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TR6-6SPD
Ken Hiebert
Toronto Ontario
(255 posts)

Registered:
04/23/2008 11:43AM

Main British Car:
1972 TR6 1994 5.7 L GM LT1

authors avatar
Ken Hiebert's 1965 Jaguar E-Type with GM LS1 V8, "Part 2"
Posted by: TR6-6SPD
Date: March 08, 2013 11:02AM

Here is a link to "Part 1" of the project:
[forum.britishv8.org]

Please note: The photos in this thread are displayed at 600x450 pixels. If you see a little box-in-a-box logo in the upper right hand corner of the photo, click anywhere on the photo to blow it up to full size - in a new window. This new window can then be maximized for a still larger image.

Time to mount the bosses for the Watts Linkage on the rear crossmember, "end rails", as I call them. These are a 1/2"x13 threaded tubes that extend through the 2x3" rectangular section, welded both sides. I added 10" long, adjustable rear suspension bump stops while it was on the bench. That's a lot easier welding than trying to do it on the frame.
IMG_4815.JPG

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Detail of Watts Linkage boss:
IMG_4817.JPG

IMG_4820.JPG
Lower control arm bump stop:
IMG_4818.JPG
Next, they'll be welded to rear crossmember:


IMG_4821.JPG

Ready to assemble the frame. I'm down to four major chassis components, that being the IFS, two side frame rails and the rear crossmember. A fifth is a 2x2" tube section connecting the two frame rails together at the driveshaft.
I set them on the floor, off the chassis table, got out the bathroom scales and recorded their individual weights.

Crossmember, frame rails and connector, set in place, not welded:
IMG_4990.JPG

IMG_4991.JPG

IMG_4989.JPG

HOW MUCH DOES IT ALL WEIGH?

(the answer coming soon)

Brakes
In order to use the Wilwood calipers on the IRS, I needed to fabricate a bracket to mount them to. Simple enough. The vented rotors required another adapter or "hat" which needed an offset in it and access holes for removal. I could have turned one out of a piece of billet aluminum but decided to turn down the original Jaguar brake rotor and adapt it. A little extra weight but much easier to fabricate.
The collection:
IMG_5016.JPG
Backside of rotor and hat, (temporary bolts):
IMG_5015.JPG
The Wilwood emergency brake or "spot caliper", I think, are strange. They're a floating caliper design that are held captive with a slot at either end. I searched the net endlessly looking for mounting ideas from others and this is the best I could come up with. It's an aluminum assembly that bolts to the differential and the steel, main caliper bracket, to give it stability. These spot calipers don't hold the best of reputations so I'll be keeping it in mind when parking in San Francisco.
Assembly:
IMG_5010.JPG
Backside:
IMG_5011.JPG
E-brake detail:
IMG_5013.JPG
Mounted on differential:
IMG_5019.JPG

IMG_5020.JPG

IMG_5022.JPG

IMG_5025.JPG

Frame Assembly
With the four main frame components mounted on the chassis table, it was finally time to stick them together. Despite using a slow and careful welding process, I still had one corner lift up of the chassis table by 0.047' of an inch. I corrected that by fastening that corner to the table and using a hydraulic jack to lift the other corner until it all came out level.

I flipped the frame over to weld areas underneath that I couldn't access when it was on the table.
IMG_5028.JPG

IMG_5029.JPG
Busy end of frame:
IMG_5031.JPG

IMG_5033.JPG

IMG_5035.JPG

IMG_5037.JPG

IMG_5040.JPG
Done:
IMG_5248.JPG


IMG_4989.JPG
Just for the record, the weight of the frame without the IFS was:
38 lb - rear crossmember
34 lb - left frame rail
34 lb - right frame rail
6 lb - frame connector
112 lbs Total weight as pictured above.

Engine Mounts
I fabricated aluminum adapter plates so I could use Energy Suspension GM motor mounts on the LS1 block. From here, I set the engine in place at my calculated height and at the determined 3 degree driveline angle. I made the connecter tube underneath the engine removable and set up a temporary transmission mount. The final support for the transmission will be two tubes extending from either frame rail and the transmission tunnel itself, much like the original Jaguar E-Type design.
Placing the engine in the frame when it was on the chassis table went well. I had to build leg extensions for the engine hoist.
IMG_5394.JPG
Engine hoist leg extensions:
IMG_5396.JPG

IMG_5398.JPG
With the engine in place, I came off the frame rail with a flat plate:
IMG_5400.JPG

IMG_5401.JPG
I fabricated the connector tube and boxed around it to compete the mount:
IMG_5402.JPG
Tacked in place for now:
IMG_5406.JPG

IMG_5407.JPG

I'll take the frame off the table to finish the welds:
IMG_5404.JPG
Calculations for my driveline angle were done with full size cardboard cutouts of the engine transmission combination and the differential, both layed out on a large sheet of cardboard. The differential was fixed at 3 degrees due to the lower control arm mounts. With these representaions, I shifted them around until I found the best numbers. Others would have used CAD on their computers.
Full size layout:
IMG_5000.JPG
Engine:
IMG_4999.JPG
Differential:
IMG_4998.JPG

On all Fours
I used the engine hoist to lift the frame off the chassis table to finish the engine mount welds. Assembled the IRS underneath it and got it on all four wheels.
IMG_5437.JPG

IMG_5440.JPG

IMG_5409.JPG

IMG_5411.JPG
I'm thinking I should take it outside for some fresh air.

Rolling Chassis
After putting the engine in place, I was anxious to see the rolling chssis in full daylight. I have struts in place of the coilovers to keep the chassis at ride height. Ground clearance is 6" at the frame rails. The chassis may look a bit spindly here, but the coupe body, transmission tunnel and floors are all to be welded in giving the car torsional strength.

(Click anywhere on a photo to blow it up to full size - in a new window. This new window can then be maximized for a still larger image)

IMG_5412.JPG

IMG_5424.JPG

IMG_5419.JPG

IMG_5414.JPG
Struts in place of coilovers:
IMG_5416.JPG
Watts linkage/anti-sway bar interference close:
IMG_5418.JPG
Anti-sway bar installed:
IMG_5427.JPG

IMG_5426.JPG

Video to the music, "My car won't go".
(for full screen, click bottom left corner)



Preparing the Body
What remainded of the original floors, footwells, transmission tunnel and boot floor would all have to come out before the body could be mounted on the new frame. Before I started cutting, I diagonally braced the body on the inside, everywhere I thought was important. The main feature were two channels running between the two inner sills. These would be my main lifting points, close to the A and B posts. To drop the floor, I supported the body from those channels on 3/4" EMT stands.

Body on cart as it's been sitting in the driveway for what seems like forever:
IMG_5269.JPG
Two channels between sills:
IMG_5277.JPG
Boot area has a channel with support stands:
IMG_5266.JPG
Just before surgery:
IMG_5281.JPG
Body on stands:
IMG_5270.JPG

IMG_5276.JPG
Floors and footwells dropped:
IMG_5283.JPG
Removed a lot of metal. Especially over the IRS area:
IMG_5287.JPG

IMG_5285.JPG

Test Lift
I built a "spreader bar" type affair to be used above the roof to pick up my four lifting points. With a simple engine hoist and low garage ceiling height, it all needed to be quite compact in order to get it up and over the frame on the table.

Combined the two channel iron lengths between the sills into one lift point per side.
IMG_5296.JPG
The rear lift point was from above the wheel wells.
IMG_5295.JPG
Did a test lift:
IMG_5289.JPG

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C of G was changed by moving my lift point along the center 4X4:
IMG_5292.JPG
Ready to install:
IMG_5291.JPG

Installing body on frame
This went really well, just myself and the engine hoist. I had to "walk" the body over the high points of the frame with the engine hoist boom nearly touching the garage ceiling rafters.
The outside inner sill dimension and the inside frame rail dimension are both 48"across. I installed supports on the frame for the sills to sit on. With the body comfortably sitting on the frame rails, it was then just a matter of adjusting my fore and aft position setting the firewall at a measured point within the wheelbase.
IMG_5452.JPG

IMG_5453.JPG
Clearing high points on frame:
IMG_5459.JPG
Tight squeeze on garage ceiling:
IMG_5461.JPG

IMG_5462.JPG
Body in place:
IMG_5463.JPG

IMG_5464.JPG

Welding Body to Frame
I was relieved to see the body checked out level and center on the frame. It showed the body was pretty straight, at least what was left of it.
Happy with the body placement, I raised it again, applied weld through primer on the mating surfaces of the inner sill and frame rail. These would be plug welded along the full length of the sill after the body was again confirmed to be level and on center.

Checking cowl for level:
IMG_5477.JPG

IMG_5484.JPG
Checking boot area for level:
IMG_5475.JPG

IMG_5476.JPG
Checking body for center on frame:
IMG_5471.JPG

IMG_5472.JPG
Preparing plug welds along inner sills:
IMG_5493.JPG
Supports along sills:
IMG_5840.JPG

Reworking Firewall
The original Jaguar E-type firewall and bulkhead is a heavy, complicated structure. It provided all the strength for the front "space frame" mounted to it. It also ducted air for the heat and defrost functions. For now, I cut back enough of the firewall to get the engine transmission in, keeping in mind, my plan was to replace the firewall anyway. I kept the windshied wiper motor mount.

Slicing and dicing the A post compromised its integrity so I plug welded a section of sheet metal on the inside of it to tie all the horizontal layers together.

I installed a 2"x2"x .065' wall tube between the two A posts to build the new firewall off of. The tube has an offset to accomodate the pedal box.

Before:
IMG_5494.JPG
After:
IMG_5525.JPG
Before:
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After:
IMG_5528.JPG
Prepared A post with weld thru primer:
IMG_5556.JPG
Sheet metal installed:
IMG_5565.JPG
2"x2" tube between A posts:
IMG_5609.JPG
Offset for pedal box:
IMG_5567.JPG
Engine now slips in:
IMG_5533.JPG

Pedal Box
I had three sets of brake/clutch pedal assemblies to choose from for this build, 2002 Pontiac Trans Am, Nissan 240 Sx and Triumph TR6. I selected the TR6 unit because it's self contained, therefore easier to mount. The drawback to this unit is the extreme angle that the brake master cylinder sits at. That's OK if you use the TR6 master cylinder but with my Wilwood M/C, it becomes overly tilted up at the front. I went at the TR6 pedal box with a zip saw, decreased the angle and reworked the geometry to get the same stroke for the brake and clutch master cylinders This also required remaking the pedal arms.

Cardboard test patterns with original pedal arms after rewoking the sheet metal assembly:
IMG_5538.JPG
Angle of M/C and brake booster reduced considerably:
IMG_5539.JPG
Finished assembly with offsets in pedals and switches mounted:
IMG_5871.JPG
Switches control anti-theft, cruise, engine crank and of course brake light circuits:
IMG_5874.JPG

Steering Column
With the pedal box mounted, I could now install the Pontiac Fiero steering column. I welded 3/4" square tubing along the underside of the cowl and built a frame work between it and the 2"x2" firewall support tube to bolt my steering column to.

Channel welded to base of column:
IMG_5572.JPG
Frame work fabricated for column mount:
IMG_5571.JPG
Underside of frame work with aluminum bracket bolted to column:
IMG_5576.JPG
Assembly welded to cowl:
IMG_5579.JPG
Tilt up:
IMG_5585.JPG
Tilt down:
IMG_5584.JPG

Thanks for looking.

Here is a link to "Part 3" of the project:
[forum.britishv8.org]
Ken



Edited 13 time(s). Last edit at 11/22/2013 09:54AM by TR6-6SPD.


Moderator
Curtis Jacobson
Portland Oregon
(4593 posts)

Registered:
10/12/2007 02:16AM

Main British Car:
71 MGBGT, Buick 215

authors avatar
Re: Ken Hiebert's 1965 Jaguar E-Type with GM LS1 V8, "Part 2"
Posted by: Moderator
Date: March 10, 2022 03:12AM

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