A quick ´heads up' on a major project of X100 upgrade and customisation, addressing some of the issues we have of these wonderful machines. This is expected to take a while to complete, and during the process I would really welcome your comments and of course your suggestions for additional improvements. The vehicle involved is a 2000 X100, normally aspirated, but with suspension, engine, running gear, bodywork and interior deficiencies which I hope will be fully rectified once these upgrades have been completed. I propose discussing the reasons for each modification in each post, and I hope to be able to provide full instructions for those (and I hope it will be many) here who will wish to carry out some, or all, of these modifications, none of which should be out of the reach of a normally competent amateur - you won´t need a Ph.D in engineering to do any of these projects! I really hope you find this instructive and interesting.

In the first post, which follows, I will show how the suspension has been both modified and improved.

This is the car in question, before any work has been carried out.:

 

The first area to be addressed is the suspension system. As we know, the CATS system, as well of course as its predecessor, is unreliable and expensive to maintain, and indeed, as was recently reported (Carter et al 2018, vol 17 p1047, Journal of Interactive and Reactive Systems) has been the cause of frequent accidents, and is shown to have been a major, if not the sole, contributory factor in some 37% of all crashes involving the X100 series. This is an astonishing and disturbing statistic, and one of the main factors in the development of the major upgrade discussed here. This is of course separate from the unsightly picture of the X100 with collapsed suspension!

Other reasons for carrying out this modification include addressing the low ride height, which (certainly in my case, and I know for many others) means that every time I see a road hump my car needs a nose job....and I need a new mortgage! So an adjustable, variable height system is called for, here - and it has the surprising effect of giving the car an element of off-road capability.


This modification can safely be carried out at home by anyone with normal workshop skills - you certainly don´t need a Ph.D in Mechanical Engineering for any of this! Full and comprehensive instructions are given below.


As the following photograph shows, the new system (which I hope it is acceptable for me to have renamed as the Diddion Cats2 system) addresses these issues. Unlike the failure-prone digital system of the original suspension, this system is analogue - which of course means infinite variability.


It includes a level sensing unit such that the independently adjusting suspension units should, in most circumstances, provide a completely smooth ride which is far superior to the original. However, whilst a prototype of this has been installed, I am not satisfied with its performance, and would be really grateful for any better suggestions for linking the sensor to the individual suspension units.


Finally, the system offers improved airflow and reduced air resistance, and indeed there will be improved roadholding and a considerable saving on tyres, which for this modification will be much cheaper than the original tyres.

And of course, whilst many consider the overall style of this car to be unbeatable, in this instance I do believe that the overall image and ´presence´ of the car is significantly enhanced.



The vehicle with modified suspension:


Instructions
1. Get the car.
2. Remove the suspension giblets, both front and back.
3. Put in all the new stuff.



Please post any questions.

 

I have some experience with long processes so...

Ok.......ready


I would use black cats.

 

Thank you, Rothwell. I hope you find this to be of value and, yes, it will certainly take a long time. I have put aside at least a complete fortnight working flat out from 10.00am until 10.30 or even 11.00 to get everything completed.

Your suggestion of black cats in an interesting one. I will have to consider this. I wonder what the general views from within the forum would be.

 

Duplicate post....apologies.

 

Interesting and innovative!

In that same spirit, may I offer a humble suggestion? While your onboard (even though it's outside the door) leveling monitor is perfectly adequate, I'm wondering if an automatic hydraulic leveling system such as that found on motor homes might be in order, at least as an upgrade...

If you do indeed press forward with this worthy endeavor, I would entertain any offers of royalties from my idea. Do you think I'll require a patent?

Thank you so much for your diligence in bettering these wonderful machines!

Mickey (Clearly not an engineer)

 

Sure, if the car was black. But then you'd need to wash them daily. Clearly BRG cats are needed.

 

Thank you, Dale. However, I must disagree with you on this......I believe that contrasting suspension colours provide a more aesthetic experience.
Now: Mickey.

Sometimes one encounters life-changing experience, and your post ranks as no 1 in such events. But you should have warned me, and been more gentle with your thoughts. When I read your words I went into a deep decline, requiring many months of therapy. To meet the costs I was forced to sell my wife and my house though, unfortunately my wife did not even meet the reserve price. The house is now gone, but at least I have managed to hold on to my beloved Jaguar. Well, I am now fully recovered, but the direction of the Project has been irrevocably altered.

It is, I suppose, not your fault that your incisiveness, inventiveness and (I don`t think it too much to say) your sheer genius led to my feeling so inadequate. I had, I confess, not even thought about your idea, not remotely, not ever. Indeed, I think my brain power could never stretch that far. As I said, though, I am largely recovered, but there will no doubt be some lingering trauma that will remain with me for many years to come. But I am, following my long absence from this forum, now fully involved with carrying this major project forward.




And I have adopted your idea, which will appear on the next post (focusing on drive train, power unit, plus one or two other aspects still under refinement)

On the matter of royalties, I would resist this with all my energy. Any money to be made (which will, at a conservative estimate, be in the tens of millions) will be mine. Because I am greedy. I am sure that a man of your stature will understand and agree with this reasoned approach. However, in bowing to the inevitable, your name will for all time be attached to the modifications, in the way of all famous modifications, such as AMG, Arden, and so forth.

So you have now entered the motoring Hall of Fame. Congratulations.

 

Mr. Diddion:

Thanks for your kind words, and now it's my turn to bow to your writing skills. Your style puts me in mind of John Kennedy Toole and his A Confederacy of Dunces, a true American classic of tragi-comedy.

 

Diddion,

Thank you for this thread; it is most timely.

I had planned to reassemble the rear suspension this weekend as I now have all the parts. However, I am considering whether my needs may be better served by your suggested new configuration rather than the rather underwhelming , albeit shiny, Bilstein shock absorbers. I’m just slightly concerned that the extra travel permitted by the trellis suspension may result in more frequent wheel to wheel arch contact. Perhaps some high-viscosity lacquer can be applied to the CATS to minimise this.

May I also humbly propose the following for your consideration as a powertrain modification. Note that it is an AJ26 rather than the AJ27 fitted in the 2000, so it will require the ECM to be reflashed, and some re-routing of the exhaust may be necessary:



I will update once I have concluded my deliberations and thank you again for your groundbreaking research.

P.S. The wire wheels are a truly excellent retro touch.

 

I think you will need longer than half an hour a day.

 

Thank you Michaelh. I am most grateful for your comments; as you know, embarking on a project such as this is a lonely, often frustrating and daunting endeavour, and it is these comments from one of the most senior and respected members of this community that gives me the will to continue, sometimes against seemingly impossible odds. I am also glad that you saw, and approved, the wire wheel touch. I spent many nights deliberating whether the ultra modern, sleek and elegant visage of the project would be enhanced by the wheels hearkening backwards but felt that it was a risk worth taking. I still have some doubts about the pneumatic rubber, though, and wonder whether you feel it would be an even greater enhancement to go one step further to solid rubber tyres, or even take the risk of metal (or wood) rims. I have carried out extensive stress calculations, and have had these confirmed by a leading academic. Whilst Professor Jason Coprophilia was, admittedly, asked to depart his post in somewhat murky circumstances (involving, I understand, a lifesize Marilyn Monroe blowup doll, a rocket launcher, 5 US gallons of elephant urine, two packets of popcorn and a pair of frilly underclothes) I can assure you that his credentials in the field of Calculatory Motodynamics and Motostatics (his impressive list of publications can be seen Here ) mean that his is the ideal person to have provided the confirmatory calculatory information, which he did diligently from his prison cell.

Meanwhile, let me confirm that, I am afraid, I am somewhat ahead of you on the powertrain modification, but my approach does somewhat differ from yours. I am, regrettably, unable to access my designs right now, due to what might be called a minor technical matter or, as we like to refer to in the trade, as a glitch, but I am assured that my computer with its many years of work will shortly be returned to me by the Police. However, hiding in the local woods does make continuing with the Project a trifle more difficult. Do others who have embarked on major projects such as this have to endure similar treatment?

 

You are absolutely right. But I am always an optimist, and I am afraid that I do tend to underestimate how long things take. When I was ten I thought I would be an adult by 20, but I am still waiting for that happy event at the age of 72. However, I take your caution on board, and have more than doubled the time allocation to 35 minutes a day. I am confident that this will be sufficient for all unforeseen contingencies.

Perhaps, though, I might ask the forum members for a list of unforeseen contingencies so that I might prepare adequately. I would really wish to avoid having to double the time allocation again, to 40 minutes.....or even more. I am sure that my reasons for this are obvious. Thank you!

 

You could take a few cues from FLOYD, Mud-type regarding the ground clearance issue. This project worked out really well from what I read.

 

First of all, may I thank you for the many thousands of appreciative PMs I have received. It was most kind of you all. And yes, Jenny, Brigitte, Francoise, Suzanne, I will most certainly accept your offers. However, I am afraid you will have to wait your turn as, strange as it may seem, I am not actually Superman!

To the work.

As before, I would like to explain the rationale behind this part of the Project which, henceforth, shall be referred as the PROJECT, in view of its international significance. I hardly need tell you of the major shortcomings of the AJVwhatsits put into these magnificent vehicles. What a sad day it was when Browns Boulevard in downtown Coventry decided to relax their standards so markedly. At he time I was working as a lecturer in a College in Coventry, failing to teach day release motor vehicle apprentices anything at all. Perhaps it was one of those very same morons who ended up making the tragic engine decisions. I cannot say, but those were halcyon days for me, as I existed in total ignorance of the horrors being unleashed on my very doorstep. The college itself was quite a pleasant building.......but I digress.

Perhaps the easiest and most efficient way of enumerating the design and production faults is as a list:

1. Engines with underwear liners. Perhaps our American friends do not truly appreciate what is meant in the uk by the term knickers.
2. The use of plastic in unsuitable places. Spare water pump, anyone? And I am also not going to mention tensioners!
3. Tensioners.
4. Made of steel everywhere they could not use plastic, instead of the all aluminium engine so beloved of the Hillman Imp. Why could they not follow that particular lead?
5. Fully automatic transmission, instead of the far more controllable Manuel unit, which could have been imported from Spain at little cost.
6. Extreme complexity, which as we now know is the cause of fully 50% of all breakdowns, of which 37.5% occur at speeds in excess of 92km/hour (which converts to exactly 163 US miles per hour, or 151.8 UK miles per hour).
7. There is the specific error the designers made of attempting - poorly in my view, and in the views expressed in many other threads on this forum) to convert reciprocating motion into rotary motion. This is noisy, inefficient, and an inelegant solution to an easy problem.
8. The engine was mounted in the front of the vehicle, using space which could have been gainfully employed elsewhere. And it was much too big and heavy, further adding to the need for nose jobs referred to previously. Again, a rear-mounted all aluminium Imp power unit., mounted in the rear, would have been a relatively elegant solution.

There are many other points I could make.

In addition to rectifying the problems of the AJSomething engine, I have been forced to take into account developments likely to affect us all in the future, so ´future proofing´ is a prime consideration. Another major consideration is the increasing pressure about Climate Change, so the long term does not look bright for fossilised vehicles. And this is not just in Europe. In America, too, Donald Trump has now admitted that Climate Change is a real phenomenon, and at the same time has shocked the US and the world by confirming that the supply of all fossil fuels has a main duration of just 5 year before reducing to a maximum of 70% capacity in year 6, 39% in year 7, and possibly as low as 6% in year 8

I want this PROJECT car to be on the road for a long time. I hope you approve of the solution, which will be explained a little after the next picture.


Most of this is self-explanatory. However, I must highlight the Adaptive Suspension Control Module, which is mounted directly above, and is of course connected to, the Levelling Sensor, gracing the left hand door. This important addition was proposed by one of the greatest lights on the motoring scene: MichaelR, whose genius is unbounded, despite his being a money-grabbing git, trying to get his dirty paws on MY royalties. Unbelievable.....But I forgive, though I do not forget. However, due to my own greatness of spirit, his contribution is recognised in the appelation MichaelR variant, now applied to the PROJECT itself.

Technical Matters
This was one of the simplest upgrades. The steps were;

1. Remove the bonnet (hood, for those who don´t speak the Queens English. Shame on you!) and carefully remove giblets.
2. Fix the new power unit in place as shown, using metal bars. Replace the hoodnet.
3. Obtain an Adaptive Suspension Control Module from a local hardware store, or from EBay. OEM is best, but I would avoid generic units produced in PRC, partly because the language problems mean that an eventual link to the Cambus will be difficult. You can use a second-hand unit, but the ASCM is so inexpensive, at well under 20,000 dollars, that it is better to buy new rather than risk compromising future performance.

| have been asked for a list of tools. I will think about it.

The following post concerns engine upgrades.

 

Supercharged Power Unit

Superdupercharged Power Unit

Whilst it is not necessary to have identical twin or identical triplet power units, I believe it is something to strive for because of the sheer elegance of the unit. Do be aware, though, that fuel costs are inevitably increased alongside additional power.

The next technical post addresses cruise control and steering.

 

Make sure and route the exhaust properly otherwise it could get quite unpleasant.

 

What about the brakes?

 

Obviously. Various refinements are under consideration. Please stop hassling me by stating what should be obvious to anyone with even half an ounce of brainpower, though in your case even that quantity is likely to be an overestimation. Your name seems to be familiar. Are you stalking me? There are laws against that yknow.

Another ridiculous question. Ever heard of engine braking?

But thank you both for these creative, useful suggestions. Whilst I am now forced to increase my medication as a direct result of those very suggestions, it is input such as this which will ensure the ultimate success of the PROJECT. Thank you, and keep them coming.

ps. First road test very soon!

 

Just wondering what particular medications / mind-altering substances you are currently taking. I may want to experiment with them as well....