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Around here you just don't see these so it would be worth a grand to me just to park it in the drive and have people wonder how the hell I could afford something like that. It appears to be a nice looking car (I found the ad), they wouldn't have to know that it doesn't run. I'd just tell them I can't drive it yet because I'm waiting for the title from an estate.
Around here you just don't see these so it would be worth a grand to me just to park it in the drive and have people wonder how the hell I could afford something like that. It appears to be a nice looking car (I found the ad), they wouldn't have to know that it doesn't run. I'd just tell them I can't drive it yet because I'm waiting for the title from an estate.
See? That's what I'm saying!
You'll never believe this. I talked to a lady that owns the place that did the transmission rebuild on the Isuzu. She's rebuilt some crazy stuff off her own. I told her about it, and about the conversion kit, and just threw it out there to see if she'd be interested in giving me a ballpark. They're not too far from there.
Turns out her lead mechanic is a Jaguar freak, has a couple and might just want to take it on.
I'm going to call them Friday and see what he says. If nothing else he may agree to go take a look. I'm in STT-VI with FEMA at the moment, wouldn't you know.
The conversions to a small block Chevy and GM auto transmission have a history of being a substantial improvement in drivability and reliability of these cars. The conversion engine/trans are significantly lighter than the original, too. You'll need to do suspension mods (also available from the kit suppliers) to complete the package. The Delco electrical gear is much more reliable than the OE stuff, too. Advantages also to the better cooling system of the small block, also.
You don't have to open the hood for the looky-lous and maybe they won't notice the difference in the exhaust sound, either.
I got it. I'm going to start a thread on it, I think. The conversion kit link is amazing, thank you for that. Gonna start looking for a 305 w/transmission, hopefully in a "totalled" vehicle.
I got it. I'm going to start a thread on it, I think. The conversion kit link is amazing, thank you for that. Gonna start looking for a 305 w/transmission, hopefully in a "totalled" vehicle.
Awesome! Just please don't go with a 305. They're a decrepit and milquetoast engine. At least find a 350, perhaps from a 1990s truck (before the switch to the LS/Vortec series of engine, which I believe was in 1999). Best would be an LS series, though they're quite a bit different from the "classical" small-block.
There's of course the "while I'm at it..." syndrome, prompting one to spent lots of money, achieving poor results because to the tantalizing appeal of doing a yet-better mod. Definitely something to avoid. But to err in the opposite direction, of swapping the running-gear from some nondescript junker, is also unwise. The mechanic's time costs whatever it costs - it's a fixed cost. That motivates using the better available parts, even if the recipient-vehicle was acquired cheaply.
The site that sells conversion kits - if I read correctly on this miniscule phone screen - has a kit for a 305, then a big block. Hmm....
It's all lingo for the various Chevrolet engines that were popular before the late 1990s. Those sites still have good information; some of it is quite literally timeless. But in the 20 years since those sites first went up, the selection of available parts - and the technology - has moved on.
The venerable Chevy Small Block came in displacements from 262 through 406 cubic inches. The 305 was a very common displacement throughout the late 70s, through the early 1990s. A higher performance version was the 350. This is the generation of large RWD American cars that most people remember... the taxicabs and so forth. The Big Block was a different engine family. It was the darling of the muscle-car era, but it all but disappeared from passenger cars in the mid 1970s. Big Block swaps have been done in Jags before. I did such as swap in my Datsun Z, but I paid a welder/body-man to relocate the firewall to the rear, and to augment the unibody with a fairly elaborate ensemble of tubes. This is totally unnecessary for a Jag - but come to think of it, a Big Block - while cool - is likewise totally unnecessary.
One could expound on this or that arcane designation of engines, cylinder heads and so forth; opinions abound, on what's best, what's troublesome, what's too rare and fragile. Perhaps the fellow who's going to execute the swap, is himself strongly opinionated, and with those opinions might come leads for what components to source, and where. Alternatively... because for decades, up through the late 1990s, all of these engines were externally identical, it may be prudent to swap in some "throwaway" temporary engine - whatever happens to be available - just to get the car running; then, later, in a Step 2, buy/build a more competent engine of the same family.
Towing has been arranged. I'm still in St. Thomas. My Jaguar-crazy mechanic is going to do a complete assessment on it. He keeps his two running and believes in the engineering. He feels people don't understand them from a British perspective. Whatever. It would be cool if it needs something minor.
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Whatever. It would be cool if it needs something minor.
