So was your car on the dyno? On the track? When this happened... I'm curious why there are no picts or video in this day and age when almost everyone has a cell phone in their pocket.


No picts + No vid = didn't happen.

 

It's called trade secrecy.

I fed you guys enough pictures during the build to let you know progress was being made.

This car was not built for you persobally, so we owe you nothing.

If you were closer, I'd have you come To the shop, sit in the car & place order for parts.

This is one of the most, if not THE most modified Jaguar XJ's in the world.

 

Here is a short raw video that someone posted on Facebook.


https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=346984708801645

 

 

Nice! Not really my thing but definitely appreciate the work, skill and experience it took to get there.

So where's the juice? What's in it for us the forum members? Any parts, kits, or especially useful information that we can use & apply on our own cars?

 

Lets be clear here, this is NOT your car...right? if so perhaps the details should be in a different thread to avoid confusion. It seems like you're trying to pass off someone else's modified car and someone else's event as your project and in the process projecting greatness and value on to your project where perhaps none exists.

 

You are a legend in your own mind.

 

All components from this car will be available for purchase

manual transmission swap
front/ rear suspension kit
Coilovers
wheel spacers
turbo manifold
fuel system
Modification to rear hubs(possibly)
Modification to factory intake manifold for different throttle body location
Charge pipes
Dashboard (possibly)
Hydraulic e-brake
The list goes on...

 

Nope.

It's not my car.

I never claimed to own this car.

My project will be a coupe utilizing a 2JZ-GTE from a Toyota Aristo (hence the name AristoCat)

I thought I made it clear that this was not my personal car, but if it makes it more clear, I can post another thread when the full release of the car happens with finished video & photo feature.

I was just trying to leak a little but to the community as soon as I could, because sometimes it takes upto a month to get a proper release feature.

I work at Xcessive Manufacturing & I have many hours invested into this car in forms of collaborative design, fabrication, body work & every other step you could imagine it would take to get this car where it is at now.

 

In this reply you suggested it was you said " I wanted to experiment with the Jag & push an old chassis & engine into the public opinion."

Early in the thread you used the word "I" which suggested this was something you were doing. It was in later post where is became "we". Now its "nope not mine" and something done where I work and I spent many hours on it.

 

Building a drift jaguar was originally my idea, for swapping a JZ, then after discussing it with my friend at the time (the owner of Xcessive) we started making decisions together (bouncing ideas off of one another) I am already neck deep in 2 other projects that require substantial financial investment (FD3S & E31) & are already taking up shop space, so Rich though it would be a good move to develop the jaguar chassis, utilizing the stock motor (it was a great idea) so his jaguar project is running ahead of schedule than mine.

I came to Xcessive every day after work & put in enough time to be considered a part time employee + working on the car during the weekend, we work so well together that he offered me a job (my dream job) to design race car parts/ build race cars & drive them.

I love what I do, but when undertaking projects this big, things take time.

 

It's funny to walk into the office & Rich is talking to a jaguar community member who is inquiring about our products.

I'm glad this project is picking up speed & changing people's opinions about these cars.

The original intention of this thread was to discuss aftermarket support for this chassis, not a personal build thread.

I think when we get our information consolidated I will merge everything into 1 thread, or break it into various "how to" threads.

 

I spoke to Rich. I find this thread odd because you took the time to post how amazing and powerful the XK engine is but you neglected to mention the 1st engine didn't last long and lost oil pressure. And that a 2nd engine was required with modifications to the pistons, block, oiling system, and bottom end to make it live so far. You should really tell the whole story not just the fantasy parts. We'd all love it even more pass or fail. I'm amazed the head stayed on and the block didn't crack so thumbs up to the builder and whoever programmed the fueling and ignition. I hope it lasts but either way there are many, including myself who'd like to see the details. After taking to Rich in great detail about it, there doesn't seem like there is anything top secret about this project so get posting.

 

The reincarnation of the XJ chassis was done with privacy so we could find answers to questions before the car was released; it’s the same that any large manufacturer does. They design, test and improve long before the public knows. The finished product is answers, not more questions, a working prototype, not failing prototype. When the car was started we asked around at a few local Jag shops and on the forums and found that, either no one knew anything about the original engines or they weren’t sharing, the common theme was “take it out and do a chevy” or “just buy good parts and pay us to do it” so I did my own analyses and came to my own conclusions, basically that people are afraid of what they don’t know. These motors ran hard back in the day, so why not now? I’ve had a ‘74 XJ12L for 14 years as a daily driver, with a Rover V8swap and 700R4 that I did (no Rover/700R4 swap kits in my neck of the woods). I use to slide the car on stock wheels and suspension on my way to and from work but gave that up when I realized I was scuffing the tires all the way up to the rim, basically about to roll the tires off the bead. It was fun, but a bad idea. But times have changed!!

The "new" car was purchased for $600, typical for a worn out mid’80’s Jag. The original motor had 158K on it and we never took it out. The idea was to find if the motor made power or was actually an obese dog that looked mean, but just wasn’t anymore. The first dyno pull was right after we bought it, with no work done. It made about 180 WHP and similar lackluster torque with some blow by, we didn’t flog the motor as it rolled off sharp so we shut it down, just no point. We found a leaky injector that wasn’t seated, a loose coupling to the MAF and extremely dry wires. The oil pressure was in question, but it had stock Smiths gauges and yes, factory wiring. We removed the smog pump, mechanical fan and fixed the injector/MAF and hollowed out the catalytic converter. Then we did our manual trans swap (built inhouse), urethane motor mounts (also made in house) and few other bits that wedo with all of our toy cars when we plan on hammering on it. We got the WHP up to about 196 and tried to rev it out a bit higher, we got more blow by this time but decided the motor was sufficient to try our luck going farther.
Next was a strip down of the motor and chassis. This meant pulling all the wiring, dash and motor externals as well as all sound deadening/interior. It’s important to note that we never cracked the motor open save to remove the valve covers and fix oil leaks on the rear. I wired in a stand alone EMS, new gauges, fabbed a turboheader and exhaust, modified the stock intake for 440cc injectors and made atop feed fuel rail along with new fuel delivery/pump. We started in with 7 lbs of boost on the dyno and the motor did well accept for more blow by (no surprise). I kept tuning and upping the boost. The turbo used was acquired for $125 just to see what it would do, with a T4 base and 3” V-Band exhaust, I knew I could change it out easily if it didn’t perform. We ran it all the way up to14/15 lbs of boost. The absolute limit for the turbo, so WAY outside it’s comfort range, but it made 360 WHP and 460 LBFT of torque. This would easily be plenty of power to see if it would die when the car was put sideways.

Being a Jag from1985, the suspension and tire combo would have seriously caused issues if wehad tried to track it, so the car got a treatment underneath. The specifics of which will be shared later, sorry to make you wait.

To shorten the story with the motor, after driving for a month with a few (maybe more then a few) hits on boost, the oil pressure proved a problem and we lost the main bearings and damaged the crank. A complete tear down of the motor showed me a few weak spots in the oiling system, due in part to its age but also design. Can you believe that Jag didn’t actually design the motor to last nearly 30 years and THEN see 15 lbs of boost and double the HP output, who would have though! But alas I had my knowledge. The rebuild cost $1300. We sourced a new donor motor from the junkyard so we didn’t start with fried parts to put the bottom end back together. We had it line bored, bearings clearanced on rods and mains, balanced, cylinder bores honed and pistons clearanced for prolonged boost. None of this is secret stuff, any engine builder that knows what boost and time are, should be able to set this up. I did the re-assembly of the engine and head work myself as well as the oil pump I reworked for better flow and tighter tolerances for the heat. This was again something that there was no information about other then “just buy a good one”, which meant a pile of cash compared to a stock pump. The concept from the start wasn’t to just throw as much money at it as we could, THIS ISN’TA HIGH DOLLAR BUILD!! The used stand alone computer, rebuilt motor, turbo and other misc. parts actually cost less then buying the average good LS1, granted the fab work is done in house, but an LS1 swap would have some work as well.

I’m going to call that enough info for now, I have to go run a business and make parts!!

 

http://youtu.be/llJL1D7unRM

 

This thread got better and better!

I'd love to see a finished engine bay picture, even the interior.

I know you're a company that wants to keep its designs under wraps, but any basic info on the suspension changes, a bit more in depth than "custom coilovers" please

 

I'll offer a differing opinion. This thread got worse as it continued. It started out showing some promise with pictures and some descriptions, but there was always a sense of elusiveness. Then suddenly the updates became just "X is done." No pics, no description of what X entailed. There were repeated promises of pictures "once it's all done." Then we were promised "release of all details at the beginning of September." Then we were told "it's a trade secret" yet we're also told members of the Jaguar community are excited and in the shop discussing parts. How does one get into this exclusive club where you can learn about these seemingly incredible parts? Frankly, for a company trying to sell parts, their understanding of marketing sucks. A couple of photos of an XJ on the track hardly qualifies as release of details.

Potential customer: I see you're offering a coilover kit
Xcessive: Yes
Potential customer: Can you give me any details about the kit?
Xcessive: No

 

Well said FarmerJ, I suspect in the end it didn't turn out that great but I salute them for doing it none-the-less.

 

Media takes time, my friends.

Just hang in there with us.

 

I've got an RB26 sitting on an engine stand, but if the results of this engine are any good I might consider not doing a conversion, for simplicities sake