TECH...well sorta... JAG IFS into mid fifties F100

I would strongly advise not welding the subframe into place, Jag spent millions of £££'s developing this setup to use the rubber mounts, It works considerably better with them.

 

Langly, I agree that welding the subframe is not as desirable as soft mounting it which is why mine is also soft mounted. Soft mounting a subframe in general is not that common on this side of the pond. It sounds like the K3 frame rails are quite narrow compared to our trucks. The F1 frame rails are pinched in the front 2 inches compared to the F100 which really allows the Jag mounts to "fall under" the F-1 frame rails, just about a perfect fit. One minor advantage to welding is that you can avoid using the bulky special uni joint at the end of the pinion. It likes to interfere with exhaust manifolds.
Say hello to Holmsey for me! He helped me with my installation. If I recall correctly, you were a big help to him during his build.

 

Subscribe !

 

firstly its Langy or Steve

Will say hi to Holmsey for you, Yes Dave was having advice thrown at him from all corners so i stepped in to help, his main problem was 99% of the advice he was getting was from people that hadn't actually done the job in real time, they had all done it in their heads though

I know people that have welded the subframe into position and have found them to develope cracks later, In my opinion the subframe is to thin a gauge metal to weld in, if its allowed to flex even slightly cracks will appear eventually plus of course there is no isolation.

My own F100 was clipped with a Jag in 1997 although i had installed many Jag IFS & IRS over the years and therefore encountered most of the pitfalls that occur.
My truck was a working truck in my Film & TV business towing travel trailers around the country and it performed flawlessly until i sold it in 2009, I covered around 88,000 miles with the Jag front clip and the only parts i replaced were brake pads and i added a pair of adjustable shocks which were well worth it, When not being used as a working truck i found it to ride and handling exactly like the Jag the clip came from, the brakes were fantastic and the handling was excellent with many a sportscar left thinking why is that old truck still on my rear bumper

 

Forgot to say, it don't really matter where the mounts fall on the frame rails as you have to make mounts anyways so just make them to fit, Can't see the problem myself ???

 

Agreed. In the Jag the front mounts don't line up one on top of the other anyway, they are cantilevered off the rails.

Something I forgot to mention was to look for cracks around where the rack mounting brackets are welded to the cross member. I have seen a couple that were cracked there. Easy enough to fix while its all pulled apart, but a serious pain to fix on the side of a highway....

 

I have owned more than a couple of Jaguars. There's currently a Chevy powered Jag XJS in the garage now that is my DD.

The one thing I would add to this excellent thread is to swap the old rubber steering rack bushing for the poly version. There is a lot of slop in the original setup that can make the steering vague and unresponsive as the bushes age.

Also, Jaguar used a generic GM pump on most of the earlier XJ6/XJS line, so the rack is very happy with any of those.

 

The point i was making about the pump is that you need the correct type, A pump for a steering box won't be any good for a rack.

 

Why? the front end in a Falcon is fine, just rebuild it and upgrade the brakes.

I have one sitting at the shop, if I can get to it today I'll measure it.

Yep, just need to make sure it's the correct pressure. Buying one that has the proper part number for the Jag is cheap anyway and mounts in the regular GM mounts.

 

Steve/Langy,
My apology for the spelling error. The info about seeing crack develop is good input. I have not seen anyone fess up to cracks as a problem. I agree that the cross member is thin.
I originally bought the Jag crossmember wandering thru a junkyard in the late 80's. I did not know original what it came out of since there was no obvious doner car there. I asked the proprietor what it came out of. I took out my tape measure and took some measurements. I went home and crawed under Willard, my 49 F-1. I bought it back then but did not get around to fitting it up until about 4 years ago. It was difficult to find guys that had installed the Jag in our trucks. It has been popular in the UK for a number of years but not so much in the USA. It took a while to establish some contacts that had done installations here in the USA.

I did spent time with Kent Fuller out in California talking about the installation. Kent is a well known drag chassis builder in Ca. from back in the 60's and 70's, a really interesting guy. He had done several Jag installations in the distant past. The attached link is the Kent Fuller story written by Mike Bishop who hooked me up originally with Kent. http://www.nitrogeezers.com/Legends - Kent Fuller.htm

 

As you mentioned its been a common modification in england since the late 60's, I would think that 90% of hotrodders here in england have fitted a Jag IRS at some point in their lives
Although not necessarily correctly

 

Steve,
When you get a chance look up the link that I provided on Kent Fuller. I have a trip planned to Ca in January and am going to try and see him again. We talked for hours the last time.
Bill

 

Check earlier in this thread. 80's vintage XJ: 59.5 hub to hub, 28.5 between mounts (front and rear, probably at the centers). Rear mounts are 2" behind the axle centerline, and the front mounts are 16" in front of the axle centerline. It's 33" between the towers at the frame level (where the towers meet the crossmember).

 

Well, I'm gonna go for it. It really seems like the most cost effective, easiest to adapt, IFS for a novice builder like myself to go with. And if the mounting points on the Jag IFS is 28.5.....it should sit right under my rails. Again, the rails on my truck are 29 3/4". If anything, the fabbed up mounts I make would hang outside the rails a bit rather than inside like the Fords. One thing I'm not seeing is if you guys are boxing the frames or if it's needed. Seems like if it is soft mounted rather than welded, the frame flex wouldn't be a bad thing and could make for a nice ride. Welding it in and not boxing, maybe that's how some of them end up cracking???
I have started looking on craigslist and such with no luck. I found a complete car with a blown motor for $800. The car looks incredible and the guy swears it only has 28K miles on it. I offered him $500 and he said yes. It's an 86' XJ6. is this what I'm looking for?

 

Sadly, the tech links such as geocities are expired, and leaves some question marks for the unknowing.

EDIT: Here's a pic showing the IH frame Iron Maiden is talking about.

 

The 86 Jag will be a series 3 which is what you want. I would go and get it. You can sell the rear IRS if you do not use it and other part outs are possible such that the IFS could be free.
I chose to box the front of the frame on my F-1. It is not absolutely necessary, in fact, Kent Fuller told me that it was not necessary. I was surprised at his response to the question when I asked him however I can't think of a more qualified person to answer the question. He built hundreds of drag chassis in his career. His list of custormers included guys like Tommy Ivo and Don Prudhomme amongst others.

 

Very nice. I just got back from looking at it. Agreed to $500. I'm meeting my friend there at 9am tomorrow to tow it to his yard. My friend, and coworker at UPS, owns a tow business. He let me strip the Ford 8.8 rear out of an Explorer on his lot before he sold it to Pick-N-Pull. That's what I'm putting in the back of the Harvester. He's towing it to his yard and after I'm done taking whatever I can use or sell to get the $500 back, it's his to sell to Pick-N-Pull. We both make out. Car is in great shape. I didn't look at the odometer but he claims the car only has 28K on it. The motor had a cracked head after being driven without water. the motor is torn apart in the car. He said it's a different motor,? I don't care but I hope the 28K miles is true as the front end should be in fresh shape. especially the steering rack ; ) I measured the front donut rubber mounts and they are about 28.5" center to center like mentioned before. It was raining and I didn't want to lay in the puddle to really look under the car. From what I can see, it's very oily and dirty, like a car with 128K on it. But, it's all torn apart and has obviously had motor/head problems so it might look like that due to those mechanical issues. Think I found a winner though.

 

I'll have some time to strip it down, but other than the front end with steering up to the column, rearend, driveline, wheels. Anything else I should grab to either use or to easily sell?

 

the gas caps for one..

 

People buy em'?

 

Lots of goodies really.
The wiper system is great as it has a flexi cable and remote mounted motor. Fits my Lincoln perfect. Also the window motors I'm using as well.
I have put in both front and rear ends as well.

 

I read something about the wiper system. Not sure how it would work but I will tear it out if not too much trouble. My 46' Harvester has the wipers above the windshield. There is a small 6V motor for each wiper. I'm going to 12V so either way a new system needs to be used. That would be cool if it could work. Do I need to tear the switch out for it?
Window motors? Out of my skill level to switch my windows to power.

 

Hey Iron Maiden; are you planning on documenting your swap here or on another forum? I would like to follow along.

Scott.

 

I would give some serious consideration to pulling the rear suspension and adapting it to your project. Consider grabbing the master cylinder as it is already matched to the Jag brakes. Power steering pump. I've never seen a Jag fuel tank, but the tank and cap may be useful if you relocate the tank from behind the seat of the Binder. Lots of interior buts and pieces may come in handy including seats if they fit your style. If you keep the Jag IRS, then grab the drive-shaft too.

Scott.

 

I have 2 build threads going on two other sites. It's the same thing on both sites but obviously each is unique in member particapation. My build didn't seem traditional enough to have here and I didn't want to start a flame thread. OldIHC, the International Harvester site, is great for info on these trucks but a pain to post pictures on so I'm not doing it there either. Here is my build threads on the two other sites. Again, each one pretty much has all the same pictures. Info is different as each one has different responses and info provided by their unique members. Whenever I make any progress, which hasn't been for a while ; ), I take pictures and post up on both of them. From there is where it differs. But, I'm sure you get what I'm saying. Before I get flamed by this site for doing my build threads on those Bad Sites, let me explain. Before I got the truck home, I figured it was a rust bucket. So I was gonna do a Rat. But once the truck got home and I found very little rust other than the typical surface patina, I realized it had to be a full fender'd Rod. But I can't be all traditional as I don't have the funds. It's a build to keep my sanity through divorce, and to teach my two young boys to turn a wrench. I'm learning as I go as well, thanks to guys like you all. Read one of my threads and you will understand.
You will also see why I'm so excited about the Jag IFS. It's finally giving me a good direction on my front end. I wanted to go old school with a dropped axle and disc brakes, but I don't know enough about steering to make it work without issues like bumpsteer and such. Think this Jag setup will be easy and cool if done right. Have a read, this longbed should end up cool.

http://www.killbillet.com/showthread.php?t=24127

http://www.ratrodsrule.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14815

 

Yes you will need the wiper switch to go with the motor. They are wired rather strangely. The whole car is assembled with high quality UNF bolts that are worth taking. The power aerials seem to bring good $$$ too. The gear shifter is heaps better than a B&M too. Take the rear yoke off the tailshaft to go with the rear end. Cut out the section of the floor where the rear radius arms attach, they will be very handy for a rear end conversion. Decent blinker switches are hard to find too, especially with a working hazard switch, again $$$. If the inside is as nice as the outside you may even sell the interior complete.

 

I'm gonna take the rear and driveline to sell. I already have the rear I want. Ford Explorer 8.8 with disc brakes. 3.73 gears with Trac-Loc, 31 spline axles. Correct width.... Plus I already picked up new spring hangers and such. Not that it was a lot, but it's already figured out and I'm trying to move forward to get it on the road. Not that I'm close but everytime I change something I already did it's a step backwards. the parallel leaf setup in the back will be fine and I can still use the bed for light loads if needed. If the rear out of the Jag gets me most of the $500 back, it did its job.

 

I installed a 80XJ6 in a 48 Ford F1. Kudos the the guys over at FTE 49 Willard, RHooper and others. Here are some pics.

 

46Steel, yours seems to sit a bit higher than most I've seen. Thought they end up lower than that. You have any close up shots of the mounts? That's the only thing I've never seen on my searches. Plenty of shots like what you just posted, but nothing of just the fabbed up mounts up close.

 

46 Steel,

Did you swap both the front and rear?

Scott