Looking for powertrain ideas

In reply to captdownshift :

Controller for the Ecoboost is expensive.

3400 GM because of Dusters build thread I've been down a super weird 60 degree V6 rabbit hole lately. Then this taurus V6 thread got me all weirdly turned on

Oh Opti's name has reminded me. People are basically giving away LT1/4L60E combos if you want nearly 300hp, EFI, and an auto trans. 

Daylan C said:

Oh Opti's name has reminded me. People are basically giving away LT1/4L60E combos if you want nearly 300hp, EFI, and an auto trans. 

This would be a good option. They are cheap, easy to find and youi can get the ECU and engine wiring harness modified to make this a simple plug-in solution with the ECU reprogrammed to work in your non-emissions car.

In reply to dherr :

Just make sure it's not a 4.3 unless you're ok with 200hp. (I was because I got it real cheap) 

We picked up an LT1 from a Z28 with only 82K on it for $800 and got to listen to it before it was pulled from the car. Agree that you want the 5.7, especially if you are stuffing it into a heavy old Jaguar.

I owned a Mk. 9 - like your car, except with  3.8 engine and brakes that actually worked. Loved that car and still miss it.

Identical colours to mine:

I agree with the guys that said to stay with a Jag engine, be it a 4.2 out of an XJ or a V12.  The V8s just don't sound as good and are out of place in that particular car.

Mine would hit 110 mph, which was pretty good for a car with the aerodynamics of you average barn door, but they sure do look great.  There was a guy that used a Mk 7 as a tow car for his race car years ago and it looked great (for that application a V8 auto would be excusable)

Keeping it Jaguar and sticking a V12 in there would be pretty high on the awesome list, as long as you got the kinks of the engine figured out.  Those engines just sound incredible.  If it would fit, I would also vote for an LS swap.  I see people getting them all the time for 1-2 hundred dollars, they run forever, super easy to get lots of power out of, and there's millions of them out there.  

A Jag V12 is a good idea for a large number of reasons- GM trans bolt up to them so you can easily run a 4l60e getting a 5-speed auto (or a 4l80e for towing, imagine towing E36 M3 behind a 50s Jag) but even better, the bore and stroke is the same as the Chevy 350- meaning that ANY aftermarket piston can be used and aftermarket cams are easily ground. I have also heard-but not confirmed, so grain of salt- that the oil passages and lubrication is excellent, and is the reason why in an endurance race James May won on old Top Gear.

I like the idea of a Diesel for these, but I worry about weight versus the heaviness of the original motors. Even a "small" 4bt Cummins inline 4 is ~800lbs wet and dressed, and can cost equally as much as a 5.3 aluminum LS which will be half that.

I actually vote for something completely off the wall- 7M-GE or GTE. They were the original Toyota inline 6 for the Mk. III Supra- you know them from their original head gasket problems, allegedly caused by a misprint in the service manual that had "65lb. feet" of torque mis-written as "25 lb. feet". They can be picked up for a hundred bucks each, bolt to a variety of Aisin transmissions from the 70s through the 90s, and still enjoy an aftermarket because lol Toyota. Fans and said aftermarket have solved the prior gasket and oiling issues, so a turbo GTE should be typical Toyota stout. Just be warned- the failure of the 7M led to the 1J and 2J, but they really don't share much in the way of commonality as Toyota was trying to bury the 7M's shame.

Ford 300ci, aka 4.9 inline 6 is also a decent idea too with it's 7-bolt mains, but I don't know trans options aside from AOD and AODe. Problem is, I'm not sure about aftermarket parts- I think their factory fuel injection setup was throttle body based and not port, and allegedly fans have made their own FI "intakes" for port injection.

ALSO, YOU MUST DO THIS TO IT.

I'm leaning towards Toyota JZs. They make the power you want stock, they're pretty bulletproof and if you decide down the road that you want more power, that's really easy to make. Nissan RBs are harder to find here, but make even cooler sounds.

GIRTHQUAKE said:

A Jag V12 is a good idea for a large number of reasons- GM trans bolt up to them so you can easily run a 4l60e getting a 5-speed auto (or a 4l80e for towing, imagine towing E36 M3 behind a 50s Jag) but even better, the bore and stroke is the same as the Chevy 350- meaning that ANY aftermarket piston can be used and aftermarket cams are easily ground. I have also heard-but not confirmed, so grain of salt- that the oil passages and lubrication is excellent, and is the reason why in an endurance race James May won on old Top Gear.

I like the idea of a Diesel for these, but I worry about weight versus the heaviness of the original motors. Even a "small" 4bt Cummins inline 4 is ~800lbs wet and dressed, and can cost equally as much as a 5.3 aluminum LS which will be half that.

I actually vote for something completely off the wall- 7M-GE or GTE. They were the original Toyota inline 6 for the Mk. III Supra- you know them from their original head gasket problems, allegedly caused by a misprint in the service manual that had "65lb. feet" of torque mis-written as "25 lb. feet". They can be picked up for a hundred bucks each, bolt to a variety of Aisin transmissions from the 70s through the 90s, and still enjoy an aftermarket because lol Toyota. Fans and said aftermarket have solved the prior gasket and oiling issues, so a turbo GTE should be typical Toyota stout. Just be warned- the failure of the 7M led to the 1J and 2J, but they really don't share much in the way of commonality as Toyota was trying to bury the 7M's shame.

Ford 300ci, aka 4.9 inline 6 is also a decent idea too with it's 7-bolt mains, but I don't know trans options aside from AOD and AODe. Problem is, I'm not sure about aftermarket parts- I think their factory fuel injection setup was throttle body based and not port, and allegedly fans have made their own FI "intakes" for port injection.

Jaguar used the 4l80 with the v12 in the 90s.

In reply to MotorsportsGordon : yes Jaguar used the internals of GM’s overdrive transmission but GM built it in Jaguars case. The  same as they did it for Jaguar with the earlier Turbo 400.   *  To be more accurate GM probably made the case to conform to Jaguars specifications.  

In other words you can’t just swap transmissions. It has to be a Jaguar case. But really good news, the locating dowels are the same size and location on a Jaguar V12 block as GM uses. What that means is it’s really simple and straight forward to adapt a manual transmission to a V12.  

GIRTHQUAKE said:

A Jag V12 is a good idea for a large number of reasons- GM trans bolt up to them so you can easily run a 4l60e getting a 5-speed auto (or a 4l80e for towing, imagine towing E36 M3 behind a 50s Jag) but even better, the bore and stroke is the same as the Chevy 350- meaning that ANY aftermarket piston can be used and aftermarket cams are easily ground. I have also heard-but not confirmed, so grain of salt- that the oil passages and lubrication is excellent, and is the reason why in an endurance race James May won on old Top Gear.

I like the idea of a Diesel for these, but I worry about weight versus the heaviness of the original motors. Even a "small" 4bt Cummins inline 4 is ~800lbs wet and dressed, and can cost equally as much as a 5.3 aluminum LS which will be half that.

I actually vote for something completely off the wall- 7M-GE or GTE. They were the original Toyota inline 6 for the Mk. III Supra- you know them from their original head gasket problems, allegedly caused by a misprint in the service manual that had "65lb. feet" of torque mis-written as "25 lb. feet". They can be picked up for a hundred bucks each, bolt to a variety of Aisin transmissions from the 70s through the 90s, and still enjoy an aftermarket because lol Toyota. Fans and said aftermarket have solved the prior gasket and oiling issues, so a turbo GTE should be typical Toyota stout. Just be warned- the failure of the 7M led to the 1J and 2J, but they really don't share much in the way of commonality as Toyota was trying to bury the 7M's shame.

Ford 300ci, aka 4.9 inline 6 is also a decent idea too with it's 7-bolt mains, but I don't know trans options aside from AOD and AODe. Problem is, I'm not sure about aftermarket parts- I think their factory fuel injection setup was throttle body based and not port, and allegedly fans have made their own FI "intakes" for port injection.

The OP does not want a diesel.  

Having said that the Jaguar V12 is heavy 730 pounds dressed  and while we get them lighter for racing  ( I can get a race motor to 670 pounds and a guy in Australia removes the counter weights and uses aftermarket connecting rods saves another 40 pounds ( the stock crankshaft weighs 78 pounds by itself )). 

In reply to GIRTHQUAKE :

I believe that is a Bentley S3 haha but they actually had a Mark VII in the movie XD. If my car was in super E36 M3ty shape, I would have totally done it haha

The fact the first thing on the "out" list was a train engine, this thread was going downhill fast. 

My oddball vote (barring the above train engine) would be an Atlas 5/6 cyl from the Colorado/Canyon/Trailblazer.

If not, LSX because other than Miata, it's the answer.

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone.

I have decided to go with the 4.2 atlas. Yesterday I found and purchased a 2006 Trailblazer with 97k miles, for only 1200 bucks. Also surprisingly enough its the 2wd version. 

In reply to ozzie831 :

Not a bad call at all.