Hi Doug thanks for the pic of the sturts i have that all sorted out , are you putting in QA1 proma stars ? and what size once did you decide to go with. many thanks for all your help
luckie!

 

Another quick update. The coil-overs went in without too much fuss. The front compression and rebound adjustment knobs are difficult to access as they're recessed below the top of the lower A frames - I'll probably increase the opening in the lower mounting plate and rotate the adjustment knobs inboard. Luckie, the shock numbers are Proma Star DD602 front and DD502 rear. Front springs are 14-225 (14" and 225 lb rate), and rear springs are 12-250 (the higher rate here is due to the shorter 12" length). I'm anxious to hear from Primaz on his experience with the ride since this beast won't be a driver for a couple of years.

The door locking mechanisms went in with less hassle than I anticipated. Part of the problem I anticipated was that the XJR locking functions are very complicated and they are all integrated into very complex door latch mechanisms. Once I started dissecting these I was able to isolate the portions I needed to make everything integrate with the Mark 2 latches. Here are a couple of pics of the driver's door which is the only keyed entry now. There was no way to integrate the key barrel into the thumb button so this went into the door panel just below the handle. I'll have to locate 2 rear door buttons (no key hole) or remove the key barrels and braze these up and rechrome (if they're brass).

The driver's door key now locks and unlocks all doors, and the key fob operates the driver's door with one press of the button and all doors with 2 presses. The computer locks all doors when the gear lever is moved from park. I had to locate a pair of front door latches to use in the rear. The front keyed latches are spring loaded to hold either a locked or unlocked position, while the rear latches are spring loaded to the unlocked position (they're held in the locked position by the strong springs in the interior handle mechanism. These would not work with the locking solenoids which simply throw a lever one way or the other and do not hold a position. The rear latches can probably be modified internally but I didn't have the patience to get into yet another "project".

Next step is to mount all the accessories in the engine bay - circulating pumps for the heater and intercooler, air conditioning lines and dryer, and on and on. I wanted a modern wiper motor and linkage but there's just no room in the bulkhead so I'm forced to retain the original wheel boxes and cable arrangement. I think the last year to do this was the '87 Series 3 XJ6 so I'll try to locate that motor - no sure if they're available new or only rebuilt. My idea is to shorten the cable and sleeve and mount the motor high behind the dash on the inside of the firewall - my hope is the shorter straight run will make for a strong and quiet operation. If anyone has a better solution please holler. Till next time.

 

Enjoy seeing your continuing progress Doug! Thank you for sharing.
Lin

 

Doug, I love your build. I will let you know my thoughts on my Jaguar probably in about 2 months. Right now the car is at the upholstery shop whom is working with my stereo shop. Once we get it back I will be tackling the wipers which we are just trying to get the stock one to work as my car was missing the motor and about everything other than the wiper arms so we purchased motor and assembly from a latter model Jag and will try to make it work like you. Then we still have to install all the wood, finish the air conditioning which is half way installed, fix the power steering, and finish the trunk system. Then we can finally shake it down and get the right ride. I am guessing we will need stiffer springs due to the weight but only trying it out will be the only way to know.


Doug you are making record progress on your build, how can it be two years from driving it? At the rate you are going I thought you might beat my two month mark to test drive my car?

 

1967 JAGUAR 3.8 MK2 BEACHAM. - Cars for Sale | SHERWOOD Restorations


What color will be your MKII Doug? I like your work very much, it will be the better Beacham MKII!

Anyone of us that ever tried a Beacham V8 on road?

Someone had found the Jaguars world april 2013 issue with the Beacham story?


Best Patrick

 

Not a lot of progress to show - the little bits take so much time. The front and rear seat belt mechanisms required special mounting plates - while the rear fit within the seatback the front will require custom panels for the B pillars. The wiring harnesses and fuse boxes are all installed with fasteners and ground studs - still can't believe the electrical complexity of modern cars. If this thing works it will be a miracle! The main harness across the firewall needs to be extended about 24 inches - the original enters the ECU box inboard but my HVAC box at the center of the firewall prohibits this so the harness needs to extend to the outboard side. Of course this had to be the largest harness in the car - 124 wires.

All of the engine bay accessories are fitted and I'm really pleased with the final layout - the remote box housing the ABS pump, fuse boxes and relays really kept the clutter to a minimum. The wiper motor fit perfectly just forward of the passenger airbag, so this allowed me to locate the AC drier and service port where it can be accessed easily. Here are a few pics showing everything mounted except the main harness which will run across the firewall.

Next weekend we'll put the beast back on the rotisserie for finish welding and fabricate and mount brake and fuel lines. I ordered a custom bead rolling die to match the original profile on the rear spats - will enlarge the opening similar to Coombs spats and weld them in permanently. Till next time.

 

Doug,
So your relays and fuses are below the front lip of the rear seat? Cannot tell for sure where they are?
Lin

 

The projects grinds forward slowly. Thanks for the posts. Patrick, the beast will be black - something about black and all that chrome that just works on this car. Not too practical for a daily driver but...

Lin, that harness does cross below the rear seat bottom - the cushion protrudes a couple of inches so we'll box in and carpet up to the seat bottom.

I finally got the bead roller dies and just finished the rear fenders. Still a bit of profiling to complete at the bottom but otherwise satisfied with the outcome.

Finished mounting all the ancillaries - at least everything I can think of. Come to think of it there are some ballasts or transformers for the HID lights I forgot about - thanks a lot Primaz - one more thing ...

The race shop that was sitting on my front window frame mods has gotten busy with race season, so I took them back and started modifying them myself. I've never worked with brass and brazing so this should be interesting. If and when these come together the forward door opening on the tub needs to be modified to accept the wider frame and glass. That little 3" chrome mirror is looking better the more I think about it.

 

Hi Doug did you use the sunroof from the xjr and are fitting heated front and rear screens,any picture's or details of the mod's to rear hubs to fit splind hubs

Regards

luckie,

 

Luckie, I did use the XJR sunroof. The panel was virtually a perfect match for the Mark 2 in terms of compound roof curves. The frame needs a bit of modifying - the XJR roof is wide and relatively flat while the Mark 2 roof is narrower with increasing slope at the outer edges.

I do plan to purchase a heated rear screen. With the XJR heater and blowers/defroster I'm not worried about the windshield.

Here are a couple of pics of the rear hub mods. The machinist turned down the XJR hub center flange - it's important that this not protrude above the rotor surface since the splined hub needs to make full contact. He also reduced the diameter of the protruding flange on the splined hub to fit into the XJR hub. Fit here is critical to center the splined hub. You'll notice he took a shortcut and simply drilled out the bolt holes on the splined hub to fit the metric pattern of the XJR hub. A better way to do this is to drill the metric pattern offset from the original holes and weld the old ones up.

Worked on the boot lid mechanism today. The electric release button fits nicely where the original mechanism was. Will need to locate a small key cylinder somewhere on the lid - this helps in the event of a dead battery.
Also installed the 4 rear parking aid sensors - never had this feature on a car so don't know if it's desirable or stupid. Hopefully when the beast is in paint they won't stand out.

Fortunately I peeked into the exhaust manifolds when I pulled them before storing the engine. The shop that did the muffler work welded new flanges on the manifolds for the down pipes. Despite the large diameter flanges there was a severe choke point inside the original manifolds - these were off a Lincoln LS which used the normally aspirated Jag V8. I was able to open this up to almost the full 2 1/4" diameter of the new exhaust system, so the beast should breath well. Till next time.

 

Hi Doug,
Got any photos of the new boot latch and solenoid installed?
Thanks.

Lin

 

Can I get someone to post a picture of their rear headliner at the C (or is it D?) pillar? I'm fitting the XJR headliner since it has the proper recesses for the sunvisors and pocket for the opened sunroof. I'll have to reupholster the panel since it needs to be widened at the rear - see pic - you can just see the wood mounting for the rear light. At any rate I forget where the original headliner and pillar panel meet, and since both were pitched long ago a picture would be most appreciated.

Still working on all the finish welding and fabricating. Just fitting the fuel door took me the better part of a day, and the opening still isn't quite right - I coming to realize those body guys aren't that expensive after all -worth every penny they get.

 

is this the view you needed? 1960 MK2.

 

Perfect. I forgot that the headliner goes all the way down the pillar to the parcel shelf - thought there was a trim panel there. Thanks Clyde.

 

hi doug!
how did you mount rear shoks, did you use mount's from the xjr ? do you have any picture's it be great.
thanks.
luckie,

 

Luckie, the XJR shock/spring mounts are fine if you plan to use large diameter springs at the rear. I went with coil overs which simply require a bolt to the lower control arm and cross member. Here are a few pics of the setup. I think Beacham uses a U channel for the cross member - I used 2" square tubing (3/16" wall I believe) - with cut outs for the shocks. You'll notice the reinforcing plate/box at the sides of the tub - this distributes the suspension loads forward to the original leaf spring boxes (which are closed with 3/16" plate).

The drop section in the cross member is to accommodate the sump in the fuel tank. It's a bit of extra work to lower the tank all of 1 1/2" or so, but I wanted the tank as low as possible to avoid any filling problems as the tank nears the full level. I'll never know if this was necessary.

I took some closeup shots of the bushings on the cross member to give you an idea of the shock angles. I tack welded these with the suspension in place and set at ride height to get everything aligned, then disassembled everything before finish welding. I think 1/4" wall tubing would be fine for the cross member - if nothing else the heavy stuff helps with the weight distribution Hope this helps.

 

The wire wheel I ordered from the Dayton folks finally arrived. Primaz, you were right that with the correct offset the 17" x 8" fit with no clearance issues. I don't think there would be enough room at the rear with stock skirts. The only compromise with the wider wheels was the need for a center laced wheel which locates the wires in the center or well of the wheel. I think the original bead laced wheel looks better, but not a big deal.

Still finishing up the little stuff - sealing the steering column at the firewall, front ABS sensor mounts, etc. Hoping to get the beast off to paint in about 2 months - so that means 4 or 6 ...

 

Great news! I am glad you went with a custom offset wheel as that is so common for most other performance folks with other cars but for some reason Jaguar owners seem to never be open to that. The wider meat on the ground will give you a lot more enjoyment for handling, and increased safety with that powerful v8. I am running the same 245 tire both on my Jaguar and on my Datsun 240Z and on the 240Z it makes such an amazing difference as is handles so much better than a narrower tire. On my car, a 3.8s there was no issues clearing the fenders.


That work you did on the steering rack and ECU vent is pretty cool; you really can fabricate Doug so cool! I am also finishing my bits and I hope our last goal of end of June enables me to start daily driving the Jag. You are on an incredible pace, keep up the good work....

 

Doug,
Noticed the spouting down spouts in the background of the picture of the new front tire. Are you going to make lap coolers? ;>)

 

Doug,
Can you share pictures of the car to rotisserie mounting brackets? Front, rear, attached to car and unattached? Getting ready to place and order.


Thanks,
Clyde Gantz