🔧 BUILD 1984 Jaguar XJ6.0

[nsogiba]

It's alive! Got some wiring finished up (roughly) and fired it up Friday. No major issues or leaks upon startup, let it get up to temp and topped off fluids. Everything seemed pretty good, just a lot of smoke from all the paint and exhaust wrap burning off.

Couple of revs and it died on me, so I re-fired it and it wouldn't idle without 10% throttle input. I'm a total rookie on the Holley software but I noticed that IAC counts were very high @ 90% so I figured it needed the blade opened more. I flipped the idle set screw and opened it up a bit more, did a TPS Autoset, and it was all good. Holley made it so easy to fire up, I will never go back to HPTuners.

Took it down the street to the gas station, drove pretty nice for a wizard tune. First impressions:

-Front tires are too wide and rub on the fender on bumps.
-Exhaust leak somewhere up front, maybe the crossover pipe.
-Steering has some play in it on center, might look into tightening up this rack or maybe something a little more radical. Also needs an alignment badly. I will have that performed after I replace the front tie rods and ball joints which are thrashed.
-Brakes have a slight pulsation from sitting so long, we'll see if they clean up with additional miles.
-Differential has a healthy leak. I changed the fluid a few months ago and it weeped a few drops but once I drove it the oil came out at a much faster pace, so maybe something is wrong with the vent.

Overall it's a great cruiser with a ton of style. I can't wait to further refine it; once the small bugs are worked out I'll put on the charge pipe and see what it feels like in boost.

Here are some photos of driving around and after I washed it.

 

[Pro Stock John]

Congrats!

I'd get a turboguard in there.

 

[nsogiba]

The car started marking its territory with power steering fluid after a spirited drive. I cleaned the rack area thoroughly and found that the return hose (original to the car) was suspect.

A local hydraulics shop was able to make a replacement on the spot for $35, including a 45 degree fitting that would better avoid the engine mount pedestals.

Refilled the system and all is well again.

 

[Jimy Bilmo]

I mean, it's a Jag. If it ain't leaking, it's out of fluid.

 

[NOMIEZVR4]

nice job getting it all together!

 

[nsogiba]

I mean, it's a Jag. If it ain't leaking, it's out of fluid.

I mean, how dare that original PS line from 1984 start leaking after I removed and installed it a bunch of times and then jammed it up against the motor mount thinking it would be fine.

 

[nsogiba]

Anyhow, I think it's time to put some boost in this thing.

Does anyone have a recommendation on what kind of timing to run at say, 5, 10, 15 pounds of boost with E85? I know it depends on the percentage of ethanol, my flex sensor will figure that out. I don't know exactly the composition of the fuel at the local station.

SBE 6.0, NON INTERCOOLED!

I was planning on shooting for 11.0 AFR using the gas scale under boost.

Anything else to know when tuning for E85? Gonna check out Matt's video again tonight...

 

[Pro Stock John]

You might want to also ask this in the FI section of LS1Tech.

 

[Jimy Bilmo]

You might want to also ask this in the FI section of LS1Tech.

Or he’s on TCG so he can ask here.

 

[Pro Stock John]

Disclaimer, I am running a big a2a but I just wanted to note when figuring out engine timing when idling and cruising, my tuner and others tend to run a lot more timing than you would with an NA combo.

 

[nsogiba]

 

[Pro Stock John]

Stock ECU or Holley? Also do you have any interest in getting referred to a tuner.

 

[nsogiba]

Holley. I might go to a local guy next year, he has a dyno and experience with turbo LSsesses.

Yesterday was a fun day. I started by playing musical chairs with fuel.

Pour the old dirty unknown pump fuel that came in the Jaguar's original tanks from the gas can into a sealed 5 gal bucket for lawnmower/snowblower use.

Siphon clean fresh 93 out of the fuel cell into the gas can.

Do that 3 times, redistribute all the 93 into the rest of the fleet

Drive to gas station 10 mins away and fill up the gas can with 5 gallons of E85.

Come home, put E85 in the Jag. Flash new tune with ethanol modifiers. Drive Jag to gas station again to fill up rest of the way with E.

The car is super fun on only 8psi. Immediate issues are that the driveshaft is still hitting the tunnel under hard acceleration, but I have a plan for that. The front outer tie rods are totally smoked, one side has about an 1/8" play so it's very sketchy. I bought new ones 6 months ago to replace them but of course they're the wrong size since apparently they changed the design somewhere around my production year.

I can't wait to turn up the boost and fix the axle wrap, it'll be a blast. The Terminator makes it so easy to dial in the required timing and AFRs. I think my favorite feature is that it's easy to pull spark and richen the mixture as boost comes in, but not to the point where it's laggy or a dog. My Crown Vic with the same exact motor and turbo, with 3.27 gears, was a dog off the line probably due to lazy timing.

Couple shots just cruising the car around last week.

 

[Pro Stock John]

Nice. I know a good remote tuner too, he's big on street driveability.

WNY, would that be Next Era?

 

[nsogiba]

Nice. I know a good remote tuner too, he's big on street driveability.

WNY, would that be Next Era?

I went to New Era a long time ago when they were in Rochester. They tuned my 6.0 E39 and I was not happy with the driveability. Car was hard to start hot and would die at lights occasionally. The Jag, on the Holley wizard tune, drives a million times better than that car.

The guy local to me doesn't have a business, he leases a building for personal use and has a dyno there.

 

[Pro Stock John]

Good to know, Mike Frumusa used to be the owner/tuner there but I don't think he owns it anymore.

 

[nsogiba]

Plug check - pulled #2 and #3

8psi, 18 deg, E65. Some 2nd gear hits (20-80) by my house, got back to the garage quick and parked it with minimal cruising. Ambient temps were about 70F, IATs saw a max of 180F at the end of a pull but recovered to 120 pretty quick.

Looks decent to me, just a bit of speckling on the very tip of the electrode. Time to go to 12-14psi? Gonna keep timing conservative for now.

Thinking: 8psi 18 deg, 12psi 16 deg, 14psi 14 deg

Probably can go a lot further timing wise. Still new to reading plugs, so I'm taking it slow.

Thoughts?

 

[nsogiba]

I put away my toys for the winter about 2 weeks ago. Jag and the blue E92 M3 are mine, buddy owns the supercharged Alpine E39 M5, and his coworker has the classic diesel Benz.

 

[IDAFC21]

God damn, thats a nice group of cars all huddled together for warmth

 

[nsogiba]

I have been working on the "old car things" in the form of replacing ancient ball joints, tie rods, brake lines, pads, rotors, typical safety items so I can cruise this thing without killing me and the kids. Finally finished up the majority of it, so I made some pulls on the street to collect data and figure out next steps. I'm on 8psi, 55% ethanol and bored already. Since I'm still learning to tune turbo LS's as well as work the Holley software in general, here's the play by play:

What is max boost?
154kpa, 7.9psi

What's the boost curve look like at WOT?
3000 rpm - 1.7psi
3200 rpm - 3.4psi
3400 rpm - 5.6psi
3600 rpm - 7.5psi
3800 rpm - 7.9psi (max boost for now)

So, boost builds quickly and holds steady at 8 lbs from 3800 to redline.

What is AFR throughout a pull?
12.8 @ 100kpa, 10.7-11.0 @ 155kpa. Gas scale

What is Timing throughout a pull?
27 degrees at 100kpa, 20-21 degrees @ 155kpa

What is IAT throughout a pull?
100F-120F cruising, 187F Max

What is max Injector Duty Cycle during a pull?
46-61% depending on length of pull (fuel pressure dropping but stabilizes)

Fuel Pressure during a pull?
Cruising 62psi, end of longest pull 43psi. From 5000-6500rpm only dropped from 46 to 43psi.

Flex composition?
55% ethanol

Current fuel setup is a -6AN feed to a stock LS1 rail and 80# Deka injectors. C5 filter/regulator and a single external AEM 50-1005 (rated 400lph but at 40psi though).

So, my thoughts: I should turn the boost up to 10-12 lbs, but in order to keep fueling in check I should upgrade to a boost referenced FPR. The C5 FPR probably isn't doing my fuel pressure any favors under boost. Any suggestions? Maybe run the adjustable FPR at 43psi to stretch the pump a bit too?

Are IAT's an issue yet? Wondering how hot they'll get with more boost, maybe figure out some meth (I mean windshield wiper fluid) injection system) based on a Hobbs switch or a Holley output trigger.

Where is peak torque? Trying to save Gen 3 rods. Burnouts, not heroics. Is there a way to tell without a dyno? Appreciate the input boys.

Oh and I finally put new wheels on it. Looks awesome. Pics to come.

 

[Mr_Roboto]

Wow what's your wiring to the pump look like? Lotta roll off there.

 

[nsogiba]

I gotta post the datalog.

It's the stock green trigger wire from the Terminator powering the AEM pump. I should probably grow a pair and use it to trigger a relay and some big boy gauge wiring but since the pump is in the trunk and the battery is up front it means a bunch of additional work that I'm too lazy to do now.

 

[nsogiba]

Datalog

 

[nsogiba]

Revised the fuel system slightly. Headed in the right direction I think. I removed the C5 FPR and cut it open to see what was going on inside and if there was a restriction.

The smallest orifice is the supply hole in the end cap. My calipers measured it at about .200", and a 3/16" drill bit fits freely. So the all the fuel was being shoved through a hole smaller than 1/4"...combine that with no boost reference it's no wonder my fuel pressure was dropping before.

Anyhow, the new adjustable FPR was easy to install, I didn't even have to modify the lines. Everything is still a -6AN throughout. The regulator is mounted inline with the feed in the trunk, and there is still the flex sensor mounted inline with the feed right by the fuel rail, so there is technically still room for improvement in removing restrictions. 58psi with engine running and no vacuum applied. Gauge pressure matches rail pressure.

Given how cheap these adjustable regulators are they really need to become the golden standard for the LS swap. I'll never use another C5 FPR again...they might have their place on stock motor swaps but for anything with any semblance of performance would benefit from one of these.

Took the car out and made some pulls rolling into it, slowly increasing the boost to make sure fuel pressure and AFR was in check. It was safe at 8, 10.5, and 12.5 psi, so I turned it up some more. During a sustained 30-70mph pull in 2nd the boost peaked at 14.7psi and settled at 14.5psi. I only revved it out to a hair under 5000 so once I throw some new plugs in it I plan on making some longer pulls and reading plugs #5 and #7.

30-70 Roll

Interestingly enough I stabbed it hard from a dig on the way home and it boils the tires easily, this is the result I have been dreaming of - even with the 2.88 gears! Within 1 second of 100% TPS applied the rear wheels are doing 26mph and 2 seconds later they're at 120mph in 3rd gear (with a little pedaling in the middle). Real vehicle speed probably never exceeded 35mph - cheap thrills for sure.

What an absolute riot of a car.

 

[nsogiba]

Been driving the car around here and there just melting tires on the street. It developed a slight miss when cold which got worse to the point where it felt like it was on 7 cylinders all the time. I had some worries that the head gaskets were leaking since some coolant was disappearing, but that turned out to be a loose radiator cap that only leaked under high rpm (higher water pressure). Keep in mind, the heads have never been off this motor as far as I know...

Since the Terminator X doesn't have any misfire detection system, I had to diagnose it the old school way...according to an IR temp gun, Cylinder #4 was a couple hundred degrees cooler than the rest. Long story short, I had the injectors cleaned and flowed, replaced the plugs and wires, and still had no cylinder 4. Narrowed it down to a spark issue, and found that the coil harness had some green crusties growing in it.

Terminator side of ignition harness:

Coil pack side (probably original and 20+ years old).

Cleaned up the terminals with some sandpaper and dielectric grease, and she's back to laying stripes...

I don't plan to change much more on this thing at least this season. Might look into a water/meth injection system to see if it helps with IATs as I really don't want to deal with shoving in an A2A or A2W.

The warm weather is finally here so I plan on spending as much time as I can doing HPDE's in my other fun car.