This is not intended to be a definitive article on creating the ultimate setup for your racing Cat. Specialist help and advice is the best route, see RACING LINKS. However if your Jaguar handles like a Sofa and makes all sorts of clonking noises it is time to inspect the various suspension bushes. Just because it has passed its annual MOT doesn't necessarily mean that all is well in the rubber department. If you are overhauling the front subframe out of the car, it would be worth looking at Alan Randles excellent website www.jagcar.co.uk
Before going any further it is worth considering the options for replacement: Original parts, Pattern, or Poly (soft or hard).
At the end of the day you will have to make your own decision based on intended use, and who's advice you trust. We will debate the virtues of the different choices as we go along.
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The first picture shows the front subframe bush, anti roll bar, and bottom wishbone bushes N/S. The yellow part is the tow bracket that has been pushed back at some stage, and is unmovable due to a seized subframe bolt. The second picture shows the state of the front anti roll bar links, partly caused by rust, partly the forces exerted on the rather flimsy cupped washers.
Getting access to the anti roll bar clamps is probably impossible without lowering the front of the subframe. It is easiest to change all of the above bushes at the same time. Start by removing the front springs. The proper tool is the safest method, but does require jacking the car up so high that the tail pipes are nearly touching the floor. This is necessary to provide enough clearance to get the tool through the centre hole in the upper spring mount.
Using other methods to remove the spring could result in severe damage to yourself, the car, or both! Even using the proper tool requires care, and make sure the upper mount is solid, as the tool could slip through if rot is present.
As can be seen from the above picture, the lack of proper garage equipment has necessitated extreme measures to achieve the required height. Although it may all look rather precarious, great effort was made to ensure the car would not collapse on my head!
Replacing the top wishbone bushes are quite straight forward, I found it best to do one at a time, leaving the other one loosely attached to the upper ball joint to avoid the whole assembly dropping down and possibly causing damage to the flexible brake hose. The only slight problem was that I had to slacken off the top mounting bolts to achieve enough clearance to remove one of the arms. This was due to the amount of packing washers fitted when I was setting up the camber for racing.
REPLACING THE ANTI ROLL BAR MOUNTING BUSHES
Removing the front subframe bushes is the next step, which will enable easy access to the anti roll bar mounts, as can be seen in the second picture. It is not essential to remove the bolts as the bushes will come out easily after loosening the clamp. I decided that they needed to come out so that I could remove the tow brackets (excess weight). You may be lucky and find that the subframe bolts just fall out, or you may need a blowlamp. (Guess what I needed!) With a bit of heat on the center of the tube, they eventually freed up. a copper hammer on the threaded end of the bolt also helped in the persuasion department!
One of the Anti roll bar mounting bushes was worn right through. That combined with the state of the links must have rendered the Anti roll bar useless. Don't forget to support the subframe with a trolley jack before proceeding with the above!
I personally would consider Poly anti roll bar bushes to be an advantage over original bushes as they are used in exactly the same way, with the same amount of material but better. Obviously the harder the bush material is, the more effective the operation of the bar is!
STEERING RACK BUSHES
A very popular reason for an MOT failure, but well worth changing for polly bushes for the improved handling. It is not necessary to remove the rack from the car. Removing the three mounting bolts is a fiddly job and dirty due to the build up of oil and grease from the engine and often steering pipes. MARK STABLER explains how its done.
Pain in the you know what job, but often needs doing. The tricky bit is getting the old bushes out as they will be well secure. I made up a puller (in the end) using threaded rod and a piece of metal drain tube that I got from the local ironmongers.
I read that it's a good idea to use Poly bushes as they are less likely to perish. This made a big difference to the way the car felt when driving, steering was much more accurate (less movement of the rack mounts) and it gave me more confidence to push the car (a lot more in the corners).
