thinkin about what direction to go with my recent 97 xk8 purchase . lots of talk about LS with 4l60e and what not. lots of talk about timing chain tensioners and nikasel motors , got me to thinking about goin old sckool sbc with a turbo 350 trans. cheap , simple ,reliable.
Anyone here done it ,has it

 

You can get an old LS1 pretty cheap and all of the connectors and interface work is done. Give Jaguar Specialties a call but I think you'll find that with all of the electronics an old LS1 would be the cheapest and easiest path. They are experts at engine swaps though and have always been good about giving advice.

Jaguar Specialties

You could also try Jaguar V8 conversions, they mostly work with older cars but they do the 350 engine thing: JAQUAR V-8 CONVERSIONS

The XJS kit they have should work on the XK8 but you should call them. (The electronics will still be an issue though). Good luck, post back what you end up doing.

 

I've looked at JS's kit and it looks very good. I was just thinking about being cost effective. meaning not putting in an amount of money that will never be even close to the end value of the car . the kit is $2000 ,that's $3000 here in Canada . then a LS1 and 4L60E ,proly be $5000 installed .plus the price of the car ($4000), = $9000 or $10000. The car would be worth $4000 to $6000.
I'm thinking a sbc ,carbureted or old tuned port injection , th350 , no electronics to run , sounds cheap ,simple .No real "kit" needed. I think the car would drive fine with the rear end gears it has . Then a guy wouldn't be into the car too deep financially.
This is why I'm wanting to hear from anyone that has tried this approach. If the car now doesn't need a tcm, or a ecm, as long as the top goes up and down and the body functions work , where's the pit falls ?

 

All of the modules communicate through the CAN bus. Remove the ECM and there is no communication to the instruments, body module, abs, etc.

 

The instrument panel would not work, the climate control would not work, the top would not work, the ABS would not work, and the doors would not unlock otherwise no problem . . . oh, and the cooling fans.

 

ya ..well now I know ,,glad I asked! I'm just trying to study this car and its problems and find the best approach. I guess I'll keep plowing thtough the problems. I've fixed the blown drum in the tranny , cleaned the wheel speed sensors, learned how to communicate with the computer, ordered a crank sensor ,and probably send out the ecu and the abs module for rebuilding. then see where I stand with my other CAN bus and body codes .

 

I just did a motor swap in a 2001 XKR. The original motor was complete toast so I found a used XKR 4.2 and did the change using the great help on this forum. So far I have spent $2300 on the replacement and that was well worth it. Check the forum to see if anyone have done a non supercharged 4.0 to 4.2 swap. May be the way around all the problems with the older motors. good luck steve