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 Post subject: Re: The Pamilcar
PostPosted: July 2, 2018, 9:55 am 
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Posts: 1937
Location: worcester county, Massachsetts
Things are really happening so fast on this build (compared to the B-3 build), that I'm having a hard time keeping up here - though I admit I post daily (almost) about it on Fbook.

Anyway, I'm compressing about a weeks worth of construction in this post...

Last Monday 6/25, started with building the Firewall bulkhead. Two vertical tube, 22 inches apart on their inside edges, defining the transmission tunnel opening...man, that footbox is gonna be SMALL. Again. Good thing I'm only planning on two pedals.

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Finished with the top bar, mitered to 8 degrees...

Uno...

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Dos...

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Tres, Para Mira de Voy!

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Then, as it was getting late, the last thing I did Monday Night was clamp in the tubes that would get cut to make the tranny tunnel floor tubes. I scribed the cut lines, and then bailed, until...

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204719.JPG
...

Tuesday! Climbing interlude...

...and the Wednesday! I worked from home, and then afterwards continued the mission. It was pouring buckets outside.

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The scribed cut lines measured to about 56 degrees, so I set the chop saw to the cut line, and like Lizzie Borden, gave it - a figurative - 40 whacks.

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a minor massage on the belt sander, also set to 56 degrees...

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...and it fell right in place.

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I'd clamped a length of 1x2 tube underneath for the angle segments to rest on. The 1x2 rest was aligned with the scribe marks from Monday night, so al I needed to do to align the angle segments was apply the usual welding magnets, and buzz them right in.

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Done.

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And then something I've wanted to do for about a month, I retrieved two of the Jag wheels, set them in place, set a pair of beach chairs in the chassis, and it was portrait time ;-)

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And that's 12, so...

well damn, it posted. when I submitted this update, I got an SQL error, I thought it had failed. how about that.


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The B-3 build log: http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=13941 unfortunately, all the pictures were lost in the massive server crash

The beginnings of the Jag Special,
https://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19012
Again, all pictures were lost.


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 Post subject: Re: The Pamilcar
PostPosted: July 2, 2018, 11:56 am 
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Joined: May 29, 2018, 8:43 am
Posts: 184
Location: That point where the humidity and the temperature combine forces to destroy all that is good
I like those wheels but I'm sticking with my chrome series 2 rims and center caps. Very little to identify it as Jag based from the exterior when it's done, I hope.

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 Post subject: Re: The Pamilcar
PostPosted: July 2, 2018, 2:58 pm 
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Joined: August 12, 2012, 6:38 pm
Posts: 1937
Location: worcester county, Massachsetts
Raccoon, I definitely want everybody to know its a Jag ;-). It's gonna get the leaping jaguar hood ornament and everything.

As far as the grille, and nose, remember that two-hole thing I did in the CAD model? Naaah. That ain't happening. Here's a bit of foreshadowing, drawn on the floor at the radiator bulkhead...

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132505.JPG


...on its way from Speedway Motors. Nope not that nose. Nope not that one either. you'll see ;-)

Anyway, more time compression.

Thursday thru early Saturday, I got in the engine mount bulkhead sides and crossmember. Required some more precise measuring on the XJ6 - to find exactly where the center of the motor mount is in relation to the bellhousing flange on the engine (that's the datum I'm using for overall engine/trans positioning) and then cutting some 1 x 2 x .083 for the structure. The dims are, for those interested: Bellhousing flange 4 inches from the firewall bulkhead, and centerline of the engine mount 17.75 inches forward of the bellhousing flange. I'm lookin' at you, Raccoon ;-)

Verticals...

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Center crossmember...

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Side connector tubes.

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...and wasn't that certainly a lot of fun!. Yes. But, I'd run out of the 1.25 sq .083 main structure tubing, and so couldn't continue building the rear suspension cage, thus - cuz it's not going to remove itself - I began the dirty, rusty, arduous, and stressful wrestling match of removing the front suspension. Though first, I had to do some measuring, and to do that, I had to take the coil springs out.

Protip: to remove the Series 3 XJ6 front caliper, remove the lower steering arm bolt, then the upper Caliper attachment bolt. File under, "Classically British Design Derp, Wot?"

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Then, apply 1000ft/lb impact gun to remove the rust-adhered lower shock bolt.

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Then, use same impact gun to remove the two upper balljoint cross bolts, because the upper ball joint is so worn out that once the nut got loose enough the ball end only spun in the ball joint housing. save that for later, for the torch. Watch rusty crusty things fall apart. Bathe in the resulting shower of rust particles.

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Remove Jack from danger zone, and APPLY CROWBAR. Wear leather gloves, receive minor wound anyway. Recall the words of the Big Blue Meanie, "Yessss, Glovey". Bask in second shower of rust.

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Stop for the day. Go grill swordfish, and drink Makers Mark 46.

Sunday, flip that record over, and listen to side two. if you know what I mean. If a Bolt says no, show it The Torch.

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133328.JPG


Avoid getting injured again. Succeed!

Then reassemble the suspension minus springs, apply an assortment of tubes, angle finders, welding magnets (MAN those things are useful, best tools EVAR, favorites!) and squares, and measure across the front suspension from hub face to hub face.

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155441.JPG


Find interesting the discovery that the hub faces are 60.813 apart (track is 58.25 or something). Round that to 60.75, cuz it'll be easier to divide by 2.

Post another picture of the measuring setup just because.

Attachment:
155614.JPG


Then stop posting and go home. More 90-degree driveway thrash! Yay!


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The B-3 build log: http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=13941 unfortunately, all the pictures were lost in the massive server crash

The beginnings of the Jag Special,
https://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19012
Again, all pictures were lost.


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 Post subject: Re: The Pamilcar
PostPosted: July 2, 2018, 4:35 pm 
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Joined: May 29, 2018, 8:43 am
Posts: 184
Location: That point where the humidity and the temperature combine forces to destroy all that is good
One of my favorite phrases:"If you're not bleeding, you did something wrong." Your donor is definitely rustier than mine was.... fortunately, Leyland provided numerous methods of rustproofing the useful bits by encrusting them in oil, grease, and goo..... picking up 186 pounds of rectangular tube tomorrow to begin actual in-person mano-a-mano (machina?) fabrication of what I am going to call Patrick for the time being. We'll see if it transforms into Linda Thorson.

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 Post subject: Re: The Pamilcar
PostPosted: July 2, 2018, 9:25 pm 
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Joined: March 15, 2018, 6:03 am
Posts: 160
"the hub faces are 60.813 apart (track is 58.25 or something). Round that to 60.75, cuz it'll be easier to divide by 2."

When I was at school, rounding it to 60.8 would have been easier to divide by two... :oops:


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 Post subject: Re: The Pamilcar
PostPosted: July 2, 2018, 11:16 pm 
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Joined: April 17, 2009, 1:28 am
Posts: 212
Location: San Tan Valley, Arizona
but 1/2 of .75 = 3/8


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 Post subject: Re: The Pamilcar
PostPosted: July 3, 2018, 12:42 am 
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Posts: 2386
Location: Holden, Alberta, Canada
waltj wrote:
but 1/2 of .75 = 3/8


Ahhhh another fine example of Occam's razor, we use that a lot building these fine machines

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Perry

'If man built it, man can fix it'
"No one ever told me I couldn't do it."
"If you can't build it safe, don't build it."

Perry's Locost Super Che7enette Build
Perry's TBird Based 5.0L Super 7 L.S.O
Perry's S10 Super 7 The 3rd
Perry's 4th Build The Topolino 500 (Little Mouse) Altered
Perry's 5th Build the Super Slant 6 Super 7
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 Post subject: Re: The Pamilcar
PostPosted: July 3, 2018, 9:08 am 
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Joined: May 29, 2018, 8:43 am
Posts: 184
Location: That point where the humidity and the temperature combine forces to destroy all that is good
Arriving at the same destination by different methods, I am going to build the engine support cross member and the transmission support cross member using the established chassis opening width for a base to work from. When the frame rails are in place, they will be 26 5/8" apart and hopefully parallel. the only real variables I am worried about are the height of the engine mounts and relative position of the tailshaft flange, which must be level. Once these supports are attached to the engine/trans, they can be welded to the rails.

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 Post subject: Re: The Pamilcar
PostPosted: July 3, 2018, 8:55 pm 
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Joined: March 15, 2018, 6:03 am
Posts: 160
horchoha wrote:
waltj wrote:
but 1/2 of .75 = 3/8


Ahhhh another fine example of Occam's razor, we use that a lot building these fine machines


LOL - god, how I miss fractions...


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 Post subject: Re: The Pamilcar
PostPosted: July 4, 2018, 9:28 am 
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Location: That point where the humidity and the temperature combine forces to destroy all that is good
Waking up to torrential rains is definitely making me fractious. I had better plans for the day than watching it rain.

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 Post subject: Re: The Pamilcar
PostPosted: July 13, 2018, 8:14 am 
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Joined: August 12, 2012, 6:38 pm
Posts: 1937
Location: worcester county, Massachsetts
It's been a week or so since the last update, tho work was happening, and was getting posted to FB. The B-3 interrupted the Special build by demanding I replace a crank seal that was leaking into the alternator housing (and thus, onto the ground), and the ancient underground G'raj electrical feed finally gave up, started passing live current to ground, and made pretty much everything in the G'raj - including the main door - an electrocution hazard.

Trust me, it was really exciting coming home from the transfer station, soaking wet from the downpour that had occurred, grabbing the door handle to lift it open, and then letting go, jumping back, and hurling F-bombs from the jolt.

All that's fixed now,. new above ground sched 40 conduit, some brand new 12-2 three conductor outside rated wire, EVERYTHING properly grounded...uprated the CB from 15 to 20 amps. The welder even seems to like it better.

anyway...

since our last episode, I'd begun the actual disassembly of the crusty front suspension. I'm not planning on using the front subframe anymore, rather, I'm going to build my own mounting structure to use the Jag control arms.
That required more intensive measuring...

Attachment:
153219.JPG


The Jag control arms angle back towards the rear, and after a sweaty, dirty session lying underneath with several measuring devices, and doing a bit of math, I was able to determine that the pivot axes are angled 15.5 deg towards the rear of the vehicle, with the forward LCA pivots (at the LCA bushing boss center) 27 inches apart. LCA rear pivots are 21.5 apart, and the LCA Pivot bushing boss centers are 10.13 apart. UCA pivots are 7.0 outward and 10.63 above the LCA pivots, and the forward UCA bushing boss center is 1.0 behind the LCA bushing boss...

...just in case anybody needs to know. y'know? sharing the info...all these dimensions are good to within 1/16th inch.

Once I had that all measured and recorded in the build notebook, then came the arduous wrestling match of getting the suspension apart.

The top ball joints had already been unfastened to get the springs out (the wrong way, as I subsequently discovered in my 1985 XJ6/XJ12 factory service manual. ha ha duh. So THAT'S why they bolted on the spring pans!)

The tie rod ends separated easily, but the lower ball joints were STUCK. Notice the smoke rising from the wheel well. yup, I cooked that thing, only slightly red hot.

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114627.JPG


The Spindles came out, but the lower control arms are still in there, and in order to get those out, I need to pull the steering rack, so that I can - as it claims in the factory service manual - "...drift the pins out..." yeah. I have every confidence that is going to go smoothly. yup. Those aren't rusted into place at all, I'm sure, not even a little. *sigh*
Anyway...

I had also run out of the main structural tubing, needed to build the rear suspension cage, but that showed up last Monday, and so after finishing the Gra'j electrical feed project, I got on with chassis fabrication...

The uprights and top cross tube prepped for welding...

Attachment:
174540.JPG


setup for completing the essential part of the cage, with my usual in-process straightness check using my angle finder gages...
Attachment:
183432.JPG


That all got welded and that's about where it sits right now. I've got tubes to weld in in the middle of the cage at the top and rear, which will get done this weekend, and then I can finally pull the rear axle and subframe from the XJ6, and see where that's going to ultimately go.

I am VERY confident I'm going to meet my self-imposed September roller deadline ;-)


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The B-3 build log: http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=13941 unfortunately, all the pictures were lost in the massive server crash

The beginnings of the Jag Special,
https://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19012
Again, all pictures were lost.


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 Post subject: Re: The Pamilcar
PostPosted: July 13, 2018, 8:23 am 
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Joined: May 29, 2018, 8:43 am
Posts: 184
Location: That point where the humidity and the temperature combine forces to destroy all that is good
Relieved to hear you survived your electrification! I've been chased out from under a car by Sparky a coupe of times myself. Yeah, that front subframe is a heavy sumbitch and really not necessary for a 7 build. My own is far removed from 7 formula, so....

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 Post subject: Re: The Pamilcar
PostPosted: July 17, 2018, 11:06 am 
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Joined: August 12, 2012, 6:38 pm
Posts: 1937
Location: worcester county, Massachsetts
Hey Racoon

Though the Jag Special has a truss style spaceframe like a locost, it's not a locost design (or any of the alternate-sized derivatives). The chassis is my own original design. Construction methods are similar, for sure.

Anyway, compressing more days...

Friday the Thirteenth! Not so unlucky as it turns out. I made quick work of adding the middle tubes to the rear suspension cage, using 1 x 2 x .083, rectangle. These are the supports from which the differential mount will grow. I'm on the fence about whether the original subframe will be sectioned to give up the factory mounts...we'll see. like so much of the underneath of the donor, it's REALLLY rusty.

anyway, top tubes fit and magnetted in place.

Attachment:
144053.JPG


...later that same afternoon, punto finale!

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Just before we went out to dinner, Pam said, "Hey, there's a big box on the front porch!", and so there was! What could possibly be inside, I wonder?

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Oh, that would be a Beck Vintage Spring Car Nose, is what.

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Need to widen it about 6 inches, but sooooooo badass. srsly.

Saturday, I started fabricating the engine bay diagonals. In the drawing they're 1.0 SQ x .083, but lately I've had the idea that round tube would be easier to weld in the acute inner angles (and so it has proven to be true). But, first I had to determine angles and lengths (even though they're noted in the drawing, measuring to fit gives a more precise miter, I find) so, The Setup...

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142135.JPG


... then, Firsties! Bay 3 in place with the ubiquitous magnets...

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162928.JPG


...those got welded, and that ended Saturday afternoon.

Sunday Pam and I went Kayaking and then I had a fine time fixing our neighbor's lawnmower (float bowl full of gack, letting her son watch and help me check spark and test run)...

...and then last night, Bay two!

Attachment:
175449.JPG


Finished up after dinner last night, everything is looking really good.

Attachment:
210053.JPG


Tonight, I have two tubes to add to the upper engine bay structure, connecting the sides at the motor mount vertical stations to the firewall bulkhead, and then its time to flip the chassis and finish weld the bottom.

And then it will be time to go back to the XJ6, and get the rest of the front and rear suspension out, so the mounting structure can be built, and this thing can sit on its wheels.

I'm 7 weeks into this build. to get to this point on the B-3 build, took about 4 months.


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The B-3 build log: http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=13941 unfortunately, all the pictures were lost in the massive server crash

The beginnings of the Jag Special,
https://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19012
Again, all pictures were lost.


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 Post subject: Re: The Pamilcar
PostPosted: July 17, 2018, 1:13 pm 
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Posts: 184
Location: That point where the humidity and the temperature combine forces to destroy all that is good
Verrrry nice. Don't forget that the top mount of the Jag diff is angled downward and is not level. Don't recall what the actual measurement is, but it's definitely not level. And has to be safety wired in place when installed.

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 Post subject: Re: The Pamilcar
PostPosted: July 19, 2018, 6:25 am 
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Joined: August 12, 2012, 6:38 pm
Posts: 1937
Location: worcester county, Massachsetts
Raccoon, thanks, its coming together nicely, I think. Did not known that about the Jag diff housing, also thanks.

My plan, just like I did on the B-3, was to attach one of my angle finders to the driveshaft flange while positioning the diff housing, and then fabricate the top mount and weld it in using the housing as the locating fixture. I'll get some more done today.

Oh, the round tubing is 1.25 OD x .083 wall, for anyone interested.

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The B-3 build log: http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=13941 unfortunately, all the pictures were lost in the massive server crash

The beginnings of the Jag Special,
https://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19012
Again, all pictures were lost.


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