Here is a good picture of why the stock A-arms are not good for lowering the car and putting maximum tires on a Jaguar. The stock A-arms when you put coilovers and lower it the A-arms will hit the rim and to stop that temporarily I had to limit the turning ability and then it turned like a bus. Also when you lower it you change the geometry and you cannot shim it enough so you will waste a tire in literally a few thousand miles.


The old A-arms were close but we could not get adjust the camber enough and they were not the same. Basically at max we were still a little too negative. The tire wear was ok but probably lost about half of the tire life. Michigan Metal Works made an attempt to make a drop spindle but the weird shape could not take the heat treatment to make it strong and it ended up looking like a fire breathing dragon melted it into an unrecognizable piece of scrap metal. So instead of that we re-measured everything and changed the design so we would have enough camber adjustment without a new spindle. This set up will allow you to fit a 17" x 8.5" rim on all four corners with 245 wide tires with no rubbing and lower the car for a nice stance.

 

yes I see you have got better turning ability ,
but how much have you moved the front upright pivot point to get your camber that you want,
running 19" wheels on mine.
thanks,
David.

 

I will try to let you know once we install these improved lower A-arms. The current lower custom A-arms with the additional QA1 coilovers were the only new custom pieces not stock (other than some minor mods to mount the sway bar) and while we came close with adjusting it with the shims it could not be adjusted more due to the A-arm itself. The new ones reduce the distance from the bushing to the ball joint mount 1/2" shorter toward the bushing will then enable plenty of adjustment with shims to get both sides perfect. We also changed the openings to mount the coilover to fit better as the old one needed some mods to make it fit. When you are making custom one off suspension parts and while I shipped them a stock suspension setup they did not have the car nor coilovers, etc. so sometimes things are not perfect but this new set should be...


I think that if anyone wants to go full coilovers this new MMW lower A-arm with QA1 coilovers will enable it to be done on the stock suspension. Having the Jaguar with 245 wide tires front and back really makes a huge improvement in the handling.

 

FYI, If you are wanting to lower your Jaguar 3.8s or MKII I think this is the ideal way to go. I wanted to report that the redesigned custom lower A arms and longer coil-overs are working great. The car has a nice stance and now I am getting very even tire wear with the ability to adjust the camber just they way I want which is slightly negative but only mildly so that I get full use of the tires. I have adjustable coil-overs on all four corners. The car is running 17" 245 wide 40 series run flats on all four wheels and the extra rubber really improves the handling. The car handles well but is still a smooth ride that is not harsh at all; a perfect balance for this daily driven Jaguar.

If anyone is interested let me know and I can help you get a set of the custom A-arms

 

It seems like so many people think they can cut in front of a nice cool car and finally my train horn just got an upgrade that really makes it blast super loud! I had installed the Wolo Orient Express four trumpet train horn that was sold with a small electric direct drive compressor.
That worked just so so, as train horns really need more volume and higher pressures than any direct drive compressor can deliver. The problem with my Jaguar is that I have added so many modern options and the car is so low that I could not find any kit that would fit. What
I did was have "Dirty Works" a company mainly making custom air ride suspensions for motorcycles make a custom air tank to my specifications. That enabled me to squeeze into the only place that I could find any space which was in the rear before the gas tank. It is a
stainless steel tank tied to a Viaair trunk mounted air compressor. Now the horn sounds incredibly cool and loud! One other cool feature I did was run an automotive air line/fitting into my tool storage box in the trunk; now I can easily plug my coiled 25' air line and fill the air
of any tire using the same new air compressor system.

 

Baddd assss! That tank looks like a bomb hanging in a bomb bay door.
Sticking with the ahhh ooooga horn I found in my inner fender.

 

Finally I can give those idiots that should have their license revoked the horn! Northern CA is starting to get like Socal with so many maniacs that tailgate and drive like morons so a loud horn is becoming as important as your headlights.

 

Primaz, have you switched the STOP/DRIVING bulb socket with the TURN SIGNAL socket at the tail lamps?

this raises the STOP/DRIVING lights to the TOP position, and lowers the TURN SIGNAL bulbs to the lower position.

this results in more visibility and safety when the brakes are pressed.

in my car, I went a step further and reproduced the LOWER tail light lenses in Amber color to differentiate the TURN SIGNALS from the Red STOP/DRIVING lights.

but you don't need the Amber lenses, you can just switch the bulb sockets at the tail lamp itself, aince they are removable.

 

Thanks for the information. I kind of like the all red tail lamps but if I change my mind I will send you a PM. One thing I did do is to add these LED license plate bolts which light up a bright red on all four bolts holding the license plate which helps people see that I am braking. Old cars do not have as large or as many rear brake lights so these give a little bit more exposure but are more stealthy.

 

This picture does not really show the true brightness as the car was in reverse and in real life the red it much more vibrant and stands out well. These are an easy upgrade and will provide four bright red LED lights when you press the brake to help people see you are braking but these look like plain chrome nuts when not lite up. I also have an LED back up light on the bottom section of the license plate as the stock lights really do not provide much visibility. The license plate also has a back up camera built in that displays on the rear view mirror. These four LED bolts provide the brightness/visibility of a third brake light without being seen when not in use.

 

The Jaguar 3.8s came with a good 4 wheel independent suspension setup and with a bit of customizing it is now transformed to really hug the roads and perform like other modern performance sedans. The custom coil over suspension has been powder coated, rear end cage braced along with the rear lower A-arms gusseted to hold up to the V8. The car handles so well yet still provides a smooth comfortable ride, whether going thru the canyons or cruising at 80 miles per hour. Even when the car is going 75-100 mph it does not float like a boat yet drives with nice controlled handling and still provides a smooth ride.

 

This is the Wolo Orient Express train horn that comes with a direct drive compressor but by replacing the direct drive to a 100% duty trunk air compressor tied to a small 150 PSI tank it really wakes up and provides a loud toot with a tap or a decently loud train horn by leaving the horn button down longer...

 

Originally I upgraded the stock brakes to the Wilwood 4 piston brake upgrade and they were better than the stock but not ideal. The problem was they were solid rotors so they cannot handle a lot of continual braking if you are racing the car. I went on a drive with a fast pace car group with my brakes at about 50% in the front and after 2 hours of hard mountain cornering I vaporized the brake fluid and lost most of the braking. The problem is that the Jaguar is an automatic so to keep up I had plenty of power to accelerate the car to 60 mph into a 30 mph curve but then I had to slam the brakes to corner into it at about 40 or so. After lunch I regained the brakes but wasted the brakes down to no pads and the rotors were wasted.

Now I upgraded the front to Fosseway 6 piston 302 mm vented rotors. These work fantastic! and work with the stock brake system; the only thing needed was a proportioning valve to adjust the front to back correctly. I have not had a chance to take many good photos and will update later but these brakes are the way to go for the old Jaguar saloons!

 

Hello Primaz,
I have been following with great interest every step in your journey. Great documentation I must say!
This thread will be a how-to guide once I decide to do my own LS-powered Mk2. I have had this idea for a while, and this thread made it that little bit closer.
I noticed that you had cooling issues with htat tiny grille and engine compartment (compared to what that engine is used to in its previous life of course!). I couldn't help shake the thought that good and strategically located air vents could solve the problem. Look at the Coombs Mk2's from the sixties and Ian Callum restomod Mk2 for reference. The former had bonnet vents while the later has side vents in the fenders. And neither has an air-hungry V8!
Of course, I could be wrong but I just wanted to share my thoughts.
Again, it is an absolutely amazing build that you've made for yourself. Enjoy it -- and maybe let us in through more YT videos?

 

Actually when I purchased the car it had louvered vents on the hood very similar to the white Jaguar you posted but I did not want the car to look modified as I wanted it to look stock and be more of a sleeper. Yes those vents would have helped a lot but then to me it would loose the stock appearance. By adding the front ram air intake below the the car and the vent ports in the rear inner fender well did solve the problem of the engine bay getting too hot. The Callum car you posted in silver has those side vents but I do not think they are really that functional as that I doubt would help with air in the engine bay. Also the front brakes I doubt would benefit that much from those fender vents.

I hope you get your restomod Jaguar started soon. I was going to get a Mark II but ended up getting a 3.8s instead and am glad I did as I like the rear IRS for better handling and the overall style to me looks a bit sleeker. If you have not purchased your Jaguar yet you might consider a 3.8s but either way both would be nice cars. Right now the car is doing great with the upgraded 6 piston Fosseway brakes and I highly recommend those as the Wilwoods were just not enough for the big horsepower...

thanks...

 

Primaz,
I agree on the advantages of the IRS of course. Thing is, to my eye the Mk2 is much "better balanced" to look at (especially in a racing-like trim like the ones I attached here). Looks are subjective of course!
There is a shop somewhere near my region that specialized in making complete LS swaps. But I would like to get the body prepared first (rust and dents treated, engine bay modified to fit 5.3 or 5.7 V8). From what I understood from your posts, the only preparation required at this stage would be to cut the passenger side firewall a bit to allow for the V8 to sit comfortably. Is that right?

 

There were two things, one was a minor section of the passenger firewall and the other was the inner fender openings toward the rear of the engine bay to enable the hot air of the engine bay to exit out.

 

Primaz,
Excuse my ignorance here, but I have a question about wire wheels and spinners. They do look beautiful on these cars, but:

1. are they less safe than the bolt type ones? Hence the move away from them.
2. if so, can the center spinner from a bolt type one be somehow retrofitted onto a bolt type wheel (Obviously without affecting the ride or safety)? I especially think your Jag would look even more stunning (and more factory!) with Jaguar two-eared spinners in the middle

 

I think price was a factor in moving from wire wheels and hubs to pressed steel wheels and studs or bolts. Wire wheels not only cost more in materials but also man power to string the spokes in to the wheel and then balance them to true. Pressed steel wheels are a lot cheaper and can be mass produced.
There is no safety element as the spinners are set up with a left hand thread on one side and a standard right hand thread on the opposite side so the direction of the wheel turning is always trying to tighten the spinner rather than loosen it. Formula one still use hubs and spinnersiet it iolt rather than dog eared spinners. As long as the spinner is done up tight and checked on a regular basis you should not have any problems.
Converting your car from steel wheels with bolts to hubs and spinners is fairly easy. You can buy a set of hubs and spinners second hand but there are companies who sell a conversion kit which is new and for peace of mind it might be worth paying the extra for the new hubs. Wire wheels can also be bought second hand but these are normally wheels which have seen their best and are being changed for new on their own car.
I converted my S Type to wire wheels from Steel wheels a couple of years ago. Fairly straight forward work as long as you have all the right parts handy and a work shop hence why the conversion kit is better than buying second hand. My S type now looks sporty where as before, in my opinion, it looked like an old mans car. Even though I am an old man I wanted it to look sportier. Some prefer steel wheels so it is all down to personal choice.

 

Cas3958,

You are pretty much spot on.

The wire wheels to me are also very dated and look too much like an "old man's car". While some old timers and purists still prefer the wire wheels, I would say that most of the general public would agree that they look dated and just not that appealing anymore. You can get some modern wheels at a lower cost if you compare brand new wire wheels BUT for me I also changed the wheels not just for appearance but for the ability to put the widest possible wheel/tire. That requires in most cases a 3 piece wheel or once in a while some companies will make a 2 piece wheel to your desired offset but not that likely. I choose the Complete Custom Wheel (CCW) billet aluminum 3 piece wheel because the style to me matched the car and I was able to choose the exact custom offset so the car now has 17" x 8.5" wheels with 245 wide 45 series tires on all four corners. CCW wheels are definitely not the cheapest 3 piece wheel nor the most expensive but they do run about $700 per wheel, FYI I sold my set of 5 wire wheels in very good shape for next to nothing.

The wire wheel knock offs besides being out of style to most are obviously easy to steal if that is a concern? All modern wheels have options for locking lug nuts as well as many styles of lug nuts with different anodized colors, etc. which are what people often use to personalize their wheels.

As far as safety there is no difference other than if you are running more taller and wider wheels generally there are more current technology tires available but only if you are comparing the people whom are more passionate about keeping the car 100% stock as the old 15" wheels, especially the stock Jaguar size are not sizes that the new modern compounds are generally made available. The one thing for safety is that with a wider tire and better compounds the car will handle much better and thus be more safe.

Lastly as far as making a center spinner piece could be possible but I have no clue the cost? That would depend on the type of wheel you choose to see if it is even feasible and if so I bet the costs would be extremely expensive most likely as it would probably be a one off CNC produced part? The reason is not many people want the look of a spinner in general let alone one with a Jaguar emblem. You can get center caps where you can put the Jaguar facial image, etc. but spinners are just a bit dated for most nowadays.

I think modern wheels look so much better on a classic Jaguar if you pick the right style, generally more star or BBS style patterns...