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(Made an intro thread, following advice to ask the detailed questions here)
Greetings!
I'm an import mechanic (mostly German), long admired the looks of Jaguars, only recently considered getting one. Some homework later, I settled on the object of my dreams - a black on black X300 LWB - only to have them shot down for lack of examples; I found two for sale in the whole US in the last few years, neither recently. Are they really that scarce? I'm certainly able to swap interiors, but I can't find one of those (except SWB XJR) in any color body.
The ideal find for me would be an immaculate body and interior, with everything else destroyed or missing, and priced accordingly. Why do I specifically want a lawn-ornament-grade example? Because I have the skills, resources, and inclination to 1. do a full suspension rebuild right off the bat, which has become my Standard Operating Procedure for any older nicer car, 2. go through the rest of the car piece by piece, electrics in particular, and sort it out to my liking as both user and maintainer, and 3... hopefully this doesn't ruffle too many feathers here... perform a powertrain conversion using a Mercedes OM606 turbodiesel currently on a pallet in my shop, and a 6-speed manual trans on its way from Europe.
I'm eager to hear comparisons of the X300 to any Merc or BMW of similar vintage, especially E32, E34, E38, W126, and W140.
I also have technical questions regarding the X300:
1. Are there a proper Electronic Parts Catalog and wiring diagrams that don't require a subscription?
2. Do LHD manual pedals exist?
3. Do any XJ40 or X308 interior parts fit an X300?
4. Could anyone provide the following engine and enginebay dimensions:
- length between firewall and radiator
- length between trans/block seam and subframe
- height between top of subframe (or top of rack, whichever is higher) and bottom of oilpan shallow section
- height between bottom of oilpan shallow section and top of engine
- height between bottom of oilpan shallow section, and bottom of deeper section or bottom of subframe, whichever is lower. Or height between bottom of oilpan deeper section and top of engine.
5. What are people using for suspension parts that appear to be NLA in genuine form, shocks and control arm bushings in particular?
I'm a regular on Bimmerforums, and an occasional on BenzWorld, TDIClub, YotaTech, 4BTSwaps, the Mazda Diesel board, DelicaClub, and others I'm forgetting at the moment. I hope to join you all soon, with something more substantial than the schemes and wishful thinking that're all I have for now.
Wiring diagrams and factory manuals available as free download. You can find a link in the stickies if you're patient. Lots of other documents (TSB's etc in there also)
3. Do any XJ40 or X308 interior parts fit an X300?
I don't think many are inter-changeable as individual items. I have X308 bodyshell with X300 everything else bolted on. So as a complete swap X308 would physically fit (some with a bit of tweaking) but interiors very different.
5. What are people using for suspension parts that appear to be NLA in genuine form, shocks and control arm bushings in particular?
You'll find many of the bushes are available. See the link to Jaguar above. For shocks, Bilstein are available and generally considered the best option.
Bear in mind my transplant was the whole car. So things like instruments, heating/air con, door locking and windows etc etc that interface to rest of the car was straight forward. Doing just the interior would not be as easy.
I find it interesting you would want to do an interior swap. I find old interiors a pain to work with since old plastics and such become brittle. It's especially difficult when interior parts are missing too because then you don't know how it all originally went together (but you seem to have more experience than me).
I was very pleased with a cheap color swap on a beige Volvo S60 I had. The beige was painfully boring, I had it changed to black for about $600 and it transformed the car. Obviously it would be more expensive for an in depth job, I did not have them paint the door jambs and you don't even really notice because the door jamb beige is the same as the interior beige.
I wonder this especially for you because a 15+ yr old Jag may have already had many years of sun abuse and road chips and such. My 97 X300 LWB w/53k miles has paint peeling bad near the trunk area. I would think you might get a car for an interior swap and end up needing a repaint anyways.
if you’re coming from an E32 or an E34 these cars are a walk in the park, they actually work
I learned on BMW, but never worked on a Jaguar. My impression from talking to other mechanics is that Jags are comparable in terms of the design quality, inferior in assembly quality, and a bit less complex overall.
As a side note... I came up with a metric I call the WWTT Factor. Expressed as a percentage, it's a semi-quantified measure of the degree of asininity of a particular mechanical design, determined by the average proportion of actual repair time wasted unproductively throwing wrenches and screaming, "WTF Were They Thinking?!" The Factor ranges from about 1% for my 81 Hilux or 93 Delica, to 15% for my E34, to at least 40% for some Volkswagen (especially Audi) products. I expect a 90's Jaguar to be somewhere in the middle. Though because of a few reports that assembly was a bigger problem than design, for one of these it might change to "WTF Were They Drinking?"
Originally Posted by b1mcp
Yes pretty much in terms of physical fit. There is a bit of tweaking. Off the top of my head
- you need a late X300 interior with rear 3 point centre seat belt. Earlier cars had lap belt only and the seats and belts are different.
- front seat belts also different so may need to keep X308
- you will need to retain some X308 components (e.g. B and C post trims for example
- Door apertures are slightly different so you need X308 trims.
Bear in mind my transplant was the whole car. So things like instruments, heating/air con, door locking and windows etc etc that interface to rest of the car was straight forward. Doing just the interior would not be as easy.
That thread is quite the goldmine of information. Some bedtime reading for me...
How about XJ40 interior?
Regarding the center rear seatbelt: suppose I don't care about it even existing?
Originally Posted by Rustbelter
I find it interesting you would want to do an interior swap. I find old interiors a pain to work with since old plastics and such become brittle. It's especially difficult when interior parts are missing too because then you don't know how it all originally went together (but you seem to have more experience than me).
It's true. My solution is being a half-decent fabricator.
I was very pleased with a cheap color swap on a beige Volvo S60 I had. The beige was painfully boring, I had it changed to black for about $600 and it transformed the car. Obviously it would be more expensive for an in depth job, I did not have them paint the door jambs and you don't even really notice because the door jamb beige is the same as the interior beige.
I wonder this especially for you because a 15+ yr old Jag may have already had many years of sun abuse and road chips and such. My 97 X300 LWB w/53k miles has paint peeling bad near the trunk area. I would think you might get a car for an interior swap and end up needing a repaint anyways.
For most people, this makes sense. My pecularities include a marked untalent when it comes to paint (and adhesives), and an appallingly poor track record of satisfaction with hiring others to do work. The result means that I have to start with the right paint - can't fix it myself, can't pay someone else to.
For most people, this makes sense. My pecularities include a marked untalent when it comes to paint (and adhesives), and an appallingly poor track record of satisfaction with hiring others to do work. The result means that I have to start with the right paint - can't fix it myself, can't pay someone else to.
Haha well that's pretty definitive then, good starting paint is the only option I guess.
I learned on BMW, but never worked on a Jaguar. My impression from talking to other mechanics is that Jags are comparable in terms of the design quality, inferior in assembly quality, and a bit less complex overall.
This is what sets the 300 apart from the cars before it, they’re very well put together.
The suspension takes some time getting used to but everything in the car is better quality and a lot less problematic than what I’ve had to deal with in my E32 and E38.
That was good bedtime reading! Doesn't go much into pedals, though.
Is there a trick to browsing the EPC linked above? There are a few major categories, and everything within them is sort of just lumped together.
Some other reading suggests that the better chassis for my purposes is an X308. So I think that's my mission for now: find a black LWB X308 shell/chassis, X300 (and some XJ40? Still investigating...) black interior parts, and combine.
I've sat in a near-mint X308 recently. Very nice materials, generally great ambiance, too rounded, too many Ford details (gauges, window switches, turnsignal clicker, all the round reminds me of the contemporary jellybean Taurus), front seat bottom was wonderful but the back shaped wrong for my bones. Rear of a SWB cramped for my height. Interior generally not for the claustrophobic; fortunately, I'm claustrophilic if anything.
I've sat in an X300, but it was long ago and in a junkyard. Loved the looks, couldn't much judge the rest.
I'm superficially familiar with the engine and trans issues. Apart from affecting how I get it home, they won't apply to me.
Nice, but only exteriors? I'm of the opinion that interiors are more important; my car is for me (who is inside, mostly) to enjoy more than a statement to others (who are outside). Here's what I'm after. It's the only LWB black X300 interior I've ever seen (read text ad for another but no photos). Hell, it's the only black X300 interior other than an XJR I've ever seen. Were I to go ahead with this project, I might buy an XJR for its inside and then be left with just the rear door cards to either paint/dye or track down, possibly from the Motherland.
After Ford bought Jaguar the Ford Contour was packaged with a Jaguar V6 and Mazda transmission as the X type
No it wasn't, The Contour chassis was a generation older than the basis of the X Type. The X Type used the Mondeo, which never came to North America. The X only used the centre section of the floorpan anyway, the suspension is different. The transmission is actually made by Jatco, which is a Japanese transmission company. Very similar transmissions were also used in Land Rover and Volkswagen ( and derivative) products.
06-17-2020, 02:18 PM
Lusting after an X300, have technical questions
