Donor Parts

On the AK website, it lists the AK gen 2 as requiring the following donor parts:

Jaguar XJ40 1986 - 2003 (Outboard rear discs)
- Front axle - Bottom wishbones, uprights, hubs, discs and callipers
- Rear axle - complete on subframe
- Ratios - 3.54/3.58 from XJ40 3.6 Auto

AK require front bottom wishbones and uprights for modification (Exchange)
AK require rear wishbones and drive shafts for modification (Exchange)

Jaguar XJS - Handbrake assembly (or new item from Jaguar)
BMW E34 (series 5) - Adjustable steering column (including ignition key and steering wheel, although these items will not be used. Top spline has a nut fixing for wheel boss
Rover MK3 200 or Rover 25 Series (1995 - 2005) - Servo and master cylinder (AK pedal box)
Polo MK 2 - Heater

I decided that I didn't want to buy a donor car as I felt trying to remove the components from the car would be a nightmare, plus I didn't have the room. So I opted to buy the front and rear assembly only.
After posting a question on the Cobra forum to get some recommendations I decided to buy the donor parts from Jon at Simply Performance. Jon has supplied a number of other AK builders so knew exactly what I needed. I also liked the fact that if any of the parts were not up to scratch he would replace them.

I ended up going for a 1993 Jaguar XJ40 with a 3.54 non powerlock diff.

Here's the car!



And here are the parts!

So next job was to break it all down. Looking at the rusty bolts this was a job I was not looking forward to.
I started with the brake callipers. These were really easy and came off in no time.
Next job was the springs. I wasn't sure how to tackle these. A number of people recommend getting someone with a gas axe to cut through the springs. I found some local mechanics who could do it but they never turned up. In the end, a friend of mine sorted them for me. On the rear assembly he used some spring compressors to hold the springs in compression as he took of the top pan holding the spring in place. Once off he just loosened the compressor. He did the same for the front but we had to turn the assembly over and undo the bottom pan. Once the springs were off I was able to start removing the rest of the bits.

I won't go into all the details about how I removed each part, suffice to say I had to cut through a good few bolts and ended up having to buy an angle grinder with a bigger cutting disk.

I finally ended up with all the parts removed from the main assembly and a bench full of bits to sort out.











The diff I took down to Russell Ram to get it refurbished. Here's what it looked like before any work. I'll post a picture of the finished article once I get it back.