My little bit of everything thread - V8 content inside

Slow but steady progress here in WNY. Many warm days means activities outside with my wife and two little ones. Work on the XJ6.0 usually happens after they're tucked in for the night as the sun goes down. 

Cold side complete - non intercooled for the time being. 10psi max boost to start with and ethanol for fuel means it won't be really necessary. I am planning on mounting the radiator (a 4th Gen LT1 Camaro replacement) as far back as I can to leave room for a future air to air IC. 

Engine beauty covers on, hood installed and aligned, getting closer to a first fire. Still a LOT to do including Terminator X install, build a fuel system, trans cooler lines, tons of little stuff. 

A year ago @[MPizza](contact:489164) gave me an axleback exhaust that he no longer wanted. Recently I was looking for a quick weekend project and wanted to whip up a new exhaust for primarily track use that was much lighter and louder than the stocker. Time to get out the cutoff wheels. 

Obviously someone had been inside the can before, and also had hacked off/rewelded the can to the connecting pipes. No clue why someone would do this but it made for a good candidate to be chopped up. 

Inside was a rather mediocre 2 pipe mod done, with tons of gaps in the welds and some sections entirely missing weld around the perimeter of the pipe. 

The mythical see-through E92 M3 exhaust. 

Originally I wanted to just do the ACM mod on this exhaust for full volume, but once I realized how much additional work I'd have to put into welding up all the connecting pipes from the crappy 2 pipe mod I realized it was just easier to cut out everything that wasn't a straight pipe, including the main case of the muffler. 

I cut everything else off, leaving only the OEM tips and the seam connecting them as well as the rear central hanger. No sense in adding more bracing if the OEM hangers work fine. The purpose of leaving the seam connecting the 2 pairs of pipes also served as a perfect jig for making sure the tips fit like OEM within the bumper. Since the tip assembly was a bit front heavy, I cut up some plywood shims for placement and temporarily zip tied it in place so I could start the straight pipe portion. 

Time to connect the dots. 

I used leftover 2.5" piping from other projects to connect the front section to the tips and welded everything up. It was getting late on a Saturday at this point and I was working on my back in the driveway, so no photos. Really need to finish up the LS Jag which has been tying up my lift for the better part of a year. 

Final product all welded up and ready for paint: 

With a couple coats of high temp paint, ready for track work. I didn't weigh the final product but it's in the neighborhood of 10-15 lbs, which saves quite a bit over the stock 55lb axleback while providing a nice shriek on track. The OEM tips are a nice touch as well IMO.

Lots of progress, no pictures to show for it. Every time I get out in the garage after putting the kids to bed I just jam the work out and get in the zone. 

Trans cooler (40K) mounted and plumbed. 

Stock Jaguar throttle cable hooked up; I had to modify and extend the LS throttle cable bracket. The pedal is a bit stiff so I might remove one or both springs that are mounted on the pedal. 

Radiator is mounted and rad hoses are done. Bottom is a typical LS1 Camaro hose, upper is a stock truck hose that I cut up and spliced to snake under the charge pipe. 

Heater hoses were a pain due to the way the hotside crowds the passenger side. I ran 2 90* hoses around the front of the motor and back down the driver's side to feed the heater core and surge tank. Originally I was going to use an Audi B7 A4 tank due to the large capacity and mounting tabs, but I did some more digging and actually found a much nicer option from a 2005-2010+ Equinox. The mounting tabs are for a vertical wall application meaning they're well suited to older cars that don't have the weird contours of modern vehicles. The outlet exits straight out the bottom which makes it easy to tee into the heater return, and the steam vent/deaeration line exits horizontally. 15psi cap and a nice compact package, all available at your local Pick and Pull for under $10. 

The newer models have a modern black plastic top while the older ones are fully clear. 





Next up: 

Cleaning up engine bay wiring
Terminator X Install
Fuel Cell Install

 

I hear you on not taking pictures. Dad of 3 here. My wrench time is usually squeezed between many other obligations with my wife tapping her feet waiting on me to do something else. I wish I could take my time and take pics for a better build thread but ain't nobody got time for that.  

Holy hell, how'd I miss this thread!

Nice find on the Equinox reservoir, keeping that one in mind for future projects.

yupididit said:

Holy hell, how'd I miss this thread!

Yeah. This thread delivers! 

Here is a photo of the dual fuel tanks draining the ancient gas inside. You don't have to try very hard to smell this photo. Both were completely full and unfortunately the Philips headed screws fastening the body covers under the tanks seem to be frozen completely solid, so removal of the tanks will have to wait. No harm in leaving them in place for now. When I get around to removing them, if they're in good shape, I may list them for sale. 

I now have 3x 5gallon buckets of questionable fuel sitting in my shed...I am the Nightrider 

Now you have a good amount of lawnmower gas. Keep diluting it with good gas until it runs right.

Or do what I did. Put 5 gallons at a time in your least cared about beater. 

I'm gonna lawnmower it. It's probably only a couple years old but my least cared about beater is my wife's '13 Rav4 which she depends on to be utterly reliable and I don't feel like opening up the fuel system to pick grit out of the pickup sock because I wanted to save her a few bucks

Randoms shots installing the catch can, cooling system/heater hoses, and general engine bay. I took off the compressor cover to allow easier access while installing the turbo oil drain, which is an extended 4" 10AN and drains into the pan above the oil level. 











Exhaust is done, painted and wrapped. Full 3" up to the stock catback (resonators and mufflers) with a cutout dumping by the oil pan. 

Removing the stock fuel pump, filter, and other ancillaries from the trunk well. 

The old trunk mats/carpets left a fine furr all over everything, so I vacuumed it out to clean it up a bit. 

Spilled a bit of gas disconnecting the old lines, so some ventilation to clear it up:

New fuel cell mocked up - I made some straps to bolt it right to the trunk floor with some foam mat to insulate it from direct contact. It's a 20 gallon cell with a flat bottom (no sump), 0-90ohm sender and -8AN outlets throughout. Fuel will be 93 pump to start and once I get the car up and running, I'll start to introduce ethanol. 

The top of the cell sits below the lip of the trunk side, so I'll make up a new cargo cover to allow the trunk to be used. For anyone lamenting the loss of the spare tire, none of my other cars (mostly BMWs) have had spares. This is not a daily driver for me anyhow, so the likelihood of needing one is very low. 

I spent the last few weeks wrapping up the fuel system. It consists of the following: 

20 gallon flat bottom fuel cell with -8AN rollover valve vented under the trunk floor

-8AN feed to coarse prefilter
-10AN feed to 400lph pump
-8AN feed to C5 FPR
-8AN return to top of fuel cell
-6AN feed under the car to fuel rail
-Flex sensor plumbed inline with feed

I filled the cell with about 7 gallons of fresh 93 pump just to check for leaks and found none (on the pump suction side, at least). I need to run the pump manually to prime the system and see if there are any leaks on the pressure side of the pump. Also installed the Lowdoller fuel pressure sensor on the rail after taking out the Schrader valve to be able to see if the pump can keep up. 

While I am waiting on some AN fittings I decided to jump into the Terminator X install. It's mostly plug and play, just a matter of routing things neatly in the engine bay to prevent damage from heat and moving parts. That being said there are some loose wires to connect which I saved for last. I hate wiring, it usually means uncomfortable positions. 

The ECU will live in the glovebox. It's very compact so there will still be room for documents, etc. My goal is to leave the interior looking as stock as possible. There will be no modifications except to the gauge cluster. 

I have a new fuel gauge that uses the correct 0-90ohm resistance range compatible with the sender in the fuel cell, and the tach will be driven via the output on the TermX. I would like to use the stock speedo by driving it with a configured output from the ECU but haven't really looked into the details yet. 

The interior is a bit of a mess at the moment but will go back together once I run the fuel pump trigger wire and the sender signal wire to the trunk.

Last but not least - check out that front ride height!

It settled in quite a bit due to a couple of reasons:

-Removed 15 gallons of fuel from the stock tanks, which transferred weight to the front
-Jumped up and down on the front bumper to "settle" the springs which was good for another half inch or so
-Added all the accessories under the hood like the engine harness, fan harness, and fluids (engine oil, coolant, power steering), and battery. 

Keep in mind this is stock springs (uncut to preserve ride quality), 2x spring packers removed (you may have seen them in the trunk), and 3/4" spring pan drop. 

Hoping to have the first startup next week!

I like your work!

I forgot to mention. Have a couple longer drives coming up in the M3 so I slapped the stock exhaust back on it. I forgot how civilized that car is...took the 2 little ones to daycare this morning, then dropped off my wife at the airport before taking the long way to work. Just an incredibly comfortable and quiet car that will do anything you ask it to do from a performance standpoint. 

It's alive! Got some wiring finished up (roughly) and fired it up Friday. No major issues or leaks upon startup, let it get up to temp and topped off fluids. Everything seemed pretty good, just a lot of smoke from all the paint and exhaust wrap burning off. 

Couple of revs and it died on me, so I re-fired it and it wouldn't idle without 10% throttle input. I'm a total rookie on the Holley software but I noticed that IAC counts were very high @ 90% so I figured it needed the blade opened more. I flipped the idle set screw and opened it up a bit more, did a TPS Autoset, and it was all good. Holley made it so easy to fire up, I will never go back to HPTuners. 
 
Took it down the street to the gas station, drove pretty nice for a wizard tune. First impressions: 

-Front tires are too wide and rub on the fender on bumps. 
-Exhaust leak somewhere up front, maybe the crossover pipe.
-Steering has some play in it on center, might look into tightening up this rack or maybe something a little more radical. Also needs an alignment badly. I will have that performed after I replace the front tie rods and ball joints which are thrashed.
-Brakes have a slight pulsation from sitting so long, we'll see if they clean up with additional miles. 
-Differential has a healthy leak. I changed the fluid a few months ago and it weeped a few drops but once I drove it the oil came out at a much faster pace, so maybe something is wrong with the vent. 

Overall it's a great cruiser with a ton of style. I can't wait to further refine it; once the small bugs are worked out I'll put on the charge pipe and see what it feels like in boost. 

Here are some photos of driving around and after I washed it. 

The car started marking its territory with power steering fluid after a spirited drive. I cleaned the rack area thoroughly and found that the return hose (original to the car) was suspect.

A local hydraulics shop was able to make a replacement on the spot for $35, including a 45 degree fitting that would better avoid the engine mount pedestals. 

Refilled the system and all is well again. 

Yesterday was a fun day. I started by playing musical chairs with fuel.

Pour the old dirty unknown pump fuel that came in the Jaguar's original tanks from the gas can into a sealed 5 gal bucket for lawnmower/snowblower use. 

Siphon clean fresh 93 out of the fuel cell into the gas can. 

Do that 3 times, redistribute all the 93 into the rest of the fleet

Drive to gas station 10 mins away and fill up the gas can with 5 gallons of E85.

Come home, put E85 in the Jag. Flash new tune with ethanol modifiers. Drive Jag to gas station again to fill up rest of the way with E. 

The car is super fun on only 8psi. Immediate issues are that the driveshaft is still hitting the tunnel under hard acceleration, but I have a plan for that. The front outer tie rods are totally smoked, one side has about an 1/8" play so it's very sketchy. I bought new ones 6 months ago to replace them but of course they're the wrong size since apparently they changed the design somewhere around my production year. 

I can't wait to turn up the boost and fix the axle wrap, it'll be a blast. The Terminator makes it so easy to dial in the required timing and AFRs. I think my favorite feature is that it's easy to pull spark and richen the mixture as boost comes in, but not to the point where it's laggy or a dog. My Crown Vic with the same exact motor and turbo, with 3.27 gears, was a dog off the line probably due to lazy timing. 

Couple shots just cruising the car around last week.

Plug check - pulled #2 and #3

8psi, 18 deg, E65. Some 2nd gear hits (20-80) by my house, got back to the garage quick and parked it with minimal cruising. Ambient temps were about 70F, IATs saw a max of 180F at the end of a pull but recovered to 120 pretty quick.

Looks decent to me, just a bit of speckling on the very tip of the electrode. Time to go to 12-14psi? Gonna keep timing conservative for now. 

Thinking: 8psi 18 deg, 12psi 16 deg, 14psi 14 deg

Probably can go a lot further timing wise. Still new to reading plugs, so I'm taking it slow. 

Thoughts? 
 

Excellent, man.  I actually feel safe using the disgustingly overused term "sleeper" now--your Jaaaaaaaaaaaag makes it work exactly as it should.

As for timing, you might find some interesting insight from a stock C6 ZR1 tune with the LS9--it ran a surprisingly decent amount of timing . . . assuming max boost level was around 10 lbs, but don't really know.  They ran pretty rich, as I stole most of the deets for my turbo 5.3, and it worked okay some of the time.

Fueling-wise, I might be slightly fearful of such white plugs, but I'm no scientist.

Love, love this thing!  Those plugs look so white they could be unused.  That timing sounds conservative for E85, I didn't read back to get details on the motor or compression.  I'm used to the turbo Buicks where we'd run 20+ degrees at 18 psi.  Too many things different between them to make it a valid comparison, of course.

rustomatic said:

Excellent, man.  I actually feel safe using the disgustingly overused term "sleeper" now--your Jaaaaaaaaaaaag makes it work exactly as it should.

As for timing, you might find some interesting insight from a stock C6 ZR1 tune with the LS9--it ran a surprisingly decent amount of timing . . . assuming max boost level was around 10 lbs, but don't really know.  They ran pretty rich, as I stole most of the deets for my turbo 5.3, and it worked okay some of the time.

Fueling-wise, I might be slightly fearful of such white plugs, but I'm no scientist.

Do you have a thread on your turbo 5.3 adventures? 

Kendall Frederick said:

Love, love this thing!  Those plugs look so white they could be unused.  That timing sounds conservative for E85, I didn't read back to get details on the motor or compression.  I'm used to the turbo Buicks where we'd run 20+ degrees at 18 psi.  Too many things different between them to make it a valid comparison, of course.

Yeah the only thing that makes it apples to oranges is that I'm not intercooled right now, not sure what difference that makes in terms of heat in the combustion chamber since IATs are obviously measured before the ethanol is injected.

I put away my toys for the winter about 2 weeks ago. Jag and the blue E92 M3 are mine, buddy owns the supercharged Alpine E39 M5, and his coworker has the classic diesel Benz. 









 

My latest project was refurbing my trailer. Bought it new in 2016 and it has been incredibly useful as mostly a utility trailer but also a track day tool. The deck was rotten in one place (painted regular plywood) but the frame was salvageable despite having some rust/scale.

Back when it was new and nice:

[img]https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2829/33607514305_7f186345c9_c.jpg[/img]

Chinesium paint oxidized quickly and turned pink. 

[img]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1770/42109997865_4445a87f0e_b.jpg[/img]

This was a bit on the heavier side for the C5, but just had to take it slow. 

[img]https://i.ibb.co/3fw4bnG/IMG-20200312-184710145-HDR.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i.ibb.co/3s8qmcC/IMG-20200312-184718836-HDR.jpg[/img]

M3 putting in work too

Ok, damage report: 

Bye Bye deck

The extent of the rust: 

The insides of the tires were rough. Somehow outer sidewalls weren't so bad 

The cost to buy/mount 2 new tires as well time to sand and repaint the old rims came out the same as brand new ones, so I picked up a set and will keep the old ones as spares. 

As further rust prevention I painted the rims (also change up the color a bit from boring Trailer White). 

Heavy wire wheel and needle scaler were essential for removing rust and scale. I also put in new hub seals and regreased the bearings since they were in good shape.

Primer and Black Gloss brushed on from Tractor Supply

That's as far as I am today. It has been a challenge getting the paint to dry with the very cold temps, but it's getting there when I run the heater for a bit. More to come.