Posted here earlier this week in regards to a Jag set up in my frame. Just for the hell of it I had a friend of mine who runs a local chassis race shop in town drop by for a reality check (on my end that is)! Here's what I have, a Brookville frame with a Jag rear, 5" dropped Magnum with a reverse eye Poises. Most of the mounts are in engine, trans, 4-bar front, etc. He basically said my engine sits back too far, my trans sits too low soooo, you know the rest of the story. At any rate, my dilema, should I pay him $2K to dial in my chassis? By no means am I made out of money, but will I be ahead of the game? Just looking for feedback, Ed
The Jag rear sounds like a lot of trouble. Sell it for 2k, check a few other A chassis...do it yourself.
[ QUOTE ] He basically said my engine sits back too far, my trans sits too low soooo, you know the rest of the story. [/ QUOTE ] Looks like a '70s restorod inspired chassis,intended to be full fendered. Engines were typically mounted lower to maintain interior space. The stock splash aprons covers all that up. I'm assuming the body is bolted to the frame in the correct position,front to back ? Once the rad is mounted,I want to see how much this guy can move the motor forward. It won't be too fucking much,before the water pump pulley gets into the rad core. As long as the motor clears the firwall,and the trans clears the hump, and you don't need to pull the distributor, I don't know what he's talking about there. The coil overs are supposed to mount out further,not sure why they are like that.
You're good, that what the guy was going for. I have full steel fenders, aprons, etc. that WILL NOT, I repeat, WILL NOT be going back on the truck. Yes, the body is bolted to the frame in the stock holes, dist. will be tight but It will fit. The only thing that I'm worried about is the rather steap angle of the drive shaft? How bad does it look to you guy's? BTW - I may sell the fenders, running boards, etc> Ed
it's hard to tell from just pictures, but it looks OK to me so far for a full fendered model A pickup.....this guy that's giving you advice,,,you say he is a race car chassis builder, has he ever built a model A rod? i think if you moved you motor forward you will be into the radiator.. i'd get advice from someone who builds rods
as long as your driveline angle is good you should be fine. and you can tweak that at the transmission mount tim
I think it looks pretty good. You'll be able to dial it in with time. As you get more items in the car, you may weigh it down and then adjust the springs to reduce the drive shaft angle. Or maybe raise the motor some, that should not be too dificult. It is hard to tell whats wrong if anything from the pictures. You are just excited, anxious, or worried about the problems that may be lurking. That is part of the fun of the project - you'll laugh later down the line and say -why did I sweat that? I surley wouldn't hand the guy 2K that you could better spend on parts, I think you'd be sorry afterwards. Work it out yourself and If you get stumped, find a friend that'll help for fun.
I have A chassis with a Ford Windsor in it, it sits higher than yours the header flange is about an inch above the top of the rail, the motor fills the engine bay without looking too high and the gearbox isnt too low underneath. The rear end seams to be jacked up too much- the shafts should about level at ride hight. If you put a straight edge on the yoke of the diff (use a piece of square tube vertically) and one on gearbox end and measure the top to top and bottom to bottom this will give the right pinion angle, also the top of the intake manifold were the carb bolts to should be level in both planes at ride hight.
"also the top of the intake manifold were the carb bolts to should be level in both planes at ride hight." Not really ! The Jag rear must be level therefore the crankshaft centerline should be level as well....not the carb mount. I agree that the Jag halfshafts should also be as level as possible. All of these parameters must be met with the car at finished ride height.
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