New kitty in the shop

[OldSub]

I've long thought Jag IFS and IRS would be perfect under my '55 1st GMC Suburban.  Yesterday an '85 XJS fell into my lap.  Now I'm wondering if this is really something I can do.

Anyone have experience with this swap or links to posts where someone has done it?

[wayne petty]

swap..... is that kitty cat a donor?? not a runner...


there are quite a few dollars in parts in that car...

the motor  still a V12..??

bet it overheats..  the coolant tanks on the inner fender rot out...
and it the aux cooling fan does not work it will over heat...

i fixed one of those with an overheat condition.. the jag shop wanted over 10 grand for a rebuilt motor... i told him to bring it by...

found in 30 minutes that even through the aux cooling fan motor  had been replaced.. it still did not work...   it has fan control switches on both heads... and from the ac clutch...   to control the aux fan relay...   what had happened..  you will find a light blue relay , looks like every other relay.. but its not a relay...  its a diode bridge...  so any of the three inputs can control the relay without feeding back into the others...

what i found..  the insulated terminal to the fan relay.. was pushed in.. but it was not on a terminal.. it was just wedged in there... waiting for the engine to get hot and melt... i don't know if it was sabotage... possibly ... probably...   just like the stack of washers under the distributer hold down clamp on another brand of car ... where it went in for a tune up... and was told it needed a motor..

my friend was so impressed with how easy it seemed to fix this car that was previously unfixable.. that he said to me... he was going to get a shop... start fixing cars... as fixing cars is easy...  i then reminded him.. that watching me fix cars is easy... not doing it him self...


it also has a turbo 400 transmission in it.. jag spec...  i don't know about the bolt pattern.. but if it happens.. i would be nice for a picture of the bell housing bolt pattern...

[OldSub]

swap..... is that kitty cat a donor?? not a runner...

Its been parked for ten years and isn't as nice as it looks.

The deal I got includes another guy who is going to take some pieces for his project, and I get the suspension and whatever is left when he finishes.

I'm into it $120 plus half a tank of gas.  If you want an XJS nicer ones show up on craigslist here for under $1000 pretty often.  This one is a donor car.

[wayne petty]

oh... no more english cars...  we were up to 10 at one point in time...

2 austin americas..
4 rover 2000TCs
1 rover 2000SC
1 rover 3500S, 1970 model...
1 series 2A 109 1971 model 2.6L.. assembled in central america..
1 series 2A 88 santana 1974  2.25L spanish production again assembled in central america...

and then .. in deep deep storage... was a 59 berkley..  but when that got moved.. it got stolen...  it had a 1200 VW motor in the front with a swapped diff swing axle to drive the front wheels...

so.. i know and shy away from owning any more english cars...

but i have worked a bunch on various jags....

fixing the power windows...  unhook the battery.. pull the window switch panel.. stick a file through the openings and rock the switch closed on the file to clean the window switch contacts...

learn that the ecm uses relays on the firewall to control the injectors...

learn that inside the jag ignition module box.. is a 4 pin HEI module.. just like on fiat 131s...  the fiats have a nicer heat sink...


learned to take the turn signal control boxes apart.. solder the stacked boards inside.. clean the relay contacts.. and fixed the car good enough that the bulb failure light on the dash does not light up for bulb failure... without spending 1200 bucks + on new boxes... it did take me about 4 or 5 hours to remove.. solder them and reinstall all 4...  

[Uncle Bob]

... as fixing cars is easy...  i then reminded him.. that watching me fix cars is easy... not doing it him self...
...

LOL.....a classic line for oh so many situations....

[Rrumbler]

Seem that I remember that the Jag, both ends, can be a pretty much "semi-bolt in" on most frames that we use for our rodding and customizing needs.  Crawl under there and get a good look at it, and take a few measurements.  If I have my thinker in right, the rear mounts from an upper crossmember between the frame rails similar to Corvette rears, and the front is a whole crossmember setup that just bolts to the frame rails; six or eight bolts, and drop it out.  Then, of course, you have to make the subs frame fit the Jag, or vice-versa.  I'm just shooting from the hip, here, so take it for what it's worth - free, and cheap.

[sirstude]

I also remember, that the later Jags are kind of wide, but remember the bolt in part.  I know that there was a guy here that did that in his 56 Ford F100.  He built the brackets that the Jag stuff bolted to and then welded them to his frame.

Doug

[Mac]

The front, at least, is a favorite swap with Ozzie rodders. It's sometimes mounted with the rubber isolators, sometimes welded fast to the frame. Depends on how much "cushy" you like. Supposed to turn out a real sweet ride with good handling. Too wide is a problem under some vehicles.

[Flipper]

I think that the XJS models all had posi rear ends  

[OldSub]

The '85 XJS is supposed to have a 2.88 ratio posi rear.  I'll confirm that before installing it in my Suburban.

I've found a fair amount of material online about swapping the Jag suspension, but little specific to a '48 to '54 GM truck.  It looks like I'll be making suspension mounts in front and a crossmember in the rear.

Lots of thinking to be done before I start taking the suspension from under the Suburban...

[Flipper]

Here is a link to a ton of jag swap info

http://www.ozrodders.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23839

[OldSub]

Flipper one of the links from your link had actual photos of the IFS mounts used to put the suspension in a Chevy pickup of the correct approximate vintage.

This seems to be a popular swap on Ford pickups but I'm not finding much on Chevy trucks.  Anyone have an idea why that might be?

Thanks!

[Flipper]

One more... at the bottom of the first page is a chevy...with a jag that looks like it belongs.  I like the way they did the shock towers.

http://www.nsra.org.uk/newforum/showthread.php?t=35350&highlight=jaguar

[OldSub]

That Jag in a Chevy is welded in place.  From what I'm reading the Jag was designed assuming loose bushings so I think I'll stay away from the welded in approach.

I like the simplicity of the brackets from one of the earlier links.  They look like they could be duplicated as bolt-ins and allow using all the original bushings.

[Mac]

Maybe you know this, but when the sub frame is rubber mounted you have to provide a flex or sliding connection for the steering shaft.