I had a freak accident with my '99 XJR a little while back and had my camshaft crack in half. Since this was a job I do not have the equipment / expertise / time for, I took it to my friend who owns a shop and has worked on all my cars. Due to the risk of likely bent valves (along with other likely possibilities) and the labor involved he recommended I look into getting a new engine as that would be a cheaper and essentially more effective alternative. I stated looking into chevy conversions but like previous people have mentioned, the swaps are usually not very simple to do with later models and all said and done, you will be spending much more than if you just found a replacement engine. Factor in resale and the fact that it is not longer a 'Jag' and the decision seems fairly easy. Seeing as my car was in pristine condition, between the money I would get for it with the bad engine (next to nothing) + the price of a new engine, I knew I still couldn't get a nicer car for the money and found an engine with 60,000 miles on, got my baby back, and couldn't be happier


Just some food for thought... good luck!

 

Thanks, appreciate the feedback. Am going to replace with Jag engine.

 

I am going to replace with Jag engine and monitor CLOSELY! Thanks!

 

Dr. Rocky at Team Motometrics is reviving Lady Jay with a Jag engine. His points were valid along with all of your input. Thank you for such wonderful feedback. Thanks, again, Eon, for recommending Rocky.

 

Neat Stuff
Jaguar Specialties


This folks sell lots of Jag parts including used engines with warranty.
They will ensure you get the correct engine so the computer will work.
98-03 engines are not all interchangeable without lots of extra work.
Jaguar Parts|Land Rover Parts|Coventry West

 

It was overheating long before the temperature gauge told you. The gauges in our cars are fancy idoit lights that stay centered until things get really bad.

This is the second time today I have recomended the Realgauge kit by our own Jagwrangler.

Google it and check it out, easy install, advanced warning and audible alarm.
Vector

 

I will ask Rocky about installing Realgauge - definitely need a better indicator than the idiot light on my XJ8. Thank you!

 

Hi, what exactly happened to your blown engine or are you not bothering to have it diagnosed?

 

Pro: Reliable, cheap and easy
Con: Everybody hates you and you are a terrible person.

 

The thermometer was not working and it overheated and fried the engine; no compression - per my new Jag shop here in Florida recommended by a current member of this forum. I have no other way of knowing.

 

Ha! Well, I've decided to be a good person and replace with a Jag engine. Too many question marks around the conversion. Thanks.

 

I just bought an XK8 coupe with a blown engine and I have a rebuilt 5.3/460LE with a knarly cam and larger torque converter going in it. Car is being shipped from JaguarSpecialties in northern Calif to my engine guy. I also bought Andrews complete conversion kit. Less than $10k in the whole thing... I can't wait to get my hands on it

 

You could get a factory powered X100 cabrio for well under $8k. Coupes even less.

 

Hey hey settle down boys
what it comes down to is if the body of the car is good and interior
then they are a classic in their own right.
the cost to replace the existing engine and box is far cheaper than the conversion
now if you do the conversion what do you
well an engine that is so common there everywhere and every young hoon's got one, sure you get extra grunt, but! these jag engines rev a lot harder and the torque pull is constant all the way up.
if you have aL/H/D the kits are abundant
here down under not so
at the end of the day after all the 2 and thro I stuck with the car and restoring it to original it gets more valuable every day. especially to me
the choice is yours

 

Yep, plus you're going back in technology with the transmission considering you are dropping one gear. I wonder what the top speed of these lumps is. A factory powered X100 does 154 mph and O-60 mph in the mid six second range.

 

Before I bought my '98 VDP I looked at a couple of Chevy conversions, one in particular was done very well, but they both had the same problem, the instruments, tach, speedo and other parts of the instrument panel did not work, and the owners didn't know how to get them to work, I believe one had the odometer, voltage and temp working.
clive

 

yes that is a great point that turned me off the conversion idea
see some gauges use positive and some use ground neg and I am sure Jag works on positive to sending units then back to gauges
can you imagine the relays etc to change over the switching for each gauge it's a pandoras box alright.

 

Fortunately Andrews kit addresses the instrument interface and everything works as it should.....believe me I hate wiring and would never undertake figuring that out. In this forum Andrew addresses that very issue. I believe his is the only kit that addresses the instrument interface. That's what you're really buying, the rest could be handled by any competent builder.

 

Yes Andrew is the goto guy for sure the photos I have seen of the finished project are fantastic really neat work
but in the end what do you have a Jag no!, a kit car maybe, a Chev no! and as I said for me this is everyone's got a gen3 running around
how about a dodge viper engine? that would be different

 

OK I'm done with this discussion.(sorry I even posted it)...good luck at 100k miles when the jag engine takes a dump!!