Front Suspension

I've shifted focus now to the suspension. I figure I'd like a rolling chassis before anything else. I was told the front and rear are out of a Jaguar, and after looking they seem to be from an XKE, though I'm still not 100% sure. If anyone knows, feel free to message me or leave a comment.

 The front, like everything on the car, is very loose and held together with wishful thinking. I want to strip it down, clean it up, and slowly measure and assemble. This might mean repositioning some of the mounts, but they seem to be okay for the time being. I'll also want to look into replacing the front shocks with eye-eye type, as opposed to the eye-stud type that are currently installed.

 

Engine: Quick Inspection

 Today I was able to do a quick visual inspection. I pulled plugs, boroscoped inside, and checked the intake/exhaust ports. It seems to be in pretty good condition overall. The cylinders are dirty, but compress well and have a nice hone. All the spark plugs came out nicely with only normal wear and marks. No excessive oil burning, no deformations, and no odd smells. On the other side of the head, the ports looked unremarkable. Mainly a bit of oil around the edges of the intakes, but again, nothing worn or broken.

 

 

Current Intake

 As it sits, this is the intake that Larry began to fabricate.

It's a double throttle body intake, custom made out of some flat stock and half of an EFI intake. Based on some parts lying in the battery compartment, I laid out what was there.

Some things of note- First off, the air path is... less than ideal. From the TB, it has to split and turn 90° in a very short area, with lots of sharp corners. This would be an improvement over stock, but I think it could be better. I'm thinking of either individual throttle bodies, or buddy them up with 3 TBs. As for the actual manifold, I'd like to start over and get a clean path for the airflow. This intake may be cut and re-used, or I might look for something from theBay that gets a bit closer to my goal.

Background and Plans

The project as it sits was Larry Rathburn's final project before he passed. It was at Bruce Elder's showroom for a long while, before I got talked into buying it last month by Brian Rhodes of Antique and Classic Automobiles. To be honest though, he didn't need to do much convincing. Larry did a nice job on the frame, body structure, and sourcing parts. It's an excellent starting point. There are very few areas that need reworking, and I'm excited to put my own ideas into it. One of the biggest changes is where Larry was modeling it after a 1939 production model, I'm going for the 1937 rally style of car DYL 469, often number 15.

The first step I'll be tackling is the engine and drivetrain. With the Jeep 4.0, I have ample information and parts to begin a minor teardown to asses its condition. Once I build it back up and clean it, I'll move to mounting the transmission, driveshaft, and rear differential. Once I'm confident in the placement, I'll move to the suspension and steering. I think that's a good starting point for my "to-do" list, which grows every day.

The start of something great!

 In the beginning...

This is the start of my first major project.

"Regolith"

1937 SS100 Jaguar
Modified replica
Mid-90s Jeep 4.0 engine and 2wd transmission
Jaguar MKE-style suspension

These pictures are from when I went to see it for the first time, and a few weeks later wen it was dropped off. I'm very much looking forward to starting work on it.