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This month we are going to look at fabrication and manufacturing of small quantities of parts, bespoke parts and the technology used to design and produce them. This now plays a major role in the Swallow Racing performance parts set up. A few years ago, parts manufacturing meant expensive design and tooling and high-volume parts manufacture. Now low volume parts and even one-offs can be produced at a reasonable cost using the latest technology.  As with many other of our performance parts our design and fabrication department has been directed by…

In the December 2023 magazine we wrote about tyres and the part they can play in upgrading the performance of your car or as part of an upgrade package. Tyre technology is such a large subject that I said back in December it would be something we would return to in the future. That time has arrived, and in the six months that have passed we have been able to work with our tyre partners at Yokohama a bit more closely to understand what makes their tyres so effective.  So, tyres…

In the hurly burly of running a Jaguar business sometimes it is difficult to step back and take stock of where you are and where you came from. I thought in the context of ‘Mods & Upgrades’ it might be interesting to do that, take a step back and look at where our performance parts have come from and where we are heading with them.  Swallows Independent Jaguar Specialists like the club celebrates its 40th Anniversary this year. Our Swallows Racing brand however was born from our love of motorsports in…

In our series of posts so far, we have largely talked about mechanical performance upgrades such as brakes, tyres, suspension, and bushes. Apart from exhausts we haven’t really touched on anything that has any effect on engine performance. This month we are going to look at arguably the biggest modification you are likely to make to engine performance, which is known as ECU or engine mapping, remapping or historically, Chipping. Our modern cars have a ‘brain’ known as an Engine Control Unit (ECU). ECU’s first started appearing on cars as far…

Photo credits Chris Gage and David Stallard It doesn’t seem to matter how long the winter is there is still never enough time to prepare for the new season. Last minute jobs, late nights, and long weekends, but we got there, just! A completely new car build almost, for our customer Rick Walker who has opted for a similar XJR6 to Tom’s 2022 Championship winning car. A major refresh for Andrew Maynard’s XJ40 after the big rear shunt at the last race of the season. Then there was the front end…

One of the simplest, cheapest, and easiest performance improvements you can make to your car is the engine air-filter, yet it is one that is commonly overlooked. It is a very simple upgrade from the OEM paper filter to a foam filter and can be home installed on your driveway without the need for any special tools in a few minutes. The primary role of the engine air-filter is to prevent your engine from being damaged with dirt, dust, sand, and other contaminants that might get drawn into the engine intake.…

Swallows Racing suspension partner AVO UK has been taken over by Turbo Technics, the highly respected leading name in turbo technology and engineering. The new company will now be known as AVO-Technics, following an acquisition by the Northamptonshire engineering business. With a rich history in motorsport, Turbo Technics will bring their reputation for high quality engineered components. Turbo Technics was established in 1981 by Geoff Kershaw a mechanical engineer with a passion for motorsport. He has since built his highly equipped precision engineering business manufacturing the finest quality turbo chargers, having…

They may not seem an obvious upgrade, but silicone hoses can offer a great alternative to the standard OEM rubber fitted at the factory. You may have seen the Mods and Upgrades article in our January edition of Jaguar Enthusiast on suspension bushes which uses polyurethane as an alternative to rubber due to its durability. Much in a similar way we can replace rubber hoses that degrade with a more durable material, in this case silicone.  The use of silicone as an engineering material can be largely traced back to World…

It might sound strange but one of the best pound for pound modifications or upgrades you can make to your Jaguar are tyres. Generally speaking, most tyre fitters including ourselves would recommend fitting a homologated tyre. This is a tyre that is tested and approved by the motor manufacturer for your model, often suspension and handling set-up for the car is done using the homologated tyre, so this makes an awful lot of sense as they are working in harmony with the car. Jaguar homologated tyres will often have the letter…