Here we go,A little less then a year ago I purchased a slightly used 1976 Jaguar XJS. Why an XJS? After all its not small, light, nimble, or a japanese sports car. In fact its not even a manual! The idea was to build a car that had personality, presence, and demanded attention. My version of this idea was to remove the original drivetrain, replace it with some America, slam it, widen the stance and drive the snot out of it. The paticular XJS I found was sitting in a garage in Belmont shore. It had been sitting there since '95. The previous owner had hired a shop to drop in a Chevy 350. He drove it like that for a year, then wasnt able to register it due to smog laws. So he parked it, and it sat until I found it and brought it home. First thing I did was drop the front end, it was sky high with the lightweight chevy powerplant.
Still has a bit of the 'ol stink bug stance.
It stayed like this for a bit, then got a stereo, nothing fancy just something that worked as the previous (stock) speakers were done. Then one day while walking through a junkyard in Norcal with my brother we found a '95. So we snagged the bumpers and supports. Before I could get the bumpers back to socal and on the car I happened to be in a so cal yard and found a Nardi steering wheel, and a front chin spoiler. Both of these went on first.
From this
To this
and some chin spoiler with the rear lowered, and new bumber on the rear<
followed by the front and some paint.
much better
not long after that I had a blow out, and it was cheaper to buy new tires on wheels then just tires so I found some Corvette C4 wheels. 16x8.5 front and 16x9.5 rear wearing 245/50-16 and 255/50-16. bad camera phone pics....
then came the roof rack.
The car sat like that for a while while I gathered parts for a 5 speed. Yup I wanted a manual trans. Seeing how there really isnt that many in the states with the third pedal, like none, I had to start searching. I found a guy on e-bay that sold the pedal, master cylinder and instructions. I went for it after a bit of thinking and looking around and seeing that it was the best combo of price and availability. I also did some research as to the master and slave cylinder for the clutch. After some math I decided on the S-10 slave at 15/16 of an inch.
Let me start off sayin that this is a bit of work and not for the faint hearted. Almost none of the parts that were supposed to fit did so. Just about everything had to have some form of modification and or fabricating to make work or even fit. The clutch pedal that was SUPPOSED TO BE A BOLT IN didnt fit without the hammer and grinder to make room for it under the dash. None the less the T-5 is in, the clutch line is routed, and functional, and only the drive shaft needs to be made.
Let me start off sayin that this is a MAJOR bit of work. Almost none of the parts that I read that I needed and would fit did so. just about everything had to have some form of modification, Fabricating to make work. Even the clutch pedal that was SUPPOSED TO BE A BOLT IN didnt fit without the hammer and grinder to make room for it. None the less the T-5 is in, the clutch and line is routed, and functional, and just the drive shaft needs to be made.
Pics
The Clutch Pedal kit
MC is a Willwood 3/4" unit.
All the electrical 'plugs' looked like this. Just wires and prongs, no real plug at all. No wonder the magic smoke get away.
A sneak peak of the mess under the ski slope...
The mess..... yuck.
The whole mess under and behind the dash, ski slope.
Work on the pedal housing. I ended up breaking off the bit I was using for the pilot hole, so I got creative and cut the head off a bolt and used some JB Weld. Worked like a charm
Then the MC wanted to start a fight with the part for the resivior....
Made that fit....
Got a bit busy with making things fit/ work...... the trans tunnel needed some BFH to let the Trans fit and the brace for the slave cylinder needed to be trimmed and re drilled for the smaller bolt pattern of the S-10 SC that was required. While the Willwood unit is the same bore as the stock Camaro one the throw of the Jags clutch pedal is much shorter. This means that the 1" SC that the Camaro uses wouldn't even move. The one from an S-10 is a 15/16" . While needing a manly man leg to press its easier then using a 3/4" and still provides plenty of travel. You can also see the steel clutch line.
Where the shifter fits in the car. Just about perfect. The trans tunnel itself still needs some love to look pretty but you get the idea. The Hurst shifter makes the throw quite short.
Wanting a wider stance for improved footprint, grip, and over all good looks I needed wide wheels. Seeing as I had a bit of work to do everywhere else on the car I opted to space the current wheels out and wait on buying new ones for a bit. I went with some bolt on 1.5" aluminum ones.
1.5" of widened stance!
front on the car..
and rear
This shows the other reason for the spacers, to fix the bad offset of the Corvette wheels. The rears were ok with the 3/8" slip on spacers but the fronts were not. 16x8.5+32 with a 3/8" (8mm) spacer looked liked this. Rubbed on the tie rod end almost constantly making the car undriveable
This is how it looks now. Much much much better. And a more aggressive stance. too!
At this point the Jag was still sittin on Jack stands and awaiting its new Drive Shaft and starter.
7.7.2010
The driveshaft was finished yesterday so I got off work and picked it up. After installing it and the Starter I started the beast. She roared back to life for the first time in over a month like a champ. Off the jack stands and back on the ground. New stance, new drive train, more confidence. Its starting to look like a real car now. Some minor details to finish up concerning the swap (it is pretty rare after all) and some fender rolling/pulling and she will be ready for the serious sorting business, and some track time.
Ill be training in Bridgeport through the end of July so work on the car will have to wait untill after that.
Only a single pic to hint at things to come.
Still has a bit of the 'ol stink bug stance.
It stayed like this for a bit, then got a stereo, nothing fancy just something that worked as the previous (stock) speakers were done. Then one day while walking through a junkyard in Norcal with my brother we found a '95. So we snagged the bumpers and supports. Before I could get the bumpers back to socal and on the car I happened to be in a so cal yard and found a Nardi steering wheel, and a front chin spoiler. Both of these went on first.
From this
To this
and some chin spoiler with the rear lowered, and new bumber on the rear<
followed by the front and some paint.
much better
not long after that I had a blow out, and it was cheaper to buy new tires on wheels then just tires so I found some Corvette C4 wheels. 16x8.5 front and 16x9.5 rear wearing 245/50-16 and 255/50-16. bad camera phone pics....
then came the roof rack.
The car sat like that for a while while I gathered parts for a 5 speed. Yup I wanted a manual trans. Seeing how there really isnt that many in the states with the third pedal, like none, I had to start searching. I found a guy on e-bay that sold the pedal, master cylinder and instructions. I went for it after a bit of thinking and looking around and seeing that it was the best combo of price and availability. I also did some research as to the master and slave cylinder for the clutch. After some math I decided on the S-10 slave at 15/16 of an inch.
Let me start off sayin that this is a bit of work and not for the faint hearted. Almost none of the parts that were supposed to fit did so. Just about everything had to have some form of modification and or fabricating to make work or even fit. The clutch pedal that was SUPPOSED TO BE A BOLT IN didnt fit without the hammer and grinder to make room for it under the dash. None the less the T-5 is in, the clutch line is routed, and functional, and only the drive shaft needs to be made.
Let me start off sayin that this is a MAJOR bit of work. Almost none of the parts that I read that I needed and would fit did so. just about everything had to have some form of modification, Fabricating to make work. Even the clutch pedal that was SUPPOSED TO BE A BOLT IN didnt fit without the hammer and grinder to make room for it. None the less the T-5 is in, the clutch and line is routed, and functional, and just the drive shaft needs to be made.
Pics
The Clutch Pedal kit
MC is a Willwood 3/4" unit.
All the electrical 'plugs' looked like this. Just wires and prongs, no real plug at all. No wonder the magic smoke get away.
A sneak peak of the mess under the ski slope...
The mess..... yuck.
The whole mess under and behind the dash, ski slope.
Work on the pedal housing. I ended up breaking off the bit I was using for the pilot hole, so I got creative and cut the head off a bolt and used some JB Weld. Worked like a charm
Then the MC wanted to start a fight with the part for the resivior....
Made that fit....
Got a bit busy with making things fit/ work...... the trans tunnel needed some BFH to let the Trans fit and the brace for the slave cylinder needed to be trimmed and re drilled for the smaller bolt pattern of the S-10 SC that was required. While the Willwood unit is the same bore as the stock Camaro one the throw of the Jags clutch pedal is much shorter. This means that the 1" SC that the Camaro uses wouldn't even move. The one from an S-10 is a 15/16" . While needing a manly man leg to press its easier then using a 3/4" and still provides plenty of travel. You can also see the steel clutch line.
Where the shifter fits in the car. Just about perfect. The trans tunnel itself still needs some love to look pretty but you get the idea. The Hurst shifter makes the throw quite short.
Wanting a wider stance for improved footprint, grip, and over all good looks I needed wide wheels. Seeing as I had a bit of work to do everywhere else on the car I opted to space the current wheels out and wait on buying new ones for a bit. I went with some bolt on 1.5" aluminum ones.
1.5" of widened stance!
front on the car..
and rear
This shows the other reason for the spacers, to fix the bad offset of the Corvette wheels. The rears were ok with the 3/8" slip on spacers but the fronts were not. 16x8.5+32 with a 3/8" (8mm) spacer looked liked this. Rubbed on the tie rod end almost constantly making the car undriveable
This is how it looks now. Much much much better. And a more aggressive stance. too!
At this point the Jag was still sittin on Jack stands and awaiting its new Drive Shaft and starter.
7.7.2010
The driveshaft was finished yesterday so I got off work and picked it up. After installing it and the Starter I started the beast. She roared back to life for the first time in over a month like a champ. Off the jack stands and back on the ground. New stance, new drive train, more confidence. Its starting to look like a real car now. Some minor details to finish up concerning the swap (it is pretty rare after all) and some fender rolling/pulling and she will be ready for the serious sorting business, and some track time.
Ill be training in Bridgeport through the end of July so work on the car will have to wait untill after that.
Only a single pic to hint at things to come.
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cool car...
Stance and everything are spot on, awesome first post!!
