I'm posting in the "Introductions" section because I don't see one for "seniors," ha! Just turned 70 and have a hankering for my next XJ sometime in the not so distant future.

I had a new, late '90's Cherokee as a company car and really enjoyed it. When I met the lady who is now my wife, she was driving an '86 XJ Wagoneer Limited. After over 20 years the 2.8L GM V-6 bit the dust for the last time. Because the beautiful, maroon leather interior was still excellent, I started dreaming of fixing up the straight but somewhat rusty body and dropping in a 3.4L GM crate motor. Long story short, I eventually abandoned the project because I discovered nearly every body panel and part of the unibody structure was completely eaten up by rust from the inside out. The hazards of a Minnesota city car! "Salt of the earth" is not always a good thing...

Moved to Florida now so that problem is behind us. My wife pilots a Kia sedan for practical transportation and I am forever tinkering with my V-8 powered, 1990 Miata designed for for wind-in-our-hair fun. We both use our minivan for all the hauling and utility chores of suburban living. The minivan is a great tool but lacks soul. So when we replace it we are thinking of another XJ. My wife says this next one will be a "finished product" when we purchase it. Limit one project at a time for me, I guess!

 

Welcome.
One of our customers at the auto parts store I work at dropped a newer Vette engine in a Miata.
Came by to show us when he was done. Looked like it belonged in there.
I want to say he lost 400 lbs when he switched over from the Miata engine.
Which I thought was hilarious.

 

Thanks for the welcome; glad to be here!

Unless he hid helium balloons in all the body cavities, your friend might be pulling your leg a bit : )

The LS engine swap into the Miata typically picks up about 200 lb. with roughly 2/3 of that weight on the front and 1/3 on the rear. That's without allowing for additional chassis bracing that many choose to add. Still, it is an incredibly lightweight, agile roadster with better weight distribution than most factory V-8 sporty cars.

Mine is a small block Ford, and I had to use aluminum heads, aluminum manifold, aluminum flywheel, aluminum bellhousing, a lighter transmission, and an aluminum pumpkin to just about equal the Chevy's weight.

In either case, a good XJ is the perfect vehicle to transport the constant stream of parts that seem to always be needed (or wanted)!

 

Might have been.
Or maybe he said he only increased weight by 400 lbs.
Was about 8 years ago.

 

There was a time (before the XJ Wagoneer found a new home) when I had both it and the newly acquired Miata in my garage, along with the Ford 302 V-8. Forever the inveterate dreamer and tinkerer, I have to admit to lowering that V-8 into the empty engine bay of the XJ and thinking, "What if..."

 

Welcome!

I once worked in a gas station, and one customer came in one night with a Chevy Vega station wagon.... with a 240z motor shoehorned into it. Actually, he said it was nearly bolt up, but the rear of the valve cover tucked under the lip at the back of the engine compartment, so pulling the valve cover would require pulling the engine.

 

Funny, your post tripped a big Deja Vu for me. Nearly 50 years ago I dropped a 327 Chevy, 2.20 low Muncie 4 speed, and a narrowed 12 bolt rear into a little white Vega. It was my "run what ya' brung" drag car until I eventually twisted the unibody structure launching it with sticky tires.

However, my memories before the conversion evoke just as many smiles. I bought the Vega specifically to do the conversion. Knowing I could not use its much maligned, aluminum engine, its trans, or rear end in my conversion, I made it a devious point to try to break the stock drive train before pulling it out. The Vega had a terrible reputation for reliability. Yet despite my purposeful, over-revving, power-shifting, clutch dropping abuse, the little bugger never would break.

Now I'm going to go tell my wife that a nice XJ to placidly cruise the streets and trails actually represents a giant leap forward in my questionable maturity.