Hi everyone,


A couple of weeks ago I hydro-locked my XKR following what resembled a flash monsoon here on the island.
I thought that I had got away with serious damage to my baby. The next morning when rain had stopped, I went back armed with new plugs, oil, filters, etc I blew all the water out of the motor, shop vacc'd the water out of the intake/supercharger, changed oil etc and after a couple of puffs of starting fluid, she was alive!


Well, fast forward a couple of weeks and about 500 miles to Friday night.. My phone rang, it was the wife reporting from the side of the highway some metal pieces flying out from under the car and lots of smoke.. Ok.. grab a mechanic friend and it was off to the rescue.


I arrived to find the car sat in a puddle of it's Mobil 1 blood. I turned her over and the best way I can describe the noise would be someone letting off grenades in a metal box.. "That sounds expensive" remarked my buddy..


I will post pictures of the motor once it is torn out, along with what could have possibly caused such catastrophic failure.


I just ordered a low mileage engine that will be here within a week or so. It comes with the supercharger and the TB and intake - everything that got hit with water. All ancilliary stuff I will transfer from my engine such as PS pump, brand new alternator as I know them to be serviced and good.


My question then is this.. While I have an engine on the stand, with so much access to everything, what do y'all recommend getting replaced at the same time? My plan so far is front/rear main seals, belts and thinking about the hoses under the supercharger that I have cringed about every time I open the hood. Oh, also thinking lower S/C pulley while I am doing main seals - it is obviously optional will depend on budget. My new gen 3 tensioners will be transferred if needed obviously.


I would like any other suggestions please. I have been a long-time reader on here and have looked at other threads but a lot of things can happen and be reported on a forum and I am trying to rebuild a good reliable car, not build a brand new one! I will be posting pictures as I go. I'm


I did look at the bolt-in chevy kit from Jaguar Specialties, but really couldn't imagine a reason to use it in an XKR, it's fast enough as it is and waaay more refined than a corvette lump and 4 speed autobox.


Not to get off topic, but, speaking of autoboxes, I now finally have the 'time' to do the Mercedes blue-top solenoids in my XKR transmission. My other car is an S55 AMG with astronomical mileage, with the same transmission. It is a different beast altogether as far as shift quality. When I get out of the AMG into the cat, the transmission feels like it was programmed for a cadillac, not a sporty Jag! I have over 307k miles on the AMG, and despite everything else breaking (worst-built car I have EVER owned), the 722 transmission has never missed a beat even with only 2 fluid changes in it's life, not with MB fluid either - but that is a thread for another day.


Many thanks in advance.
Dan.

 

Do the spider hoses for your heater they sit on top of the transmission.

 

Maybe ceramic coat the headers inside and out to kill exhaust heat.. I did it on a different car and it made a huge difference. Also a new thermostat and aluminum housing for it.

 

I have already done the thermostat but will lookup and purchase the spider hoses.
The headers will also be coated as suggested. Any particular supplier/brand for the ceramic coating?

Thank-you guys.

 

Anything rubber is top of the list and the hoses under the supercharger won't be too bad with the engine out of the car.

If you have the time, money and inclination, now is the easiest time to do performance upgrades like a ported supercharger, everything is so much easier to get at.

 

I have now spent the last two days reading about porting.. There have been some good posts on it and plenty of debate, I figure that I might as well do it while everything is in pieces and accessible. I am going to start on the intake and known restrictions this weekend while I'm waiting for the replacement motor to arrive.
Will keep everyone posted.
It irritates me when I choose to do little upgrades like these that I am simply adding to the Internet conjecture of the benefits of doing them. Without having hard and fast dyno figures from before and after, it will all be 'feeling from the seat of my pants' reporting!