Sloppy 🔧 Builds 1984 Jaguar XJ6.0

[nsogiba]

I have only seen the car twice in person and it's currently in storage but I figured it was time to start documenting this build.

After pulling the 6.0/80E out of my Crown Vic Police Interceptor for some winter maintenance and upgrades, I couldn't bring myself to put it back in the car as the body was really starting to rot underneath. I vowed to myself that I would never buy any other rusty piles as I refuse to do bodywork and have no time for rust repair. Patina aside, it got old getting into a car with rusty fenders and rockers - just not my style I guess.

This one is a 1984 Jaguar XJ6 that was originally delivered with the 4.2 straight six and 3 speed auto. The PO owned the car for over a decade and babied it, never driving it in bad weather. He had a shop install new tires, brakes, go over the rear end, and even had it repainted. Ultimately as with all old cars the drivetrain started nickel and diming him to death, so once it got to the point where it wouldn't start he decided it was time to move on. Perfectly convenient for me as I don't need the old drivetrain and have no intention of getting it running.

Bringing it to my storage spot in November 2021:

Getting it on the dolly was a breeze with my DIY winch.

The plan is to get it home before the end of the year now that my Crown Vic is all parted out.

Click to read more...

 

[nsogiba]

Some more photos of the car...

It has a super weird twin (but separate) fuel tank setup with a filler cap on each side and a driver operated tank select switch. I plan on ditching the tanks and going with a fuel cell but I really want to keep the dual fillers as they're super cool.

The 4.2 boat anchor cranks but doesn't run and has had many cases of "here, let me take a look at it". It will get pulled and listed for some die hard Jag purist to pick up.

This build will have a couple unique features for me...

-Oldest car I have ever owned, and has the styling/smells/vintage feel I like from that era. No ABS, no airbags, we die like men...

-Being pre-1996 that means it will not require a state emissions inspection which has always been a hassle for my swapped cars. Furthermore, since I don't need to run emissions, I don't need to use the stock Express PCM, so that has been sold off and I will be running a Holley Terminator X Max. I never enjoyed the HPTuners learning curve and am looking forward to the self tuning feature. Anybody want to buy my MVPI Standard?

-Plan on running a flex fuel setup and enough fueling to support 700+whp. Never run E85 before so this should be fun. I will need recommendations on an ethanol friendly fuel cell, and need to decide whether to run a couple in tank pumps or one external. Never messed with fuel cells so that will be a learning experience.

-Still going to run the 6.0/80E that came out of the Crown Vic. Most everything is staying the same internally (SS2 and 1218s) but I'm going to need to revise the front accessories to be able to run the LS1 intake to clear the hood. The car will stay 100% stock looking, no cut up Draguar hood here.

The rear is most likely a 2.88 open so that will need attention, but being based on the Dana 44 with some minor differences a gear swap shouldn't be hard. The entire IRS drops out as one assembly. Driveshaft is already disconnected from the diff from when I towed it on the dolly, too. I'm thinking a 3.54 or similar ratio to allow for easy highway cruising on the 26" tire.

I'm on the fence about AC since it doesn't get that hot here in WNY, but the exhaust will definitely utilize a 3" cat that then feeds the stock Jaguar exhaust that I'm sure is whisper quiet. 3" boost activated cutout will dump post turbo, pre cat. I absolutely plan on keeping the cool s-shaped tail pipes.

 

[Outlaw]

This is going to be epic. I love these old Jags, even moreso when they're reliable lol.

 

[Dan00Hawk]

I love that body style! As a reference to the 80's Equalizer TV show that featured that car, perhaps a reference to that and the LS motor would work: EQUALSER

I'm looking forward to following this build!

 

[nsogiba]

I love that body style! As a reference to the 80's Equalizer TV show that featured that car, perhaps a reference to that and the LS motor would work: EQUALSER

I'm looking forward to following this build!

That's pretty creative, love the LS reference. I had no idea there was an 80s series, always thought the Denzel movies were the first ones with the idea. Learn something new every day.

 

[daturbosix]

Carl@Redline dude....... bro....... this is going to be amazing!

 

[Dan00Hawk]

That's pretty creative, love the LS reference. I had no idea there was an 80s series, always thought the Denzel movies were the first ones with the idea. Learn something new every day.

Here's an idea for you to mimic with a photo of your LS XJ when the time is right if you want that 80's vibe!

 

[IDAFC21]

I am so looking forward to progress updates in this thread.

 

[Pro Stock John]

I posted to your LS1Tech build thread earlier, but just to reiterate I really dig this build my f'law has a mint '83 with the same driveline.

I'll be curious where you site the turbo.

 

[Mook]

This is awesome.

 

[Ron Vogel]

They just rehabbed a little older one on Wheeler dealers this season. It’s obviously not a hardcore wrenching show, but they did go a little into how the pull the rear subframe and some info on the dual tank setup. They kept the original boat anchor though.

 

[NOMIEZVR4]

damn nice pickup. Got an XJR myself. Reminds me i gotta update that other thread with a picture of mine.

 

[nsogiba]

I posted to your LS1Tech build thread earlier, but just to reiterate I really dig this build my f'law has a mint '83 with the same driveline.

I'll be curious where you site the turbo.

I am hoping to reuse the same log manifold I used on the Crown Vic, passenger front area. Had really good luck with that, hopefully the hood clears on the Jag.

They just rehabbed a little older one on Wheeler dealers this season. It’s obviously not a hardcore wrenching show, but they did go a little into how the pull the rear subframe and some info on the dual tank setup. They kept the original boat anchor though.

I'll have to check that show out, very cool.

damn nice pickup. Got an XJR myself. Reminds me i gotta update that other thread with a picture of mine.

Pics or BS!

 

[Pro Stock John]

Looks like some NA builds clear the hood no problem: http://www.jaguarspecialties.com/XJ6C-P1.asp

 

[nsogiba]

Looks like some NA builds clear the hood no problem: http://www.jaguarspecialties.com/XJ6C-P1.asp

Yup I actually picked up an LS1 intake, fuel rail and throttle body to replace the truck intake. Side note, prices for those are going up, I remember when the going rate for an LS1 intake was like $100, you couldn't give them away...

My concern is the truck accessories (mainly alternator), I am going to try to reuse the truck bracket and chop it up to rotate the alternator out of the way. Really don't want to drop the money on an aftermarket or F-body accessory set.

The turbo is a different story but we'll see, I can maybe move the T4 flange lower if it's an issue.

 

[Pro Stock John]

You prob already know the f-body accessory set would mount stuff tighter to the engine. I've got truck spacing on my '67 stuff.

Looking at Jaguar pics, I'm guessing you have the room for the turbo, just have to watch hood clearance.

I'll be my f'laws '83 next week, I'll ask him to let me look at the engine again.

 

[nsogiba]

Yup, there is plenty of real estate in front of the motor so no problem there - it's just vertically limited and I refuse to cut the hood.

I am trying to get the car home soon but if you can snap a bunch of pics of the engine bay (and maybe the whole car) that'd be great.

 

[Pro Stock John]

Yeah I'll be there end of next week. Same driveline as yours.

 

[nsogiba]

Holiday update time - hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and enjoyed it despite how crazy the world is right now.

I finally made the room in my garage to be able to get the Jag home - so we loaded it up on my buddy's trailer and hauled it home.

Rolled her big ass into the garage and got it up on the lift. Initial impressions are good - little to no rust on the unibody underneath, really just surface rust on some subframes and pinch welds. That'll be easy to grind down and paint black - no body work needed.

I will admit that my time working in the garage has been extremely limited lately - preparing for my son's arrival in February while watching my year and a half old daughter takes up the majority of my time. Anyhow, I was lucky enough to get out there for a whole day and remove the bonnet (lol), and pull the stock boat anchor.

Looking like the rear sump Camaro pan will work, and the subframe has nice flat pedestals to work off of for mounts.

37 years of oil leaks, grease, grime, and filth. I powerwashed as much as I could - no photos of the after since I was pretty soaked.

Anyone want to buy the stock motor/trans? I've never pulled a motor this old (1984), that actually has roots dating back to the 50s. Everything is so massive and overbuilt...

Next up is removing lots of unnecessary junk from the engine bay, cleaning it up, and maybe shooting some paint onto the frame rails. Looks like someone spilled brake fluid at some point, nothing that can't be fixed with a rattle can.

 

[IDAFC21]

solid update

 

[nsogiba]

Today's update - I brought home my freshly rebuilt 4L80E. I was kicking around the idea of rebuilding it myself but found a local builder who is experienced in the task and had it done in a week; for $600 this was far easier and faster than tackling it myself.

Part of the reason the price was so good was that I brought him 2 80Es. #1 had decent internals but a large piece of the case broken off, and #2 had a good case but fried internals.

The broken case was caused by a failed driveshaft u-joint that caused the yoke to whip around wildly and stress the case.

This is the inside of the pan of the fried 80E...not much was left.

When I was a kid, my Polish parents told me a joke about a Russian watchmaker that is brought 2 broken watches to be repaired. He not only repairs both, but has enough parts left over to keep as payment. ?

The broken case was mounted to a scrap aluminum 5.7 block I bought in 2014 to make a coffee table out of, but never got around to. Turns out the block is much more useful as a mockup device. Notice the massively worn thrust surfaces....this is after the block was glass bead blasted.

 

[nsogiba]

Working on getting the drivetrain positioned in the last week or so.

Made up some pedestals out of 1-1/4 square tubing and round DOM. Drilled the square tubing, pressed in the DOM, then welded it up for good measure. These will get bolted to the SBC mounts and the adapter plates.

The first test fit with the F-Body oil pan pushed the engine pretty far back and still landed the stands a couple inches behind the subframe pads, so the engine needed to come forward a bit. Since the oil pan didn't allow for that, and I didn't want to cut up the oil pan, it was time for a different pan.

Stock F-Body

302-1

The 302-1 bought me a ton of room. I got it mocked up and slid everything in for a test fit.

I got the scrap block and trans in and decided to dig out a couple scrap cylinder heads just to make sure I had adequate space for manifolds. Of course I could only find one cylinder head so I decided to just install the actual motor with the trans case. It will have to come out again to get the actual trans bolted up and for some more engine bay clean up, but we are at least getting close to having mounts done.

Finally, I bolted up my M-Parallels which I've run on a number of cars. They're a square 18x9.5 wheel with a 255/35 tire. I am aware of minute bolt pattern difference between BMW and GM and am not expecting any issues based on first hand experience of others who have run these exact wheels on Chevy bolt patterns. Since the wheels use a 60 cone seat and the stock Kent wheels use a flat mag seat, I purchased new lug nuts witih a 1/2-20 thread and 60 degree seat, intended for a Mercury, to run my BMW wheels on a Jaguar with a Chevy bolt pattern.

Initial impressions are that the offsets and widths work great, but the setup will need some work to fit just right. Luckily I won't need any spacers but I will definitely need to roll the rear fenders as the tires are almost tucked at a stock ride height. The front will wait until the entire drivetrain is installed to ensure the springs are fully laden, but even then I'm assuming I'll have to lower the front to fill the giant wheel gap.

 

[Pro Stock John]

Nice progress. When I was at my inlaws I didn't have time to look at his '83.

Good decision to get a better fitting oil pan. My reccolection is that these Jags came with a TH400 so the 4L80E should be okay. How do the manifolds fit, good with the steering column and stuff like that?

 

[nsogiba]

Nice progress. When I was at my inlaws I didn't have time to look at his '83.

Good decision to get a better fitting oil pan. My reccolection is that these Jags came with a TH400 so the 4L80E should be okay. How do the manifolds fit, good with the steering column and stuff like that?

I think the V12 cars had the TH400 and 80E in later years; this was a peasant 6 cylinder model so it had a Borg Warner 3 speed auto which had a pretty big bellhousing but a tiny transmission case. As a result the firewall bulkhead is gigantic around the top of the bellhousing but the trans tunnel by the tail housing is fairly tight, another reason the drivetrain got moved forward. The good news is there is a TON of room to do up the bellhousing bolts by hand from the top of the engine bay AND I will be able to modify the stock trans crossmember. It's actually a fairly thin stiffening plate but I will reinforce it with some extra parts laying around and it'll be stiffer than honeymoon dick.

Manifolds are another story, I was hoping to reuse the usual sloppy setup with a truck manifold on the driver's side, crossover under the bellhousing feeding the log on the driver's side. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any easy option for the driver's side headed rearward so most likely I will send it forward around the FEAD and merge under the turbo flange somehow. I plan on running nice small 2.25" crossover instead of the 2.5" I had on the Crown Vic that I made out of a scrap C5 Vette axleback. That leaves the question of either capping the inlet on the turbo log, or making a new log out of a truck manifold. I'm thinking the latter.

Also, I'm an idiot and bolted up the oil pan last night before realizing I forgot to install an oil drain...drill and tap are in the mail.

 

[IDAFC21]

Love seeing any progress on this thing