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Hi everyone, this is Curt Lee, from Charleston South Carolina (originally from Amherst Va). I'm in the planning stages of my Jaguar XJ6-based car; Yes, I know it's a big, heavy lump of iron, but I love it.... Going to use all of the Jag stuff I have left as possible, which includes both suspension units (which I am prepared to cut to pieces if necessary), a dashboard full of gauges, etc and so on. I've spent the last week or so reading every post that even remotely seemed applicable to what I'm planning on doing. Already decided that 1 1/2" tube is going to be needed to support the weight. Going to de-power the rack and pinion and flip it so I'll have RHD, and set the engine back as far as possible to get the weight off the front end. Worst that I envision is having all the Jag parts together on a rolling frame so it can be hauled to the scrapper more easily!

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Who knew so much time involved in building a car is spent simply staring at the pile of parts you've accumulated?

Welcome Curt! Glad to have you and I think you can find a few Jag fans here.

Do you have a space and a welder yet? Practicing your welding is a good thing, don't put your first weld onto your future frame!

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Marcus Barrow - Car9 an open design community supported sports car for home builders!
SketchUp collection for LocostUSA: "Dream it, Build it, Drive it!"
Car9 Roadster information - models, drawings, resources etc.

There are a whole lot of Cobra replica's on Jag running gear.
Also RONART and a few others.

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If I must be a one-man PC free zone, so be it!

Thanks gents, glad to be here. No, not my first weld by far, but hopefully my best will go into this job. I -think- my build is going to be a combination of design components using the structural suspension subframes from the XJ6 and some space frame/tub components. Not having to design suspension from scratch should speed things along, hopefully. In order to preserve Ackerman, I may have to run a fairly long wheelbase, but that remains to be seen. I've just finished up cutting pieces to mount the Motorcraft alternator and make it one belt run the water pump and alternator from the crank. It'll be snug up against the block just under the head. Next pieces to modify are the motor mount brackets (or make new ones) to use the first pair of bolt holes in the lower front of the block, setting the engine back around 9" or so.

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Who knew so much time involved in building a car is spent simply staring at the pile of parts you've accumulated?

Hi Curt-
Welcome aboard! We're all quite mad... But you'll figure that out.

I'm a big fan of the old Jags, and have owned a few over the years. That IRS with inboard brakes is a thing of beauty. Clean it up good, make it all shiny and don't worry too much about hiding it all with bodywork. Sir William and Co. did a great job designing that piece.

The Twin Cam Six is also a thing of beauty. Are you going to run triple SU's or go with Webers? Or (Gasp in horror!) are you going with fuel injection? There are some years of Jags that had dual Strombergs as well. I'm not a big fan of the Stroms, but those lovely, whistling SU's make my little heart throb.

And with the right exhaust, that Cat will snarl like it means business. I've heard a few vintage race XKEs and a 120 with straight pipes. Truly sounded like ripping silk or a howling predator. Lovely... A free-flowing exhaust with some (minimal) muffling would be acceptable for road use, but still capture that sound.

The only negative thing is if you need parts. LoCost ain't in the Jaguar vocabulary. The way I heard it, the Brits found a cure for AIDS. They gave it a Jaguar part number and now nobody can afford it.

So, keep us posted on progress, send pictures as much as you can.
Good luck!


JDK

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JD, father of Quinn, Son of a... Build Log
Quinn the Slotus:Ford 302 Powered, Mallock-Inspired, Tube Frame, Hillclimb Special
"Gonzo and friends: Last night must have been quite a night. Camelot moments, mechanical marvels, Rustoleum launches, flying squirrels, fru-fru tea cuppers, V8 envy, Ensure catch cans -- and it wasn't even a full moon." -- SeattleTom

Thanks, but Jag XK engines aren't all THAT bad to repair... most "bad" Jags are parked due to combinations of fuel pump, carb, and ignition problems. They seem to never accumulate the high mileage necessary to destroy timing chains, etc, and usually aren't mistreated so badly they puke rods and cranks... I had mine running without the rearmost silencers after doing the rear brakes, on the fore mufflers it sounded gnarly!

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Who knew so much time involved in building a car is spent simply staring at the pile of parts you've accumulated?

If you have a space I'd recommend getting some 2"x2" lumber and doing some rough design. Do you have the drivetrain pulled yet?

I think you will do better without the subframes and original wishbones. . We do have builds where people use them, but they often cause as many problems as they solve. You're going to build a frame and it needs to attach to either the sub frames or the wishbones. The sub frame solves problems Jaguar had, but you may not have the same problems. You can keep the same geometry if you like, you don't need the sub frame for that.

You can adjust the Ackermann by where you bolt on the steering rack, so this should work out. It's a reason to do the mocking up I'm talking about above.

Do you have an idea of what you want it to look like when you're done? Lotus 7 or Jaguar D-type? Jack McCornack sells body work that looks like the D-type. It's a modified Lola from the 50's.

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Marcus Barrow - Car9 an open design community supported sports car for home builders!
SketchUp collection for LocostUSA: "Dream it, Build it, Drive it!"
Car9 Roadster information - models, drawings, resources etc.

Yep, got the car disassembled long ago. I'm torn on how to reconcile solidly mounting the front subframe while leaving the rear suspension in the cage on rubber mounts. Looking at examples of Ronart frames gives me some insight. Building a frame that takes advantage of both unit's soft mounting is counterintuitive to 7 design even more so than even I want to go. I'd love an XKSS but my own frame is too large... maybe if I was more Steve McQueen than Wilford Brimley...

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Who knew so much time involved in building a car is spent simply staring at the pile of parts you've accumulated?

FYI. More Ronart frame details on this site.
http://www.hallettfamily.org.uk/pages/g ... 010928.htm
Ron
ps this 1967 TVR restoration shows a similar frame with suspension mounting points.
http://www.britishracecar.com/DennisDeLap-TVR-2200.htm

Maybe start here and add lite tube frame for the skin?
just sayn....

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"Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." - Mark Twain
In my defense the moon was full and I was left unsupervised

i have had a lot of jaguars, i guess i'm a big fan of Norman Dewis to me he is a hero.
i have two XK8's even now.

the older xj's were comfortable but the newer ones worked better, the early independant rear ends were a nightmare to fix and if you are using this type then you need to pay special attention to the rear camber and build in a simple means of accessing the calipers.
the 4.2 motors had a problem with the cam followers, the sleeve that the follower ran in would detach itself from the head and move up and down with the follower clipping the cam lobes, this could be rectified with a locating screw.
this motor also suffers from small end wear and the piston hitting the head.
not to mention the automatic enrichment device

but all in all they are a nice piece of kit.

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this story shall the good man teach his son,
and chrispin chrispian shall ne'er go by,
from this day to the end of the world.
but we in it shall be remembered.

No AED on this one, already familiar with the loosening exhaust tappet buckets (luckily these are still tight), and probably going to use the entire IRS, cage and all, to retain the geometry. Probably remove one shock per side. I could install removable panels over the factory access holes to the calipers, as well, make it a matter of removing the seats and the panels to get to the calipers. Many ways to address these issues and not lose the positive attributes. With a much lighter car, and the rear cage solid mounted instead of on the rubber isolators, the radius arms could be left off without causing any serious issues, as the lower control arms are notoriously overbuilt. Braking forces in a light chassis won't adversely affect the suspension as they might in a heavier car.

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Who knew so much time involved in building a car is spent simply staring at the pile of parts you've accumulated?