Whilst waiting for my body / chassis, I stripped down a Series 3 XJ6 that I got from a local Jag garage. The engine and interior were missing, but what do you expect for £75?

     It's fairly easy to strip out the front and rear sub-frames from the car, again everything is in the Haynes manual. Once this was done I replaced all the bearings, fitted new pistons and seals in the brake calipers, got polyurethane bushes from DAX, then fitted new ball joints and discs/pads.     

     I painted all the suspension parts with POR 15, this paint was a real find. A friend of mine had restored a Midget and had used it on it's suspension with great results. It's like powder coating at a fraction of the price and available from Frost Engineering.

    The drive-shafts and wishbones are shortened on most Cobra kits and this kit is no exception. So I removed the UJ's and put the main shafts and wishbones to one side to be taken to DAX. 

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    One thing to note as you strip out the suspension, is the shims. These are situated at the rear between the drive-shafts, diff and the discs, at the front: on the top wishbone pivot assembly and also on the top ball-joint. Draw pictures, take photos, do whatever it takes to remember where these come from and don't lose them. They will be needed when the chassis is built up.

     The prop-shaft from a Jag is used when fitting a Rover box, as long as its the type with a spline adjustment. This will need shortening and balancing. The size cannot be determined until the g/box and diff are in place. There will almost certainly be an engineering firm near you that can do this.

    The steering column came from a 1988 1.6L Sierra. It had to be the type with a square hazard switch and it will also need to be modified by DAX when I pick up the chassis. As I want the ignition switch on the dashboard and a push button starter, I removed the steering lock completely, keep the steering wheel for the SVA.

     The Big Day

    Its now Dec 1999, and with the drive-shafts, wishbones and steering column in arm I drove down to pick up the main part of the kit. I had ordered the chassis in bare metal, so I could use the same paint as used on the suspension, this saved me a considerable amount of money. I had also ordered the body without specifying the aluminum paneling in the engine bay, I believe it looks better when it is sprayed the same colour as the rest of the body, it also works out cheaper!

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