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Sept 20, 2012 9:31:38 GMT
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OK,so I'm doing some thinking here again. I'm starting to fall for our shitbox rally Daimler. It's a series 2 Sovereign, and the body style isn't quite jumping out at me, but I love the big 6 and the refinement. I'm looking around and seeing that there are a few examples out there with LPG, which makes me think that one could be made affordable to run, has anyone got experience with a conversion? More controversially, I don't need another sedan. I could maybe let the Volvo go but it would be a sad day after all these years. I am however considering getting a ute or van for work purposes, and after some hunting around on the net I found that if done correctly a series 1 JX6 can make a very nice looking ute. Is this too wrong to be considering? They are not expensive over here and it would be lovely to have that silky smooth driveline under a load lugger for long distance tat hauls. Here's the nicest I've seen by far. With a minor change to the rear quarter windows and the rear guard profile I would be very happy to own this. Has anyone else seen a nice one?   |
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Remade In Australia
thereimaginarium.com.au
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Sept 20, 2012 12:05:51 GMT
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I see this one every so often:  Not a Series 2 mind you. |
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1982 Mercedes 280TE
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Sept 20, 2012 14:38:30 GMT
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Even on gas, the Jag six will gargle a fair bit of fuel. Remember that LPG isn't actually that cheap anymore, and the costs of a conversion will be expensive. If you're not going to do very many km, it may be more economical just to run it on petrol and deal with the pain of tipping $100 into the tank every week or whatever.
That green ute conversion is pretty good. I'd drive it.
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Sept 20, 2012 21:25:20 GMT
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I'd be clocking up plenty of km. just thinking with prices as they are if the gas conversion is a good choice I would be keeping it for as long as possible, unless someone finally makes a good ethanol/alternative fuel pretty quick it may be the last chance I have to semi-sanely drive such a beast.
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Remade In Australia
thereimaginarium.com.au
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Sept 21, 2012 5:24:31 GMT
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Well, let's say that the Jag six will do approximately 14 litres/100km on petrol and 16 litres/100km on gas. I'm not sure how accurate that is because I've never owned a Jag, but my six cylinder Holden ute does 12.5 litres/100km with a four-speed and the Jag would have to be worse with the extra weight, plus an auto trans and a bigger engine.
Estimate petrol at $1.40 per litre and gas at about 70 cents.
That means your fuel cost is 19.6 cents per km on petrol and 11.2 cents per km on gas.
If you do 20,000km per year, which I would call a lot of km, then the petrol is costing you $3920 and gas would cost $2240. So you save $1680 per year, which should pay for a decent gas conversion in the first year and then you're saving money after that. I don't really believe that you would actually do that many km per year in a home-built Jag ute though. What's the work/job that you need a ute for? If you genuinely need it for work, then you should get something that's registered as a commercial. That way, you can claim it as a tax deduction.
Personally for me, I don't do very many km in my ute and I decided that I'm unlikely to own it for more than a few years. I did the rough numbers and it wasn't worth the cash outlay to convert mine to gas. If my circumstances change and I need to commute long distances, I'm going to be selling the ute anyway and buying something else, so there was no point getting it converted.
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Sept 21, 2012 8:44:40 GMT
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Thanks for the math waveman. I'm thinking on those numbers it'll take closer to 4 years to pay off. I put about 20,000km/year on the Volvo at the moment, driving to my current job, but would use the ute for part of that and as part of my other work would be attending a lot of long distance swapmeets and such and carrying loads bigger than the amazon can handle comfortably. If done right the Jag would be a 5-10 year investment I imagine, a pretty hairbrained idea but not too much sillier than the Volvo Amazon which has been my only car for the last 6 years as a daily  Unfortunately HQish period utes just don't do a lot for me, FCish period utes and vans are nice but beyond my current price range, and after owning a kombi I've sworn for safety to never own a cab forward van again which limits my options a lot! |
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Remade In Australia
thereimaginarium.com.au
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Sept 21, 2012 10:05:07 GMT
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If you don't like HQ-WB utes, have you thought about looking at other makes? Falcon utes? Chrysler utes? Maybe a Dodge or an International? The Internationals are pretty common and usually quite cheap. They handle heavy loads well because they're more of a proper truck than any of the other locally-built utes. Also thirsty though.   All of these utes have cavernous engine bays and are built to take a big straight six. If you wanted to, it would be easy to swap in a Jag engine and trans into any of the Aussie utes. You could even do the front suspension and crossmember as well if you wanted, there are plenty of chassis shops which have experience with welding Jag suspension onto other chassis rails. Also, if it's just for work and you want fuel economy, you'd be mad not to look at the Japanese four cylinder utes. A cheap Hilux from the 1980s-90s will drive better than most of the old full-size utes and use a lot less fuel, especially if it's on gas or diesel. There are plenty out there with either. The Japanese stuff is more likely to come with creature comforts too. Remember that most old utes are extremely unlikely to have power steering, let alone air-conditioning. The steering can be very heavy for parking. |
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Sept 21, 2012 10:44:30 GMT
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Remade In Australia
thereimaginarium.com.au
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Sept 21, 2012 10:55:25 GMT
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back when i had a series 1 jag xj6 and petrol was cheap, my mates worked 308 V8 commodore was still cheaper to run!
Love the ute idea with the jag.
I have seen a couple of old mercedes utes (possibly conversions) floating around to if you can find one!
wouldnt be too hard to make the inter comfy, use some nice seats you like out of something else, a later steering column with the switches on it you want, and some after market air. could even possibly convert the wind up windows to power windows...
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1967/8 Isuzu Bellett
1969 Isuzu Florian Deluxe
Never buy a car you cant push...
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Sept 21, 2012 11:30:22 GMT
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body deadening would go a long way...
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Remade In Australia
thereimaginarium.com.au
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Sept 22, 2012 8:22:59 GMT
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yeah lots of deadening! I used to get drive an old inter tow truck at one of my previous jobs was not the quietest in the cab!
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1967/8 Isuzu Bellett
1969 Isuzu Florian Deluxe
Never buy a car you cant push...
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Sept 22, 2012 12:12:56 GMT
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smellyferret
Posted a lot
Back in a retro after 7 years!
Posts: 1,121
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Sept 22, 2012 14:02:10 GMT
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Sept 23, 2012 3:21:23 GMT
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the white panel van looks like the back is grafted from a Hk/t/g holden... not too sure about the front bumper on it though!
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1967/8 Isuzu Bellett
1969 Isuzu Florian Deluxe
Never buy a car you cant push...
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v8ian
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,766
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Sept 23, 2012 16:37:44 GMT
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I'm not at all sure about the rear window treatment on the Jag, cant get the Idea of a rear window and roof section from a FX4 Taxi would work, then you have the rear swage line as well to fit the bed to
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Atmo V8 Power . No slicks , No gas + No bits missing . Doing it in style.
Austin A35van, very different------- but still doing it in style, going to be a funmoble
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Sept 24, 2012 0:43:56 GMT
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That swage line is one of the things that I dislike the most about a lot of the conversions, I feel it should be straightened at the rear to match the crease just under the doorhandle, so there is no hump over the back wheels, then it will sit soo much better converted.
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Remade In Australia
thereimaginarium.com.au
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Sept 25, 2012 3:04:42 GMT
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Hmm, don't have time for any of this at the moment with the Shitbox underway but just spotted a duel fuel series 2 for sale in SA for $2500 currently being used as a daily driver...
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Remade In Australia
thereimaginarium.com.au
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Sept 25, 2012 5:02:51 GMT
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Hmm, don't have time for any of this at the moment with the Shitbox underway but just spotted a duel fuel series 2 for sale in SA for $2500 currently being used as a daily driver... I wouldn't get too excited, cheap Jags seem to come up all the time. Whether they're any good or not is another thing altogether. |
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Sept 25, 2012 5:32:27 GMT
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Hmm, don't have time for any of this at the moment with the Shitbox underway but just spotted a duel fuel series 2 for sale in SA for $2500 currently being used as a daily driver... I wouldn't get too excited, cheap Jags seem to come up all the time. Whether they're any good or not is another thing altogether. Yeah, have seen plenty of parts quality ones advertised. this one sounds half reasonable, supposedly recent head rebuild, no structural rust, daily driver... www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/blair-athol/cars/jaguar-xj6-1978-dual-fuel-/336659033 |
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Remade In Australia
thereimaginarium.com.au
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Sept 27, 2012 11:37:07 GMT
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Been doing a little photochop to my favourite version to see if I can make it more to my liking: Still not perfect at the rear but I do like.  |
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Remade In Australia
thereimaginarium.com.au
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Unfortunately HQish period utes just don't do a lot for me, FCish period utes and vans are nice but beyond my current price range, and after owning a kombi I've sworn for safety to never own a cab forward van again which limits my options a lot!
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