I was wandering through my local craigslist today, and was surprised to find two fairly cheap hardtop e-type Jaguars. One was sans engine and tranny, and the other already had a 5.0 Ford in it. Is it an oxymoron to think that one could put together an inexpensive, reliable e-type if you shopped well and didn't place too high a value on authenticity? What's the parts reality on these things?
edit:
I would have liked to see that 5.0 swap before the ad was yanked.
Lemme help you out, Woody. I'm sure the ad went:
"I in England, but car in Dubai. Clear Title, No Problem. I pay all shipping charges car dilevered to you door Free Of Charge. I use ebayPayPale Escrow. Car very clean, no scratch, dentis, New Tyres...."
The previous owner of my E had installed a 5.0L and an auto tranny. The thing is, a stock 5.0 doesn't make that much more power than the stock 3-carb motor. Luckily, he held on to the original engine and I re-installed that when I bought it.
Parts are expensive (compared to my Toyota, but cheaper than my M3 parts), but plentiful. Absolutely everything is available. XK's Unlimited, Terry's Jaguar Parts, and SNG Barrett are the best sources. They all have prices on their website.
The floors rust. The rocker panels rust. Fenders rust.
My engine is incredibly reliable. My wiring has had no problems in the 2 years I've owned it. My brakes and clutch hydraulics, are not too reliable. The original parts that have been maintained well are rock solid. The parts of my car that have been "engineered" without "[placing] too high a value on authenticity" are unreliable, difficult to find parts for, and will end up costing me more to replace than if the DPO had just not berkeleyed with it in the first place. Just sayin'.
All told, I have about as much money in my fairly original Series 1 E type as a well-equipped civic si. My purchase price was the same that my Mom paid for her new CRV, and about 5k replacing missing parts that the DPO felt were unreliable and too expensive to use.
Also, look at prices of use I6 XJ's- they are basically the same motor, right? Not sure what manual trans will mate up with it, though. XJ6's can be found pretty cheap- I've seen a couple of ebay for steals. But I'm sure they are POS's, otherwise known as good donors.
Before doing to much DIY engineering, check for common swaps. There are a lot of strong Alfa parts swaps out there, even with other manufacturers- the ones that use the same supplier- say of ATE brakes. I'd be stunned if the 70s' and early 80's Jag stuff doesn't bolt right in.
And David E Davis did a similar hot rod for an old Jag sedan for his wife. I don't know all the details, but it's a pretty elegant hot rod using all Jag parts.
E-
The Driven Man in Tennessee will be happy to set you up with a 5-speed conversion (that will actually have synchronizers on all forward gears, in case you want to take such a giant step into the second half of the 20th century.)
This guy has owned his e-type for nearly 40 years. It appears not to be a garage queen:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/automobiles/collectibles/04ego.html
They are beautiful cars...
procainestart wrote:This guy has owned his e-type for nearly 40 years. It appears not to be a garage queen:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/automobiles/collectibles/04ego.html
They are beautiful cars...
I love stories like that.
