I have always wanted to make a car from the bottom up, having two petrol mad
boys gave me the incentive to get something going. I bought a 1979 pre HE Jaguar
V12, I bought a Porsche/Audi transaxle.....
This is the ongoing diary of the car's creation. The start date is 3rd Feb
2008 when I won the engine on eBay for the sum of £81.00. I drove to Peterbourgh
to pick it up..
I had to get a load of stuff, the engine had been standing for some years,
there were no electrics, it was a bare block of aluminium, albeit a huge 1/3rd
of a tonne block! The gearbox choice wasn't easy, either Renault UN1 or Audi/VW
transaxle. The Porsche transaxles cost a fortune so they were out of the
question. Eventually I sourced an Audi gearbox from a 1980 car for £25.00 in
Edgware Rd. I also found a nice chap with a garage full of XJS bits who supplied
all the Lucas Ignition and injection parts.
Here goes, the story as it unravels- -
On the 3rd Feb 2008 I bought a JAGUAR V12 5.3 LITRE ENGINE 75K MILES ( PRE HE
? ) , as it was advertised on ebay. It looked a right sorry state.
I got it home and started to work out what to do with it - I know I'll
make something like a Zonda C12 Spyder.... Can't be too difficult can it?
I have a friend who can supply all the steel, eBay is great for all the other
bits and my regular Ferrari website, is always great for advice and help. So now
I have an idea and an engine, next comes the research - What chassis? What
gearbox, what suspension etc... Well the internet came up trumps and I found two
great websites,
www.paralleldesigns.co.uk and
www.ultimasports.co.uk. Both of which have quite good photos of mid-engined
spaceframe chassis designs. The next was to get the specifications of the C12,
Hi Guys
I am thinking of building a kitcar and putting a 5.3 HE jag V12 in
it. Seen one I like, but... and its a big but... Does anyone know
how long the V12 is, I know it weighs 300kg but I have to get it in
the back of a Ford focus
F1 Rookie
Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Nickt
Hi Guys
I am thinking of building a kitcar and putting a 5.3 HE jag
V12 in it. Seen one I like, but... and its a big but... Does
anyone know how long the V12 is, I know it weighs 300kg but
I have to get it in the back of a Ford focus
indeed.
Can't help you with the dimensions, but this I gotta see. Nick
please post updates if this project gets off the ground.
P.S. If the Jag V12 is too long, how about a small block V8?
Nickt
Formula Junior
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
indeed.
Can't help you with the dimensions, but this I gotta see.
Nick please post updates if this project gets off the
ground.
P.S. If the Jag V12 is too long, how about a small block V8?
I don't want to do a V8, already got one of those in the GT4 I
am just googling jag V12, and it looks like they are about 34" long
and a 3rd of a tonne.
Formula Junior
Rossa Subscribed
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Nickt
I don't want to do a V8, already got one of those in the GT4 I
am just googling jag V12, and it looks like they are about
34" long and a 3rd of a tonne.
Go with the Jag 12, make everything possible to fit the engine, it
would be wayy cool to have that engine. If properly tuned they run
great, and if you fit some nice headers and Webers it is a monster.
F1 World Champ
Silver Subscribed
I think it will fit in the back of the Focus but how will you lift
it in and out?
Nickt
Formula Junior
Silver Subscribed
Quote:
Originally Posted by
I think it will fit in the back of the Focus but how will
you lift it in and out?
Fork lift truck his end, gravity mine I guess, probably make a ramp
and slide it out attached to a block and tackle.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
forget building one yourself and buy this:-http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C25240
and it comes with a spare engine.
The size you need is 36 inch long 34 wide and 34 high,[
without gear box, it can be made smaller by takeing off the
air cleaners and pullys] they are very heavy [ 4 man lift] ,
i used a small trailer and lifted in on with an engine hoist
one end and a JCB the other. what is the kit you are
thinking of?
Dunno yet, saw the lump and am buying it, figure out what to put it
in next. I fancy building some kind of space framed chassis mid
engined thing. Next I need to source a gearbox/tranny unit I can
mate up to the V12, Once I have all the bits I can work on where I
can put it all.
Nickt
Formula Junior
Silver Subscribed
Hi Grant
I now have my V12, its huge!!
However, i need to convert it to a manual flywheel. do you know
whether the flywheels on straight six's and interchangeable with the
V12's?
My fly wheel is 345mm in diameter and has 12 bolt holes in the
middle 92mm pcd
Also if anyone can help with the engine type..
number 8S 16503 HA
Any help would be awesome!
F1 Rookie
Consultant
You'll need a flywheel from a Series 3 Etype.
This is the
LEAST
of your problems.
Rookie
Not Subscribed
and an inverted Porsche transaxle if your going mid engined.
was a keen kit car person in my youth - you are about to climb a
mountain - check you oxygen supply, altitude does funny things to
the brain, before you know it you'll be saying "how hard can it
be"...
Nickt
Formula Junior
Silver Subscribed
Quote:
Originally Posted by
You'll need a flywheel from a Series 3 Etype.
This is the
LEAST
of your problems.
Go on then Tim, what’s the biggest problem?
I am going to build a spaceframe chassis, mount the V12 in the
middle coupled to either a Renault UN1 or Audi/VW transaxle via an
adapter plate. Running gear will hopefully be mk3 Granada.
Karting
Silver Subscribed
Hi Nick
it's an HE engine looking at the fuel injection rail, it should have
small spark plugs [ they are a nightmare to change as the thread
seizes up as they don't get change often enough as they are hard to
get at.
Good luck with it and keep us informed.
Grant
F1 Rookie
Consultant
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Nickt
Go on then Tim, what's the biggest problem?
I am going to build a spaceframe chassis, mount the V12 in
the middle coupled to either a Renault UN1 or Audi/VW
transaxle via an adapter plate. Running gear will hopefully
be mk3 Granada.
I'll start by saying that I work on 12 cylinder Jags and own one.
Considering size and weight it is very underpowered, prone to
overheating and leaks and very expensive to rebuild. The result is a
not really attractive engine (compared to other V12's) that has a
pretty unimpressive sound.
Unless you know the history of the engine you bought, expect to
spend a lot to get it right.
The intake system is pretty restrictive and is a lot of the reason
for the poor performance. I would throw it out and go with downdraft
Webers if you can afford the cost and increased height.
I once dreamed of a project like you are describing and I assembled
many of the components (including the Webers and manifolds). After a
while the insanity passed.
Good Luck, if you go forward I hope you'll document it and keep us
informed.
Nickt
Formula Junior
Silver Subscribed
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Hi Nick
it's an HE engine looking at the fuel injection rail, it
should have small spark plugs [ they are a nightmare to
change as the thread seizes up as they don't get change
often enough as they are hard to get at.
Good luck with it and keep us informed.
Grant
Hi Grant
It has standard plugs , N9YC - Unipart GSP4362 plugs, I pulled them
out to see how it last ran, and everyone looks OK, the oil is clean,
and it turns over, albeit you can feel loads of compression - and
that's without oily bores.
The motor had only done 70k miles, so not a lot for a big lump like
this. I checked the only resource I could find and it seemed to
suggest that this engine is a early pre HE block (the 8s in the
engine number?)
Thanks for the tip re flywheel. I will post a blog somewhere when i
ger started. This weekend i am starting by making a 10th scale model
so i can mount the V12 and check for stresses etc..
Cheers
Nick
Quote:
Originally Posted by
I'll start by saying that I work on 12 cylinder Jags and own
one.
Considering size and weight it is very underpowered, prone
to overheating and leaks and very expensive to rebuild. The
result is a not really attractive engine (compared to other
V12's) that has a pretty unimpressive sound.
Unless you know the history of the engine you bought, expect
to spend a lot to get it right.
The intake system is pretty restrictive and is a lot of the
reason for the poor performance. I would throw it out and go
with downdraft Webers if you can afford the cost and
increased height.
I once dreamed of a project like you are describing and I
assembled many of the components (including the Webers and
manifolds). After a while the insanity passed.
Good Luck, if you go forward I hope you'll document it and
keep us informed.
I have always wanted to make a car from scratch, so now's the chance
- the regs around registration are pretty tough now, everything has
to be TIG welded, and made from CDS tube. I am also going to cast my
own body, the idea to make something that resembles a ZONDA C12. I
was thinking of doing a Lambo, but there are too many of them around
I have drawn rough plans for the chassis, will hopefully order up
some bits of steel next week (subject to wife permitting).
F1 Rookie
Consultant
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Nickt
The motor had only done 70k miles, so not a lot for a big
lump like this.I checked the only resource I could find and
it seemed to suggest that this engine is a early pre HE
block (the 8s in the engine number?)
The early engines are prone to dropped valve seats (from
overheating), have low compression ratios (cylinder heads are flat,
combustion chambers are in dished piston tops.
Nickt
Formula Junior
Silver Subscribed
Quote:
Originally Posted by
The early engines are prone to dropped valve seats (from
overheating), have low compression ratios (cylinder heads
are flat, combustion chambers are in dished piston tops.
I was told that the pre HE engines are the best for tuning, due to
the flat cylinder head?
F1 Rookie
Consultant
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Nickt
I was told that the pre HE engines are the best for tuning,
due to the flat cylinder head?