This is where I left it in October in California. I had spent 6 months preparing for the project, $4,500, and with a free engine to swap in and a rebuilt transmission with a stupidly insane shift kit, I swapped engines, accessories, and rebuilt the whole top end from the heads up only to find that the guy who gave me the engine left it sitting in his shop for 4 years and the head gaskets rusted away.

It should be running some time this spring. With port and polished intakes and heads, bored out and modified downpipes, and a free flowing exhaust, I'm looking at 325hp to the wheels minimum.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMxa08jAuWk

1987 Jaguar XJS, 5.3L V12

Good lord, that is a big engine.

That engine is not long, at all. . .

Should be a pretty sweet ride when it all comes together!!

you outta see the V-12 the came with the '69 XKE

Sounds great and that'* a whole lot of engine....of course there'* a whole lot of engine bay to fit it in!

Nice can't wait to see her in motion

That'* a big engine!!!

Yeah, it is freakin huge. All aluminum block and heads. Pain in the *** to replace head gaskets on because the heads become seized to the studs.

The fully dressed engine weighs nearly 900 pounds.

Its basically as long as a chevy big block, but not as tall. Its a 60 degree engine, with very over-square cylinders, meaning the cylinders are larger in diameter than their travel in height. This is particularly good for high revving engines.

The V12 was limited from factory at 6500 RPM because it couldn't breathe at higher RPMs, but with my modifications, it should be possible to squeeze another 500 rpm out of it.

80% of torque at 2000 rpm, and a beautiful sound.



The v12 in the '69 XKE is actually almost identical to this one. It has the same bottom end, and the heads are different. The XKE has a flat head design and the combustion chamber is inside the piston crown. The XJS has a different spiral head design for fuel efficiency and the combustion chamber is inside the head. Also, the XJS is fuel injected as opposed to carb'd. Those are really the only major differences. Ah, and the XJS is bolted to a GM Turbo 400.

Its a beauty to work on this car. When I work on my Regal, I think to myself, "Who the hell thought this **** up?!!" and when I work on my Jaguar, I can't help but be amazed at the engineering. Its a lot of fun. Then again, with today'* inflation accounted for, this car was $88k brand new. For that price, you would come to expect a level of refinement. Its kinda sad that I picked up the car for $600, albeit with a bad engine. I'm so excited to get it back down here. My best bid so far for shipping the car from California to Illinois is $650...more than I paid for the car.

lol, that looks prety sweet! i am a prety big fan of overly large hoods too

Not cool! A $600 V12 car!! I WANT THAT!!! :p