Learn me Jaguar V12's

Hasbro wrote: While we're on the subject, If I have a favorite car, I suppose it is the XJ13. Actually a redesigned kit car is prettier but close enough. Do not watch this video if you plan on having sex tonight - or maybe you should watch if planning on having sex tonight... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxqfVLxx55Q Edit: Watched it again. I'm good.

Awesome. And what an incredible noise!

Also, this was in the related videos - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlPecspdJlY&NR=1 On board with a Porsche 962. It looks brutally fast .

some things never make sense!! when i was moving to Texas, 2yrs ago, i had three,3, Jaguar V12 engines that i had been collecting over a 10yr period, we ll had no place in Tx. for them, so tried to sell them on Ebay, craigs list and couple other sites ,NO TAKERS, so they went to Yorkes recycle in Daytona, got $75 for the them total. i almost cried on the way home.

I seem to recall a board-member stuffingone into a MGB autocross effort. Cant say as I was impressed with the performance challenges or the final result.

The intake was basically junk as designed. The engine ended up puking the bottom end.

The car has since been converted to ford 302 and making about the same hp I believe for less effort and $$$

I <3 V12 Jags and Jags in general and even I just don't see the point in using them, other than the completely undeniable 'cool' factor. As I keep saying, a 1UZFE 'Yota will make nearly as much HP stock (it will match or surpass it with pretty minor changes) and is a LOT more manageable to package.

But I still love the way they look and sound.

mguar wrote: Jaguar V12's can be great affordable race cars... Dump the auto trans and adapt a T5 and you will have the best performance improvement imaginable. You can gut it to around 3000#'s and maybe as low as 2500#'s if you know how to make fiberglass molds 500 hp, 2500pounds and I'll have less than a grand in it..

Can you give more details about adapting the T5 to the V12? Which T5 would you recommend? I assume you're using a World Challenge version, but would you recommend the Camaro or Mustang version? What about clutch, pressure plate, bellhousing adapter etc? What are you doing for a clutch pedal - just sourcing a pedal from a Euro manual trans Jaguar? Terry's Jag Parts is supposed to sell a conversion kit, but I only see stuff for the inline 6 on their page, and it's not cheap. I'd love to do a twin-turbo V12 with a 5 speed in an XJ12C and do it up like the Broadspeed Cars .

Details about weight reduction would be appreciated too. The only thing I've seen about weight reduction in an XJS is from the JagLovers XJS Online Book where they throw out a speculation of "cutting 800lbs out of this car would let it terrorize Corvettes. That's if you could live without a radio, power window motors, power locks, stereo, 5mph bumpers, etc." They also talk about replacing some of the heavier engine accessories like the starter with lighter weight components but they don't get into specifics. I'd love to learn how to cut 1000 pounds out of these cars, so any info you can give would be really appreciated.

Any pics of your car? Are you going the twin turbo, 5 speed route?

I'm off to scout Craigslist for cheap Jaguars!

Thanks,
Bob

NOHOME wrote: I seem to recall a board-member stuffingone into a MGB autocross effort. Cant say as I was impressed with the performance challenges or the final result. The intake was basically junk as designed. The engine ended up puking the bottom end. The car has since been converted to ford 302 and making about the same hp I believe for less effort and $$$

This is mostly true. I took a 1974 Jag V12 and put it in an MGB-GT autocross car, here is my build blog: http://ultimatemgbbuild.blogspot.com . The engine made 290 hp and 290 ft/lbs at the wheels once I modified the intake manifolds. The 5.0 V8 makes 100 hp less at the wheel, though. I will sell the bellhousing/aluminum flywheel/aluminum pressure plate needed to bolt a T5 on, and custom intakes if anybody is interested.

Schmidlap, here's V12 Jag manual conversion stuff for the XJS:

http://www.thedrivenman.com/Jaguar/Transmission.htm

Not cheap, unfortunately. But they do include the transmission. Maybe if you have your own gearbox they'd sell you the rest of the kit.

EDIT: Don't know how close you are to the Southeast. Not mine, no affiliation, take only as directed, wear protective gear, does not guard against STDs, not intended to treat, cure or prevent any disease, may cause various side effects, take with water, yada yada: http://columbia.craigslist.org/cto/2721303093.html

There's a mid-80s XJS V12 on CL here in ATX. If it were BRG I might find room for it in my fleet, but it's red (which IMO doesn't look that good on a Jag).

Dangit. I like red. My dad's '85 coupe and '89 'vert were both red/biscuit...

Thanks Mguar, that was a lot of info!

Curmudgeon - thanks for the link for the transmission conversion kit. I can't believe how ridiculous most of the Jaguar aftermarket parts are. $600 for a supercharger pulley, $1200 for a modified crank pulley (not a new one), $1350 for an ECM tune - I can't believe people actually pay that much.

Bob

In reply to loosecannon: Could you tell me what you did to the intake manifold to get those HP numbers on the v12. Did you change your cam too? I have a stock 76 with original fuel injection and I can only get 215 to the wheels??? Any suggestions would be great, thanks! Unless you have some to sell...

virtue wrote: In reply to loosecannon: Could you tell me what you did to the intake manifold to get those HP numbers on the v12. Did you change your cam too? I have a stock 76 with original fuel injection and I can only get 215 to the wheels??? Any suggestions would be great, thanks! Unless you have some to sell...

I changed nothing but the intakes and made a bunch more power. It's hard to describe so here is what I did in pictures. And before you decide to attempt this yourself, I had access to top shelf welders and machinists who spent 18 hours building these for me, and I'll sell them for a fraction of what it will cost you to recreate. Here is the unmodified intake:

The CNC machined adapter:

The mock up with adapter welded to intake:

Welded up:

Installed:

In reply to loosecannon: Simple yet effective. I think I would have hood clearancing problems with those carbs though... Did you improve on your ignition system. On the dyno, as I hit 4500 rpm the hp started to drop. But when we looked at the signal from the spark plug wire, it started to weaken right at the same time. I thought that was weird even though I have a new oil coil and a Crane system that eliminates the points system on the car. We had to turn the sensitivity of the 'pick up' on the dyno to get a better reading. So, any mods on the electrical system?

virtue wrote: In reply to loosecannon: Simple yet effective. I think I would have hood clearancing problems with those carbs though... Did you improve on your ignition system. On the dyno, as I hit 4500 rpm the hp started to drop. But when we looked at the signal from the spark plug wire, it started to weaken right at the same time. I thought that was weird even though I have a new oil coil and a Crane system that eliminates the points system on the car. We had to turn the sensitivity of the 'pick up' on the dyno to get a better reading. So, any mods on the electrical system?

Yes, I had a Pertronix conversion on it. It was pretty cheap and easy to install

mguar,

It sounds like you have some interesting stories and maybe had some interesting race cars over the years? I'd love to see some photos and read some stories!

David

mguar,

Cool stuff. I've been reading all your Jaguar stuff that I've found and always enjoy it. Thanks for sharing!

David

A great place for parts is www.Jagbits.com I have 2 Jags and have purchased lots of parts from them in the past just FYI