# Are Those Jaguar XJ6 -V8 Conversions Worth It? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 12, 2009, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-those-jaguar-xj6-v8-conversions-worth-it/517380 "2009-11-12T23:12:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-those-jaguar-xj6-v8-conversions-worth-it/517380/1 "2009-11-12T23:12:11Z")
The 1980-1990 Jaguar XJ8 sedans are beautiful cars. They do, however, have a lot of repair and maintainence issues. Because of this , a fair number of owners have resorted to ripping out the original engine and transmission, and replacing them with a Chevrolet V-9 engine, and GM transmission. Are these conversions a good deal? presumably you get a car that is much easier to service, and the parts are easier to obtain. On the other hand, you have not quite a Jaguar (“FrankenJag”)-and experts claim the additional weight adversely affects the handling. Do you know anyone who has done this? How much does it cost? ---
**Author:** ![JXJohns](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jxjohns/32/469_2.png) [@JXJohns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JXJohns)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-those-jaguar-xj6-v8-conversions-worth-it/517380/2 "2009-11-12T23:45:40Z")
A buddy of mine had this done. I never noticed a big difference in handling from the new V8. He went with a 5.0 litre out of an Chevy IROC Camaro. It is a very reliable engine and has power to spare. I can’t help you with the price of the conversion sorry. Regarding impact on collectability, yes you now have a Franken-Jag so pretty much any collector status, whatever was there to begin with, is now gone. But you have a relatively cheap engine to work on and maintain now. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-those-jaguar-xj6-v8-conversions-worth-it/517380/3 "2009-11-13T00:08:42Z")
Nobody is collecting Series III or Mark II Jaguar XJ6/XJ12s anyway (the XJ8 designation didn’t come along until 1997).