"JAG IT!"

[petrolhead]

At the Fathers day hot Rod Show I caught up with Trevor Breeze from Vintage Rod & Custom and was talking to him about the down side to a Beddi's brakes & steering. Simple solution is to fit Jag front & rear crossmember/suspension, now you will end up with 4 wheel disc brakes, coil over suspension, power steering(rack & pinion), common wheel stud pattern & if you are really serious you can buy a jag housing that accepts a Ford 9 inch centre. Trevor has fitted Jag front & suspensions to lots of rods and he could fit them to your van. He suggested that if there was some intrest he could develop a kit so that you could bolt it in yourself. For this to happen he would need to borrow a Beddie and hear from you guys. Trevor can be contacted on
Ph: 94196001
Fax: 94191830
e-mail: vinrod@bigpond.com
Regards
Petrolhead

[Merlin]

DAMN!!!! why didnt I think of that

[John Abbott]

Yeah Neil....You are letting the side down buddy c'mon chop chop..

[Rogue Trooper]

I would imagine that even to develop a kit this would be very expensive as everything has to be widened. That creates major problems with the steering rack etc. It sounds simple in Petrolhead's description but I would think that with the engineering involved the expense would put it well out of reach of most people. Just the diff is costly enough.

Correct me if I'm wrong Merlin.

[Bedfordcrazy]

If Ian does not mind, what sort of problems did you have with your rear end, and what sort of cost were  you looking at, in yours though, everything is nicely polished, so i guess that is an added cost. I would love to be able to buy a complete kit that bolts on, the idea of late model and 4 wheel disc brakes is great.
I now have 4wheel disc brakes and power steering, but mine is a mix of a few cars, my mechanic is going to do up a manual for me with all the cars, models, and numbers so that i will know what car each part came off. This is the down side, the up side, i can stroll into ford or holden and buy a part new off the shelf, bolt it in and i am away. In part this is what is takeing so long, we have had to pioneer most of ours, and get it engineered and approved. Worth it though, i am going to enjoy cruising in it when it is done. For me this is a one off, i will never get the chance to do it again, so.

george.

[petrolhead]

When I was Building my '48 Ford Club Coupe I bought an unregistered XJ6 Jag for $650.00 ratted out what I needed and sold the rest of it for $220.00 so it's not so pricey, has anybody measured the track of the Beddie against the Jag?A simple solution & cheaper to widening(or narrowing) the front & rear ends is to get some rims with the correct back spacing to suit, problem solved & as you were saying no higgly piggly parts list just simple over the counter parts
[ftp]Regards
Petrolhead

[beddymad]

id be interesred in one of those kits too

[Rogue Trooper]

When I was Building my '48 Ford Club Coupe I bought an unregistered XJ6 Jag for $650.00 ratted out what I needed and sold the rest of it for $220.00 so it's not so pricey, has anybody measured the track of the Beddie against the Jag?A simple solution & cheaper to widening(or narrowing) the front & rear ends is to get some rims with the correct back spacing to suit, problem solved & as you were saying no higgly piggly parts list just simple over the counter parts
[ftp]Regards
Petrolhead

I'm in the middle of doing a jag rear for mine. If I'd stuck with the standard axles the offset on the wheels would have been so much that I probably wouldn't of got it certified. There is a substantial difference in width.

Also you can't try that kind of trick on the front. You'd have to cut most of the front out to allow the wheels to turn and I can guarantee you wouldn't get that certified. You'd have problems with mounting points as well with a standard width Jag front crossmember.

[Rogue Trooper]

This'll give you an idea of the difference in rear axle lengths. The top one has been modified for the Bedford. The bottom is a standard XJ6/XJS axle.

Remember that the greater the offset of the wheel the more stress that is placed on the wheel studs and the end of the axle.

[BusyKiwi]

I'm running standard XJ6 jag diff in my custom but I was lucky/unlucky that I got an oddball stud pattern on my rear mags.
Am running deep dish 15x10 on the back with (25mm) adaptors and bigger wheel studs, this brings it to the same width with 14x8 on the front.

I doubt the kit could be done for under 6 grand, and it wouldn't be a bolt in thing as just the diff needs the braces and stuff cut out of the van and the A arms and bits welded on, brake lines need to be changed at diff and front end as well as a disc/disc brake booster master cly.
The front, well thats a major and would probably be cheaper to use early model L300 front as this is what a lot of hot rodders use, if they use the jag they usually just use the arms and spindles.

Also if you don't get a good diff, it will cost about $1500 to reco it, plus the 4 shocks and springs ...