BritishV8 Forum

Hi guys,

I'm new to British V8, in fact I am new to any type of forum, so i hope this ends up in the right place on the  forum!

I have a 1949 Jowett Javelin with a 318 cu in Chrysler V8, 727 torqueflite, and a narrowed  Volvo back axle.

I hope you like....

Very nice Pat!

Rob

Very cool car!!!  What does it weigh?

Hi Rob and Jerry,

Glad you like the car... not sure about the weight, but the standard car was just under 1 ton,  so you would have to add 400 pound or so for the heavier engine, box and axle as well as the extensive chassis strengthening. so probably around 1.2 ton.

here's some more photos...

Still lighter than it looks. I just weighed my Tiger at the last race I was at and it weighed 3030lbs with me in the car but I'm a little fat shi.....LOL

you've got me thinking now, maybe its a lot heavier... I need to get to a weighbridge, but I'm not sure if you can just turn up and weigh the car... the only time I have ever used one was when I got stopped by traffic police 'cos they thought my company car looked a bit low at the back !!!...

totally unrelated... here's a picture of my gt40

Another cool car pat.  If you don't have scales, an easy way to get the weight is to take it to a gas station that caters to truckers.  Most of them have drive on scales.  You just pull up on the scales & follow the instructions.  You usually have to go inside & pay & they give you the weight slips.

Pat
Nice cars!!!!! How much motor in the gt40?

Pat, welcome aboard. "Javelin", no AMC motor?,lol. Easy to lighten-up that "A" motor with alum heads, intake, water pump and headers. It;s "ok" to speak Mopar here.As a long-shot, I might consider a Gen III Hemi, in my Jensen Healy. Cheers, roverman.

Hi Art,

I would love to, but all those engine mods are big money especially in England!!!...

Hi Jerry,

GT40 has 351 S.V.O. gt40 crate engine... comes with ally heads roller rockers etc... said to make 385 bhp with 4 barrel carb, I estimate mine at 400 bhp with 4 webber IDA and decent exhaust system. ( see photo)

Thanks for the pics Pat. So the Hot Rod scene is high dollar over there? Looks like you've built some pretty nice stuff.

Hi Jerry,

Most of the top rods and customs have American running gear, and we do have to pay a premium for performance parts, but a lot of the guys use European running gear as its readily available... I suppose it depends on how much you want to spend.

An engine like the one in the GT40 without carbs, or inlet manifold is around 4,250 pounds sterling , which I suppose is about 6,000 dollars. It wasn't so bad when the pound was around 2 dollars.

I've just looked at some photos of your Tiger, do you use it on the street?.... if so that must be incredible!!

cheers,
Pat.

Yea Pat that's what so cool about the car is that it is true street car. If my wife needs something at the store I jump into the Tiger and go get it.
New technolgy is great and the Turbo setup is just is outstanding, I did most of the work myself and  had some great sponsers helping me out and also some good friends to meet my goals of having a real 9:50 1/4 mile street car.
Sponsers: Turbo Horse Power
                Sherbring Racing
                 Dyno Edge
                 Performance Plus machine shop
All are located in Ablq. New Mexico
Cheers back to you
Jerry

did you take the body off the chassis? im wondering if any of the chassis is standard did you cut all of the flooring out im guessing it has a gear box and tail shaft tunnel?

Hi David,

The original car doesn't have a separate chassis, but has two 4" rails that run from front to back with various outriggers welded to the rails and the body. On top of the chassis rails and outriggers sits a single piece of plywood that makes a completely flat floor, there is no transmission tunnel as the gearbox and propshaft are lower than the floor.

Now all thats left is the two 4" rails with new outriggers, new steel floor, and steel tunnel...I did have a few photos of the chassis build but I cant find them !

If you look at the attached photo you can make out the original rails directly behind the wooden shifter knob.

Cheers,

Pat.

yeah i have two jowett javelins im keen to v8 at least one of them what was the front end steering and brakes  and suspenstoin out of ?

Hi David,

suspension is ford 2.8i capri around mid 80's, but with an adjustable coil over shock modification and a fabricated lower "a" arm, steering rack and column are mk2 escort with a lengthened extension piece from a morris marina that fits between the rack and column, otherwise the column wouldnt reach the rack. Brakes are standard capri which are a 2 pot calipers with vented discs.

in answer to your other messages...... its a shame to have to cut out all the rear to get rid of the torsion bars, i had the same dilemma, but i dont think the axle would take a lot of power... i think that was the hardest and scariest part of the build, and it was the first thing that i did!!...

wouldnt a hilux make it sit too high, also you'de have to put some serious temporary bracing into the body if you was going to chop the complete chassis away.

I had to reduce the size of my photos to post them here.... could that be the problem.

also from a previous thread...I have seen the rover v8 one at a show just outside London, and I have to say it looks a bit odd... i think the main problem is the ride height and the wheel size ( 13" and a bit narrow )... if I had my time again with my car, I would make it into a two door and cut about 12" out of the middle... it looks very long now its sitting at a decent ride height. ( see side photo ).

I will take more photos at the weekend under the car etc.

Cheers, Pat.

Someone in Australia used a hilux chasis under a Zcar, with a V8 and 4wd, and it doesnt sit up too too high.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jCHGsfQlTQ

Hi again David, ive found some of the photos......

thank you very much pat. the pics are great did you do all the fabrication yourself ? gee it does sit nice a great stance . great work ? when i said hilux i didnt mean 4x4  but yeah maybee to high ? why did you go jowett ? i went jowett because any other make were to expensive which is hard to understand as only 25000 javelins were built? i had the jowett car club guys come around for a look at mine and thought they would hang me up when i said i wanted to v8 hot rod one but they( older gents ) realy supported the idea, i would like to be able to tow a tear drop caravan, another engine im considering is a v6 3.8 litre  holden commodore ( a aussie family car  very popular) fuel injected .. i think you guys get the newer modle from us ? probley called a vauxhal>>>>? they go well and parts plentyfull and cheap ? a jowett guy tells me to rebuild a javelin motor properly it will cost heaps ?  so that money would go a lot further in modifications ? as id do the fabrication work myself . holdens are easy to buy compleate running cars so the running gear is easy?

Hi David,

I had 3 cars in mind, javelin, volvo pv 544 and standard vanguard ( round back ). the javelin came along first thats about the only reason, although i had always liked them from a kid .

the equivalent to the holden would be the vauxhall carlton/ senator or the omega... they do 24v versions in all models and they are very lively, i think they are around 220 h.p.... its probably the way to go as youll get trans and axle, wiring loom, seats etc etc... certainly a lot cheaper than sourcing things separately.

what about the v8 holdens are they a lot more money?...

coincidentally the 318 in the javelin came out of an australian truck, it was in a zodiac when i bought it, i took the engine and trans out and sold the rest on ebay... too cheaply as it had a jag rear and decent wheels...

i have done everything on the javelin myself... narrowed the axle, made the chassis, all the upholstery, wiring loom from scratch, sprayed it myself.... it wouldn't be the same if i had to farm out the work ...

heres a couple more photos including the zodiac!

GREAT JOB PAT YOU SHOULD BE PROUD

NICE.

Good Work Pat. Regarding Mopar power, I think the future is bright for Gen 3 hemi swaps. Not too heavy and lots of potential.Cheers, roverman.

Not sure if the Volvo axle would take the extra power, also those engines are pretty rare in the UK!!... would be fun though.  I did think about the Daimler 4.5 hemi V8 but they are like gold dust.

Cheers
Pat