Hello all !
I'm a newbie to the Jaguar world and this forum. I appreciate the add. I've previously owned only one British car in my life. 36 years ago I bought a 69 Triumph GT6+ that was ill tempered, hard to work on but ran like a striped ape when it ran right.

A couple of months ago my wife and I bought a 1999 Jaguar XK8 with a bad engine after the previous owner tried to drive the car home 60 miles with no coolant. It did not end well as he drove it until it quit. The engine is a 4.0 V-8 that is good for a core only.

We did quite a bit of research and price checking on repairing or replacing the 4.0 before giving up. The cost of these repairs are ridiculous. Soooo....... and this where I'm going to get flamed by the purists, I've decided to put an aluminum 5.7 liter LS-1 Camaro engine in it. We will also be swapping out the automatic transmission for the Chevrolet 4L60E transmission.

I'll start a thread on the build as I go along. We have acquired the Chevrolet components after buying a 2002 Z-28 as a donor car and we are purchasing a kit from Jaguar Specialties. I apologize to the purists as I too am typically a purist. BUT, in this instance I feel like GM power is the way to make this sick kitty better. Dependability, drive ability, parts availability and just sheer horsepower make the decision easy for me.

Again, thanks for the add and I'll keep you posted as we go. When I get the Jaguar engine, trans and accessories out of the car, I'll post them up for sale.

Thanks y'all !

 

Look forward too your travels.

Wayne

 

heck while you are at it convert to a 6spd manual. YeeeHaaaaaaaaa

 

Purists? What's not to like about improved performance, reliability, and fuel economy? I've started saving my pennies for just such a conversion when the inevitable motor and/or trans failure occurs. Until then I'll just keep up with maintenance and drive it as much as possible. If you don't mind, please keep a running total of your expenses and time.

 

I too am interested in this as I plan to go that route when I have a major problem. Would be interested in what you paid for donor vehicle as I've been looking at them and seem pretty high

 

how is the new engine, are you going to rebuild prior to putting it in the jag?

 

There is a couple of company's that make the parts to make it an easy swap.

 

I would stay away from the 5.3 LS motors, by many accounts I have seen they are junk,

 

There are different 5.3's. Most are iron block truck motors, but there are newer AL 5.3 truck motors and AL FWD 5.3L car motors.

The Early 5.3's that are "junk" are iron block anyway, but even so the issue is cracking cylinder heads which is one of the first things to get cheaply upgraded to better flowing later model castings and the iron block itself is nearly bullet proof.

Other problems like the "Piston Slap" issue with early LS's is also a non issue. My 2000 Yukon XL with a 6.0L has 168K nearly trouble free miles on it now but had "piston slap" at 20K miles. Turns out "Piston slap" on most early LS's was a cracked torque converter flexplate. Easy fix on an engine swap car.

Few motors are as sorted as LS and the bad reputation of some versions and simple to fix problems just makes them cheaper to buy.

I'm glad XK8's got an undeserved bad reputation or I never could have convinced my wife to let me keep mine. When my son and I drove it home she was going to kill us until she found out how little we paid for it.

 

The Aluminum 5.7L / 4 speed Auto combos are usually around $2500, the T56 6 speed manual versions start at $3500, then plan on rebuilding the T56 for another $1000 (You don't have to worry about that for the autos).

Heads/cam and other mods to the motor add to these prices and are why most people buy a wrecked '98-02 Z28 or T/A for $3500 - $5000, strip every thing and send the rest to the junkyard. Demand is high and the supply ceased in 2002, so these numbers may continue to go up until the newer cars get cheaper.

Wrecked 2wd Trailblazer SS, GTO's, CTS-V and G8's are also an option but are more money as there is more demand for these later motors. C5 Corvette motors work, but the transmission is a transaxle so that needs to be changed.

A 2wd 1500 truck motor/trans (just add a cheap car intake manifold) can be bought for sub $2k, but almost all are iron block. Many have AL heads so the weight difference isn't huge, but the snob appeal falls off a cliff and you get branded a "cheapskate" behind your back. If your ego can handle this, there are no real issues other than the psychological ones.

 

The XK8 we purchased on a whim. It was at a wrecker impound auction we were conducting for a towing company. (I'm a full time firefighter and also an auctioneer) It's a SUPER nice car that experienced a water pump failure. Unfortunately the elderly owner tried to drive it to his home 60 miles away. He didn't make it, hence the wrecker. We gave $1850.00 for it. It is ridiculously nice, obviously garage kept and currently rests between our mechanically restored 66 Corvette roadster and rotisserie restored 73 Mach 1.

We bought a running and driving 2002 Z-28 for $2000.00. I've traded the carcass off for $750.00 keeping everything I need for the swap. That means I've got $1250.00 in the GM drivetrain. That puts us $3100.00 deep in the project to date. We are going with Jaguar Specialties for the swap kit at a cost of $2000.00
Andrew has been super helpful and supportive so far and I am comfortable with their promise of support.

I estimate that I'll spend another $1200.00 in ancillary costs including replacing the alternator, a/c compressor, p/s pump and all other related accessory drive system components. It's never going to be easier than it is right now, so I'll do it before I transplant it.

The engine is a 5.7 liter aluminum V-8 that'll easily make 400 horsepower with a tune. There's no need to build it or the transmission so I'll put them to work without opening them up.

The Jaguar engine and transmission will come out in about 2 weeks. When it does, all of it will be for sale. After it's out I'll set about readying the LS and trans for install. My goal is to have it bolted before the end of September. I hope to have it running by the end of October. I'll post lots of pictures of the progress often and I'll try to keep a running total of the costs.

Thanks for the encouragement and not flaming me. I'll do it right I promise. And when the LS build is completed, I'm going to engineer a swap with a Coyote engine and a 4R70w automatic trans. That will bring a big smile to my face !

 

I'm looking forward to helping out on this one. The 98-02 Camaro/Firebird LS package is a great choice for this package and works exceptionally well with our hardware and electronics. However, because of the part interchangeability on LS engines, virtually any LS engine (including the truck LS versions) could be packaged as we need it (car intake, oil pan, and other misc small changes) and no one would be the wiser when done. Paint the block silver- who would know?

Should be a fun, straightforward project, and a hoot to drive when it's done.

And looking forward to the Ford Coyote angle, that should be interesting too. I know our CAN interface unit will work in this application as well.......

Thanks,

Andrew
Jaguar Specialties