phil On the rear mount for the jag front end what is the size of square tube did you use ?I just found a steel place close by and I picked up some steel plates to make the front mount . Starting to collect the stuff I need so I can install the IFS like a scavenger hunt I really appreciate all your helpful info everyone else is welding them in but I'm sold on bolt in Thanks Robert
Sorry - been sick the last few days, It is 1.5"x3" .125 wall. The tubes for the bolts to keep them from crushing the bracket are .675" diameter, .125 wall
Ok Phil It's been awhile some updates are about due where have you been? Besides running the wheels off your dune buggy
Dune buggy? I wish. Got a two day trip in for new years to Glamis but that's been it. Truck? Collecting dust Stardust came and ripped out my kitchen just before Christmas and I've been working on remodeling it since then. Doing a lot of the work myself, buying appliances on CL and acting as the general contractor to save a few nickles so I can jump back on the truck. Almost ready for counter tops. Wife is ecstatic, but I'm at least a month out for getting back on the truck. [/IMG]The bodyman called a week ago looking for work, so I brought down the fenders to him to prep for paint. Bed and cab are next week or so and I should be done with paint mid-summer if I can stay out of body shop and paint prison. Going back to original color for the truck of Brewster Green. Should have more to report in the next couple months. Are you driving with a Jag IFS yet? Phil
Nope not even close I'm going backwards on my build dropped engine in frame just to get some space going to put it back together and hope for the best of someday Can't find a buyer that wants to give me anything for it . so off it sits in a corner man I hate bodywork plus guy I want to paint it is busy busy so I think for now I will keep it in primer til he gets time for my truck he works full time job body shop every other spare moment
Nice! I hope he gets around to it for you, but that is exactly why I went ahead and tried painting mine. Well, that, and I'm not a high roller.
Well, my kitchen is done and paying some excellent dividends of some really good food. I just have to put the vent caps on the outside wall and seal the backsplash and I'm onto the truck again. Been putzing around with little thinks while doing the kitchen - so here's a mini-update: The painter called and said he had some slack in his schedule. The cab is on the body waiting for the headers to be finished, so I had him paint the box and fenders. This is the sage green color that comes on Fiat 500s these days. Wife wasn't wild about the original Brewster green. The box sides should be out of the paint shop next week. My wife puts up with a lot from me, including car parts in the house (if they're very clean) Installed my home-made stainless headers. I succeeded in getting them to clear the steering shaft ok, but when I installed the master cylinder mount, the collector pointed right into the mounting flange of the master cylinder, so - back to the drawing board Looked at all the alternatives, like a hanging pedal set, firewall mounted booster and MC, but in the end I decided to modify the headers and drop them another 3" or so at the collector to clear the hydro-boost and master cylinder. I want to keep that nostalgic look of the original pedals Was pretty proud of the wood fixture I'd made so I could build the headers on the bench instead of in the car so I didn't have to get up and down on the floor, but it got me so screwed-up I gave up on that approach and am back to working on them in the truck. Here's a simple wood jig to hold the collector so I can fit up tube on the truck- still using header legos to mock up the new bottom part of the header tubes. I'm too old to build headers sitting on the floor and on my back underneath this thing. I need a two post lift. I had about an inch of clearance to the front fender to the tire when I dry-fit the body to the chassis at the body shop. To get the advertised offset on these Chinese Boss wheels, they'd added about .6 -.7" more material to the center web than was on my 10" wide rear wheels. There's a machine shop here in Phoenix that will machine wheels on a CNC to fine tune the offset, so I had my front wheels machined to the same web thickness as the rear wheels. Should have about 1.75" of clearance - I hope that's enough to keep them from rubbing in turns with the airbags fairly low The guy I bought this truck from had set it up to take a full-size GM truck suspension - you can still see his airbag mounts for the trailing arms. I kept the mounts he had for the rear gas tank - it looks like it will take a heck of a big tank and I wish I'd of asked him what tank he intended to put in Had the center of the lower a-arm pans to allow the insertion of an airbag for the front suspension. Need to weld them in and put in the mounting holes and get the front suspension up on the bags. Now that the headers are fitting around the steering shaft, I can take the cab off the chassis and take it to the paint shop. While the cab/hood/front fenders are being blocked out for paint, I'll finish the airbag installation on the chassis so I can make it a roller. The chassis will then need to go to the painter for the install of the cab, fit check the hood and fenders and roll it into the paint booth for color. I'm on work furlough next week, so I should be able to get a few good licks in and get the cab to the painter and finish my driver's side headers. I suspect that next week won't be the last of the furloughs and expect another week of 'vacation' in 3Q or 4Q this year. Have not used any vacation so far this year, so I should have about ten weeks from vacation/holidays/furloughs between now and the end of the year to work on the truck. With some luck, I might be able to get it in and out of the paint shop by the end of the year and back home to finish all the details. Sorry about all the babel - writing it down helps clear my mind on what to do next Regards, Phil
Don't know why I haven't followed this build step by step because it's darn interesting and the work is primo. You have the header issue under control now but wish I would have given you a handy tip. For orphan projects we use defroster duct and aerosol foam to mock up header tubes. The flange is bolted to the head with 1" tube subs tacked to it. The defroster duct is zip tied to the tube stubs and routed to where everything clears. Once everything fits and clears holes are poked into the ducts and foam is sprayed inside. The next day they are rigid enough to separate and have the muffler shop duplicate in steel.
Thanks for updating us, Phil. Yours is a project I'm very much interested in. You do excellent work. Steve.
Phi When I get a chance I will measure the fuel tank I just dropped in the frame of my truck I believe it's a 1969 or 1970 mustang tank Also noticed you to Changed the steal block you had mounted to the rear of your front suspension to and built a new on with flat steal do you have any more pics of that new rear front suspension mount.
La Troca- I didn't change the rear mount of the front suspension. I think what you're looking at in the photos is the engine mount. To the left of the motor mount you can see that trapezoid shaped block with three bolts in it - that's the rear pickup point for the Jag IFS Any measurements on the Mustang tank would be appreciated. I have an old Camaro tank that somebody was going to throw away that I'm going to try too, but it would be nice to have a choice. Thanks, Phil
LaTroca - Thanks for the measurements. Looks like I have plenty of room for that option. Zig, you asked for pictures, so here's pictures- I'm having a heck of a time getting my front header tube to clear the Jag steering shaft. Still trying to mock it up with legos, but not very happy with the way it looks so far. After 9 pm the electric rates go down and I can turn the air on in the shop and take another run at it. Cleaned up my tac welds with some Scotchbrite pads - pretty happy with the joint fit-ups. Need to start cutting up scrap tube to practice welding on. Going to try a gas lens for the TIG and see if that helps before I start welding up the primaries. A friend was over the other day and says he knows a welder that does food-grade welding on stainless pipe that'd weld them up for me. We'll see. Installed the front airbags in the Jag IFS - took about 70 psi to get the front end to ride height. The guy at the airbag suspension shop says that's fine and it should ride well at that pressure. The rear airbags are 5" diameter and took about 40 psi to get to ride height. The airbag suspension guy said that 5" might be a little small and produce a harsher ride. I would have thought that 5" bag that has about a 30% less area than a 6" bag but running at only about half the pressure would have a lower spring rate and a pretty soft ride. The expert's recommendation was to put a decent shock on it and try it and see if I like it. Doesn't seem like there's much science to it and airbags are mostly trial and error Here's the airbag on the Jag IRS pumped up to ride height (running boards about 6" off the ground) With the airbag fully deflated and on the stops, its about 3" off the ground. Good enough for an old coot. (sorry about the sideways picture) I can fit the knuckle of my index finger between the bag and the tire and I'm hoping that's enough, but I couldn't mount the airbag squarely over the new trailing arm. So now I've made two new problems - the pressure of the offset airbag is putting a torque as well as a load on the trailing arm and the bag lower mount is offset. I made this little reaction bar that goes between the trailing arm and the shock mount on the lower control arm to take up the torque from the offset airbag and keep the trailing arm in place. Put some gussets between the lower airbag mounting plate and the trailing arm. The airbag is about 1" off-center to the trailing arm and this is a view looking up from the floor. Everything is just tacked until I could cycle the suspension and be reasonably sure it was going to work. Will probably load the roller chassis on a trailer and take it to my brother's house to MIG it as there's too much to TIG. Here's a photo of the Jag IRS sitting a ride height. I've shortened the track width by about 4" to get the tires to fit correctly in the wheel wells (plus the mini-tubs in my earlier post). The Jag half-shafts are a steel forging about 1.25" in diameter and I've seen instructions on the web where they've been shortened by cutting the axle and sleeving it. Pins and plug welds hold it in place. Some of the Cobra guys do this and get away with it, but I don't know............ Since the Jag u-joints are just off-the-shelf 1350s, I could buy Spicer driveshaft yokes and make my own shortened half shafts. Every solution has a problem however - now the bigger half shaft hits the frame with the bag fully deflated. At that point the running board is about 3" off the ground - that's good enough for me. Before I commit to welding the shortened lower control arms and half shafts, I need to see if I can shim the half shafts to get just a little negative camber at ride height. Scored a 3.54 diff with a power-loc (limited slip) and a fancy aluminum finned cover off of a latter model Jag XJS
I am absolutely amazed at what you all go through to get your very custom rides to work out! Great quality photos as well! Your header work is off the hook! Keep the updates coming, and best of luck with all that!
This is about the sixth revision of my header project- I think I'm there - just need to start the finish welds on the primary tubes. Picked up a starter at the junkyard so I'm ready to start the passenger side next. Should be a lot simpler without the steering shaft and pedals to worry about Details on the steering shaft clearance around the headers Showing the collector location- https://talk.classicparts.com/media/header-collector.6584/full
