project XJS....IRS rebuild.......

[Brakebuster]

it has taken me four months to complete this task on my project XJS , but oh , it needed doing sooooo much...

deciding where to start was the problem, and how about tackling it on my own, yes, i did all this work on my own , firstly , the car went up on a set of very strong axle stands under the rear jacking points with the front wheels chocked, and a second set put under the seat belt mounts for added security and stability , this caused my first problem, as i couldnt then access the radius arms to unbolt them, so i cut them in half in place, lol, i got a pair of new ones to fit anyway....

so, here come the pictures, first of all you will see the original IRS in place and then once removed, i couldnt beleive how rusty most bits were, and all four springs were broken to , as well as totally shagged hub bearings and U/J's ,

this one is looking up onto the rear disc and U/J , and half-shaft , the springs on the right with the over-axle exhaust going through the picture , not pritty , is it , lol
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/galler ... N2504s.jpg

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/galler ... N2499s.jpg

this next one is after it had been pulled from the car , what a state.......
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/galler ... N2523s.jpg

partially striped down with the lower wish-bones removed along with the bottom plate and diff brackets ,
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/galler ... N2549s.jpg
the diff can been seen in this last one, and to be honest , this was the only real bonus of the project,
its a 2.88 power-loc limited slip diff , which i found out had been fully refurbished only ten years ago, and the car had been parked up since 2000 , the insides were in perfect condition.. .

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/galler ... N2553s.jpg

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/galler ... N2563a.jpg
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/galler ... N2554s.jpg

the car is now up in the air for four months waiting for some new bits to be hung back into her
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/galler ... N0132s.jpg


BB

[Brakebuster]

i managed to pick up a refurbished rear cage, which i set about with more coatings of primer and paint , the bare cage can be seen here waiting to be built back up , the mini-moto was given to me, and is a pet project, lol
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/galler ... N2552s.jpg

the cage has had four new rear subframe hangers bolted to it, and at all stages i took the oportunity to paint the bolts and add wayoyle round the mating surfaces in an atempt to make it last as long as possible

diff has been refurbished, inside and out, i say inside, all the old oil was removed, the insides cleaned and wiped out, gasket surface cleaned, new gasket seal and put back together, new Jaguar diff oil was added just before installing it in the car , and brand new mounting bolts were used all round ( this went for every part that was bolted back on )
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/galler ... N2597a.jpg

i then went about taking everything apart from the old cage, and deciding whether to refurbish or replace, the hubs were ok with no cracks , but the bearings had gone, this was also true about the half-shaft U/J's, , it was all dismantled and put into my sand-blast cabinet to clean up, once blasted acid etch paint was used and then a top-coat of high temp black , the pic below shows a hub carrier and hub with both sets of bearings removed, and ready for blasting, before new bearings were drifted in..
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/galler ... N0001s.jpg

new bearings were drifted un and everything buttoned back together
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/galler ... N0026s.jpg

same for the U/J's
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/galler ... N0006s.jpg

i managed to re-use the following parts for the refurbishment
Diff
Lower wishbone arms
hub carriers
hubs
half-shafts
tie-straps
brake calipers
handbrake levers
some brake pipes and brackets
the rest was junk ::)

as time went on, i refurbished and re-bushed more and more parts, all of which got bolted to the cage , getting closer to the day of re-installing it

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/galler ... N0034s.jpg

the brake parts being the trickiest, as they were all knackered, but a strip down, clean and refurbishment saw them good, they all got new pistons, seals pins and pads etc , the handbrake levers were totally took to bits and every part refurbished,

to make life easier , i took off the lower wishbones and rear springs and hub carriers for installing into the car
the pic below shows the cage on a hydraulic lifter ( nabbed from work for the weekend ) ready to be offered up under the car
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/galler ... N0131s.jpg

one small problem, the design of the lifter and the size of the cage prevented it from going under the boot, so head scratching time was allocated, the solution was to swing the cage round on the lifter, and push it in under the left rear wheel arch , perfect !! ;D

the cage was gradually jacked up into position, i located the front mounting bolts first, and then jacked up the rear a little to get the rear bolts located, , and there she was , hanging back in the car

a few more hours of work saw the springs and lower wish-bones installed , the trickiest bit being the dance of the thousand washers on the floating end, lol, but i got there in the end.

then the hub carriers were offered up while sliding in the outer lower pivot pins ( new ones ) etc, the radius arms were bolted on and hey presto, its in !!

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/galler ... N0143s.jpg

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/galler ... N0144s.jpg

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/galler ... N0141s.jpg

a few smaller jobs like ABS sensors, speed sensors, brake pipes and handbrake cables


total project cost, , which was parts only came to £250 , not bad i think

BB

[dhdove]

Way to go BB................I'm in awe

From the look of it the work does you every credit and I trust that all is fine when you come to try it out

WELL DONE!

DH Dove

[Brakebuster]

thanx m8

it certainly is a labour of love, lol

BB

[ptjs1]

BB,

Yes, I know I've been AWOL for 3 months...long story...but hopefully I'm back now!

Great work & pics as usual...enormous admiration mate! Even I'm beginning to think I can imagine the end of the project soon! How about us getting this in the mag? You must have enough material for a whole set of articles by now! I'll drop you an email offline and talk further.

Well done - an inspiration to us all!

Paul

PS Congrats on the XJ8 seatbelt article. I've just bought a cheap XJ8 myself today! Ever done a top front suspension arm bush change?

[Leon]

Great Work BB,

Looks better than when new under there

[ChrisDixon]

Fantastic job! I need to do the rear discs on my Cab next year, but I can see it turning into a rebuild. I was thinking of trying to find a good condition assembly 2nd hand and swap them over, then maybe rebuild the original at leisure.