvettes employ cylinder shutdown with the LS to achieve roughly comparable fuel economy. the LS is a push rod engine which allows the lower hood line of cars designed for it. without using VVT, they must use larger displacement with cylinder shutdown to achieve the balance between power and fuel economy.

the curiosity is how would the Europeans react to an LS converted xk8 or other car. would the feel of the engine appeal to them? would the LS be considered too rough? every modern car and some classics were tuned to the vibration of their engines. there was an article in the NY Times about the person who tunes the sound of the new Corvettes. so the question becomes how does this LS motor affect the experience of the xk8. lots of people get interested in the horsepower and low end, but how does it feel when combined with all of the stock Jag bits. when i tested an xkr, it has the extra power, but lost none of the smoothness and lack of aggressive vibration that the NA engine has. if it was not for the supercharger whine, i would have been in.

it is an interesting discussion. will get a chance to drive a c5 this spring to see what the LS is like in its native environment. not parting with the Jag ever.

FYI, the AJ engine can be had rebuilt for less than 3000 USD by a reputable re-builder in CA, so this is not a cost issue.

 

Fundamentally, this discussion is about crankshaft design. It seems arcane at first, but it turns out it is really something most people have an intuition for, and strong opinions about.

V8_engine - Crankshaft

 

Honestly, if anyone actually thinks a Jaguar AJ V8 can be properly rebuilt for $3k (actually I think it is $2400 with free shipping on Ebay!!!!!) then go for it. I've talked with numerous shops that have tried those "bargain" engines over the years and they just don't seem to hold up. Anyone considering them and their "warranty" should ask carefully what is covered- often, if not always, labor is not covered. If you have a problem, sure, return it, but getting it out and the new one back in is on you. Ouch

Knowing what we do about the cost of parts, it just can't be possible that everything necessary is being replaced.

Has anyone on the forum here actually bought one and is running it?? And had it running for more than 5k miles???

If it seems to good to be true.................

 

fair argument, i priced having Jasper rebuild the engine with two way shipping for roughly 1500 USD more and they do not mess up. the CA company that i originally mentioned has performed two rebuild installs for people that i know and they are fine with over 20k on each.

your concept is intriguing and your engineering work is admirable, especially the manual conversion. your work kept many older vehicles on the road. would one day like to experience you xk8 conversion simply for first-hand comparison.

 

curious, i assumed that both engines are cross-plane, perhaps differ in angle. we are also dealing with head flow, length of stroke, mass of pistons, valve float and other issues that in addition to hp curve also affect how it feels when delivered.

imo, garbage motors simply did the cheapest thing possible and increased displacement and avoided the engineering to modernize their engine to overhead cams regardless of hood clearance. they then did not have to develop vvt or variable flow intakes. the whole thing works since modern computing power allows the fuel system to adapt and selectively reduce cylinder use without many problems. just like in structural engineering any idiot can build something strong and it takes skill to make it light and strong, so goes it is easier to add displacement as opposed to designing an efficient system. there are European v12's that displace less than an LS motor. all they had to do was outsource a cheap ECM and fuel control system to make their simple design work.

 

there wasn't much left of the AC when the development was finished, just the body. The rear end , hub carriers, wheels, and everything else that was affected by the horsepower increase was modified or ditched completely.

I was a die hard Ford kid back then. Luckily for me Chevy turned Shelby down. The good times lasted until Jim Hall debuted the Chaparral. My heart sunk when those were on the track.

Z

 

I’m glad Andrew jumped in to offer insight and tech help. As I stated before, he answered EVERY question and answered every phone call. I could not be any happier with his customer service.

Honestly guys we have two big considerations here. Finances and fun

On the finances side, as mentioned I could have put a stock Jaguar motor back in it, but why ? The cost of these 4.0 Jaguar engine builds will only get more expensive as time goes on. The swap to an LS makes perfect sense if we want this car to live on. Future engine replacements will be completed easily and with minimal expense. This car is sure to live on for decades with a Chebby heartbeat. I think that’s much better than watching it be fed into a shredder.

When it comes to fun, well there just isn’t any comparison. I’ve been blessed to own scores of American muscle cars. 428 and 429 Cobra Jets and Super CJ’s, a real deal Yenko, LS-6 Chevelle, Mustangs, Cougars, Firebirds, 2+2 Catalina, big horse Galaxies and so on. I am very familiar with the sound and feel of the American V-8 and I prefer it over anything else. That’s why my garage is occupied by our 66 Corvette roadster, 73 Mach 1 Mustang, 79 Indy F-150 and the Jaguar we are discussing. Even my daily driver 04 GMC pickup has a 496 cubic inch big block Chevy in it.

This swap made sense in every way guys. Current cost, future repairs and their cost, smiles to the mile and the look on the guys face at the stop light. This car is no speed demon, but it has already left a few folks with slack jaw. They don’t expect this unassuming little car to run or sound like it does. You wouldn’t either. It’s quiet and peaceful until you step on the loud pedal.

Tell y’all what I’ll do. Anyone who wants to drop by and take this car for a spin is welcome. I live in Lowell, Arkansas and I know all our backroads well. When we get done with the ride and drive, I’ll give you Andrews phone number. Have your credit cards ready, you’re going to want to order a kit.

 

Maybe some won't know even when the hood is up, if you do like the gentleman in the other thread and write JAGUAR V8 on your Chevy engine:



I found this picture while going through the brilliant Wow picture thread and it reminded me of your post. I was like, aha, somebody found a solution for that too.

This should fool anybody who is not a Chevy or Jaguar person.