Well said. Jaguars are beautiful but in the 70's and 80's there was tremendous labor strife.
Bottom line? Management wanted labor to work at the prices Japanese workers were earning while living in a society where the standard was the Queen and other royalty.
With the small volume England was selling it just wasn't going to happen.
But strikes made the problems worse. Coming back from a strike, piece work ( most union jobs) was harder to achieve goals established. So corners were cut. Both on the assembly line and at the suppliers. Quality suffered as did reliability.
By the 90's that was pretty well sorted out and quality returned. But few cars from the 90's and later have been lumped ( British term for engine swap)
93EXCivic said:
Ok so dumb question but I thought a lot of the reliability problems with the 70s and 80s Jags (at least the 6 cylinders) was everything attached to the car and all the electric components running through the rest of the car. So wouldn't a V8 Jag still be fairly maintenace heavy?
Absolutely. Not forgetting other issues. Dealerships made a fortune replacing electrical components that were still perfectly good. Then tightening up the black ground wire which was probably the trouble all along.
Then there is the HVAC. Have you ever tried to fix one? I mean a simple thing like a leaking heater is a weeks work to get out, fix and get back in. With a great risk of damaging things on the way in or out. It's painfully heavy and there is about a bazillion screws and clamps. Plus some critical ones in the engine compartment that even if you know about them, we good luck getting access.
Ignoring the engine? Why?
I've bought 22 new Chevy's
0 new Jaguars.
You guys all know how this ends, right?
Frenchy isn't real - the account is an AI Chatbot programmed by the Suddards to keep forum traffic up and drive advertising revenue. That explains the lack of proper sentence structure and punctuation, the predetermined talking points and inability to learn - AI isn't perfect after all. The Suddards, being the smart folk that they are, decided that instead of keeping someone on payroll to build forum traffic, they could just get a kid that learned some grade 10 AI programming to create more content and discussion that a real person could ever dream of. Didn't have to be perfect or even make sense, as that wasn't the point
Has anyone ever met Frenchy? Has any of his projects ever been more than the nonsensical ramblings of an AI? Or have we all been duped?
As Mr. Musk so famously demonstrated, lets let that sink in.
In reply to 93gsxturbo :
Nah he's real. You can Google his first and last name and find articles etc on his cars and other forum post he's made 20 years ago lol
Oh boy I need a cigarette after all this...
As a young man with no particular fondness for the Chevrolet V8 I discovered the JTR Jaguar swap manual and remember only wondering how totally E36 M3 an engine could be if replacing it with a cast iron 195hp turd was the better option
In reply to yupididit :
Be sure to go back and watch the 1986 Bahama Grand Prix. That's the one Lof8 Andy found. ( thank you Andy). Watch until the end, that's a younger me
I don't square off against Frenchy, or anyone else, as a general rule.
When false information is fabricated and posted up as factual it brings me out of the shadows and I start flinging poo.
I also don't like it when someone says ugly things about someone else's work and they don't even have any skin in the game themselves. Its like the shiny happy people at car shows who show up in their mom's Civic and then spend the night criticizing all the nice cars.
I don't give a E36 M3 how wheezy and oil leaking and hacked a car is. If some dude built it and it's being worked on and used, it's better than any jack-stand living project that someone is building in their imagination. That's what's at play here. Dudes building a Chevy powered Jag are being denigrated by someone whose cars aren't even on the road. An oil leaking, smoking, wobbly ass Jaguar with a wore out 305 Chevy driving down the street is better than a garage full of the most exotic parts that aren't being used.
I got an acquaintance we all call "Has-been Jim". He sets up with us at all the car swap meets. Then he wears us out for three straight days with what he did back in the day (legit) and what he's gonna do (hopes and dreams). Jim hasn't meaningfully laid hands on any of his project cars in years. He's got a nice Nova that only needs a few brake lines built to be on the road but he just can't seem to get it done, year after year. But he will damn sure go on at length how someone should have done something different or better. All from his lawnchair sitting under the awning where he drove up to in his wife's Oldsmobile Alero. I just want to yell at him "damnit Jim, just shut up and let the dude be proud of his E36 M3, at least it ran and drove out here"
I've said my piece. I'll catch up with y'all on some other thread.
In reply to Byrneon27 :
What I honestly can't understand is with all the shortcomings and flaws Jaguar have. According. to everybody ( including me) why would people pull the one really good thing out and replace it? haven't they looked inside?
I mean really? They rust really easily, the wiring is poorly done. Accessories are a joke. Radio, HVAC, switches, etc. access to almost anything is difficult even if you know the short cuts and tricks. I pity someone trying to figure it out without them.
OK they are remarkably nimble for a 4 door sedan. And certain ones are beautiful to look at. The leather seats are nice but designed for people under 6' tall and the original wool carpets,•••• well, those are really luxurious.
That WW2 cast iron 6 cylinder is actually a marvel. Wins 24 hour races at LeMans and is actually a good looking engine for something designed in the early 1940'd and produced until 1987.
No body who has actually worked inside a V12 isn't impressed by how well built they are. Designed to go out past 7 liters they are designed unbelievably stout. The short stroke isn't even breathing hard at red line. With a simple balance job it can safely go to 10,000 rpm and live there.
Plus that tiny stroke still manages to produce impressive torque and almost no wear.
You guys, this is just a forum about cars, I think you take your hobby a little too seriously. Personal attacks are uncalled for and if you don't like someone, don't read their posts.
Lof8 - Andy said:
Frenchy, do you have any experience with vintage race week in the Bahama's in 1986 and the World famous Sir Stirling Moss?
Thank you so very much. While I have that VCR I have no way to play it.
Steve Kline did that particular version ( I think) at least that's who gave me my copy.
Did you watch it to the end? The rewards? That was a younger me taking that award.
Once again thank you.
frenchy, its hard to tell, which car are you driving and is this you?
The only thing I know about Jaguars is that my brother owned a 59 3.8 XK150 in the early 70s of which he rebuilt the engine in our bedroom using plastigauge and JC Whitney and it must have been the first Jag that the machine shop ever worked on. It not only ran, but I personally had it up to 110 mph on Firestone 16" farm implement tires.
In reply to VolvoHeretic :
The red Black Jack spl. (5) Typically the third one in line. Looks like a left hand drive D type. Yes, that's a younger me in the Blue sports coat.
As far as a Jaguar XK 150, that was my first SCCA race car ( D prod ) Yes, that engine got reassembled by me using plastic gauge.
yupididit said:
In reply to frenchyd :
I've watched it before!
Thank you.
I wish I could find a video of the Navy North Island Vintage 1999? race. The grid in my class must have been worth $250 million dollars. Some extremely noteworthy cars. Including the 1957 Corvette SS prepared by Duntov. The 1956 D type that won LeMans. 2 1958 Ferrari Testa Rossa including David Loves which sold for 56 million dollars the 1959? Porsche RSK originally driven by Hap Sharp of Chaparral fame. Etc.
The race was my favorite not only for the stellar field but Navy North Island where I flew from during my time in the Navy. ( except the 2 tours in Vietnam off the Bennington and later the Ticonderoga.).
That's also where they awarded me first in class aboard the Midway.
It was fun to get airborne again if only briefly as the Black Jack crossed the duty runway. ( typically the Grumman S2E I flew was airborne before that).
yupididit said:
Robbie (Forum Supporter) said:
Also, everyone, I know frenchy is making himself a target here, but let's stay away from a public stoning ceremony.
The beauty of the world is we are all allowed to have our own ideas and views!
I agree here. Though, he often and purposely spreads incorrect information and he does it such a condescending way to top it off. I enjoy is V12 specific information (which isn't always correct) when he's communicating it without being condescending. But when he starts going off into his rants and stories he cant be stopped nor does he try to stop. It's the same thing over and over in every thread that he finds interest in. It reminds me of this old man that thinks everyone is stupid and his experiences are the only valid things being said. I limit my in-thread interactions with him to 2 or 3 per thread from there I leave it alone.
I'm sure he's a nice guy overall, I really hope he is.
Amen. He is passionate and misunderstood. A GRM dork. He picks weird hills to die on. Mostly the same one. Most people would read the room and "release" rather than "repeat".
If he can keep his eye on the ball (and stop brainstorming the NEXT one) - I hope he gets that car running now that he has a helper.
In reply to OHSCrifle :
The XJS is on hiatus while he's in Florida. I'm doing minor clean-up ( all the undercoating is cleaned off ) and polishing it to paint it). It's so easy to work on a rotisserie. The shop is warm and pleasant. Place to work. I might even paint the interior now that the rollcage is done. Probably put the front and rear suspension on while it's on the rotisserie upside down.
