www.jec.org.uk

yes, i'm still alive, lol , and yes, i'm still restoring my 1989 V12 XJS Coupe , lol ( 5 years this month )

the whole of the cars body is now in primer , along with the new bonnet and boot-lid , doors and bodykit still to be done ,

working around the car, i decided to refurbish the front suspension, in doing so i had to remove the front spring pan , two reasons for this, one was to install a set of new sports-pack springs, and second was to refurbish all the parts involved

however

in doing so one of the spring pan bolts into the lower suspension wishbone broke, which necessitated the removal of the wishbone for re-engineering , a very large bolt passes through the wishbone and the suspension sub-frame, the bolt has to come out rearward , so initially the steering rack and its heat-sheild is in the way , a quick undo of the bolts moved it out of the way enough to drift the bolt past it, however, with 60mm or so still to go before its fully out, it hits the sump on my V12, so i am left with no option but to support the engine , and drop the front subframe to remove the bolt

i have a large RSJ across the garage with an industrial chain driven block and tackle, so with the engine supported and the car on axle stands, it should go smoothly,


this involves draining and removing the power steering pipes from the rack , then undoing the engine mounts after removing the air filters for access, then undoing the rearward subframe mounts to the body , slacken off the front ' six-shot ' mounts and gently lower the frame enough to drift out the bolts, you also have to remove the abs sensors, brake lines and the front dampers , as they are all being replaced anyway

i am doing a total front end refurbishment similar to what i did to the rear cage, everything, and i mean everything serviceable is being replaced and all the castings and brackets are cleaned up and being painted chassis black

i have already fully refurbished the hub carriers and hubs with new ball joints, bushes , and even new stub axles and bearings , top and bottom wishbone bushes and anti-rollbar links , upper and lower bump stops have also been renewed , and new springs are being installed along with new dampers ( Spax adjustable ) , with new engine and subframe mounts and new six-shot front bushes ,

wish me luck

BB

Having dismantled two XJS as donor cars in the past, I know what is required. I take my hat off to you.

The thing I remember most vividly were those large long bolts and their reluctance to extraction. Also the quite massive size of components and the weight of them. The rear cage unit takes some handling. The diff alone takes some shifting around.

Restoration can be a long time consuming and on occasions a seemingly never ending business.

Keep at it BB. Perhaps we could see some pics in due course?

Mike K

OH yes! Those bolts - I spent a whole day heating and bashing and impacting to get the big long bolt out! All because I too had borken a bolt on the lower spring pan.
If you are replacing the springs DO NOT try and undo the 2 nuts on the bolts under lower spring pan - use a nut splitter as they rust on and from what I have read and my own experience shows that almost in every case the bolt goes before the nuts releases.
LOL - my kids could hear me swearing from inside the house and the garage is detached!!

Oh yes I remember this well. The IRs cage and the front subframe rebuilds were probably the most satisfying parts for me but bloody hell were they big bits of engineering

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4094/477 ... 7e5f98.jpg

Then when it was off it was the strip down and refurbish of everything or replacement of worn parts (oh the cost )

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4119/477 ... 392fc4.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4123/477 ... 9eedf6.jpg

Then came the good part of rebuilding
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4076/477 ... b636fd.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4142/477 ... 70d7a8.jpg

then you add the brakes and you feel like all the hard work was worth it
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4136/477 ... b41711.jpg

keep with it breakbuster it's all worth it in the end. Best of luck

thanks for the replies, and the pictures, great stuff , and there are only a few of us mad peeps that would tackle these stupid tasks, lol

not a lot of progress in the last two weeks, been a little busy with work and DIY ( brownie points you see , lol )

i have fully refurbished all the nearside components, but still have to drop the subframe, and am working up the courage to do it ,

i am taking pics as i go , and will post them at some point, but i must say they all look very similar to the excellent ones above, except mine were very rusty to start with , as most things were on my XJS , lol

another one of those ' while i'm there ' , the steering rack will get a mild fettle while its out , it had new mount bushes some 3 years ago , along with new gaiters, but will fit new pipework, as i have them ready to go , and the originals look like they have been grounded at some point squishing them a little in places ,

BB

Looking forward to seeing them - it is always useful to see how others do it!

My next job is to drop the exhaust and replace a leaking rear gear box seal. Should be fun. Not!