I'm toying with the idea of doing a restomod on my 1968 Daimler 420, just seeing if anyone would know which later model car would be easiest to transplant engine/trans/suspension etc from, an XJR 6cyl supercharged or an S-type with the 4L V8, also how close a fit are the XJ seats??

Thanks in advance...

 

I have seen a Mark 2 with the XJR engine. Basically he took the front end of the XJR and grafted on the outer sheet metal of a Mark 2. A huge project.

I am in the middle of an XJR transplant on a different car car and I chose the 6 cylinder because the electronics can be made to operate in a stand alone mode reasonably easily. On the V8's, everything is networked and if one component is missing nothing works. It's far more complicated to get a V8 to run than a 6 cylinder. That being said, the engine bay is narrow on the S Type, to fit a 6 cylinder XJR engine and transmission would take a lot of sheet metal work - metal that is all structural in an S Type.

 

The 6 cylinder would likely be easier. If you want an easier straight 6, then the Toyota JZ or Nissan RB would be way better and I have seen a few of both; both of those engines will produce big horsepower with mildly stock trim easily getting 400 HP.

For a V8, I used the General Motors aluminum LS1 V8; the advantage of those is that they are so popular due to their reliability, lightweight, big horsepower, etc. that there are tons of parts that make transplanting them into any car much easier. LS V8's have many aftermarket motor mounts, pully systems for different clearance applications, many headers for tight spaces, many ECU tuning kits & many skilled aftermarket tuners that can tweak the car for you after the swap. Doug did the XKR but to me from following his build, it was a lot more work than my LS but can be done if you want to keep it all Jaguar.

I am running the Jaguar Vaden Plas front seats and sectioned the rear seats to fit my Jaguar 3.8s. I like the picnic trays and the improved back and headrest are a MUST with the car for long driving and for the power now that it has a V8.

 

Hi
4.2 v8 in this mk2 Daimler,6 speed manual box with stand along ecu, Grimsby uk.

 

Craig,

Project Utah is a super high quality restomod using the popular, powerful, reliable Toyota JZ straight 6 twin cam engine that will easily produce reliable street power between 500-900 HP Both the Nissan RB twin cam 6 cylinder engines like the Toyota JZ are popular for restomods as they both produce very streetable engines that will easily put down 500-900 HP. Since they are popular restomod 6 cylinder engines you will have a much easier time finding tuners to tweak the ECU for your car's specific needs, and there will be many more aftermarket parts to help with an engine swap since they are used in so many non Japanese cars. The Jaguar straight 6 even if you go to extreme more race builds often never gets more than around 300 HP versus these two Japanese straight 6 cylinder engines will put out double that in more mild street trim and race level they will put out 1200+ HP.
Here is another Jaguar MK2 with a JZ engine https://engineswapdepot.com/?p=42769


For the most power and easier install I would say the NIssan RB or Toyota JZ is the way to go but if you want a V8 I would go with the General Motors LS engines as you can get them to easily put down 450-800 HP reliably. The Jaguar V8's do not provide that much horsepower as they will only put out around 300 HP unless you either turbo them or supercharge them. The GM LS engines will put out 450-650 all motor without the need for a turbo or supercharger. My LS Jaguar 3.8s is super reliable, quiet when cruising, gets driven daily (about 40,000 miles a year) and will go 0-60 between 3.95 to 4.05 seconds.

If you are willing to spend more time and money and determined to keep it all Jaguar, check out Doug's XKR Jaguar MK2, that is an incredible build and you will see what it really takes as he as posted his whole project start to finish.
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/m...ark-2-a-94824/

 

Hi Primaz
Thanks for all the information, I love your S-type, I've been reading up about your car before you replied, a photo of it came up in a Google search i did.

My problem is I don't have the skills to do the fabrication work needed so would have to pay someone to do it all for me, so with that in mind the easiest swap when it comes to fabricating would obviously be much better for me...

Cheers
Craig

 

Thanks very much for the info.

Regards
Craig

 

Craig,
I totally understand. You live in the UK, while the pound is often more expensive than our dollar, there are some great skilled tradesmen in your country. You might might search around for a skilled guy that loves building cars and see if you can find a local person to do the heavy lifting of getting the engine/trrans installed, etc. and do what you feel comfortable yourself? I have been amazed at some of the folks from the UK and their skills. You might ask around at some car shows to find a local retired builder. I say that as I have seen car shows on TV from the UK, like Wheeler Dealers and they often find these tiny old school tradesman that do crazy skilled auto specialties for very little money; I remember episodes where they found a guy doing woody wood work restoration a crazy low cost in what I assumed was a dying art.

I also am passionate about Datsun Z cars and the Nissan RB Skyline straight 6 twin cam engines and a lot of people in the UK have had high end shops like Rotura Motorsports (www.ripsracing.com) actually ship their Skyline or other cars to their shop in New Zealand due to the currency exchange. That concept could be another option?

Good luck, restomods are becoming very popular in all types of cars as so many people want a classic style but want modern performance BUT they can be expensive.

 

Primaz, I love your optimistic view on the UK motor fabrication business. I think we have had a similar discussion on the S Type forum. In the UK a garage is charging at least £50 an hour for labour and high end or good garages with a reputation for doing good work will often charge more and have a waiting list. £65 an hour at my local Jaguar Indy shop. We do not have fabrication shops in every town or city. Because of the legalities of radically altering a vehicle and then getting it road legal our fabrication shops tend to deal with accident damage and breakdowns not restorations or modifications. We do not have a big modification following in the UK because of the laws governing radically modified vehicles and the insurance implications that go with them so most of the modified vehicles we have on the UK roads are Subarus Imprezas and Vauxhall Novas which have plastic wings, spoilers and skirts stuck on and little else. I have found a couple of guys in my area who are good at what they do (Paint, bodywork and mechanicals) and their rates are very competitive but try and get hold of them. Impossible. They do not answer their phone, reply to text messages and do not seem to have an email address. When you go to their workshop it is secured by an outer gate which you cannot get through. You can hear them in the workshop working away but cannot attract their attention. So frustrating. So the other option as you cannot do a restoration in a single garage which is what most UK citizens have is hire a workshop. £500 to a £1000 a month is what they charge around here and that is if you can actually find somewhere close and suitable. In the UK we are not blessed with acres of land to park our donor cars on or build our own workshop unless you are very well off in which case you don't mind paying someone a small fortune to do the work for you.
Most restorations of classic vehicles in the UK are done by an old boy in his own garage with a love of cars, loads of time on their hands and a decent pension to afford the parts. I have known of some restorations taking 7 to 10 years or more to complete. Many do not get finished and just sit in a garage rotting away for years never being sold as the owner says he will get around to it eventually. A friend of mine has a Jaguar XK120 dhc which he has been working on for 27 years. Still not finished and will not sell.
Wheeler dealers is a TV program where they buy vehicles with pre prescribed conditions they know they can fix cheap and flog on. The specialists they employ possible do the work cheap for the advertising on TV. They often quote the hours they have taken to do the work at the end which is often 35 plus hours. If they were being charged an hourly rate for the work done they would never make a profit when it came to sell the car.

 

Criag - Welcome to the forums. Primaz as you can see from his epic posting on his modified S is a very talented gearhead. From your own statements about your skill set, I'd say stay stock. Your car's value will probably be higher, your cash will last longer and your frustration level will be at the minimum for restortion/restomoding. Check out the Ebay nightmares of this model and the MI-II mash-ups. Unsafe, ugly and for sale cheap. What ever you decide, Happy Mototring!

 

There are a lot of UK restomod shops, but probably at a price not everyone can afford? That Project Utah Jaguar MK2 with the JZ straight 6 twin cam is from Retropower in the UK
https://retropower.co.uk/
MZR Road sports specializes in Datsun Z restomods for the UK market https://www.thedrive.com/news/22734/...d-datsun-240zs

You might check this shop out, https://www.facebook.com/RestoMod-37...=page_internal
https://www.homegrownhotrods.co.uk/
https://www.farm-fresh.co.uk/ they do trucks but if you want an LS V8 those are often common truck engines as well as being used in Vettes, etc.

Restomods do take money and time to complete. Also even the stock Jaguar is not a cheap car to restore either. Rebuilding the Jag 6 to a performance level can easily be around $15K. Keep saving money as no matter which direction you go stock or restomod it sounds like you will need to save a good amount of funds to get her done