In case anyone's wondering why I'm posting instead of working :lol: :
This is one of my side projects. I picked up this '02 Jaguar S-type last week with a broken timing chain. Normally I avoid working on Euro-cars but this one is essentially a Ford. I bought it expecting to need to pull at least one head due to bent valves. This particular engine (4.0 V8) is prone to chain failure due to weak plastic secondary tensioners coming apart and it's a fairly common problem. The same engine was used in the Lincoln LS and latest generation Thunderbird. The general architecture is similar to the modular DOHC 4.6 and 5.4 but is about 7/8 scale. The other engine option for this car is the same Ford (Mazda) 3.0 V6 used in the Taurus, Escape, etc. So much for Jaguar's performance heritage :? . Once I got it apart I found that the exhaust cam had stopped between lobes and the engine has great compression. The parts were supposed to be here this morning but didn't ship. Looks like I'll just take the day off. I'm hoping this thing makes me some money.
Exhaust cam and broken chain and tensioner extracted.
This is such a fun area! I suppose I gotta admit it and post more pictures. I got more projects too....I swear, it's a disease, Honey! "It's NOT MY FAULT!!"
A couple boats that came and went. The first trio came from the auction. The stars were aligned; right after the holidays, cold rainy day, poor attendance. I bought all three boats for $5 each. Including the 10% buyers fee, I still got change back from a twenty dollar bill. Cost more in fuel to get them home. All I did was hose them off and drain the water out. I sold the pair with motors for $600 and the pink one to a buddy for $50. Not too bad for a day's worth of shuffling. I even got to keep the pile of fishing/camping gear that was in them.
1959. Had probably 100 gallons of water in it. Solid but UGLY!
Another 1959. Appeared to have been a rental at some point. 35hp Lark. Could have been put back on the lake easily.
1965. Soft transom but very complete. 75hp Evinrude.
The next one was a 1978 Jetster I got at the same auction about a year later. Paid $10 for it with an 85hp Chrysler hanging on the back. While I was hitching it up to bring it home a guy came up and told me he was moving and needed to get rid of his stash of Chrysler outboard stuff. Picked up a complete 75hp and another disassembled 85 for free on the way home. I planned to restore it and keep it but got distracted. Sold all the motor stuff for $500 and the boat on the trailer for $250. It was really solid and well built but suffered from a bad repaint and a stalled "refurbish". It was originally heavy flake metallic gold on black. Discotastic! Wish I could have kept it. I'm told it's a fast hull design for what they were.
Well, my Jag parts finally came in. It's back on the road with new timing chains and secondary tensioners along with some new ball joints and swaybar end links. I'm surprised at what a nice driving car it turned out to be. I'll be headed to the DMV tomorrow to finish the paperwork. Once the title comes in it's up for sale. My dad will be driving it for the next few days.
...and here's why:
Last time you saw pics of his daily driver '64 El Camino he was running a Paxton supercharger on his LT1. Recently (I suspect mostly out of boredom) he's been focusing more on fuel economy. The supercharger came off and he had acouple other PCMs flashed by my uncle. The final conclusion was that lowered compression and the automatic were holding him back. Since the current LT1 has had the pistons replaced with lower compression pieces to make it more blower-safe, it made more sense to just replace it rather than tear it down again. My dad is the master deal hunter! He came up with another LT1 that was claimed to be a low miler along with a harness for $200. I tore it down to reseal and detail it and found it was immaculate inside. I would estimate 30-50K miles on it. He listed the engine and transmission he's running and had it sold (took a deposit) to a guy who wanted to put it in his '40 Chevy. I pulled the engine and 4L60E, swapped a few parts and installed the new engine.
^^Ignore the missing A.I.R. plugs and the "filled" intake elbow. Suitable replacements are on order.^^
Here's part two of the process:
What? Why would anyone chose an S10 transmission? Aren't those super weak? Stick with me, there's a few reasons for this choice.
1. My dad drives like an old man 99.98% of the time.
2. This car will never see track time. Economy is the focus here.
3. The engine is bone stock and will likely remain as such.
4. The S10 version of the T-5 has a forward position shifter that is better suited for bench seats.
5. The s10 transmission is the only GM version of the T-5 that uses the standard front bolt pattern in the standard orientation. The early Fbody version is canted at a 17* angle. Later Fbody has a Ford front pattern.
6. The gear ratio is a great match to the 2.56 posi that he has in the car. Almost the ideal 10:1 compound first.
7. This particular T-5 is a relatively rare late-'93 model. It IS a WC not the weaker non WC that people say are weak. Never heard of it? Don't think it exists? Here's proof:
I pulled the input shaft out to have it machined down to the standard Saginaw/Muncie/T-10 dimensions and verified that it had the fiber lined blocker rings as opposed to the regular brass synchros. The Splines needed to be cut back about 1/4" and the end of the pilot was shortened 5/8" and the retainer was also shortened. I used an M-20 to match up all the dimensions.
By using a regular '86-up (one-piece seal) flywheel and 10.5" clutch set it is feasible to replace this transmission with any of the GM 4-speeds if the desire should arise. The only part that would need to be swapped out is the clutch disc. I contacted Otts Friction to see if they could build me a 14 spline clutch disc in 10.5". As it turned out, one is available but I'm not sure what the original application is. It's being shipped from their supplier in Minnesota and should be here on Thursday. I'll post up the final results. Hopefully all the parts will be in by the weekend so I can get it back on the road. Until then, the '64 goes in the bullpen.
I got a call from my dad this morning. I guess the '40 Chevy guy backed out of the deal and forfeited his deposit. It's for sale again for now but might end up in my brothers '36 Ford pickup.
hey, the compound looks amazing. if i even get to build half as many cars as you and your family have i'll be able to die happy. Also i was wondering what you did with the black fa or sa rx7? please tell me no v8 was ever put in and you kept the rotary.
That pic was probably 9 years ago. I bought it as a mechanic's lien car for $55. Replaced the starter and bled the brakes. I was going to use the drive-train for my silver 1200 coupe but decided against it. I ended up selling it to a couple guys for $750. They wanted to turn it into a rally car. Really, it was pretty worn out and had front body damage. I wish I would have kept the Gotti wheels that were in it though. They were probably worth more than the car. They were 3 piece and had a 5th in the trunk. Realllly wide - probably 13X8! Looked like these:
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