and engine that is built for it.
This is the part that's pivotal, and that often makes me scratch my head when people seek mods to literally make a given configuration into something it is not, was never intended to be, and which would be far more troublesome in any final tweaked result.
The Solara was designed as a boulevardier, that has some decent spiritedness, but not as a sports car. Trying to make it one just doesn't work, and even if you could get much higher engine output, then what about the transmission, suspension, and other elements never designed to handle it.
I realize that some people literally inherit these cars, but if it's not a car that you can love as it is, it's better to sell it and use those funds toward purchasing something that is what you're trying to turn the car into, but where you couldn't succeed with that transformation.
There are some pretty rigid limits on what a given base design is meant to do, and major modifications to one part generally require major modifications to others. That turns into Shipwright's Disease and/or Improvementitis very quickly, and involves more money and time than the end result is worth.
From the page:
Jaguar diseases (jag-lovers.org) (but the principle applies no matter the brand
)
Shipwright's disease
Goes something like this:
Sailor owns boat.
Boat has burned out light in galley.
Sailor decides to change bulb.
Sailor notices socket is corroded, decides to change socket.
Sailor notices wiring frayed while trying to change socket.
Sailor decides to change wiring.
Sailor notices galley ceiling slats are rotted while changing the wire.
Sailor decides galley ceiling slats need changing.
Sailor notices ...
this goes on and on and on and on and pretty soon, Sailor is undertaking a
major renovation of his boat because of a burned out lightbulb.
--
Improvementitis.
Many of us are interested in improving upon some
of the quirky little faults that make up the Jaguar personality,
especially when they affect the reliability or safety of the
particular car. On sporting models, it is also typical to seek
performance enhancements, including nonoriginal engines.
Such natural desires should not be confused with
improvementitis. This person professes to love Jaguars while at the
same time detesting every part of the car that was installed by
the factory. There is some speculation that this may be related to
multiple personality disorders. He or she thinks that NOS stands for
Nasty Original Stuff. Any fault in the car is viewed as an excuse
to replace some component with a "better" part, often of GM or Delco
origin. Such people are often disciples of the owner of John's Cars,
live by his Broken Kitty catalog, and turn first to his monthly
diatribe in each new issue of Hemmings Motor News. As far as this
person is concerned, there is no part in the Jaguar for which a
suitable replacement cannot be found at the local discount auto
parts store (or by modifying something dragged home from the
junkyard).
For example, a dirty connector to the ECU means that "the
stinking little box should be chucked" and since it is too much trouble
to retrofit the Jaguar engine, that should be replaced by a Chevy V8.
This leads to a new drivetrain, exhaust system, cooling system,
modified suspension, wider wheels, flared fenders, supercharging,
a custom fiberglass bonnet with air scoops and a Eurolight conversion,
etc.
A little static on the radio leads to an all new stereo system in which the
boot becomes a sealed bass enclosure (after the rusty rear valence is
replaced with a custom fiberglass aero design) and the rear seat
becomes an amplifier rack. Then there are the little touches like
the Nardi steering wheel, the sheepskin seat covers, the golf-ball
shift lever handle, the fuzzy dice, the front and rear spoilers,
and the neon underbody illumination. With a complete black-out
paint job to hide all of the chrome and black-out window treatment
to hide the interior, this person may eventually be satisfied with
their XJ-6 and move on to more interesting projects such as
hotrodding a Mark V or converting an XK-120 into a dune-buggy.
