'87 Vanden Plas Sedan

This was a relatively low mileage (< 100k) car when I bought it in late 1996. It was the typical story- nice Jaguar with a bad engine (piston with a hole). For me it was the perfect car. And to make matters even better, it had been maintained for a good many years by a high dollar Rolls Royce and Jaguar shop in my area. The number of receipts that came with the car (and total $$ invested) was staggering. But that's the car you want to by for a conversion- the one that's been professionally maintained by a quality shop. The car itself was in good shape- nice Antelope paint and a very good oyster interior. This car now has an 86 305 TPI engine and T700R4 trans, mounted with our basic Jag-V8 conversion kit. The TPI injection was grafted to the car using a basically stock Camaro wiring harness, and a stock Camaro computer/PROM. The computer is mounted under the passenger seat. One nice piece on the conversion are a set of original 1980 Corvette "headers". These are factory parts designed (originally) to bring the 1980 Corvette's (California only) 305 output close to that of the 49 state 350. These headers were used as the pattern for the V8 conversion headers I now sell. The car also runs a 90 Camaro plastic/aluminum radiator (Modine #951) with a stock Camaro/Corvette/TransAm 17" electric fans. The custom fan shroud is one of the V8 conversion items I sell. This radiator/fan combination dissipates heat very well and I've had no cooling problems. This was the first car on which I tried this type of radiator and I'll never go back to a copper/brass unit. On the suspension side, I've installed one of my 1" fronts sway bar upgrades, KYB shocks all around, and 1999 16" VDP wheels with 225-55-16 tires. The front end was lowered slightly by removing the front spring packing shims. On the appearance side, I've installed one of our European 7" outer headlight conversion kits, and the car also has a set of very rare OE Jaguar European bumpers. These actually use different bumper beams and covers, and the rear has integrated red "fog lights". They're not much for bump protection (the beams are actually only sheetmetal), but I think they improve the look of the car, I've driven this car over 25,000 miles since the conversion and have loved it to death. On long trips it has actually pulled over 22mpg going 70mpgh with the AC on- not too bad for a 3600 lb car that is not particularly aerodynamic. By the way, this car uses an R134 based AC system, and counter to anything you may have heard about this refrigerant and Jaguar AC systems, it cools very well. Near term plans are to replace the older 305 engine with something a little more torquey (maybe a 400), and perhaps a higher (numeric) geared differential to replace the stock 2.88:1 one. One of my new ¾" rear sway bar upgrades is also in the list for this car.

89 XJS Convertible

I came into this car in about May 2000 as a refugee from one the local "charity donation" lots. It had blown an engine, and had been sitting outside for over a year. That's usually not so much of a problem, but the top had been shredded, with rain and whatever getting to the interior. The paint was no prize either, with the clear coat crazing all over, and some dents as well to round out the package. It was given the full Suncoast treatment as well with a low mileage 89 IROC TPI 350 engine and T7000R4 trans. What's nice about the 88 and up Camaro and Firebird engines is that they have a single serpentine belt accessory system which is very clean and compact (as opposed to the earlier arrangement in my VDP with 4 different belts). As on the VDP, the TPI wiring is a basically stock Camaro harness, but the computer is mounted on the passenger side of the transmission tunnel. The cooling system is basically identical to that of the VDP, and I've had no problems with it. The AC system was redone with R134 as well, and cools very well. In general, the car has been a great performer- good power, better handling and greatly improved fuel economy to boot. Suspension on this one has been handled pretty much the same as the VDP- KYB shocks, big front sway bar. However, I did find that 95-97 XJR wheels (17x8) with 255-45-17 tires will fit perfectly on the car with no rubbing or other problems (as a matter of fact, this wheel/tire combo will also fit the Series 1-3 XJ6 sedans with no clearance problems). Just in case anyone wants to try and duplicate the wheel/tire fit, the XJR wheels are 17"x8" with a 33mm offset. On the body side, there was much work to do. The paint shop smoothed out all of the dents, filled in the side market lights, emblem holes, and 3rd brake light opening, and painted it with a PPG 2-stage system in the original color. The also painted the authentic TWR body kit at the same time. I actually found a NOS OE Jaguar complete top assembly (top, headliner, and frame) on Ebay one day, even in the right color- dark blue. It was perfect fit for the car. For sounds I've installed a Pioneer face off AM/FM cassette with CD controller, 360 watt amp (in the storage bin), with 6"/1" ADS speaker/tweeter combos in the front doors, and Alpine 6x9's in the storage compartment lid for the rear. This combination makes for enough clear sound from the rear so you can enjoy your music with the top down on the freeway. The car now has over 5000 miles since the conversion was done and I've been very happy with it. Upcoming projects include a new carpet kit, a differential swap (the original one is whining), a CD changer install, plus a long list of other things….

Update, February 2004:

This car was sold to a customer who flew in from the Detroit area to California and drove it home (2400+ miles!!!) without any trouble. This is a great testament to the reliability of conversions done using the parts/methods described on this website.

'67 XKE 2+2

(Photo taken August, 2001)

This was an interesting project I got into about a year ago. Basically, this was a one-owner local (San Francisco-area) car that was actually picked up at the factory in person. The owner drove it for a few months on a European vacation, and then shipped it back. Sometime in the mid-eighties, the original engine died, and he converted the car to Ford 302 power (there was a local company then- Logan Engineering- that sold a kit for that swap). He drove the car that way until the Ford engine died, and then decided to put in an injected Mustang GT engine. Well, the injection was 5" too tall for the bonnet, so the project stopped. Five years later, I came into the picture, and now have the car. With the car came a garage load of new parts he'd tucked away for it- new windshield and gaskets, all new rubber seals for the car, suspension rebuild parts, brake parts, plus much, much more. I work on it from time to time when I'm not tweaking the others. The engine has been converted the FI engine to a 4 bbl carb (sorry, but this will be a real simple driver), and I found a nice AOD trans for it as well. There's plenty still to do-stay tuned for updates.

Here's a shot taken in June '03 of the rebuilt front end, re-installed engine, etc.,.

And here's a shot from late October '03 of the rebuilt rear suspension (Note XJ calipers on an XKE diff)

'88 XJS-C

So I finally found an XJSC to do my special LT1-6 speed conversion. This car came from the LA area, and has about 75k miles on it. It's white with blue interior, and came with both tops (hard and soft). What's amazing is that the car was in So Cal all these years, but the hard top has never been off the car, and the soft top has never been mounted- they're both like brand new. The car has a little more rust than I usually like, but for a good price, it was worth it. The engine runs well and the car drives nicely- the only hitch is the trans is dying (strange for a T400). Anyway, as soon as the stock drive train is sold, the conversion begins. Here's a photo of the car, and also an 85 XJS "mule" that I'll use to work all of the mechanical details of the conversion (I'll do all of the hacking, cutting, and planning on that car, then transfer all of it for a clean installation in the XJSC).