So anyway...
I had a solid wrassle with the Jaaag yesterday, getting it up on the jacks, and then beginning the process of disassembly.
I've mentioned before, I think, that this thing is pretty catastrophically rusted out. The previous owner had the idea that all it needed - to be returned to some sort of daily-use roadworthiness - would be fabricating and welding in new floors underneath the driver's and passengers front footwells. He'd also mentioned that he'd turned a couple of buyers away who'd said they were going to part the car out.
That's not my intent. This car will see solid road use again, but not in the form of a rusty old XJ6...It's gonna be a hand-built Jaaag Special. The more time I have spent around, and especially underneath it, the more convinced I am that its rather more unsalvageable than not. It looks real pretty, sure does, but, damn. If you look up underneath, and simply breathe hard at it, rust and dirt shower down. Trust me.
So, anyway, getting up onto the jackstands was a bit more work than I'd expected, mostly because I clung to the fool idea of using the factory lift/jackstand points, which worked fine, except for under the drivers corner, because, well, it seems there's no structure there anymore.
oh my, that's a bit crushy, don't you think? Jack the Stand asks "Did I do that?"
Attachment:
20180418_114852.jpg
Yes, Jack, you did, and left a fine pile of debris.
Attachment:
20180418_122951.jpg
Eventually I stopped being stupid, and realized I could place the stands underneath the big bolt bosses where the front subframe attaches, and that worked out really well, and is where its sitting in the pic I posted upthread yesterday. Of course, now the doors don't open so easily.
My plan had been to get under the back end and measure the rear suspension subframe for CAD modeling, but once under there I realized that wasn't happening since the body itself was too close around the subframe to measure much.
I just kind of chilled under there, looking around at things and familiarizing myself with component placements and mounting, and then thought, "well, this rear and isn't going to take itself out" and started working that aspect of the proj.
removing the radius arms seemed a good start and I got out some sockets and my biggest breaker ratchet, and the Jaaag even suckered me a bit, letting one of the rusty old forward arm bolts unthread easily. But then another bolt head broke off, and then the arm itself was not interested in de-mounting from its boss, having long ago rust-welded itself to the body of the car, so, Ryobi recip-saw to the rescue.
"you can have one bolt!" sez the Jaaag. "RZZZZZZZZGRRRRZZZZRT!" sez the Ryobi. "Ha! That was fun! Side two!" sez I...
Attachment:
20180418_154739.jpg
Attachment:
20180418_154615.jpg
I'm such a hack. Right? See what I did there? Heh. Sometimes the jokes just write themselves.
So, anyway, more recip-saw fun was had removing the two tail-end mufflers and stainless tailpipes tucked up into the rear quarters - I saved the tailpipes, just cuz - and the sections of pipe that wind thru the rear suspension. That last involved actually undoing some bolts, which the Jaaag gave up easily.
Attachment:
20180418_154809.jpg
Sidenote: way back in the day, when I worked at Midas Muffler (in between engineering jobs) I can recall gas welding those mufflers back onto the pipes they'd rusted away from in a series II XJ6 (circa 1979)
Then, four easy bolts and the driveshaft was undone...
Attachment:
20180418_165550.jpg
...and then I started considering the brake lines and parking brake cable.
I'd mentioned in the initial Jaaag posting, that the passenger side rear caliper wasn't working. I thought it was simply stuck, and was not unsurprised to see that the rear calipers themselves were pretty solidly rusted all over themselves, though the driver's side worked okay-ish (going by the smoothed surface of the rotor) BUT...
I got way up under there and started poking around with my fingers and flashlight, and I was surprised to find that the brake pads had been replaced, and not too long ago, going by the non-rusty pad pins and pin clips...
Attachment:
20180418_165633.jpg
...And, what's also shown in that picture, is the reason that the passenger side caliper doesn't work at all. See that green brake pipe that's been clipped off, folded over, and soldered shut? Yeah. C'mon, man, what the actual faaaack. Seriously?
It's seems I've also saved this grand old Brit-bomb from high levels of dubious and secretive hackery. I have embraced The Way of the Jaaag.
I clipped that heavily rusted parking brake cable, and then did some investigation on the hub carriers. I was planning on freshening the U-joints anyway, but it so happens the drivers side has a nice .25 inch of play in the joint on the wheel end, passenger side only slightly less.
I started the process of un-bolting the 8 through-bolts which attach the rear subframe mounts to the body, but only got two of them before it was time to call it a day, mostly because the nuts on the inner ends of the bolts are badly rusted (like everything else on this car), and the heads inside the fender wells had been covered with black RTV at some point. the two I got out did come undone pretty easily though, which bodes well for the rest of them.
Did I mention that this car uses standard fasteners? Yup. That was a bit surprising.
Today is rainy, so no driveway fun at lunchtime (I work from home two days a week) though I did get out there and take a couple measurements.
Lastly, the chassis design has begun.
Attachment:
pamiljaaag1.JPG
Very preliminary, but with a few of the components placed and the chassis going together around them. 110 inch wheelbase (down from the XJ6 113), engine pushed back about 8 inches behind the front axle, and 2 inches wider than the B3. Major structure is 1.25 sq .083 wall tube. Tires in the model are 215/70-15s as came off the Jaaag.
The drawing is also started, and what I've got now is certainly enough to get a structure built that would allow me to place/mount the suspension, engine, and tranny, and get the thing on it's wheels. the goal is a roller by September.
I showed the rendering to Pam and she said "It looks like a race car!" yup.
Login
Register
FAQ
Members
