I am sure you can reasonably graft the XJ6 into the front. I have never done it but as I have shown you there are a number of examples of others modifying a MKII to fit a Jaguar IRS so it is doable and way better than your 4 link thought. These are great sedans with good handling for their day and in my opinion it would be sad to see it turned into a hot rod.


I recommend that you research fabricators and you might be surprised what the cost may be as you just need them to the cutting and welding since you can put the mechanicals in yourself. Remember Jaguars are NOT a cheap car to build but worth it to do it justice. It is extremely rare to find a person skilled in all of the many old school skills that was necessary to create these cars so you need to save up and realize that many aspects of this car should be done by a pro. Things like the wood people think it is a DIY and then they do it and it looks that way. Repairing damaged book matched veneer to the level that is needed is not for an amateur. Since there are already people whom have done this already you should be able to copy their design and just get a shop to do the hard work. You are in Australia, right? there are great fabricators there so you should easily find the talent you need.


If money is an issue just save up and get the car done and do the rear suspension later.

 

I'm not sure how you think fitting a four link setup is going to make it handle worse than the setup it already has in it.


It's a leaf sprung live axle suspension setup in the rear, a 4 link keeps the same principle of a live axle and upgrades it in every other aspect. Yes its a setup drag racers use because its a great way to have complete control over the rear ends angles compared to a normal live axle design.
The V8 supercars in Australia used that exact setup until 2 years ago when they changed to a sequential transaxle configuration. They sure as hell turned a corner.


I never said it was perfect, just a lot easier to fit than IRS, again mate, it's all just ideas being thrown around.


If I really cared about this jags cornering abilities and wanted it to handle perfectly I'd design a transaxle setup to fit the rear end, not much more effort required than going a modern IRS setup, but that isn't what this car is about, I want it to be an all rounder, and yeah, probably more towards a hot rod style than original.


Hence why I am restoring another one to original specs too.


I love the shape of these cars, yet I want to try something different from the norm.

 

I do hope you get these Jags on the road soon. You do not have to have everything done at the same time as parts of your goal can be added later. In the US what I have seen is the more hot rod mods do not resell that well but modified cars like the ones I have posted actually can sell for more than the best restored stock car. The reason here is people like you and I love the looks of this era but most want it to perform like a modern sports sedan (like a modern Lexus or BMW) and there are many with the means to afford to spend big dollars. The Beecham's sell well over $100K, the Callam is making a limited run of about 10 or so and I believe that is a crazy figure of over $400K, and the JD Classics are somewhere from the Beecham to even more depending on your preferences.


You should build it the way you want that will make you happy. Just know that one path will reduce your resell value if you ever sell it. Right now many quality restomods are selling much more than numbers matching stock classics. Restomod muscle cars with old school carbureted V8's do not sell as much as restomod muscle cars with moden fuel injected LS type motors now. I virtually gave away my old 350 and 700R that came with my car as everyone in the US is junking those in the restomod market. Unless it is a numbers matching for that car the old carb V8's are dirt on resell now.


One thing no matter how you build it is that you will get plenty of thumbs up as these cars no matter what are so rare to see on a regular basis

 

We seem to be very much on the same page with our thinking.


Fuel injection is my area of expertise, while I've owned my share of carb'd cars, its not what I want here. Resto-mod, modernizing of the old car, whatever people want to call it, I just want to keep the shape of this body, with modern underpinnings, the point of this post is to throw around ideas and that's what happening.






Australia has nothing like the support America does when it comes to cars, we've got close to 1/20th the population spread over an area almost as big, makes me jealous sometimes, so as for the resale of the car, if I build it how I want it, I cannot see myself selling it, every car I've built so far has been a compromise in one way or another, I want to really test my mechanical and engineering abilities.


The buying power you guys have is amazing, its easily half/third cost for me to buy genuine BMW parts from over there and get them delivered than it is to get them from a dealer here, and wait time is usually less too.

 

Stoney85,


You said you have an RB motor to rebuild? is that a Nissan skyline RB? You do know that the world's fastest RB Skyline motors hail from your country - RIPS Racing (Rotura) that builds up to 1200 HP reliable inline Nissan 6 cylinder motors. FYI, I plan on ordering a complete engine/trans with full induction from them.


There are a good handful of others like me that have basically created their own version of the Callam or Beecham cars, which are all basically keeping the exterior fairly stock but modernizing the car. Some want to keep every item Jaguar and use a modern Jag V8, others like me went with an all aluminum GM LS V8. You could do a similar restomod like the JD Classics with the Jag inline but that race motor is lot and for me I know the LS is good for trouble free at least 250,000 miles.


What is the real reason why you are apprehensive about the IRS install? Is it that you yourself do not have the metal fabrication skill? If so I bet you can find someone in your country to do it and it will be worth it.

 

I'm not apprehensive, I'm just looking at what's an easier option than a whole sheetmetal rear end, with new chassis mounting points and so on, a set of inner wheel tubs and new mounting ears for the 4 link is a much easier setup to make, but the cost of parts for the 4 link will probably be much more than a second hand IRS setup. Comes down to cost vs time(labour)


Maybe an MX5 setup might be another option, I'd prefer not to be shortening axles on top of everything else.


The LS motor was my first choice, so easy to work on, compact yet powerful, readily accessible, can pick up a complete running Holden Commodore from as little as $2000, and aftermarket support is amazing.


My other toy is a 350kw R34 skyline, used to be making over 450kw with more until a valve failure destroyed a fully built motor (even cracking the N1 block!) current setup was just using a basic rebuilt motor which cracked a ring land, so I'm combining all the salvageable good parts from the built motor, along with a set of Tomei pistons for a fresh forged rebuild, eagle rods, arp studs throughout, nitto oil pump, R34 crank, race prepped and polished, a very strong bottom end hopefully, along with all the usual oiling mods, 8L rwd sump and baffles, head I'm keeping stock for now, but have a JHH built head with supertech valvetrain that needs repair work on one combustion chamber due to valve head failure.


RIPS are the kiwi boys doing some amazing things with the RB series motors, there is a few companies down under that build some colossal GTR's, my friends at Mercury Motorsport have NITTO2, the worlds fastest radial tyred AWD GTR.

 

I still think the IRS is the way to go and another advantage is there is a huge aftermarket options as these are used in Cobras and many other custom cars. Thus you could get a newer IRS and even if the half shafts or lower control arms need to be shorter or longer there are plenty of places that will make one to your spec.


I can tell you first hand that my LS aluminum block/head 5.3 liter which puts out about 450-460 HP is very well balanced weight wise in the Jag as it is lighter than the original inline 6. The car is a daily driver for me and this power plant is just awesome in this car as I pull consistent 0-60 times right now @ 3.9 seconds. This car has just brutal acceleration which is shocks a lot of people I leave them in the dust.


I am planning on getting a RIPS racing 850 HP RB34 to go into my Primadonna Z car. I cannot wait to get that or potentially higher HP into that famous Z car and finally be able to spin those monster 345 wide tires in the rear. Here is a pic since you sound like a Z car fan

 

If the XJ6 stuff can be fitted without too much effort then it will be used, but a modern IRS setup would be ideal though, may as well take advantage of doing the work, our local Ford Falcon is a dime a dozen and the rear end can be had for peanuts, and is a modern dual blade arm IRS setup in a complete package, there's countless options out there, and I guess its whether I have some desire to stick with Jag parts only.


The stock driveline wont be staying, as you said, its just too heavy, and no support, plus the sound of an 8 is music, but so is a wastegate... hmmmm


Never seen a Z like that before! documented build thread anywhere?


My first car build was a Datto 1600 (P510) rotisserie build on apprenticeship wage.

 

My Z car is a 1971 240Z and it has been featured in Z Car Enthusiasts, Kit Car Magazine, and has won many car shows. It is a very famous 240Z but has not been on the street for many years as am doing a complete restoration and a lot of performance upgrades along with a new lighter body with some minor modern touches being incorporated.


It has such a following that here is a WEB site someone created that I do not even know about my car, that is pretty weird but cool,


https://balangproject.wordpress.com/tag/primadonna/


The car is a street car, has a 9 point cage, runs 345 wide tires on 13" wide rear rims, 285 front tires on 11" wide rims. There is zero bondo as the car is held in with hidden bolts, the hood is a tilt front end. This car was what started the wing craze today but this wing is very functional and can keep this Z car very stable at speeds approaching 200 MPH. This car can to a hard two lane freeway change at over 165 mph with no problems and pulls well over 1 G. When I restore it back to the street it will have a RIPS racing engine with enough power to go well over 200 MPH.