The rolling chassis

I opted for a rolling chassis to be built by DAX for a few very good reasons:

1. Having built six cars in the past, skipping this spanner portion of the build sounded rather appealing.
2. DAX charge a ridiculously small fee for assembling the rolling chassis, so why not use their services?
3. You can be confident the suspension, steering and braking systems have been assembled by qualified engineers.
4. DAX will source all the reconditioned Jaguar components required for the rolling chassis. This includes the differential which is sometimes hard to find in certain ratios. DAX will naturally recommend what is best for your requirements.
5. Picking up the parts is so much easier. A rolling chassis with the body propped on top is far easier to transport on a trailer than a pile of parts.
6. It will shave a couple of weeks off the build time.

Fitting the Body Shell

As I opted for the rolling chassis, my first main job was to prepare the body for fitment. Initially I painted all the inner panels with satin black paint avoiding those areas requiring glue at a later date. Such an example is the cockpit. I also panelled the engine bay with stainless steel sheet (not recommend by DAX, because of the extra weight). This was purely for aesthetic effect and the panels were purpose-made for my car. DAX can provide polished aluminium panels which do the same job, but they require a little more after-care once the car is complete.

With the body fully prepped it was lifted onto the chassis with the help of three friends. Exact positioning was best achieved by lining the arches up with the wheels and tyres. Purchasing these items fairly early on in the build is a big outlay but ensures there are no misalignment issues, and is something I would recommend regardless of the kit type you are building. While on the subject of wheels, ensure you don’t skimp on quality. DAX use Halibrand replicas by Image - hard to beat for quality even though you may have to wait a month (or two!) for delivery.