No affiliation, but one hell of a good guy is the owner of Paul’s Jaguar in Florida. He totally rebuilds XJS’s for 30K, I don’t know if anyone on here that might be in the market is aware of that.
Gorgeous color! Very envious!!!
I would like to change out my 2.77 for a 3.54 differential, but keep the TH400 (for now).
May i ask the difference? Will 1st gear be too low? Does 3rd gear have a bit more pull? Faster off the line? Slower acceleration at 80mph?
LOL … I guess ya gotta do what ya gotta do, sometimes … Reminds me of Superblue locking me out again the other day (will post on that in a bit) 
Same here, Gregmatic … 
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My personal attraction in the '70s, looking back now, seems to be all those little EuropeanAsian sports cars (coupes) with pop-up headlights: the Fiat X1/9, Mazda RX7, Triumph TR7, Opel GT, Porsche 914, Saab Sonnet, etc. 
Unfortunately, with my very limited (college student) budget the only one I actually ended up buying and driving was my '72 Opel GT. 
Wait a min., I didn’t think we could put larger than 16" wheels on even our facelifts? 
Panterrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaa One of my favs, only problem is I hear the inside is noisy as hell, since the (351 Cleveland) sits right behind the seats … 
Of course you can, but then you need lower profile tires.
So does XK8 have same bolt pattern as XJS? Good to know, I may upgrade once my 15" tires are history. Those bigger wheels look very nice on the XjS!
IMHO, that guy has “issues”, including not accepting Paypal. Who doesn’t? He says on his co. website that if you call him he will “explain” why … When I told him I didn’t feel comfortable with giving out my personal c.c. info. online, I think he blocked me or something. My impression after that = jerk. 
If you don’t accept Paypal online these days, you don’t accept business!
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Agreed.
On another but somewhat-related note … I’m wondering if any of those “mini spare wheels” that came with some facelift XJSes (in Europe?) are available (used) here in the U.S., and I assume they are 15" and have the same bolt pattern as the factory wheels. ? Reason I ask is that I lost my spare wheel for Superblack (don’t ask 
) and I’m finding it hard to find a used regular wheel (or too many $$ for the ones out there 
) to replace it with. I generally don’t like mini-spares, but it will work fine for me.
Exactly, Gregmatic. Very poor business choice on his part, IMHO.
Now you got me curious … what size are the tires on your XJS, Peter? I’m so sick of having to put up with the extreme scarcity of 15" tires anymore … and it’s only going to be getting worse … 
There are more problems than that. But yeah, noisy, primarily because the 351 Cleveland timing chain is right behind you. That’s, like, most of what you hear. At least it was in the Pantera I drove.
When I was a co-op student at a power plant, we had an employee show up one Monday morning in a Pantera. We asked him if he had heard they were unreliable. He said yes, but this was the new Pantera MkII, they’ve got all those issues fixed. Thursday the car didn’t make it to work. Come to find out the flywheel bolts had backed out (I think they used tablocks in those days, dunno whassup wit dat) and prevented the clutch from engaging. Off to the shop for a few weeks, as the engine and transaxle had to come out of the car to fix it. Putting it back together they somehow dented the oil pan, so when it was started the crank hit the pan and ripped a big hole in it and dumped oil everywhere. After they fixed that, the guy drove it home and parked it in his garage and we never saw it again.
When I worked at P&WA there was a guy there who was somewhat of a playboy, and a handsome devil too, who drove a Pantera. I suspect he drove it hard, because he broke lower A-arms with alarming regularity. He’d order several new ones at a time. I dunno why he didn’t try making stronger versions.
The 17" Gemini rims off an XK8 fit perfectly on the XJS. Same bolt pattern, and I didn’t check the offset but they fit without rubbing. Also: no ‘rolled’ fender lips or anything on the car. As I prepared to fit those wheels I ordered spacers because I thought they would be necessary. But in the end I didn’t use them because the tires would rub against the fender lips.
I’m not 100% sure because I don’t have the car with me here, but I think the tires are 245/45…
Hi Bob,
You got my attention with your statement about upgrading your stereo. I upgraded the stereo in my 2002 S Type to a double-DIN touchscreen so I can use it as a GPS screen powered by my Iphone.
It would be great to fit something into the XJS that (1) has a screen big enough to be used as GPS, (2) doesn’t ruin the looks of the dash, and (3) obviously in a reversible operation so no cutting anything).
What do you have in mind? Or anyone else has a good idea?
Cheers,
Peter
The tires are the ones that came off the XK8 that originally provided the Gemini wheels. I’m nearly sure they are 245/45…
Hi Greg-
Well…I guess the easy way to think about it is rpm at every speed is now 23% higher. That’s the objective facts.
Subjectively? First gear is way too low and shifts too quickly. 3rd gear is now just a bit higher than the “old” second gear.
I don’t like it. It’s not an improvement if that’s the only change you make. If you are keeping the th400 and want more pep look at something less radical like a 3.08. But personally I think 2.88/th400 is still not ideal for highway. The car turns what, 3000 at 80mph? My suburban and 2016 mustang are both closer to 2300. A 3.08 would put you at 3200ish. Too fast imho. The 3.54 puts me close to 4000. Cooling is a problem if you sustain that rpm on hot days. The v12 deserves a 4 or 5 speed OD. I think the th400 and the borg Warner auto in the s3 eType were always a compromise. There were no OD automatics available. So 3 speeds with 1:1 top gear were it.
Off soap box 
My .02.
Bob
Hi Peter.
I have a whole evil plan for the stereo and console. I am thinking the following:
I am assuming single DIN with blue tooth and hands free. I have my small gauges in place of the trip computer and I don’t see the room for double din without extensive customization. For Nav I will stick with the iphone/google maps because it it constantly being upgraded. Maybe a nice mount for an ipad if you want to go bigger.
I already have nice Polk speakers (details on my site) but I kept factory speaker and power wiring because I was lazy and stupid. Stereo is “upgraded” but pre-blue tooth. This time I plan to go with a nice Kenwood (I have done several for friends lately and I am pleased. I had a small car audio business years ago and was a Pioneer loyalist, they seem to have lost a few steps) with a single two-channel amp for the four main speakers and a separate sub amp with a box and an 8" sub in the boot, probably removable. I will re-do all power and speaker wiring. I will throw that stupid 2A fuse under the ash tray as far over the hedge as I possibly can.
I will re-do the cruise control switch to run my power antenna (I got rid of cc long ago b/c it seems complex and the bellows is ugly.) I will replace the ashtrays with hole-cupters (as my daugther called them when she was little.) I will add a dedicated switch for the AC compressor so I can turn it on and off when I like, and maybe modify the vent solenoid wiring so I can get fresh air when I want.
This will all be done when I have the console out as part of the 5 speed conversion. Big talk. We’ll see how much of it works out like I think it will
Regards
Bob