After many years of procrastinating and other automotive distractions, I started down my LS-swapped X308 path in late February, 2023. I commented on pcolapacker's build thread back then when I found this 2000 XJR, with 109k miles on it. Paid $1,500 for the car. Owner I got it from originally acquired it 3 or so years ago from towing auction and replaced both fuel pumps. Had it registered for a while but only put a few hundred miles on it from what I can tell from the available records when I got it. Prior to that, it hadn't moved in 2-3 years again. In fact, from 2019 to 2021, it went 1700 miles in total. Anyway, it's a rock solid Texas car, never any body damage or bodywork. Paint is beautifully patinaed on all flat surfaces thanks to the Texas sun, and I'll be keeping it that way. Interior in reasonably good shape for the age. Driver's seat lower cushion has 2" hole but rest is good. Had to replace various heat damaged trim bits like rearview mirror, defrost vents and such. Supercharger makes decent rattle, unknown if tensioners were ever done but there's certainly no noise from front of engine. Transmission shifts quite well though I'm not going too far on it as the tires have 17 year old date codes and are rock hard, despite excellent tread. Front shocks and bushings appear fairly new from a mileage perspective.

Driven (limped) into garage after years of outdoor life.

Still one of the best looking angles IMHO...

 

After letting the car sit for a month or so due to schedule, I replaced the brake lines with Goodrich ones to get the pedal back up. Meant to add the detail to the one pic on the earlier post that the reason for the "limp" was that car had no brakes. Pedal was all the way to the floor. After replacing all very dried out lines, nice flush with new fluid, it has a solid pedal.

New brake lines for the win. Rock hard 17 year old tires not so much...And yes - I know it needs brakes. Pad swaps only were clearly the order of the day in its prior life.

 

In late May, I figured it was time to wash the car and get the crustiness off. Looks way better...

Better looking washed for sure. Still love the patina.

 

In June, I decided to get serious about finding a donor car after speaking with Andrew from Jaguar Specialties and PColaPacker a couple times. I joined Copart and focused on 2010-2012 Camaro SS within 1000 miles of my location. Cheers to the sensible motor vehicle regs here in TX that let me buy salvage titles directly. When I lived in New England, was essentially impossible to buy anything other than clean titled anything for any reason as individual. Last week I pulled the trigger on this 2012 Camaro 2SS Convertible with 76,063 miles. Yes, it runs. It will be parted out with the exception of the L99 6.2 engine, 6L80E transmission, gas pedal, engine harness and ECU. Everything else will be sold off. Price for the donor car delivered was in line with what a similar mileage engine/trans combo would be, plus the necessary harness, pedal and ECU. So - anything I sell from the car directly reduces the total cost of this project. As soon as I've got "most" of what I want to sell out of the Camaro, Andrew is getting another call from me to get the conversion kit sent over. Whatever is left of the Camaro will be sent away to either scrapper or a willing buyer...

Very clean body, excellent top, etc.

Bit of an "oops" visible here. Fingers crossed diff didn't get damaged when wheel popped. Expecting steering rack and RF suspension to be toast too.

Mint interior...

 

Are you going to sell any parts from the Jag engine?

 

Yes, I plan to sell everything I remove from the XJR that won't be needed for the conversion.

 

so many junk xj8s around and you chose a running and driving xjr as a donor…

 

Once we get a third we need to start a club!

 

Have been busy since the donor Camaro arrived late last week. Sold off a bunch of stuff so far, more to go. The L99 in the Camaro runs amazingly well and based on CarFax, was very well maintained at dealers its whole life. Right up until the 3rd owner ran out of talent on the 22nd day of ownership and slid into a curb. Were it not for my interest in the LS swap into the XJR, the Camaro could have been put back on the road for about $900 in parts, a day of wrenching and a good 4-wheel alignment.

Sliding right into place...

Ooops - curb alert!

 

Hover car!

 

Honestly I’d repair the XJR and repair the Camaro. Then you’d have two cool cars. The. jR power plant is powerful and reliable.

I cannot fathom why anyone would replace this power plant. Ever.

 

Part out of the donor Camaro has been well underway the last few weeks. Facebook Marketplace the most active/successful listing venue, followed by eBay. Craigslist an absolute ghost town... A few more bigger and/or high $$ parts to come out this weekend, then I'll look to strip out as much as I can of what's left that will fit into my storage loft, put it all in a box/boxes and create running eBay listings for them. Engine/trans will be dropped as a unit from below within the front cradle. Hoping to do that in mid August.

Pieces & parts gone...

Even more pieces & parts gone...

 

Kinda reminds me of when I took an LT-1/Tranny and placed it in a Mark X. There was many things that
required more than the normal attention. The end result was rewarding, however I consoled myself with
the thought I would never do that again.

It looks to be that you have plenty of room for the swap so that is a great plus in itself.

 

Did you sell the Jag cats to the recycler I told you about? Big money. Not enough flow to use with the L99. I’ll be adding the L99 cats to my custom exhaust.

 

I've not started to take the Jag apart yet. It's registered and sitting in the driveway until the Camaro moves out of the garage. I've not forgotten about selling those cats, but couldn't find your post last time I looked. I'll reach out for the info when I'm ready to do that. I am also planning to use the L99 cats for the conversion, where I am in TX does require annual emissions and rather than find someone to do a "bluetooth" emissions test, I'd rather spend the effort to make it 100%. Same with getting the aircon set up. It's too damn hot here not to have AC, especially in a black on black car...

The Camaro exhaust currently only has the four cats, and then runs straight out the back. Sounds amazing and I plan to mimic that approach as much as possible when I get that far along.

 

Been traveling a bit the last few weeks so not as much progress as planned. Donor Camaro well on its way to being stripped, engine & trans will come out no later than Labor Day weekend. Then XJR rolls into the garage for the swap effort to being in earnest...

 

So, the donor Camaro left last Saturday morning. Did quite well parting it out and selling the shell. The engine/trans combo came out the bottom quite easily.

It's a lot lighter than when it came in. Not the "simplify and add lightness" that Colin Chapman had in mind though...

The 76,000 mile 6.2l L99 and 6L80E are in impeccable condition.

 

Now - the current issue I have is a very "first world" one, and will certainly drive some here insane. I recognize that there are those who lament the modification of this, or any other car, from as-built specification. I respect that and admire all of the meticulously maintained, restored, preserved versions of any car really - they're all fun and good. However, creating something unique is part of our hobby and just as those who like the rat rods may look sideways at the "stanced nation" Japanese market import crowd, we're all playing with cars that we enjoy.

I've decided to take a slightly different direction with the swap because while parting the Camaro. The intended 2000 XJR I bought in February for the swap, while running, doesn't do that well and needs a bunch of work unrelated to the swap. Instead, I found a one owner, 2001 XJR with 125k miles for a price that was too good to pass up. And while it runs beautifully, and makes no bad noises, I have zero detailed records other than the CarFax history. While it shows regular service at one of two shops its whole life, there's no real detail about what was done. The original owner passed away in 2013 when the car had 123k miles. From then until now, (10 years) the car only went 2k miles with last recorded service in late 2020. I bought it from a garage the estate of now deceased spouse had used to "get it drivable" after she passed away with new battery, brakes, shocks (not green ones unfortunately), tires and rear suspension bushings replaced.

So - garage has room as the Camaro is gone and the driveway looks pretty cool when both XJRs are outside. Time to get cracking! "Hello, Jaguar Specialties...?"

The 2001 is much shinier than the 2000, seen just outside the garage.

The 2000, with its amazing patina on the hood. 2001 is in the garage.

 

The plastic cover over the intake manifold and the foam pad underneath it need to come off for hood clearance when in the Jag.

 

I had feedback of a shame not to restore my XJR parts car. It would have taken $4k in body work and I'd have a great car with a salvage title. I ended selling the engine for $2750 to a guy who bought an XJR without an engine. Thus, it put an XJR back on the road.