Dyno-Tuning the Draguar's 696 Horsepower Supercharged Small Block Chevy! - HOT ROD Unlimited Ep. 35

It's time for motor mayhem! On this episode of HOT ROD Unlimited we head to Westech Performance Group with Mike Finnegan to dyno-tune a new engine for the Draguar, the 1974 Jaguar XJ12 with a small-block Chevy under the hood that he and Freiburger bought for $1,000 and installed a supercharger onto in a parking lot during episode 7 of Roadkill. After the supercharger upgrade the guys road-tripped the dilapidated car from San Francisco to Sacramento for a drag race. With the summertime air temps hovering around 113 degrees, the worn out 350 overheated and Freiburger only managed to run a 15.30 ¼ mile ET at Sacramento Raceway.
Looking for redemption, Freiburger ordered a new 383ci long block from Blueprint Engines, a definite upgrade over the old powerplant. Though the new longblock is only rated to 600hp it features forged pistons and rods and a forged crankshaft, which means that the guys can turn up the boost and make double the power of the old engine. The engine effortlessly made 650hp with 91 octane fuel in the tank but Finnegan was feelin' froggy so he added 118 octane race fuel and upped the boost to 15 psi in an attempt to make 700hp with the 383. Did the engine leave the dyno shop in one piece? Check out the video to see!
The engine we used is a BluePrint Engines' 383 Long Block designed for power adders:
www.summitracin...
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[@kwikuk]

As a UK Jaguar owner myself, this is really good fun to watch. I'm looking to get a series 3 myself and swap out the motor with the 4.2 super V8 from the later XK, and do an interior refit from the X308. Great episode and thumbs up from the UK!!

[@peterrenn6341]

That's a great idea - (although the Series 3 interiors are very nice already) did you do it?

[@GrotrianSeiler]

I'm no hot rod guy, and still, this is the best most awesomeest channel Motor Trend has to offer. The hosts, the projects, the eye-candy parts, the production values...I can hardly wait for the next one. All those who produce these, have a lot to be proud of. I envy you guys for getting paid to have this much fun. Great work. Love it.

[@crazyfvck]

Man.. Dyno guy really called it with his naturally-aspirated estimate! He was only off by a tenth of a horsepower :)

[@racer774]

crazyfvck - He has dyno tested a load of those engines with a near identical setup. The 383 Chevy has been one of the more common stroker engines for several years. It's a 0.30 over 350 with a 400 spec crank.

[@zuestoots5176]

easy when you have already ran the engine and tuned it.

[@MotorTrendWatch]

Finney said forged, not Ford. It's a BluePrint 383 crate engine with forged internals and aluminum heads. It's BluePrint's Power Adder Engine, with compression at 8.5:1 - Jesse K.

[@poortouringhotwiregarage5617]

He said Ford

[@elektrikblu7331]

"make sure we're not getting silly with it..." as he bolts up the pulley to double the boost hahah

[@mv3098]

The man at the dyno is amazing. So much knowledge.

[@Ryanno43]

Blower all the way! You can't beat the sound and look of an old school supercharger

[@yammyhundred467]

I'm British and love Jags, the 'DragWar' pronunciation sounds perfect to me, I like it as it suits the theme of the Jag: the American take on modification, carry on!

[@Brock_Landers]

They took the best that the UK had to offer and injected some good old 'Merican horsepower...hands across the sea...gotta love it! Actually, the small block 350 swap into that model Jag is very common on this side of the pond. Why you ask? Because let's face it, British Leyland wasn't very well known for their reliability...right? Not to mention that parts for Jags here cost an arm and a leg...if not two.

[@MotorTrendWatch]

The engine is $5,300 and the blower with carbs is around $3,000. So total it's around $8,500, depending extras like headers and ignition. - Jesse K.

[@iv0luti0n]

What a beautiful engine sound while they were testing. Music to my ears!

[@AdamKyleAnderson]

I was kinda hoping the motor would pop, but at the same time had fingers crossed it would make 700 :-)

[@nikauhohaia5365]

Taranaki New zealand loves Roadkill!!!!

[@crazyman8472]

9:02 "So what have we learned today? Boost is a good thing!" :)

[@palletjack612]

I love the reinforced glass. What skills! What learning! What fun!

[@TheWierdFish]

I own a '72 XJ12. Spent a few years in a field, I restored it when I was 17-18, and it's done me good ever since. That's 8 years of 41 year old, reliable, daily motoring, frequently over 1000 miles a week. I've driven it across Europe, and the USA. It's a reliable, usable, daily car. Yes, it needs more maintenance than some cars, but it's a big, luxury car. The payback is the beautiful ride and driving qualities. Of course, if you don't maintain it, it'll shit out on you, but that's YOUR fault.

[@BravoManUK]

This brit likes the way you guys say Jaguar, no need for apologies.

[@AlexCesare]

The closest I've ever gotten to tuning something is when I overclocked my processor and graphics cards. This was awesome to watch nonetheless :D

[@TheBigBazzy]

THE DRAGUAR LIVES!!! What a great bit of entertainment!

[@calebsutherland7544]

Hi, I'm Dr. Steve Brule for your dyno.

[@whoohaaXL]

2:19 "Hi I'm Dr. Steve Brule. For your health"

[@veightengine]

04:00 Otto Halliwell???(Gone in 60 seconds) ha ha ha.Greets from Chile.

[@LawrenceGerman]

Well all I can say is, you friend is really special for putting an LED Light Bar intended for Offroad Night time use on a Civic. Hey why don't you tell him to post a video of it on KZbin before, during & after the install. I know a lot of people who would love to see that.

[@Elkyblack]

So happy to see that the Draguar will live on and worthy of it's name with this new engine. Can't wait for the next episode on it.

[@TheAssassin111]

Fuck yeah! Draguar returns! My personal favorite from the Roadkill series.

[@themanginaman]

the blower with those 2 carbs are more than my whole car

[@zuestoots5176]

250$ car here.. lol

[@GTVAlfaMan]

I also own a 1980 XJ6, it was given to me by a friend who knew nothing about cars and did not know how to maintain a Jaguar. Yes, you must maintain it, but also, there are things that can happen out of your control. (Electrics, fuel injection, computer, valves,,etc)

[@JamesYoung61]

Great episode Mike, good to see the re jetting, minor timing adjustments, etc on the dyno.

[@shaneshane1379]

I remember back in the day when I was young, if you saved up for some forged pistons, a cast crank stock rod 350 just turned unlimited. Perfectly dependable for a 250 shot or blower. In the days of young dumb and broke, all that mattered was would it go faster.

[@CrazyPetez]

Great video. In 2020, I really enjoyed the way you. Guys interact.

[@butlerproman]

Okay, motor's pretty well sorted. Maybe some new rear shocks?

[@Rottensteam]

Thats not roadkill

[@aToast3r]

Rottensteam maybe get some new socks though, thats roadkill

[@kwikuk]

I've got the A16 in my X300 XJ. Can't fault it. It's 150k on it and it's still sweet (maintained religiously). I just fancied something a bit quirky in a series 3. Also really want the V8 rumble with the blower whine!

[@AGearHead4Life]

Love this show!

[@langer24106]

Can't wait to see this engine in the Draguar - the original is the best Roadkill ep to date!

[@bunning63]

If you say the Jag V12 wasn't a performance engine, you have to say for the Euro versions about 150mph for the XJ12 and 155 for the XJS isn't bad for a non performance engine. Remember their quoted hp was not the old SAE system. Later XJ12's were 6 litres by the way. The engine wasn't fragile, rather often the sensor that turned the electric fans on were crap.

[@myfantube]

Yeah, I have huge respect for him. I even like the way the car looks now.

[@TheWierdFish]

Of course, but, well maintained, they break no more frequently than any other car, and have the added bonus that the engine itself (which is the expensive bit) is almost entirely bombproof. Both the XK and V12 are very reliable engines when maintained correctly. Done right, you can easily drive even an XJ12 thousands of miles a month, every month, every year, all year round. It's as reliable as a modern car, and when it does start to go wrong, you can fix it easily!

[@TheSteve1175]

I just came across this by accident, hope you include this with the roadkill show when you put it in so all the other road kill followers can see it. Motor sounds great.

[@MyEman3]

The Draguar lives again!! Breathing fire all the way.

[@RPKGameVids]

Lol, fancy seeing you here, it's a small world!

[@LouSassles]

FINNEGAN IS IN IT. SO I CONSIDER THIS A ROADKILL.

[@John.407]

He said FORGED not FORD

[@DrLoverLover]

Cant forge a block idiot

[@rogerkoch4658]

Forged internals. Crank, rods, pistons

[@MRGOLDplaysMW2]

I am so glad to see it back to life!

[@IGREGS]

2:20 Holy shyt a real life Steve Brule!!!!

[@powwying]

9:54 that bolt went flying...

[@sqeric]

Absoulue love steve and hes humor. Great guy.

[@trentdawg2832]

This is still my favorite road kill car ever!!!

[@2002C5Vette]

Can't wait! Roadkill all the way!

[@thebrassmonkey100]

STEVE BRULE !!! c'mon guys, you know what im talking about " Brules Rules"!

[@RockerDuk]

better than any show on discovery

[@stiliqn007]

nothing gives u better chills than an american engine :)

[@MotorTrendWatch]

Thanks for the suggestion. We've done stories on it in the magazine before, but never a video. - Jesse K.

[@betti2025]

I from puerto rico I love you guys show all my live I see my father work in muscle cars but I never see something like draguar..

[@MrUltraworld]

I have a LSX454 powered '05 GTO. It makes those same numbers & it weighs about 400 lbs. Things have come a long way.

[@Drummin003]

I'm not sure Gavin or Dan have the mental capacity to even know how an engine works. Hell, Gavin doesn't even have a driver's license in the UK or here in the US. Great episode as always and I'm looking forward to seeing the Draguar make a come back because that was just a sad day when that old motor blew up on them.

[@FSXWLFS]

We can say it, it's just that in our culture we say it differently. Just like some people call trunks "boots".

[@Luminaring]

Road trip the Draguar. Head out for some car camping at Crawley lake and a little fishing, drinking, and hot springing

[@salemcripple]

isn't just me, or is that guy a spitting image of the crew chief on days of thunder?

[@salemcripple]

He does to me :-)

[@jocktheglide]

+salemcripple HE IS A IMAGE OF HIM!!!! LMAO...SAME GUY IN GONE IN 60 SECS ALSO....,'AUTO'

[@salemcripple]

+jocktheglide this guy gets it!

[@WBatte1]

Robert Duval

[@blairo15]

I'm gonna give you 30 or 40 more horsepower! I'm going to shape you like a bullet! hahaha! Yep I was thinking the exact same thing. He's Harry Hog!

[@0Sirk0]

EDIT: " In this episode, a Brad Pitt lookalike makes a time bomb."

[@awolfalone2006]

I heard that too, and had to double check, he did.

[@kennethrpb]

the jag is even better than originally was great video motortrend

[@Sve3t]

17 lb's of boost on an engine that started life as NA, because who needs reliability anyway? :P Love your work guys!!!

[@BobSwagger75]

Holy fire balls isn't that Robert duvel!!

[@TheLusebule]

Omg i just love the way that car looks

[@DCHutchins]

Good Show....Sort of a spoiler when you name it "Dyno-Tuning the Draguar's 696 Horsepower Supercharged" Love Road Kill keep it going.

[@vegasfordguy]

Can't wait to see what it does. Hopefully they'll drive it in the 120 desert or something cool!

[@PanozGTR95]

As an Englishman I'm completely offended that you would do something like this to a Jaguar! I mean, why on earth didn't we do it! Badass car.

[@ziahreid9269]

Someone call animal control! His chin is being attacked by a furby!

[@localcrew]

It's a Merkin.

[@MrJeepmarine]

Yeah, I'm glad he grew a proper beard.

[@kennyburns8511]

I call that look a ballstopper...love me some Finnegan but an odd look and yes I like him better with a full beard

[@LadyFleetwood250]

I can only think of 8 or 10 things to go wrong XD thats ok we will just ride it out and see what happens (the best way to test and tune)

[@TheSpeedmcs3]

PLEASE COME OUT TO Sacramento again. PLEASE!!! Let fb, or you tube know!!! Would like to meet you and Freiburger, and see the Draguar get into the 10's.

[@MotorTrendWatch]

Afterwards he made us paninis - Jesse K.

[@lukethekanefan]

one of the earliest uses of EFI was in 1902 by the French for an aircraft v8 and the first commercial gasoline injection was created by bosch

[@GTVAlfaMan]

Yes, with an American engine and transmission, it became a car that you can rely on, everyday, to get you where you are going. You get the Jaguar looks with the peace of mind knowing you can drive from New York to Los Angeles and actually make it without a visit to the mechanic every 300 miles.

[@BadBandar59]

Cant wait to see the new Draguar episode.

[@mrcah125]

Can't wait either!

[@DestDroid]

Good, kind, fun people.

[@maxhumphery1493]

Why do we not see this thing more like I love it put a roof rack and a roof top tent and make it lake a drag over lander thing!!!

[@arcadeportal32]

Nice! Almost 700HP! :P Can't wait to see when it's done!

[@kylelab333221]

Hell yeah can't wait to see the draguar make some moves!!

[@alihassancast]

AGAIN there is no artistic and nice car design after the sixties i love this car original design and your tunning is insane people :)

[@tikiiz]

6:48 "we're almost gonna to double the boost. i dunno if its a good idea, but we're gonna try it anyway" what he should of said was - we're going to double the boost because we're in america

[@Brock_Landers]

Someone PLEASE tell them to swap out the rear gears for something a little shorter...the 2.88's that are in that Jag rear end are WAY too small for that engine. It's going to make some good reliable power, but it's just going to be hampered by that rear gear. You need AT LEAST a 3.73 or better to go with that upgraded drivetrain. PLEASE!?

[@LawrenceGerman]

Dude, what about a matte black roof rack & light bar says "Civic"? Have you forgotten that this is ROADKILL? Anything goes!!

[@NickRoman]

Here's an idea. The next time you "try out" a new car, take it where you want it to be when it's dead first. That way, no towing necessary.

[@SoCalFreelance]

looks like a movie prop

[@carbonarc23]

I'm from the home of Jag-you-are, but this is the Yankee DragWaaaaar damnit!!

[@danj945]

jag-you-are, but fair enough your state side so you can call it a jagwarrr :). Awesome episode by the way

[@561nicholas]

I love the sound of ford short blocks.

[@Miss__Victoria]

me to, too bad that's not a ford engine lol that's a chevy 383 stroker, he said at the end he didn't even really know what motor that was and I know just looking at the longtube headers and water pump and and and well EVERYTHING ABOUT THAT ENGINE LOOKS LIKE A CHEVROLET 383 STROKER lol secondly no one makes a Ford 383 stroker kit

[@14478johnny]

Forged* not ford

[@Miss__Victoria]

???

[@bunning63]

What Ford?

[@badopinionsrighthere]

Engine Masters with a special guest star

[@darrinsinger4231]

This was filmed long before Engine Masters. It was released in June of '13 so yes this is a precursor to the show and probably why it is being made now

[@RumblestripDotNet]

In true Roadkill fashion you should have pulled an LQ4, LM4 or L33 motor out of junkyard and slapped the blower on that for the Draguar!

[@karljacobson1841]

This is so cool, it's a hot rod with a tuxedo on! Lol. For when James bond is in a big hurry!! :-)

[@wavejumpinseadoo]

It's Brule's Rules! With Dr. Steve Brule!

[@richardtattersall647]

if you put a fan blower in the workshop blowing cold air towards the supercharger it should help as it simulates going through the air [driving forwards]. they do this at rolling road tuning garages. I'm from England it's jaguar no w in jaguar .....^....

[@glock21guy]

Flex plate bolts spontaneously shoot off when sitting still. Lets strap on a big ass supercharger. haha

[@77zrod46]

Thank GOD for Steve Brulle and West Tech!!!!!!!! Save these poor soles!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!

[@TheGasTap]

Bring the draguar back to Roadkill! Need MOAR

[@Dannyvirk]

I miss these guys

[@tocsa120ls]

That flywheel bolt popping off was kinda scary :D

[@SmacSA]

Draguar, nice, I like that

[@brianrobertson1715]

Too fun love it keep it up guys

[@o0bananaman0o]

cant wait to see that thing in the draguar. hopefully they do up the chassis and suspension as well