For starters, awesome job on the swap, kudos to you and your efforts. I however am OLD and oldschool and believe all Jags should have Jag engines. For 10K or about.... I wouldnt do it. As others have said proper maintenance is the key. Even if you bought a used 4.0 I would change everything (tensioners, water pump, hoses) before installing the new/used motor and drive away.

I also will comment on the value. While you might (personal opinion) be lucky to find someone to buy the converted car I doubt you can sell it for more money then a completely stock car. I will tell you first hand as a licensed used car dealer that if a converted Jag came over the auction block it would not bring ANYTHING close to stock good running money of the same type car. The key is good running. A 100K stock, in good running condition, XJ/XK will bring more money than a converted car no matter who did the conversion. This is from my experience both in Chicago and Phoenix at regular dealer auctions not fluff ones like Barrett Jackson.

Lastly..... I would rather buy the twin screw kit a forum member sells and install it on a R motor and just have fun (600 HP aint nothing to laugh at). Not sure if it would make it worth more but at least its still a Jag engine. The day of people wanting the GM swap (70-80's Jags) I dont think applies to the new ones at all.

JM2C

 

This, then, will just make your milk curdle.

 

1st Jaguar XKLS ls1 T56 6 speed in motion - YouTube

 

Very cool. I like the swap and those wheels would be perfect, if they were a little smaller. I love the concave dish they have.

 

Thanks.
The wheel size is the same as the 2011 xkr .. i think the size is visually amplified by the wheel design, and lowered ride height.

 

MY OBSERVATIONS: It'd be nice if Jaguar Specialties would be more specific on what their kits consist of, and what steps specifically would be required to install Chevy running gear.

It's best if Jags with bad engines are kept Jaguar powered. There are many low mileage running gears available in salvage yards all over the country. We as owners have to be attuned to the junkyards in our general vicinity that do have these cars and parts in stock. You should be able to repower a Jaguar with the same engine for $3500, including labor from an indy shop.

I'd be willing to go without ABS and Traction Control if someone could come up with a way to do away with all of the electronic modules on my car except for an ECM. They're just all too complicated, and cause too many problems. Many of the CAN/BUS systems are much more durable than Jag's 1996-2006 systems.
KISS!

 

I was think about 450 to 500. I don't wanna go super crazy on hp. I'd prefer to keep it more reliable. So if all this is possible than I may consider this after all. And to all those who are appalled at the idea of a gm engine sitting in a jag, please calm down a little. I understand how you feel but there are just a select few willing to do this and this swap gives more potential to an xk8 where there was no potential prior. I love my xk8 but the lack of aftermarket just makes this car more and more boring to me. This just opens a whole new world of opportunity for the xk8. I too am a licensed car dealer in nyc and i think id have an easier time selling this car with an ls1 than the stock aj simply because its cheaper to maintain and its more powerful and reliable. Also, no one ever said anything about swapping an ls1 into an xkr. That would make no sense because there are supporting mods for an xkr like a twin screw, nameless performance headers and high flow cats, ect

 

btw, what kind of wheels are those? adv.1?

 

I'd like to expound on this set of statements. This is my goal on the swap I am trying to undertake.

Can you point me to any other threads where guys are trying to do exactly what you are saying?

 

For 450-500 I would recommend the LS2 from something like the 05 GTO, with a cam. Much simpler than supercharging the lS1, and likely cheaper.

360 forged concave 10's. Hand made took 5 months, and I wouldn't recommend, the company has serious organizational issues. Cor wheels sells a concave forged wheel, and is a better company overall. PM me for a contact if you'd like.

 

Please give us more details about your intentions.

 

Anthony,

Its all good and the bottom line is you can do what ya want its YOUR car. Yes I also agree, xk8 swap is smarter than an xkr swap. Im sure it would run close to the same money to do an XKR engine swap with all the additional items you would also need to swap over to make it complete.

I again commend anyone who can do this and make it work. Love to see that without a doubt. So im good with it, just voiced my opinion thats all.

Good luck to all those who are planning this swap or one like it and lets see some pics and vids when done !

 

How did you make the LS1 swap work with the 6 speed? Andrew from JS told me that his kit modifies the factory shifter to work with a GM automatic tranny only. What did you do as far as the clutch pedal, shifter position, and console finishing?

Thanks!

 

Used a floor mounted racing clutch pedal w/ slave cylinder, and mounted a reservoir in the engine bay. Pedal looks stock. You can see the reservoir on the drivers side near the front of the car - white reservoir.
Shifter sits close to orig position, but had to cut a hole in the tunnel.
Modified shifter to bend aft of vehicle.
Used a triax shifter to reposition shift knob.
Modified old bezel to fill in hole.
Haven't wrapped it in leather just yet.

Just your typical auto to manual stuff.

Pics will come.

 

Great info, thanks! I'll probably be picking your brain in the months to come. Also, did JS ever update the software to make your reverse lights work?

 

My pleasure and not yet.
Some other updates on thier way as well I presume.

 

im so excited for this swap. being that im a 22 year old self employed car dealer working with my dad who is currently in a divorce with my bitch of a mother itll take some time to come up with the money to do the conversion but hopefully itll be sooner than expected.

ill definitely go with the ls2 and install cams if itll get me that much hp but say i supercharged that how much power would i make? im familiar with ls's but not to that extent.

and to 451stroker, i see your in long island. maybe someday we can meet up for a car meet depending on how big this jaguar community in ny is.

 

Well, I think Bamaman pretty much summed up what my goal is...

I want to come up with a way to do away with some of the modules and have some of the modules run as a "standalone" type system.

If you're asking WHY I'm doing this...it's because I want to possibly swap a non-Jaguar engine into a '99 XJ8. I've got a couple threads up with my potential plans.

HOWEVER, the more I read, the more I am finding out that due to a lack of programming technology & "modding" technology for this CAN/BUS system I might be following in your footsteps with a nice LS swap.


But I figure I might as well do a little "due diligence" to see if I can make what I have work before we go and dump another 2k on LS parts.

Thanks ahead of time!!

 

I like your idea.

Fact: Andrew at JS is converting GM ECU serial data to Can BUS data to make the Cluster function properly and the Jag ECU is removed completely from the closed loop CAN.

Fact: In my setup the shifter module is completely removed from the CAN BUS, and I still get cluster functionality.

My point being you're not off the deep end.

Thought: Can you convert your "X" engine data to similar serial data and use Andrew's module?
2nd thought: Can you make your "X" engine run off the GM ECU? I bet you can.

Otherwise I don't see how you can get away from some sort of custom digi to digi converter. Good luck with that!

Other thought - there's nothing wrong with an LS - and they come in so many flavors it's hard not to see the potential.

 

A Jaguar Specialties video
Jaguar XK8 LS1 Conversion by Jaguar Specialties - Part 3 - YouTube