1984 XJ6.0 Turbo

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Slow but steady progress here in WNY. Many warm days means activities outside with my wife and two little ones. Work on the XJ6.0 usually happens after they’re tucked in for the night as the sun goes down.

Cold side complete - non intercooled for the time being. 10psi max boost to start with and ethanol for fuel means it won’t be really necessary. I am planning on mounting the radiator (a 4th Gen LT1 Camaro replacement) as far back as I can to leave room for a future air to air IC.

Engine beauty covers on, hood installed and aligned, getting closer to a first fire. Still a LOT to do including Terminator X install, build a fuel system, trans cooler lines, tons of little stuff.

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Lots of progress, no pictures to show for it. Every time I get out in the garage after putting the kids to bed I just jam the work out and get in the zone.

Trans cooler (40K) mounted and plumbed.

Stock Jaguar throttle cable hooked up; I had to modify and extend the LS throttle cable bracket. The pedal is a bit stiff so I might remove one or both springs that are mounted on the pedal.

Radiator is mounted and rad hoses are done. Bottom is a typical LS1 Camaro hose, upper is a stock truck hose that I cut up and spliced to snake under the charge pipe.

Heater hoses were a pain due to the way the hotside crowds the passenger side. I ran 2 90* hoses around the front of the motor and back down the driver’s side to feed the heater core and surge tank. Originally I was going to use an Audi B7 A4 tank due to the large capacity and mounting tabs, but I did some more digging and actually found a much nicer option from a 2005-2010+ Equinox. The mounting tabs are for a vertical wall application meaning they’re well suited to older cars that don’t have the weird contours of modern vehicles. The outlet exits straight out the bottom which makes it easy to tee into the heater return, and the steam vent/deaeration line exits horizontally. 15psi cap and a nice compact package, all available at your local Pick and Pull for under $10.

The newer models have a modern black plastic top while the older ones are fully clear.

Next up:

Cleaning up engine bay wiring
Terminator X Install
Fuel Cell Install

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No pictures, so we don’t believe you…

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@Aristides Here is a photo of the dual fuel tanks draining the ancient gas inside. You don’t have to try very hard to smell this photo. Both were completely full and unfortunately the Philips headed screws fastening the body covers under the tanks seem to be frozen completely solid, so removal of the tanks will have to wait. No harm in leaving them in place for now. When I get around to removing them, if they’re in good shape, I may list them for sale.

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Why would you want to sell the tanks?

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I would guess fuel cell.

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Now that the tanks are empty remove the fuel level senders (behind the rear lights) and have a peak inside. You might be pleasantly or unpleasantly surprised…
Mine are the original ones and are still rust free.

Don’t know if I’m repeating myself, but remove the in-tank filter socks (undo the big nut at the bottom of the tanks and you will see them), and put external high flow filters before the pump, easily serviceable without having to drain the tanks.

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Those screws may not bwe Phillips. i forgot the name. simiilar, but a tad better. Phillips drivers can remove them, if ot rusted.

I recall another lister remarking as to how to remove the valence. Grind off the screw heads tehen with the valence off, deal with drill and tap fror new fasteners/

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Pozidrive screws. Tad better, yes. Needs the right bits if it’s difficult to remove!

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Appreciate the input! I was almost Pozitive I would be cutting the heads off. No fear of the cutoff wheel but hate to throw sparks so close to the fuel tanks and drilling/tapping all those holes is not fun.

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The screws under the bumper are not taped, they have separate nuts underneath.
A good vice grip and socket and they will either get loose or break.
The only taped screws are between the rear valance and the tank covers.

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Randoms shots installing the catch can, cooling system/heater hoses, and general engine bay. I took off the compressor cover to allow easier access while installing the turbo oil drain, which is an extended 4" 10AN and drains into the pan above the oil level.

Exhaust is done, painted and wrapped. Full 3" up to the stock catback (resonators and mufflers) with a cutout dumping by the oil pan.

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Removing the stock fuel pump, filter, and other ancillaries from the trunk well.

The old trunk mats/carpets left a fine furr all over everything, so I vacuumed it out to clean it up a bit.

Spilled a bit of gas disconnecting the old lines, so some ventilation to clear it up:

New fuel cell mocked up - I made some straps to bolt it right to the trunk floor with some foam mat to insulate it from direct contact. It’s a 20 gallon cell with a flat bottom (no sump), 0-90ohm sender and -8AN outlets throughout. Fuel will be 93 pump to start and once I get the car up and running, I’ll start to introduce ethanol.

The top of the cell sits below the lip of the trunk side, so I’ll make up a new cargo cover to allow the trunk to be used. For anyone lamenting the loss of the spare tire, none of my other cars (mostly BMWs) have had spares. This is not a daily driver for me anyhow, so the likelihood of needing one is very low.

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I spent the last few weeks wrapping up the fuel system. It consists of the following:

20 gallon flat bottom fuel cell with -8AN rollover valve vented under the trunk floor

-8AN feed to coarse prefilter
-10AN feed to 400lph pump
-8AN feed to C5 FPR
-8AN return to top of fuel cell
-6AN feed under the car to fuel rail
-Flex sensor plumbed inline with feed

I filled the cell with about 7 gallons of fresh 93 pump just to check for leaks and found none (on the pump suction side, at least). I need to run the pump manually to prime the system and see if there are any leaks on the pressure side of the pump. Also installed the Lowdoller fuel pressure sensor on the rail after taking out the Schrader valve to be able to see if the pump can keep up.

While I am waiting on some AN fittings I decided to jump into the Terminator X install. It’s mostly plug and play, just a matter of routing things neatly in the engine bay to prevent damage from heat and moving parts. That being said there are some loose wires to connect which I saved for last. I hate wiring, it usually means uncomfortable positions.

The ECU will live in the glovebox. It’s very compact so there will still be room for documents, etc. My goal is to leave the interior looking as stock as possible. There will be no modifications except to the gauge cluster.

I have a new fuel gauge that uses the correct 0-90ohm resistance range compatible with the sender in the fuel cell, and the tach will be driven via the output on the TermX. I would like to use the stock speedo by driving it with a configured output from the ECU but haven’t really looked into the details yet.

The interior is a bit of a mess at the moment but will go back together once I run the fuel pump trigger wire and the sender signal wire to the trunk.

Last but not least - check out that front ride height!

It settled in quite a bit due to a couple of reasons:

-Removed 15 gallons of fuel from the stock tanks, which transferred weight to the front
-Jumped up and down on the front bumper to “settle” the springs which was good for another half inch or so
-Added all the accessories under the hood like the engine harness, fan harness, and fluids (engine oil, coolant, power steering), and battery.

Keep in mind this is stock springs (uncut to preserve ride quality), 2x spring packers removed (you may have seen them in the trunk), and 3/4" spring pan drop.

Hoping to have the first startup next week!

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It’s alive! Got some wiring finished up (roughly) and fired it up Friday. No major issues or leaks upon startup, let it get up to temp and topped off fluids. Everything seemed pretty good, just a lot of smoke from all the paint and exhaust wrap burning off.

Couple of revs and it died on me, so I re-fired it and it wouldn’t idle without 10% throttle input. I’m a total rookie on the Holley software but I noticed that IAC counts were very high @ 90% so I figured it needed the blade opened more. I flipped the idle set screw and opened it up a bit more, did a TPS Autoset, and it was all good. Holley made it so easy to fire up, I will never go back to HPTuners.

Took it down the street to the gas station, drove pretty nice for a wizard tune. First impressions:

-Front tires are too wide and rub on the fender on bumps.
-Exhaust leak somewhere up front, maybe the crossover pipe.
-Steering has some play in it on center, might look into tightening up this rack or maybe something a little more radical. Also needs an alignment badly. I will have that performed after I replace the front tie rods and ball joints which are thrashed.
-Brakes have a slight pulsation from sitting so long, we’ll see if they clean up with additional miles.
-Differential has a healthy leak. I changed the fluid a few months ago and it weeped a few drops but once I drove it the oil came out at a much faster pace, so maybe something is wrong with the vent.

Overall it’s a great cruiser with a ton of style. I can’t wait to further refine it; once the small bugs are worked out I’ll put on the charge pipe and see what it feels like in boost.

Here are some photos of driving around and after I washed it.

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That’s some impressive work, my friend! Thanks for the update.

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The stance of the car is very nice, and I like these wheels, bummer that the tires are rubbing…

As for the steering play, did you ever check the rack bushings?

Diff leak is from the input seal (easy) or from the output shafts (not so easy)?

Great work Norbert!!

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Thank you Aristides. The most pressing problem is the tires - as a 245 section width they are quite aggressive for the Jag wheel well and I knew it was a gamble even to try them. In the meantime I am going to reinstall the factory wheels since they have a nearly new set of tires on them that should ride nicely with no contact.

I have not yet checked the steering rack bushings. The front end needs a general refresh (upper ball joints, tie rod ends) so I’d like to get those taken care of before looking further into steering play.

I am investigating the diff leak in another dedicated thread where it may get more views in the XJ section. Feel free to jump in and help diagnose!

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great work!
i wish i was your neighbor so i could get a ride in it!

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I’d love to give out rides!

I just took it for a half hour ride. Initial impressions are good. The ride is comfortable, but the transmission tune needs some work to be a bit more aggressive and I need to seal up the hole where the harnesses enter the cabin above the passenger’s feet. I also have a rubbing/clunk under hard acceleration that I suspect is the driveshaft.

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