Merv Hagen's 1973 Jaguar E-Type with Ford 351 Windsor
as published in BritishV8 Magazine, Volume XVIII Issue I, December 2010Owner: Merv Hagen
BritishV8 UserID: Merv
City: Dundee, Illinois
Model: 1973 Jaguar Series III 2+2
Engine: Ford 351 Windsor V8
Conversion performed by: a previous owner.
| Engine: | Ford 351 Windsor V8 engine.
Ford aluminum two barrel intake manifold with Holley carburetor.
Ford Duraspark II breakerless (magnetically triggerred).
100 amp 1-wire Delco-style alternator. |
| Cooling: | stock Jaguar. |
| Exhaust: | cast iron Ford manifolds with custom pipes (& crossover) connecting to stock Jaguar V12 mufflers and resonator. |
| Transmission: | Ford C4 automatic.
Custom driveshaft. |
| Rear Axle: | stock Jaguar (IRS) with 2.88:1 final drive ratio. |
| Front Suspension: | completely rebuilt to stock specs, except for the addition of polyurethane bushings.
(The Ford engine is about 150 pounds lighter then the Jaguar V12.) |
| Rear Suspension: | stock Jaguar. |
| Wheels/Tires: | Dayton wire spoke knock-off 15X6 wheels with Dunlop 205/70VR15 tires |
| Brakes: | stock Jaguar (rebuilt). |
| Interior: | stock. |
| Comments: | I purchased this Jaguar in July 2009, from a gentleman who purchased it in 1985/86. In 1987 he
removed the V12 and replaced with a Ford 351 Windsor V8 along with a Ford C4 automatic transmission.
In 2002 he had body and paint redone. He had a new short block installed in the fall of 2008.
I've always wanted an E-Type. The fact that this one already had a Ford V8 made it even more desirable to me. I would have hated to have been the one to pull out the V12 drivetrain, but now that it's been done I'm free to do whatever I want to this car. The engine conversion was basically sound. However, when I got the car the front suspension was simply terrible. Brakes had all of the typical Jaguar problems. The electrical wiring was quite "unique"; it had a nasty habit of completely stopping the engine at the worst possible times. The more I work on this car, the more sorted it is. Almost all systems now work as they should. I have only put about 1500 miles on this car as of July 2010 (most of it in the last 2 months) so as of now it is simply a matter of getting acquainted, with cars good and bad points. This car is a work in process and I have no idea where it is going to go (although 400+ HP and a 5 speed sound pretty good). I'm sure that I'll spend much more money than it's worth. I often wonder why we do this, but I guess that it all comes down to one thing: it sure is FUN! |
Ford 351 Windsor V8 engine. Ford aluminum two barrel intake manifold with Holley carburetor.
Ford Duraspark II breakerless (magnetically triggered). 100 amp 1-wire Delco-style alternator.
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Merv purchased his Jaguar E-Type in July 2009, from a gentleman who purchased it in 1985/86.
In 1987 the previous owner had swapped the original V12 for a Ford 351 Windsor V8.
The body was gone over and a new paint job was applied in 2002.
