Jaguar Specialties

Has anyone seen this before I think this is nutz. I watched there Youtube videos and it shows the guages working and Im not sure but seems like an awful lot of work but as a so called "Bolt On" and pricing like that and the common market for parts and upgrades does this scream Fake? or Fantastic?

 

Lots of post on this subject recently. Apparently the old market for SBC drive trains conversions has been brought up to date.

 

I've seen a bunch of Jags with SBCs. I don't know much about them but I've seen them. They pop up on kijiji and craigslist from time to time.

You can rest assured that the price the website quotes does not include the engine.

 

Chevy (typically - apparently mounting was easier than Ford) conversions were quite common in the 1980's - enthusiasts' magazines were full of ads for kits and for shops.

I think that this was mainly due to mechanical problems with the V12 motors. These were sweet power plants, but often neglected by the owners - unsurprisingly failed. A Chevy motor was bomb-proof by comparison, it could run "on one oil change every 3 years, whether it needed it or not".

There were some conversions in the name of performance. I owned an XKE (E-Type) with a Cougar V-8 shoehorned into the front frame. The previous owner, who did the conversion, did a great mechanical job - however, in terms of driveability, it was awful. The car looked great, but was not fun to drive; in retrospect, I would have much more preferred the original 6-cylinder.

Same thing with the modern V-8 used in XK8's and XJ8's. It's a smooth powerplant; throwing in a (typically high-rpm-tuned) Chevy engine may be useful for drag racing, but I doubt that it improves everyday experience.

With more classic cars, a conversion kills the resale value - that's not really the issue with more pedestrian models, which are quite cheap used... Yes, Jaguar is the poster child for depreciation...

Everyone has an opinion on this topic, for sure; for myself, if I was faced with a trashed motor today, I'd look for a salvaged Jaguar mill.

 

Yes, owning classic car and not wanting to pop the hood on it, is a shame.

 

Yea I could understand about wanting to preserve an original classic. My querry was more intuned with all the mods that are out there would this be a better for power seekers? Sure swapping the KB supercharger on the R seems to be the pinnacle of the mods I've seen atleast within finacial reason but with the potential for an abudance of readily available parts with favorable prices I'm surprised this isn't done more often with the XK8\R after I seen the youtube video of a twin turbo xk8 beat a supra my mind just went wondering

 

Very interesting swap on the XK8/XJ....

 

This is Andrew from Jaguar Specialties. Sorry to not reply sooner, but I didn't see this post/thread until now.

I assure you that a GM LS conversion into an XK8 or XKR using our kit and parts is very real. I have been driving our (prototype) 98 XK8 with 2004 GTO LS1 daily for months now and love the car. Great balance, good fit, great power, and feels (to me) as smooth as the original. And it can even be California emissions legal (our prototype is)

We put the videos up on Youtube to show potential customers (and doubters) that this is a viable, practical, every-day drivable option for your XK8......

And by the way, we now have a second customer with a 6-speed manual version using our parts. How much fun is that? This latest customer will be installing a 2005 GTO LS2 (400hp) and T56 (6 speed) manual trans.....

So if this is something that interests you, get in touch with us for more info.

Andrew@JaguarSpecialties.com

 

Andrew does great work and I have purchased parts from him for my Jag. The LS engine is a great light weight aluminum block/head V8 with great power 350-500 HP in basically stock trim yet can yield decent 20-25 miles per gallon.

If a V8 conversion is done professionally it will hold up value. There are companies like Beecham doing retro MKII's but using a modern Jaguar V8 and they sell for over 90K. For a reliable fast conversion I would recommend Andrew.

Even if you are not a fan of modifying your car Andrew can be a great help in sourcing your jaguar parts especially if you are in CA. I have purchased many stock jaguar parts from him at lower or comprable prices to anything on the internet and I get a lot more service and help. He also is great at helping with used parts too.