Dipping My Toe In Jag Water

[Ed Fairman]

Hi I'm new to this forum. I am curious about the various engine conversions done on dodge trucks.

In the USA you have a good choice of motors, if you want to use a petrol (gas) engine in the UK the choice is limited.

Does anyone know if the Jaguar 4.2 straight six has ever been tried in a WC? There is a good following for this motor over here and the military had a version known as J60.

I have not made up my mind to do this but am interested to hear anyone's opinions. What problems are likely to occur with this conversion?

As I understand the civvy version is 12v and comes with an auto box.

Thanks, Ed.

[Gordon Maney]

I am not familiar with that engine, and have not heard of anyone using it here. Understand, Jaguars are not very common here. The fact they are popular there would make it a reasonable choice, it seems. Whether it is practical would depend a lot on measurements and an analysis on your end.

[712edf]

I am not too familar with Jaguar motors other than the V12 that they used from early 70's til mid 90's in the XJS. I know it changed a bit during this time and mostly came with the GM TurboHydromatic 400 transmission.
I don't know what transmissions the Jag 6cyl. came with.
When you mentioned civvy version & auto box, were you refering to the WC?
Bucky

[Ed Fairman]

Hi All. In honesty I know very little about this engine but I am familiar with the sight of it. Many of my friends either have one lying about on their workshop floor or have one installed in a kit car.

This isnt very scientific, but it looks as if it may lend itself to the repower of a dodge as it seems quite a compact engine for a 6 cylinder.

I think the car it came from was the Jag XJ6 (4200cc). I think you could only get these with an auto box. At some point in the 1970's our military started using small armoured fighting vehicles with an alloy hull. This ment that they were light and relatively quick and the engine they chose was the Jag(J60) producing 180-190bhp. Again with an auto box. There are quite a few of these available as army recon on Milweb.

Can anyone tell me in theory if I would have to fit an auto box with this motor or could the original non synchro 4speed box be used?

Thanks for your replies. Ed.

[Gordon Maney]

Hi All. In honesty I know very little about this engine but I am familiar with the sight of it. Many of my friends either have one lying about on their workshop floor or have one installed in a kit car.

This isnt very scientific, but it looks as if it may lend itself to the repower of a dodge as it seems quite a compact engine for a 6 cylinder.

I think the car it came from was the Jag XJ6 (4200cc). I think you could only get these with an auto box. At some point in the 1970's our military started using small armoured fighting vehicles with an alloy hull. This ment that they were light and relatively quick and the engine they chose was the Jag(J60) producing 180-190bhp. Again with an auto box. There are quite a few of these available as army recon on Milweb.

Can anyone tell me in theory if I would have to fit an auto box with this motor or could the original non synchro 4speed box be used?

Thanks for your replies. Ed.

The original transmission could be used, assuming you could fabricate an adaptor plate to mate the Jag engine to the Dodge bellhousing. We can put a man on the moon, so that is possible, but it may not be practical. There may be some British manual transmissions suitable, that would be easily mated to this engine.

[sret43]

Boy, surfing the web for the Jag engine sure opened up a whole new web browsing experience.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...N%26start%3D21


http://www.milweb.net/arcade/marcusglennJ60/

Check out the Photo Gallery on this one - Stuart tanks from Brazil.

http://www.marcusglenn.com/index2.html

[Ed Fairman]

Ok it seems like none of you are going to say "don't do it" or "you're wasting your time". I'll post some dimensions for this engine as soon as I get them.

Thanks for your answers. Ed.

[712edf]

Ok it seems like none of you are going to say "don't do it" or "you're wasting your time". I'll post some dimensions for this engine as soon as I get them.

Thanks for your answers. Ed.

We are all about uniqueness! This isn't a Z71 board.

Bucky

[maineSS]

I've heard that the most popular conversion for Jaguars in the US was the 350 Chevy engine due to the GM tranny and the unreliabilty and spare parts difficulty with the OEM engines. A heavy vehicle needs torque down low to get it moving, so I'd look at the HP/Torque curve and the reliabilty record before laying down any cash on repower candidates.

[NNICKB]

The Chevy V8 is popular with swappers primarily because it fits well, but also because it is cheap and readily available in the US. There is a lot of aftermarket support for swapping it into Jeeps and other older full frame vehicles.

The Rover V8 is basically a General Motors design and might be somewhat compatible with GM clutches, transmissions, and motor mounts.

If you go with the Jaguar, be sure to send us photos.