1994 Jaguar XJ40 3.2 Sport - Rolling resto daily

[7M.elody]

Hi retro riders, I've had a 2 year break from retro car heaven, driving an Audi A4 😴. But now I'm back!

I've always fancied a forty but I was a bit worried it'd drive like all the other jags I've ever driven. List includes; series 1, 2 and 3, X300, XJR, XKR and X Type (never owned a Jag though)

Needless to say my hubby said they don't drive like a Jag and they don't. The suspension and steering feel presice. The steering is very heavy for a Jag but it means I can feel the road, in short, I love it!

I want to paint the wheels gold, put the grill back to chrome, give her a service and ultimately turbo charge it 😎 watch this space...

[edwardbear]

There are two abandoned XJ40's near me and I'm so tempted to see if the guy will give one of them up.

They look epic slammed.

[7M.elody]

Go for it man, I'm well impressed with mine, they do look awesome slammed and that was going to be my first job but it's already pretty low, being a sport so I'm leaving it for now.

[chris83]

I have a 3.2 sport I love it to bits

[7M.elody]

Sweet ride! I really need to get some chrome back on her face!

[Kieran]

Great, I'm a big fan of the '40! I've had quite a few of these over the years, 6 iirc, the last one was a 3.6L manual which I lowered and modified.

The de-chrome look can look really good on these but I always liked plenty of chrome, so I think going back to a chrome grill is a good move I think. Have you got much resto work to do?

I'd say that they generally drive like typical old Jag's especial the Sov's and Daimler's - light steering and floppy barge suspension. Though the Sport and XJR's do have somewhat shorter and stiffer springs...

[Kieran]

[gtviva]

Back in the day I never liked the look of these but now time has passed they have aged well, unlike Me!

They certainly suit a few subtle mods!

[7M.elody]

I've been busy over the last couple of days, she's had a service, I've tightened the fan belt as that was squeeling it's head off and she's had a good wash, next job I need to get the inside scrubbed up. 😍
She doesn't need any restoration work actually,it's surprisingly solid, the paint looks worn up close but that's it.
I'm considering lowering it and I want the wheels gold.
And a turbo of course 😂

[Kieran]

She looks to be in decent shape. Lowering would look great and it does tighten up the handling nicely too. I put AVO -35mm 25% uprated springs on mine, they were the only off the shelf lowering springs available for the '40 at the time, not sure if they still make them. The other way is to get a set of custom spring mades, or just whip the grinder out and chop a coil or two out of the standard ones! I also put polybushes and a X300 XJR thicker anti-roll bar on mine, cheap upgrades.

Are you going to keep the bumpers de-chromed in black as well? I've still got some chrome bumper blades around in the garage somewhere if you want some for cheap. I had them painted body colour on mine, the later series 2 '40 XJR's had this.

I'm in the process of doing a turbo conversion at the moment on my MX6, it's not that hard if you do your research but there are quite a lot of parts to buy and fit so it's a fairly big project, would cost around £1k maybe more. I don't know if you are aware but there were period twin turbo conversions parts for the AJ6 engine in the '40 that very occasionally come up on the used market, there was a Janspeed conversion available plus the rare Chasseur cars were twin turbo as well. There isn't much space in the bay on the exhaust side so two log manifolds with each with a small turbo is all that really fits there. I think a better way to go would be to fit a AJ16S from a 300 XJR, that's the 320bhp 4.0 supercharged motor, wanted to do that swap on mine!

This is how mine looked when lowered and I had a set of the Sport five spokes on it like yours...

[7M.elody]

Nice car, I really like the silver. I did consider the aj16s but they do cost a packet.
I'd like to do my own thing anyway, make up a manifold for the turbo I want and go from there. I used to had a mk3supra and I like to stick to what I know is good so a ct26 would be my turbo of choice. I want a big single cause they're more fun so if I have to get creative for it to fit then, challenge accepted 😁
Thanks for the offer of bumper chrome's but I think I'm going to leave those black. I quite like it.

[adam73bgt]

Very nice, I like the Green with Gold pinstripe

I used to have a 4.0 Sovereign, did love that car!



If space/funds allowed, I'd definitely have another

[7M.elody]

Very nice, I can never decide if I prefer the square headlights or round...

Sadly I only have a pinstripe on one side but I can add another without too much trouble 😂

[Marc]

I love the XJ40, they're ridiculously undervalued cars in my view! I've had loads, a few years ago they were just disposable motoring really, so I've sent far too many to the scrappers for silly reasons....

Currently have an XJR6, which is lowered on custom springs from www.coilsprings.co.uk. Combined with the XJR shocks (which are stiffer than the Sport) and polybushes all round it's far more capable in the bends than it has any right to be. On paper the 0-60 isn't that impressive (it's around 6.5 secs), but once rolling the thing is like a steam engine, there's so much torque that it just pulls and pulls until you run out of road or courage.

Good luck with yours, looking forward to your updates!

[edwardbear]

They both look cool. But I prefer the round. But only just.

I firmly believe the XJ40 is the pinnacle of retro waft mobile. Its got everything.

[7M.elody]

Haha, it's very capable in the corners already for such a big heavy car. However all this talk of thicker anti-roll bars and stiffer shocks is making me want more 😂.
Coming from the diesel Audi I'm getting used to the torque being much higher up the rev range. She takes a bit of winding up but once she's rolling she makes an embarrassment of much pricier newer cars. I'm excited for the updates too 😍

[deanflowers]

I love xj40s

i used to have a Moroccan red 4.0 sovereign

[7M.elody]

Before I start, sorry for the lengthy post 😂. I hope some clever noggins might also be able to help with any technical info I'm missing and/or advice.

I have been reading up on the AJ6 and I have settled, I think, on a crude but hopefully effective set up using a rising rate fuel pressure regulator instead of going to the huge expense of after market engine management.

Turbo
CT26 as used in the MK3 Supra single turbo 7MGTE. Its a reliable turbo with steel internals that I can get new pretty cheap. It has a wastegate set to run 8psi of boost which I'll be leaving well alone and it's oil cooled only which is great.

Exhaust Manifold
To be made from scratch by Cottrell Engineering.

Fuel
Will be supplied by a larger pump, pressure regulated with a rising rate regulator, and delivered by larger injectors. The current injectors are 220cc, the AJ16 supercharged from the XJR uses 380cc for 10.5psi of boost. However from what I can tell they are higher impedance injectors so I'm not sure if I can just use these? Appreciate if anyone knows anything on this subject.

Intercooler
There is tonnes of space for one just in front of the rad so not worried about this.

Timing
A bit sketchy but this won't be retarding when it comes on boost seeing as it will have an oblivious NA ECU running it. So I know that the ignition is already retarded by at least 7 degrees of what can be safely run. A chap in the JEC makes brackets to advance the timing 5 degrees to give more power and economy and an AJ6 race car has reliably run 7 degrees advanced
I have also read, that for a boost pressure of 8 psi a turbo car would retard the timing around 5 or 6 degrees on boost, so hopefully leaving it stock will be enough to avoid pinking.
It's a shame it doesn't run a knock sensor, I'll have to hope I can hear it from inside the car if it happens!
Again I'm sketchy on this subject so any advice is welcome.

Turbo Oil Feed and Return
I haven't looked at this yet, I may be drilling the sump for a return and for a feed I've been told I need to find out if the oil pump provides a constant pressure or if it pulses. Any initial tips here welcome.

Down Pipe
I've not given this a lot of thought yet but I'm sure something can be fabricated without to much trouble.

Thanks for reading if you made it this far 😜

[edwardbear]

99% of that made no sense but it’s sounds great

Crack on!

[Brigsy]

I think a cheap standalone ecu would be a lot better & make the setup more reliable compared to trying to work around the n/a setup.. Megasquirt or whatever would do the job, optimize ign to suit turbo and proper fuelling on boost.