Category: General Update

The teardown begins (resumes?)

(11/23/2022)

About 15 years ago when the fuel leak was discovered I had fully intended to just replace the leaky fuel tank with one of those racing fuel cell type tanks. I even purchased the tank, a pump, filters – the whole deal. For some reason gasoline, or maybe the off chance of a fire in my trunk, scared me and I never finished it.

I had removed the back seat from the car to ensure no fuel was actually in the cabin, but then after that I just kinda parked the car. On 11/23/2022 I resumed the teardown of the car, this time with new intentions.

Here’s the trunk. The car is in perfect shape (well, more on that later) and I just need to remove all the wiring and plumbing mess that was factory installed.

See all these hoses with bolts plugging them? At one time they all went to the fuel tank, or the external sump tank, or the external fuel pump. Lots of external things on these cars that other vehicles in 1986 would have had mounted internally.

This full wave rectifier looks like an afterthought, but I have to believe this is probably factory? This is just many of electrical gems to be found…

What’s with all of the inline fuses and taps? Why is this wiring harness such a mess?

And then I came across this discovery. See this sticker? That’s a factory Jaguar replacement part. Great, right? Factory parts are typically superior to aftermarket, right? Yup, that’s certainly true. However, this is a rear quarter panel. This means the car was wrecked at one point in it’s life. The repair looks to be done quite well and was possibly done at an authorized factory repair shop. I haven’t uncovered the mystery of how bad the wreck was, but my dad and I believe that it sideswiped something. The driver rear quarter was replaced, there’s evidence that a completely new door was fitted and evidence of body filler in the front driver side fender.

Let’s catch up

Since I’m starting this blog after the project of the car has started, let’s catch up what I’m doing, where I’m at and what’s left.

Currently the plan on the vehicle is to fit it with NetGain Hyper9HV motor at 144v. This will be coupled to a TorqueTrends 1.9:1 transmission (single speed, think of it like an underdrive) and I’ll need to change the rear differential to a 4.11:1 ratio. This gives me close to an 8:1 from motor to rear, which I’m told is the golden ratio for the motor I’ve chosen.

Power brakes will be handled by a Bosch iBooster gen 2 and power steering will be an electric assist from a Toyota. I have the iBooster on hand, have not purchased the assist motor yet as I’m concerned about room under the dash/hood for this. I might have to go electric-hydraulic. I don’t want to, because I want the vehicle nearly silent when not moving. More on that later.

Thankfully no mice ever entered the cabin of the vehicle, however the interior did get mildew inside. I suspect when I last parked it, it was humid and that was trapped in the car. Regardless this turned the project from a ‘replatform the drivetrain’ into a full on restoration minus body work…and after I dug into the interior, I was super glad I decided to rip everything out. It turns out any spot a relay or a fuse or a wire connector should be shoved in this car, that is exactly what they did.

At any rate, enjoy these photos as I tear into the vehicle!

It begins!

I’m a little late in creating this blog, I get that. Honestly, I hesitated because I’m altering a car in a way that a purist of the brand would disapprove of. However as I talk about this project to others in passing it seems counterintuitive to share the same pictures and stories over and over; I may as well have a location dedicated to that.

So here it is.

This is the journey of taking a 1986 Jaguar XJS and transforming it from a V12 gas thirsty mechanical beast to an electric cruiser.

“But Kris, that’s a V12, you can’t do that to a classic” Yeah. I can. Here’s the thing…this car hasn’t driven in over 15 years. I parked it once I discovered fuel was leaking out of the gas tank that was mounted IN THE TRUNK. And although it has been garaged this whole time, I’ve had issues with mice getting into the engine bay and doing mice things.

So, here’s an opportunity to take a vehicle that hasn’t seen the roads in a lifetime and make a nice Sunday cruiser out of it that doesn’t leak all the fluids.

I have comments disabled as I don’t want to deal with WordPress spam. Feel free to email me at kris (at) hainkm (dot) com.

Enjoy the journey.