I have tho oppurtunity to buy a not-to-well taken car of 1979 Jaguar XJ6 Series III. I know they had electrical and engine problems, but heres the deal: its a Lump. My uncle took out the old Jaguar 4.2L I-6 and is replaced it with a Chevy 350 V-8. He also replaced all coroded wiring (he could find), and tightened all connections. The only down fall is that the car sat with the windows up for two years, outside! Leather is seperating at seams, and roof is falling. Wood veneers are also peeling slightly. He will practicly give the car to me for $1000. I have driven the car and it was a monster. Handles well, and is exceptionallysmooth running. Should i get the car, and take some stress off of my aging W140?

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"If I teach you half of what I forgot, you'll still have enough to compete with most people"

Is that a joke?

Seriously, no matter how bad it is, it is a lot of interesting car for $1,000. The way I see it, it comes down to this: how interested in cars are you? and how much is $1,000 to you? For that money, why not? All you can lose is $1,000. I wouldn't bother pouring anything into the old heap, though. The UK used to be littered with poor condition XJ6s that never got restored but they seem to have disappeared in the last few years.

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JJ Rodger
2013 G350 Bluetec
1999 SL 500
1993 E300 diesel T
1990 190

I would do it depending on how hard or easy it is to get replacemant parts for the rest of the car that is still Jaguar. Brakes, CV joints for the rear, ect. I knew a fella that had one several years ago that was converted to a Chev 350, and loved it.

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past MB rides:
'68 220D
'68 220D(another one)
'67 230
'84 SD
Current rides:
'06 Lexus RX330
'93 Ford F-250
'96 Corvette
'99 Polaris 700 RMK sled
2011 Polaris Assault
'86 Yamaha TT350(good 'ol thumper)

Absolutely I miss my old XJ6

Regards,

Don

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http://www.benzworld.org/forums/imag...e_steering.gif
1998 C43 ///AMG
1999 C230 Custom 5-Speed Manual

The E-type rear end was very popular among hot-rodders who built "T-bucket" street cars!

I suppose other than the "cool" factor, the inboard disc brakes allowed the use of a wider variety of (deep dish) rims, many that would not clear the earlier conventional caliper setups.

Since the car has already got the Chevy treatment, consider the rear end, an automatic "rodding" trick thrown in for good measure!

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2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

GOOD ANSWER...GOOD ANSWER!!!

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"If I teach you half of what I forgot, you'll still have enough to compete with most people"

get a dead xj6 and (they're cheap and plentiful) then move the interior over! then you will have a running GM powered jag! i looked into getting one put together and it would have cost me upwards of $10k! BTW does it have AC?

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joE
1993 300e-2.8 - gone now <sigh>
"Do not adjust your mind, it's reality that's malfunctioning"
http://banners.wunderground.com/bann...L/Key_West.gif

Ill go back over there this Saturday (no time now). Ill have a closer look and take her out for the rest of the weekend, and if i like what i see, I might pull out my checkbook...

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"If I teach you half of what I forgot, you'll still have enough to compete with most people"

Having had an '86 XJ-6 for many years, I'll add my thoughts.

While replacing the Jaguar engine with a Chevrolet V-8 is not an rare swap and it does give more power, it's really replacing one of best things on the car and which is generally not troublesome -- the cast iron straight 6 in the Series III cars dates back to the Jaguar racing engine of the '40s, has the kinks worked out and is generally not a reason why people end up dumping Jaguars because of maintenance problems. The big stock 4.2L I-6 is not a stop light car but will cruise like a 126 once up to speed.

It sounds like the rest of the car is a wreck and these are the systems that can be expensive -- for instance, the great Jaguar ride is due to the car travelling on a system of rubber bushings which, while themselves inexpensive, have a high labor cost to get to and replace them and a short life); the transmission is undersized for the weight of the car; the brakes need replacing frequently, again due to the weight; the lacquer paint crazes if not garaged, etc. The best thing about Jaguars is the cosmetics (including wood, chrome and leather) and if these are poor, much of the appeal is lost.

The last two years of the Series III ('86 and '87) are the pinnacle of pre-Ford styling and reliability -- the '95 and following Ford-owned Jaguars are also pretty good -- I also had a '95 XJ-12. Pre-'86 Jaguars (particularly the '70s models) were subject to intermittant electrical problems which can be annoying (the window goes down, but won't go up, the door solenoids give out, the windshield wipers won't come on, the horn gets stuck on, etc.).

I would take the car if you were getting it for very close to nothing ($1,000 is way too much based on all the non-motor problems) and you were willing to drive it in the state it's in. If anything goes wrong you can then walk away rather than throw $$ at it to try to salvage your initial investment.

Otherwise you can get a good '86 or '87 for under $5,000. If you want a cheap Jaguar, get a late Series III in great shape and avoid pre-'86 and '88 - '94.

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'98 C43 AMG
'88 420SEL
'93 190E Limited Edition (including factory Sportline package)

That’s a thousand for the car, and how much for insurance, license tabs, tires (sooner or later) and other maintenance. Hmmm sounds kinda of dumb to me.... I recommend taking about $2000 and doing a minor upgrade or 3 to your SE and continue to enjoy it

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...Tracy

'00 ML320 "Casper"
'92 400E "Stella"

Insurance is reasonable for these cars...

Our (former) 92 XJS V-12 was cheap in terms of vehicle registration, insurance, and taxes.

The V-12 was solid and reliable, the paint gorgeous, the wood and chrome appointments, classy and stunning! One thing the V-12 was notorious for was valve seats that would expand and drop valves into the cylinder chambers if the motor ever overheated! Now THAT would be expensive!

The electronics...well, I concur with others about the legendary problems...and this was a post-Lucas (Delco) system!

The climate control was another sore issue. Sold it for the SL a few years ago, after I totaled the repairs costs to be in the neighborhood of $6000!

All this for a car that we drove for 12K miles... ...that works out to $2 per mile, not including fluids!

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2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

Im gettin a lot of needed info here, thanks guys (and girls). Well, the truth is, I dont plan to restore it back to "factory condition". I do want it to ride well, but it doesnt have to be perfect. The truth is, it will be a toy. I will invest in a kicken sound system. And probably put new wheels on it. Im gonna do that kinda thing with it. If I want pure luxury, I can just drive the SE!!!!!!!!

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"If I teach you half of what I forgot, you'll still have enough to compete with most people"

Understood that you don't plan to restore it, but what we're talking about are the costs of keeping it operational/safe and not leaving you stranded somewhere (or with wipers that don't shut off, windows that don't close, etc.).

Spending more $$ on a sound system and new wheels for a car with these cosmetic and other potential problems that you may well end up having to walk away from doesn't seem the best investment, but it's your $$.

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'98 C43 AMG
'88 420SEL
'93 190E Limited Edition (including factory Sportline package)

you can spend a thousand bucks for a vacum sweeper. Buy it!have fun and if it craps out part it out and have enough money to buy two more.............
William Rogers.....