Jaguar and Norton combo

[jseng1]

Check out my old race buddy Fred Eiker's rides. The 920cc Caffrey framed Norton did 150mph at Bonneville and tied the speed record in its class. The E Jag has an alum block Chevy with corvette 6 speed tranny. Either one will get you to your destination on time. Fred was one of the greatest Norton road racers I've known and we had many wonderfull battles at Willow Springs back in the day - taking 1st and 2nd on Nortons at AMA national Laguna Seca in 750 BOTT 1984.

 

[Schwany]

Is that 1.5" headers and an unbaffled 2 into 1 exhaust on the Norton?

 

[baz]

Check out my old race buddy Fred Eiker's rides. The 920cc Caffrey framed Norton did 150mph at Bonneville and tied the speed record in its class. The E Jag has an alum block Chevy with corvette 6 speed tranny. Either one will get you to your destination on time. Fred was one of the greatest Norton road racers I've known and we had many wonderfull battles at Willow Springs back in the day - taking 1st and 2nd on Nortons at AMA national Laguna Seca in 750 BOTT 1984.

Now that is a cool combo !

 

[Mart UK]

Very envious! I could understand upgrading the brakes or suspension on the Jag, but the engine?

 

[baz]

Very envious! I could understand upgrading the brakes or suspension on the Jag, but the engine?

Yep I was wondering about the engine "upgrade"!!! Not sure that's even legal?

 

[gortnipper]

Very envious! I could understand upgrading the brakes or suspension on the Jag, but the engine?

Yep I was wondering about the engine "upgrade"!!! Not sure that's even legal?

Jaguar V12 E-Type conversion to Chevy V8 - Johns Cars

Jaguar V12 E-Type conversion to Chevy V8 - power and reliability for the sexiest car ever built. Only with a Johns Cars conversion kit for the XKE V12.

www.brokenkitty.com

 

[jseng1]

Schwany - you're probably right about the 920 exhaust but I don't know the external details. I was only involved with the internals.
Mart UK - I had a 63 E Type for awhile with the triple SU carb straight 6 DOHC engine. I loved the way it ran and it went like a rocket. Fred says the V8 is actually lighter.

 

[Fast Eddie]

Cool… right up to the point about the engine!

Tell him to buy a Corvette next time !!

 

[texasSlick]

There is something sinful about putting a Chevy engine in a Jag. The mere idea of it would have made a Jag lover friend of mine puke!

Slick

 

[baz]

It's a bit like fitting an Allinson v-1710 into a spitfire!!!

 

[Richard Tool]

I attended a British car show recently and saw an Austin Healy 3000 with a Chevy V 8 . Not my cup of tea either. Seems a bit
sacrilegious to do that to these beautiful cars . I wonder what the horsepower comparison might be between the Chevy V8 ( lots of different displacement and tuning options I know ) and the Jag inline six .
Always lusted for an E type roadster but they are far out of my reach now . Enzo Ferrari himself once stated that they were the most beautiful car ever made - must have been tough for him to admit .

 

[acadian]

Nice to see you back Jim.
Can you give us some details on the 920 internals?

 

[maylar]

Very envious! I could understand upgrading the brakes or suspension on the Jag, but the engine?

I had a professor in college who was converting his Jag to electric. This was about 1971. It was a subject that we discussed in his electrical machinery and controls class.

 

[MichaelB]

Cover your eyes and hold your nose.....

https://st.hotrod.com/uploads/sites/21/2012/10/hrdp_1211_11_1974_jaguar_sedan_dragracing_draguar_.jpg

 

[998cc]

There is something sinful about putting a Chevy engine in a Jag. The mere idea of it would have made a Jag lover friend of mine puke!

Slick

I have to agree there. Certainly maintenance is lower with a small block Chevy, but you may as well swap UJM vertical twin into your Commando.
Maybe a Shovelhead mill in a Vincent? The two Phils would be aghast, though Phil Irving might support an Oldsmobile F85 V8 in the E-Type!
Russ

 

[concours]

The Chevy Jag engine swap became popular here in the 70's/80's, the engines were dirt cheap in salvage yards, the reliability of the Jag electrics were a challenge to many.
HotRod magazine featured a "How-to" more than once.
JMWO

 

[acotrel]

I don't think I would fit a V8 engine into an E type, but some later Jags had Ford engines. I was in one on Queensland Raceway with Jon Tet;ly who owns the venue. The Jags performance was pretty impressive. An E type is an historic car, so I would not destroy it. It is a matter of values. And I am not referring to price.

 

[acotrel]

Is the frame of the Norton a Mk4 Seeley ? I never believed in two into one exhausts until I really needed one. They can be very effective, as long as the tail pipe is not too small in diameter. With a Commando engine, you never try to rev them as far as they can go. A good two into one exhaust takes a bit off the top and adds it to the middle, where it is needed.

 

[ericg]

There is something sinful about putting a Chevy engine in a Jag. The mere idea of it would have made a Jag lover friend of mine puke!

Slick

I feel the same when I see Mikunis on a Norton. Or any other Brit bike by the way.

 

[lcrken]

Nice to see you back Jim.
Can you give us some details on the 920 internals?

This is a bike with an interesting history, and a fair number of changes over the years. When I rebuilt the engine for the original owner, Martin Adams, back in '87, it had a 79 mm bore using Omega pistons, an 89 mm stroke Nourish crank, and Crower titanium rods. The head was ported, with bigger valves (titanium), and welded into a bathtub combustion chamber shape, by ex-Norton tuner Jim Messler. The cam was an Axtell grind. Crankcases were a new set of Mk3, with shims to move the main bearings inward to match the earlier crankshaft. Ignition was a crank-triggered Lucas box. Carbs were Mk2 Amals on extended manifolds. Exhaust was 1 5/8" pipes into Axtell reverse cone megaphones. These are pictures of the bike from 1987.

Daytona '87 was the only race the bike managed to finish, and Martin put it on display in his home for a while after that, and then into barn storage. I eventually bought it from him, went through the engine again, just to make sure it was good, and tidied up the cosmetics a bit. In 2001 I sold it to Fred, and modified it with different forks and brakes, and a few other changes so he could road race it. This is a pictuer of the bike at that time.

After trying it at Daytona in 2002, Fred decided to take it to Bonneville for landspeed racing instead of road racing. He made some changes to the bike, going back to the original forks, wheels, and such. This is a picture of the bike at Bonneville in 2008.

Fred hooked up with well-known Indian tuner, Jim Mosher, and they made some mods to the bike and engine, and added nitrous oxide injection. I'm not sure of all the engine changes, but I think they took it out to 81 mm bore for 920 cc. I think they also made some other significant changes to the engine components. This is a picture of the bike from Bonneville in 2010, when Fred tied the existing class record, running 155.722 mph.

Unfortunately, the landspeed racing story doesn't end well here. On another attempt at Bonneville he crashed at 150+ mph, and was seriously injured. While he was recovering, he decided to restore the bike, which was seriously bent, to its orginal configuration (more or less ), but as a street bike, and eventually did so.

The pictures Jim posted are how it ended up.

Ken