Jaguar XJS V12 racing car

[Stilldrillin]

Reminds me, of my son's first serious car.

A small Seat turbo, hatchback. Only 250 made. (So the story goes).

The little thing flew, 50% of the time. The other 50%, it was grumpy/ lumpy/ orrible. 

Four months into his ownership, we finally discovered, an air filter sticker was floating about, inside the manifold! 

Enjoying the saga, Ade. Good luck!

David D

[jatt]

So glad I was able to retrieve a washer I dropped into the intake of my tractor.  Naturally it fell into the head.

the $ I invested in a camera on a stick with a magnet on the end was money well spent!!!

[AdeV]

Progress on the race car has, as with all my projects, been painfully slow... however, I've recently made up my mind that instead of loafing about the house at the weekend, it's time to blooming well get on with it!

So.... Round Tuit firmly in mind, I've made some more patches to hide/replace the worst of the grot. The left-hand sill is mostly filler (it's taken a right whack), so that's all coming off & new metal going in. Inside sills are getting reinforcement where they've rusted away at the bottom. New floor pans will follow once the inner & outer sills are stuck together, and the weaker metal replaced.

A simple patch on the inner wing, hiding a massive hole. I'll weld it up better on the inside some other time:


Inside the inner wing, a large patch replaces the completely dissolved metal that used to be in its place. Again, this needs more work - I need to drill some holes in the middle & weld the inner & outer metal together. Also, on the other side, I really need to weld the reinforcing turrets to the new patch; this is where the weight of the front of the car gets transferred to the front suspension. The other side looks the same.


Inner sill is pretty badly knackered (both sides, pretty much front to back).


A reinforcing section is made, this bonds to the good metal higher up the inner sill, and re-forms the flange the outer sill & floor are welded to. Additional pieces will be made in sections, as I remove the outer sills:


Access is a pain, the ramp's in the way, etc. Here it is plug welded on, with a few tacks around the edges. I'll go around & seam weld it later. Probably.


Trial fitting the hand-bent replacement sill (front half). Fits pretty well! I can get away with it not being perfect, as it's a race car not a show queen.


The bottom of this reinforcing member had dissolved away entirely. Repair is a simple folded piece, plug welded to the original. When I fit the sill, I'll drill a couple of holes so I can plug weld through the sill to the bottom of the reinforcement plate.


The "steps" are badly rotted. Here a decent sized piece has been cut out ready to be replaced:


Old, CAD template, new:


Thank goodness for the metal folder! Once the metal was cut out & the fold lines drawn, it took about 5 minutes to fold up. Here it is welded in place:


The other side of the car is almost as bad, but I should be able to save most of the outer sill. The LH sill must have had 10lbs of filler in it!


Next week.... more of the same. I'll probably not bother photographing most of it as it's just the same old same old. Unless the piece is really weirdly shaped, or I'm especially proud of it or something   

[vtsteam]

Ade, really interesting to watch.  What does your metal folder look like?

[AdeV]

Ade, really interesting to watch.  What does your metal folder look like?

Cheers mate, much appreciated

This is the wee beastie:



It's an Edwards folder, 4ft across, and it fell over after 20 mins in my possession (oops!). Fortunately, being made of sterner stuff than the tarmac it landed on, no damage was done!

[mexican jon]

Ade, really interesting to watch.  What does your metal folder look like?

Cheers mate, much appreciated

This is the wee beastie:



It's an Edwards folder, 4ft across, and it fell over after 20 mins in my possession (oops!). Fortunately, being made of sterner stuff than the tarmac it landed on, no damage was done!

 

[awemawson]

Ade, you're a braver man than I taking on that colinder of a car 

Amusing to see that you have the same folder - good aren't they ! Was using mine yesterday to replace some covers on a "Post-Ogg" stock fence post pusher

[vtsteam]

Oh, click! Thanks Adev. I like the term "metal folder" better than "brake". Much more descriptive and less confusing in an automotive context! 

[DavidA]

VT,

A folder and a brake are really two different things.

The folder is as depicted and works,  as you probably know,  by 'pushing' the metal over with it's rotating edge.

The brake,  more correctly known as a press brake,  creates the bend by pushing the metal down into a groove or angle.

Each has it's advantages.

Dave.

[vtsteam]

Sorry, didn't know David -- I'm not an experienced sheet metal guy, except with an inappropriate hammer!  . . .thanks for straightening me out! 

So to speak........

[DavidA]

No worries,

My own bending system is two angle irons and a hammer.

Dave.

[AdeV]

The brake,  more correctly known as a press brake,  creates the bend by pushing the metal down into a groove or angle.

I'd like a press brake too, you can do very accurate & repeatable angles with one, plus you can put folds in much closer together than my folder (although I can get two folds within 1/2" of each other on the folder, if I take the front angle plate off).

Anyone know why it's called a "brake"? The press bit I can understand...

[AdeV]

Ade, you're a braver man than I taking on that colinder of a car 

Amusing to see that you have the same folder - good aren't they ! Was using mine yesterday to replace some covers on a "Post-Ogg" stock fence post pusher

The car is a religious experience - it's very hol(e)y!   

To try to get it back on the road would be, I think, an exercise in futility. However, it only needs to look decent & not be shedding flakes of rust in the scruitineering bay to pass as a race car. I've also recently discovered a thing called "car dipping" - a sort of spray on plastic paint which you can peel off later, I think I can hide any number of sins under that stuff.

The folder's fabulous. I ended up making a deal with a bloke from Newcastle to bring it to me - poor bugger, his van broke down 1/2 mile into the journey, so he had to get his other van which was stuck in "limp" mode - I think it took him 9 hours to get to Merseyside... and another 9 back. All for £100 delivery charge. His Mrs didn't look to pleased about the whole do either.

[AdeV]

A little more progress this weekend...

First, the outer sill was fully removed & the inner sill reinforced along its length:


Then the entire length of the "steps" were replaced; this seemed to be easier than faffing about making little patches for the many holes.


Finally, a good dose of high-zinc primer to cover everything up, and hopefully slow the tide of rust in the future.


First half of the outer going into place:


I'd already made a second piece of sill, but it turned out to be completely the wrong shape. Rather than try to fix it, I made a new piece; managed to get the two halves to almost exactly the right shape & size, although it turns out there's a bit of a "kink". Oh well... it'll look OK in matt black


Once the sill is completely seam welded, I can either start work on the wheel arch, or do the sill on the other side. I'm going to try to save most of that one, assuming it's not full of gobbo as well.

[micktoon]

Ade, hats off to you for not just giving up on the project. I remember rebuilding a Ford Fiesta years ago same sort of thing , sills , patches everywhere, wings , front panel, rear arches etc etc etc. When I was putting it back together I went to the scrapyard for some part or other and found several Fiesta's that were almost perfect compared to the pile of Sh**e I had spent weeks on lol, it would have been quicker to have rebuilt my good bits onto one of them.
  One thing is for sure , you will be good at making patterns and welding in funny positions by the time its done 
  Keep up the good work.
             ........Nice folder by the way  Cheers Mick

[RotarySMP]

So you are doing all this with the rustbucket chassis up on a hoist. Does that mean you are having to do half of the welds overhead? I bet a rotisserie starts looking really tempting about now.

Thanks for taking lots of photos and sharing them. I think you have a lot of followers on this project.

Mark

[AdeV]

Hi Mick - yeah, I probably should have started from a less rusty base point... the problem is, try to find a cheap XJS that isn't rusty! There's bugger all for less than £1,000, and anything under around £5,000 usually has signs of grot. Looking at the wheel arches, I think I'm going to need repair panels for those, they are very badly rotted & full of filler.

So you are doing all this with the rustbucket chassis up on a hoist. Does that mean you are having to do half of the welds overhead? I bet a rotisserie starts looking really tempting about now.

Thanks for taking lots of photos and sharing them. I think you have a lot of followers on this project.

Mark

Mark - yeah, and the ramp is getting right in the way doing these sills. I don't actually mind overhead welding so much, except when it sets what little hair I've got on fire...

The real irony is, I actually bought a rotisserie (or spit) for another car.... just the other day I was thinking about assembling it for this one.

[vtsteam]

I was confused about the "rotisserie!" All is clear now.

The only kind I'd heard of was used to cook meat, so I was kinda wondering why Ade would, in any way, be tempted by a rotisserie after welding overhead! 

[kayzed1]

Ade, the lad ( tim ) of Tim and Tony Re: the gt40.... has a brand new old stock gearbox for one of them there Jags of yours he says if you intend to stay Auto give him a call ( or Tony if you do not have his number ) re a price...also if you have an FI car he has all the factory manuals for the injection and wiring to said stuff.
Lyn.

 PS: he says a firm in America do a conversion kit to make the gearbox torq drive from start, and manual on the move...
PPS: he also has a brand new motor that gearbox was stuck to...

[AdeV]

A little more progress made on the shell this weekend just gone... I finally bit the bullet and cut out the rotten passenger floor:



Rather than make a replacement, as was my original plan, expediency and a few shekels were the order of the day, and a replacement panel was procured, and - following some fettling with a large hammer - fitted:



It's only really tacked in for now, I'll weld it in more firmly at a later date.



Now I just need to re-make the strengthening/seat mounting box which goes across the car. I'd marked out & folded one up, but I accidentally made it an inch too tall... so this weekend's job is to reduce it to the proper height, make the appropriate shapes in it, then weld it in. Stay tuned!

[sparky961]

Do you think the weight of metal that's rusted away will offset the additional weight of the welds and overlaps of the sheet metal?  Or maybe with that monster of an engine you plan to drop in there it wouldn't matter if you welded two cars together....

I don't know if I've already mentioned this, but I had the opportunity to drive a 1986 XJS (6L V12, if I recall) somewhere around 1997 when I was working in the automotive trade.  Its the only test drive that sticks in my memory from that era.  Smoother than any car I've ever driven since.

Nice to see that you're giving this one a new lease on life.

[vtsteam]

I really look forward to additions to this thread. Up here with all the salt on the roads and long cold winters, autos die from rust, much more than mechanical wear. It's encouraging to see what can be done, and how it is done.

I have one bad spot on my Mazda pick up truck I have to attend to this month in a frame web behind the rear leaf attach point. Basically the extension that goes to the bumper. It's in a spot that is hidden by the spare tire, and so stayed wet and trapped moisture. The rest of the frame is fine. Nothing as bad as the Jag, but still, nothing I've done before. Good to see photos!

[Divided he ad]

I thought you'd have had it on the track by now Ade!?   

Looks like fun..... Fancy a similar repair to a Cosworth?  (O/S/F floor     )


 

[AdeV]

Thanks for the ongoing encouragement, sometimes it's much needed.

I'm not sure why it's not on the track yet. Apparently I must have been asleep for almost a year, as I seem to have made little progress, yet I'm not entirely sure where the time's gone. I have managed to completely disassemble the engine, clean most of the external parts, and some of the internal ones... I've also gathered 3 other spare engines, stripped one of them (to replace the damaged head from the original engine), I still need to make my "feet" and the cylinder liner puller so I can get a piston out of the seized engine. ARP are currently looking through their back catalogue to see if they do any studs which will fit the engine - if not, then it's going to be a custom order (=£lots). I think I only need bearings & piston rings to re-assemble the bottom end.

I'm really going to try to put my back into it now, I'd like to be on the track before the end of next year, which is going to be a tough call financially & in time terms. The good news on the shell is, I've got one wheel arch to rescue, a few more chassis patches, the driver's side floor & sill to do, and the new boot (trunk) floor, which will be moved to accommodate a rear diffuser. A few internal patches and a couple of repairs around the windscreen should see it ready for paint, roll cage and "glass" (Plexiglass apart from the windscreen).

Ralph - check your PMs.

Sparky - I'm not entirely sure about the weight thing. The floor was remarkably heavy, much heavier than the rusty crud which I cut out... I'm not sure if it's thicker metal than the original, or just that rust is so much lighter than steel (so why do rusty boats sink then, eh? ;)) My target weight (which I won't get anywhere near to begin with) is around 940-960kg (the class minimum), realistically I should get to about 1200-1300kg dry this time around, when I start replacing outer panels with carbon fibre I'll save a bunch of weight, especially that bonnet (hood). If the XJS was an '86, it would have been the 5.3 litre HE model; the 6 litre was fitted from about 1994. Jaguarsport (an offshoot of the TWR/Jaguar partnership of '82-'83) produced the 6 litre intially, because most of the parts were the same it could be produced on the same production line as the 5.3. Major changes were the crankshaft, pistons (& rings presumably) and head gaskets. Everything else was pretty much the same.

Steve - rust. Aaah, rust. You've got to love it, otherwise it'd be soul destroying.... It's a bitch to weld to though, sparks and lumps of white hot metal flying everywhere. I keep setting things on fire trying to weld to rust... If it helps: Get the area as clean as possible, a wire brush on a grinder is a great tool, as is a flap disk (not sure if the US has a different term for those). Bare metal makes life MUCH more pleasant when welding. Depending on how big your welder is, you may need to use the "thin metal technique", which consists of lots of brief welds (tack welds really), start 6" apart, then 1/2 way between each weld, then 1/2 way again, until they're virtually touching; then you can generally fill the gaps without blowing holes everywhere.

Kayzed - apologies, I didn't spot your post earlier; I'm going with a manual 'box (Tremec most likely as that fits my clutch), 5-speed. The clutch is a 4-plate Indycar item (should be interesting in the pits...) and is only 4.5" diameter. I'll have to have a custom flywheel ~5" diameter, it'll be a 2-part flywheel because the clutch pressure plate would be running on the bolt heads otherwise, which reduces the surface area by an unacceptable amount. I've got 4 engines & keep a regular eye out for more... ironically I've actually run out of places to put them now!

[vtsteam]

Thanks Ade!