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I've done that, the body still sits a fair amount above the tires. I want to lower the suspension.
I don't know who would do that these days, but 30 years ago when Nix was converted, the PO had the springs shortened to a ride height of 22 inches from the floor to the center of the outer headlight (the car sits level); as I understand it, a full 2 inches lower than stock.
I'm glad he did that, because I *Like* how low and stealthy she sits, just a bit Snarly and Menacing.
(';')
I've done that, the body still sits a fair amount above the tires. I want to lower the suspension.
The front is easily lowered by lowering the spring pan using spacers and longer bolts.
Or....
Most of these cars were built with 2-3-4 spring spacers, .125" each. Each spacer removed or added yields a .375" difference in ride height. Big job, tho, as the springs must come out.
For the rear you might find some lowering springs. I think some outfit in Australia is selling them.
Fronts are easy, For a slight lowering the rear will requires cutting the springs. But you can only go so far as the drive shaft is the upper control arm and has to be nearly parallel to the ground plain or the U-joint will die quickly. Also the shocks are small and have limited travel.
The front is easily lowered by lowering the spring pan using spacers and longer bolts.
Or....
Most of these cars were built with 2-3-4 spring spacers, .125" each. Each spacer removed or added yields a .375" difference in ride height. Big job, tho, as the springs must come out.
For the rear you might find some lowering springs. I think some outfit in Australia is selling them.
Cheers
DD
This sounds perfect.. the original motor was much heavier than the converted V8 so the front end is actually higher than the rear... lowering the front will bring back the Jag stance.. thanks..
For the rear, I had this out of the box idea. Would I or even can I do it. resounding no.
Cut the points where the rear cage and the body meet. Move them up into the body.
In essence, the body is lower on the suspension than it was. In olden days, known as
"channeled". Majot mod not for a pristine car. For a lesser one, perhaps.
When I built my "Hot Rod of the Forties" I reverted to some of the lowering techniques of the era. Z'd rear frame. Reversed spring eyes. Spring leaf removal.
dropped axle. Smaller wheels.
Cutting a coil or a bit more off a front suspension can work just fine. Cut with a cut off wheel, not a torch!!!
Application of a lot of heat to a coil in situ will collapse it. The car will be lower. But,
spring tension is gone, and a rider like a "buck board" will result.
At one time front "uprights" were modified The spindles, axle shafts were mounted higher on the vertical. The two piece Jaguar unit seem to lend itself to that technique.
CAVEAT. If not done just right, horrible things can happen.
what about flipping the front knuckle? like taking the right side and putting it upside down on the left side? are the ball joints the same size? that would give about an inch of lowering without changing the spring or suspension characteristics
For the rear, I had this out of the box idea. Would I or even can I do it. resounding no.
Cut the points where the rear cage and the body meet. Move them up into the body.
In essence, the body is lower on the suspension than it was. In olden days, known as
"channeled". Majot mod not for a pristine car. For a lesser one, perhaps.
When I built my "Hot Rod of the Forties" I reverted to some of the lowering techniques of the era. Z'd rear frame. Reversed spring eyes. Spring leaf removal.
dropped axle. Smaller wheels.
Cutting a coil or a bit more off a front suspension can work just fine. Cut with a cut off wheel, not a torch!!!
Application of a lot of heat to a coil in situ will collapse it. The car will be lower. But,
spring tension is gone, and a rider like a "buck board" will result.
At one time front "uprights" were modified The spindles, axle shafts were mounted higher on the vertical. The two piece Jaguar unit seem to lend itself to that technique.
CAVEAT. If not done just right, horrible things can happen.
Carl
I think I will try the spacers first. If that isn't low enough I will cut back the springs.. thanks for the advice.
what about flipping the front knuckle? like taking the right side and putting it upside down on the left side? are the ball joints the same size? that would give about an inch of lowering without changing the spring or suspension characteristics
Fronts are easy, For a slight lowering the rear will requires cutting the springs. But you can only go so far as the drive shaft is the upper control arm and has to be nearly parallel to the ground plain or the U-joint will die quickly. Also the shocks are small and have limited travel.
No, not lowered like that... just 4" in the front end. The V8 is lighter and the front end needs to come down to get back to original stance.
Nit picking. It is actually raising the suspension in to the body as opposed to lowering the suspension away from the body.
Tire profile and how they fill the wheel wells is subjective lowering. It looks right.
But, of course, the "big wheels" are counter productive to the low "look".
These comments are appearance based only. And nothing to do with ride or handling.
A field to itself.
I lowered mine just a little bit, little less than 2 inches using King springs. They are an Aussie Co. King Springs Automotive Aftermarket Springs I like the way it looks and rides.
Getting the front springs out is tricky. If you don't have the proper spring compressor, you can us a set of 4 threaded rods to slowly lower the spring
plates with the car jacked up quite high
You have to replace the bolts holding the spring plate ONE AT A TIME, with a piece of 3/8 - 24 threaded rod and a nut to hold the plate in place. I found some grade 8 rod on the net. Once all 4 rods are in place unscrew the nuts on each of the 4 legs a little at a time so the plate comes down evenly. Takes around an hour per spring to replace them.
Take your time, springs are under tremendous load.
Rear springs are a little easier just follow any shop manual. If you don't have a spring compressor, you can remove the coil overs as a unit and take them to a local shop that can R&R the springs.
It requires a little more work than that. The S2 bumper shock absorber/hood hinge assemblies have to be removed. The shock absorber units slide out of the open end of the frame rail and are replace with S1 rigid bumper brackets as shown still installed in the S1 below.
Once you remove the assemblies from the S1, you can slide them into the S2. They are pinned in place with 3 bolts on each frame rail. Then you need to swap both fenders, hood, lower valance and bumper. The S2 fenders have a slightly different shape than the S1 and the front directional/parking light arrangement is different. The S2 has the parking lights in the bumper and the S1 has them in the fender. The wiring harness is compatible to both. Getting everything to line up is a project in itself, but with patience it can be accomplished. I think the S1 as Lyons designed it looks far better than the S2 or S3. The US safety regulations really didn't work well with the XJ6 design.
12-07-2016, 12:29 PM
