www.jec.org.uk

I was out in the car the other day, going round the trough of bowland and through to the inn at whitewell.
And lets just say i was enjoying some spirited driving along some of these lovely country roads and hills.
Anyway at one point i unexpectedly recreated a scene from the dukes of hazard.
Unfortunately, the car didnt enjoy the experience as much as me and my girlfriend did.
Upon inspection, i found i had manged to rip a nice sized chunk of metal out of the chassis, attatched to the radius arm!
Oops, i will take a photo when i get a chance so you can all have a chuckle, and be warned of any general lee aspirations.

mrb39,

Sorry to hear that. Unfortunately it sounds like you might have some serious floorpan corrosion problems. As I'm sure you know, the XJS doesn't have a separate chasss, being of monocoque construction. Therefore the mounting points for the radius arms are the floorpan itself.

As the radius arms are prone to rusting from the inside and becoming paper-thin, then anything which can rip the arm from the floorpan rather than split the radius arm, would lead me to believe that unfortunately the floorpans are really not safe. I would get underneath, get any underseal off and have a really good look on both sides. I really hope it isn't very bad news, but I definitely wouldn't be driving the car in the meantime!

Good luck

Paul

thanks for reply Paul.
I was aware of some work needed doing on this side but, didnt think it was that bad.
Just goes to show a slight weakening, can lead to a major failure.
other side has already been repaired.
Whilst i am on, has anyone tried/used the pre made radius arm repair plates
that i have seen on ebay?
are they good?

Dave Robbie, fellow xjs racer, makes and sells his own. they are well tought out and you also get to talk to hime about how to fit them. He even has some usefull pics on his website;
http://www.jagracing.co.uk/GENERAL/radi ... epairs.htm
Its a big job, i made my own and the whole thing took best part of a weeks work!

Best of luck.

Good link Ralph, I like the way he says even if all the rubber mounts fail it's still attached by the handbrake cable and brake pipe. There's positive thinking for you.

Back to the problem in hand, I too am amazed by some 'mechanics' who tack weld pieces of steel sheet all over the holes and covering it all in underseal. There are some classic photos on JL especially on Series saloons where the owners seem quite proud of their achievements!

mrb, If rust has affected the chassis rails to that extent, you have to question where else the car has suffered. If it were mine I would be looking very seriously at the floorpans/ transmission tunnel, inner wings within the engine bay, front subframe, wing tops, windscreen surrounds, rear arches, butresses (hang on is there any parts left?) before throwing serious money at it. I hate to say this, and I do hope I'm wrong, but many cars have ended their days this way. Or at least have been patched as above and dumped on Ebay.
Pop

Dem Duke Boys got a lot to answer for

DH Dove

after spending a good 8 or more hours under the car preparing it , treating any surface rust by removing and red oxide painting then finally undersealing by hand.
I am more than confident with all the floor pan chassis amd inner wings etc.

I feel that the main problem has been that in the past, some bodger has stuck some plates , over badly, if at all prepared areas( the radius arm mounts in this case)
When i bought the car you could see both sides had been done a good while back.
I find that once you plate a section of a car , if not very carefull and follow good preparation you generally end up with the area surrounding the new plate rotting.
Don't know why?> apart from the possibility that some people are scared of cutting more out when repairing, and thus leaving some dodgy surrounding metal.
I know my self that when i cut out any bad metal, i usually cut an extra inch to two inch out all around to make sure.
Now i know why they did'nt use an xjs in the dukes of hazard!