My son came to visit yesterday so we set to and located the axle center line on the jag ifs so we could position it correctly under the chassis. I had been looking all over the interweb for the location of the theoretical axle center line of the jag ifs for a week. Turns out that the axle center line is even with the extreme lower rear edge of the flange of the cross member, dead centre of the forward 5/16" holes on the top of the rack mount brackets, 50mm behind the edge of the 1" spring center hole, the inside edge of the top arm rear mount bolt. Using the laser to project these points made this job a whole heap easier. Tomorrow the plan is to mark where to trim the cross member to fit the chassis down into it. Stay tuned........
If you look close you can see the yellow marks on the cross member and the scribed marks on the chassis. These represent the axle centers on each component. The dotted line is shows the outer edge of the spring pocket on the underside of the cross member. Please ignore the gas cut marks, I haven't cleaned up where I hacked off the unnecessary bits. All in good time.
Choppy, choppy, grindey, grindey, weldey weldey, and .......repeat! That was the recipe for the day! The Jag cross member is an inverted channel section with a flat plate welded across the flanges on the lower edge. However, inside the channel is another narrow inverted channel plug welded to the outer. So when I chopped into the outer channel I needed to modify the inner channel to maintain the structural integrity of the overall beam. To do that I rewelded the top of the inner channel top back onto the sides in a lower position. On both sides. In order to clear the chassis rails in the new recessed location a little massage of the coil spring pocket was needed. On both sides.
Yes JW, it is much the same as I have done on the 39. The plan is to get both chassis to the same stage then do them both in parallel. Economies of scale stuff, rebuild both diffs and front ends, paint both chassis etc, etc etc.
Crush tubes inserted into the front of both rails. I used a bimetal hole saw to cut through the top of the chassis rail, through the brace for the bumper iron crush tubes that is in the middle of the rail, then a smaller hole for the fastening to pass through. This shot shows the top hole cut with the hole saw and the smaller holes on the side of the rail for the bumper mounts. The crush tubes cut and ready to insert. In the hole ready to be welded.
Back on the job with the front cross member mounting. The adapter plates all ready to position and weld on to the jag beam. The slugs are to weld in under the adapter plates to later drill and tap for the rear fasteners. The slugs in position with a spigot through the lower skin of the beam later welded. The chamfered holes are for rosette welds to pick up the secondary center beam. The pair of holes on the right are above the slugs for the rear fasteners. All welding complete and rear holes drilled and tapped for fasteners. Up close on the left side. And the right. In the chassis. Very happy with the results. Ready to sling all the hardware back on there and get one end on its wheels!
Now on to the rear end. Nothing much to see yet, but I did drag the diff outside to degrease and waterblast it so it is nice and clean to locate and fab some mounts.
I had a 1 cubic meter plastic container that I previously used to dip parts in a molasses solution, it is currently busy holding all manner of steel articles in my mum's shed but no molasses! For this project I wanted the ability to dip whole major panels like hood, guards, doors etc, so....... .....a couple of days in and a bunch of retired pallets later, here we have it! Ready for a liner and associated other details. The extra ribs on the floor are there to stop panels sitting on the bottom and not getting the benefit of the molasses underneath. So the finished size is about 1650mm square x 600mm deep, so approximately 1.63 cubic meters which will need 163 litres of molasses and the balance of water.
Outside in position ready for the polythene inner tomorrow. The old pool is just to protect the inner. And I put it out to the world that I need a column, so look what arrived today!
I prepped the hood by removing the brightwork and scraping the liner. The top side had no paint to start with. 10% molasses 90% water mix. With the lid on to stop rain water over flowing it.
A great day in the shop today, finalized mounting brackets for the diff cage then welded after one last measure up to ensure everything is where it should be. I also added a bracket on the outside of the chassis rails for the axle bumpstop. Between the cage and the chassis is some 5mm rubber sheet and under the square washer to help with isolation and noise reduction. From the underside of the chassis you can see the rubber. I will get the last of the welding on the under side when I next drop it all out. I think I will mount the engine and trans next then the additional cross members and K member. Edit, yes I have put crush tubes in the chassis for the mounting bolts
I checked in on the molasses bath this afternoon after getting a whiff of it through the window. The surface of the liquid was covered in foam, which by all accounts means it is working!
Which are from the 60s and were used on rods in period. Oh well, not my rules. Glad I found the build.
The factory K member was in the way for the new trans, so in the bin it went! But not until I had added an RHS brace and a couple of welds. As you can see, for those playing along at home, I have been doing a bit of CAD (chalk aided design) work to give my thoughts some solidity. I followed up the CAD with some pencil on a sheet of mdf board before cutting some actual steel. If you look real close I have included a basic set up for the trailing arm onto the IRS. After a day of grinding, more grinding and welding, more grinding and a trip into town for more welding wire and some cutting discs we have the two pieces of 100mm x 50mm x 3mm RHS with appropriate bends in the required places. These are sitting in nearly the right spots, but I will add 2 pieces in the center and weld before offering up to set the final cut locations........stay tuned.
The Jalopy Journal
