My first jaguar was a 1986 Series III XJ6 that had been “lumped” by a previous owner. Being “lumped” is an expression peculiar to the JagLovers website meaning the original Jaguar motor has been swapped for something else. The something else is most often a Chevy 350 small block. There are actually some distinct advantages to this situation. Increased performance and reduced maintenance costs are the main attractions.
Mine came from St Louis and it it had already been partially restored with new paint, a refurbished dash, and of course the engine swap. There were still some bugs to work out of the conversion and I ended up spending a little more money than I would have liked getting the drive train balanced so it traveled smoothly down the road. It had the Dayton chrome wire wheels and they sure did set off the car.
The paint color was claret and the interior leather a nice light gray. I really enjoyed owning, tinkering, and driving the XJ6. The biggest project I undertook with it was replacing the rear brakes. Due to Jaguar’s racing heritage the rear brakes were designed to reduce outboard weight which resulted in placing the rotors and calipers inboard right next to the differential. While his may be great for racing it’s a major pain to replace the rotors. You have to drop the entire rear axle to change out the rotors…a big job.
 
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