New to the Forum - so Hello.

We have a 1968 Mk2 340 and we are hoping to lower the front end around an Inch.

I have found a company that specialises in parts for racing Jaguars, as we will only be using this for the road - feels like this may be overkill.

Does anyone have any experience of lowering a Mk2? We want to achieve a small amount of rake and I was hoping that maybe springs from another model from a similar era or another manufacturer may achieve this.

Excuse my ignorance if its more involved than just swopping the spring - we have yet to strip the front suspension.

Im sure I will have a few more questions during the restoration but thanks for now.

Will

 

These cars do not have much as far as performance suspensions so there is not cheap way out. Going with shortened springs could work for very small lowering but going with shorter springs are not ideal as you are reducing travel. I had custom front controls arms fabricated by Michigan Metal Works and used QA1 adjustable coil overs for front and back. My car is an S type so it has four wheel independent suspension stock. The rears are easy for coil overs but the front is not cheap but can be done.


You should post what you found as finding any performance suspension mods are rare so others might benefit. This is not a car that is cheap for most performance mods. The Wilwood front brake upgrade is a good upgrade for a reasonable price.


A thing to consider is upgrading tires and size as that is one of the cheapest improvements in handling. Most Jag owners seem ignorant about custom offset wheels. Get a measuring tool or go to a local tuner shop and have them measure the maximum width wheel that will fit and then spend the money on a custom three piece wheel. I am running CCW three piece 17" x 8.5" rims with 17" 245 wide tires on all four corners. While custom wheels and performance tires may seem a bit expensive it is one of the single best ways to improve handling especially on these cars when you have limited bolt on options.

 

I installed new original style springs in my 3.8 Mk2 and I was afraid of new springs sitting the car too high and also wanted to lower it.

What I did was buy 1/2in longer grade 8 bolts for the spring pan, and then installing 3/8 steel spacers between the pan and the lower control arm. That in essence lowers the body while keeping the spring travel and load the same. It lowered the car about an inch in practice and now sits low and mean looking in the front with a slight rake. It's a bit unusual to see a Mk2 with a rake and low in the front to be honest but I think it makes it look mean.

 

Stu

 

Thanks for the advice, It is still early days in the restoration.



This is the car in question.

Plans so far are -

Suspension, Primaz - we are changing the wheels and tyres. We are considering some Dunlop Style cast alloy from Realm Engineering (tyres still to be decided.)

DonSoares your suggestion for lowering the front sounds like it could be the best solution. We could easily get some spacers made up and this route would hopefully not affect handling and steering.

We are also changing the rear spats for narrower (unfortunately fibreglass.) We have had the bonnet louvered and deleted the mirrors on the wings.

The interior is being treated and repaired including the dash being re-veneered.

Following a service and replacing the mechanicals some engine work will take place next year.

I'll update as we go.

 

I didn't get anything custom made, there's an ACE locally that has an amazing fasteners section. There was a tray of stainless spacers that are thick stainless with 1/2 inch holes in the middle. i got a handful of 3/8 inch tall ones and put them around the bolts in between the pan and the arm.

This is a terrible quality picture but it's all I have right now of the car at ride height.

 

If you are willing to spend the money for a 3 piece wheel you should easily be able to run a 225 wide tire on the stock body and possibly wider. Three piece wheels are the only way to increase the car to wider tires. I know they are expensive but going up 4-6 tire sizes wider will make a dramatic improvement in handling...

 

Hi
where did you get your bonnet louvered done, pls,
thanks,

 

If you don't have the spats already I have a set of fibreglass spats that you can buy cheap, I ended up welding in mine in Coombs style so didn't use them.