Hi I want to build a chassis for a basket case XK120.
What modifications are needed to a MK VII Chassis to use it on an XK120?
Are blueprints ( Drawings ) available?
Is the front suspension from the mark VII the same as the XK120?
Regards
David
Does the basket case 120 already have a chassis?
Post some pictures of it and we can evaluate where to go with it.
The Mark VII chassis is quite different in width and length and many other respects, but some parts of it are the same and could be used to repair a 120 chassis.
Some of the front suspension parts are the same, but some aren’t, different steering angles, length and diameter of torsion bars, etc.
Thanks for the drawing that will help a lot.
The basket is the size of a clothes basket…
I have located a Mk VII ex wedding car that has been sitting for over five years Not sure if it is worth chasing as a period parts source.
Is there a good guide listing the parts in common for the XK120 and other models?
You MIIIIIIIGHTA picked a more difficult project, but…
I am assuming there is a body, no chassis/suspension?
If the body is disassembled to the point that the parts will fit in clothes baskets, whence the term “basket case” is derived, you are going to need a real 120 chassis on which to build it up, to get all the panel spacings right.
There is a shop somewhere in Czech that makes new 120 chassis frames.
If your plan is to use Mark VII donor parts, you need both the XK120 and Mark VII factory parts catalogues, which are available on CD-ROM from JDHT and dealers.
1 Like
It’s Jaguar-Tomasek (www.jaguar-tomasek.com). They also make complete XK bodies. I saw their products at International Spares Day in Stoneleigh a few years ago and they looked pretty good to me.
Eric
Shropshire, UK
Thanks for the heads up on the parts catalogue on CD-ROM. I will have a look for that.
The Chassis drawing has helped clarify that a search for a real 120 Chassis is the best way forward.
Yes.
How we got to this point was my son is about to finish his engineering degree and I have finished building a yacht and so it is his turn to choose the next project. He wanted to build a C type replica. We located a donor car for the engine and a company prepared to sell the DXF files to allow us to make a buck on the MechMate . We started the process to get Individual constructed vehicle approval in Western Australia. The Engine in the vehicle would have to meet current emission standards and side impact standards etc. No chance with the C type under current guide lines even though some older replicas are on the road.
We then considered the Hot rod registration. That required a chassis pre 1949 and a body that was pre1949, so we could not get approval in principle to build a C type under Hot rod as the year was too late and it did not meet some visibility and clearance requirements for the hot rod guide lines.
This led us to purchase “the basket case” Once we had “the basket case” we applied for in principle approval to modify the XK120 into an XK120C. This was not forthcoming as the light vehicle modification regulations did not allow changing the chassis into a space frame, nor the change of the complete body, that would be an individual constructed vehicle and so could not use a period motor.
So to get a project that can be driven with todays regulations it looks like an original build of the XK120 does not need preapproval (unless the brakes are changed).
Are the original blue prints / drawings of the XK120 available?
(Rather than just the parts catalogue)
David
1 Like
Thanks for the heads up Eric
We are mostly after a build project, rather than a buy project.
David
No, there are no original drawings of parts. There is a drawing of the assembled chassis for use by outside coachbuilders, which was reproduced in Anders Clausager’s XK120 book.
It is not clear what you have in hand. Is it just body parts?
Post some pictures. We can help identify where to go with them.
Nothing on a C-Type is the same as the regular XK120 except for engine, gearbox, some front suspension parts, and rear axle (with some modifications).
I sold a MKVII to a guy that was based in Gosford NSW, but now moved to Phillipines, he made immaculate C-replicas. (cant remember his name atm, it was ~15yrs ago)
Somewhere I still have a list of the parts he needed, and I can remember it was 47 in total
Maybe there was some law change that made him leave Oz
If I was you and doing a XK120 build, and the MKVII was cheap enough, I would get it.
Things like original fasteners, hose clips etc would be worth many hundred dollars alone
david I am here in WA give us a call
terry
0407797003
Not the question you asked, but wouldn’t it be easier to start with a MK-V chassis, from which the XK chassis was most the direct derivative?
Neither the Mark V nor the Mark VII chassis are very close to the XK120.
One might be able to use the side rails, but they would have to be reduced in length, and then all the cross members are totally different.
When the automotive writers say that the 120 was made from a cobbled up Mark V, what they really mean is some of the individual formed pieces that go to make up a Mark V chassis are the same as for XK120, or perhaps the very first one or three might have been made from cut and welded Mark Vs, but the rest were not.
Since we never did see any photos or a list of what he has, this is beginning to sound like a pipe dream.
Thanks for the link to the drawing in this book Bob, I got a copy delivered yesterday. Drawing C3992 is shown on page 38, unfortunately the drawing is reproduced so small I can not read the dimensions from the book. Does anyone have a scanned copy of the coahbuilder’s arrangement?
Regards
David