Hi All, new to the forum and Jaguars in general.

My dad and i had the great idea of starting a (first) project car together. Long story short, we got a crash damaged XK 5.0 Convertable. At first it looked very minor, quickly we found out it was bigger than we thought, so be it.
Picture of the car i have at hand:


The car has had a front hit, from what we think somewhere in the grand canyons (we found entry tickets, and nothing else in the car). We have to change the Left chassisleg as its been torn. Being the first time we undertake something like this, we have a few questions. We will need to drop the engine for this ofcorse, what would be the best way to do this for the XK? drop it with or without the gearbox? tried to get the gearbox off, but getting the bolts of from the converter and flywheel, wasnt feasible so we are thinking of dropping them together (no need to disconnect actually, just thought it be easier than dropping them together, no leaks or issues with drivetrain, just needs to go to renew the Leg... Picture below showing the ripped chassisleg..



Also, anybody knows where to get this piece? it didnt come with the new chassisleg, and has been ripped out of the donor piece, car only has 1 at the moment, and we need 2 ofcorse to connect the subframe...

Thx all, will try to update you guys as we go along!

 

Unbolting the flex-plate from the torque converter should not be a problem as you just need to rotate the engine to remove the bolts through the aperture in the lower part of the bellhousing and then you can separate the bellhousing and and drop the gearbox separately from the engine which makes things easier to manoeuvre. However, the whole lot can be dropped as one unit.

Richard

 

Hoo boy are you in for a lot of work. Probably way more money also. You really should have done some research before you bought such a project.

I'd highly recommend parting that car out, you can get probably way more $$$ in parts than you paid, maybe even more than enough to buy a fully functional XK.

 

Completely agree, however we are rebuilding it to give to my mom afterwards as shes always dreamt of a XK convertable, hence why we bought this and not another project car.... parts have been ordered and delivered and we keep going with the project. Whats the fun if theres no challenge in it?

 

Thx for the tip, we tried that, but after trying to undo 1 of the bolts for over 4 hours we gave up that way. Either we are doing something completely wrong, or theres some kind of special way to do it, as we couldnt properly undo the bolts, no manouvring room sadly, and when you get it off, it still needs to be reattached later again...

 

The factory built it using industrial robots. I suspect that's why you're having difficulty rebuilding it.


 

Sorry but I happen to agree with CeeJay. XKs are not manufactured the traditional way and rivets are used extensively throughout, another reason our cars are easily totaled. Good luck and let us know how you make out.

 

To elaborate a little bit; The entire body structure is made in a way to get the maximum rigidity and integrity from the least amount of material. Things that used to be bolted together in the past are now glued and riveted (as boca stated) and it comes together in one solid part. Mess with one section of the entire unit and something else somewhere will pay the price.
No doubt you'll be able to make it appear wonderfully pretty and operate properly, but once you drive it hard a few times it may start to show its former busted self.
I do wish you well, I've rebuilt several cars myself over the past half-century and it was a grand and glorious time had by all. . . . I'd not tackle an X150 though.

 

I see everybody is super positive.. (probably for a reason) - but admirable that you are at least trying (but be warned)

for dropping the engine: 2013 xk engine removal - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum
The official guide tells you to remove the transmission first, then remove the engine, but as indicated it seems you can drop them both at the same time..

I would prepare the car for repairs but leave the actual aluminium repairs to an expert.. they have specialized tools and methods for repairing aluminium frames without weakening the structure or making things worse.....

(oh .. and we want pictures/videos/etc )

 

While I would not do this, I DO look forward to all the progress!

Please keep us all updated along the way!

 

Did you get the workshop manual?

The good news, MANY of those destroyed body components are replaceable... expensive, but replaceable.
Or relive my youth and head to the wreckers with a cutting torch.

 

Theres plenty of photos on this link in terms of engine removal - as you can see the entire powertrain component, including the radiator, condenser, etc., were dropped as a complete unit

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...ersion-250236/

Also are you planning to use tremels in order to make sure the rails are square?

 

So, little update and backstory

So the backstory to this project, My mother has always dreamt of an XK convertable (in red, with white top and white interior specifically, but thats unicorn spec), she now has her Mini Roadster JCW for 8 years and my dad and i thought it was time to replace said MINI. However as said before we also looked for a project, and while scrolling on marktplaats.nl (local ebay/gumtree/kleinanzeige etc) i found this car for sale and the damage looked minor at first.

tbh, if we were a little more skilled, we would have probably been able to do it quicker and with less work, as we have to replace the chassisleg as we pushed it back wrong, and it tore... (see below picture)



As most might have figured out from these 2 pics, we got the engine out tuesday, now to strip the chassisleg and replace it... itll be a big job, but o so worth it when its finally completed (hopefully somewhere this summer we hope...)


Hopefully we continue next week again

 

Okay I am now invested in your progress, too.

Please continue to post your work and don't spare the photos. Some of us are living vicariously here.