Car is well known in the Jago club and is extremely reliable and good to drive, we have owned 19 of these cars over the years and kept this in preference to other more flash looking cars (including the "Awesome silver Jago " which we sent to a guy in France) with bigger engines etc as it is such a good vehicle.
We are the 2nd owners; the guy who built it lives in Dalgety Bay, near Edinburgh, he was Rolls Royce trained so did a good job building it and used it as his daily drive for over 20 years and also made a couple of trips down to France in it. He had reached the point where he couldn't do the maintenance on it.
Basic Specs of Ninja Jago -
Q reg so visual emissions test only
, 12 months MOT as of this week, correctly registered as Jago Built in 1983 so will soon be 30 years old, We have owned it since early in 2007 It is 2WD1600 cc x flow - was gold seal engine, 4 -2-1 exhaust manifold, fitted with Kenlowe hot start to pre heat oil in winter (by heating up the water) so little wear to engine, there is a big cable that plugs into your house and into the car under front wing. Most of the running gear is Mk2 escort, back axle is Mk1, fuel tank is escort van. The car is rwd 4 speed box
It doesn't use any oil, high pressure oil pump, Fiesta thermostat housing for easy removal of air, single carb (for economy!!) with K and N, strut brace, 4 auxilliary fog lamps, side exit exhaust, really nice note without being too loud,
Dixie air horns, push button start, electric fuel pump, cut off switch in engine bay for added security, Lumenition electronic ignition, full set of gauges - oil pressure, volts , water temp, electric tacho, speedo corrected for 14" wheels, reversing alarm like the bin motor with an override switch,
It has dual circuit brakes discs up front, drums at back, hazard lights, tow bar and electrics all working, auxilliary power socket for sat nav, sun visors. Small 3 bar tread plate wing protectors and front lamp mounts (powder coated) and bumper end caps. There is a shortened bull bar somewhere which had a piece cut out of middle so it fits better with size of vehicle, there are lamp guards fitted to rear lights
It is wired for radio and 2 speakers fitted behind seats but radio gone into one of the other 5 cars we have here. Fire extinguisher Also has a primitive trip computer and variable speed wipers with rally style washer jets which are very effective!!!
The gearbox is from a GT which has better ratios than standard and is a bit stronger, custom turned ali gear knob
Full hood and set of factory hard doors which fit well- locks have keys and windows are toughened glass we run car without them for better visibility, (if you check out the e bay cars they always have knackered or missing hoods!!) land rover mirrors, new petrol tank about 4 years ago, working fuel gauge and heater / demister.
A hard top was available but not to our liking.
This is definitely not the usual e bay crapper or something cobbled together by some dudes in the back yard when they got in from the pub. Car also has a small D shaped Momo steering wheel which overcomes the knee problem caused by angle of steering column and a pair of very comfortable Corbeau classic bucket seats, obviously a bit worn but would easily recover, we just have waterproof covers over them due to our enjoyment of driving door less. Internally there is a work lamp fitted as an interior light.
Floor is solid, inertia reel set belts, carpets in back but the front floor is painted- there are some carpets somewhere but they just hold the water, all of underside is undersealed with Waxoyl and Schultz there are some Grayston spring assisters fitted to rear leaf springs which have been wrapped in greasy denso tape since new.
Wiring loom is OK, we have coated lots of the joints with the stuff from Maplins that Nato use to protect electrical connections (contralube), accessories are wired through a separate fuse box
15" Wellers and BFG tyres - slightly wider at back, again these were new less than 2000 miles ago, spare is as front tyres , new and unused
We did the Ninja paint job as car was originally red I made my own stickers, it needs a new bonnet at some point as existing one has cracks in gel coat- we have one organised form another Jago Club member near Newcastle (we sold him the jeep and it has perfect gel coat) once he fabricates a flat ali one for his Willies conversion
Pricewise we want car to go to a genuine enthusiast rather than some one rebuilding a MK 2 escort looking for cheap bits - undoubtedly car is worth more in bits but £1200 is starting price, we are happy to haggle, in the hands of a breaker it could easily make £2000 in a couple of afternoons dismantling, so whatever is paid for it can be retrieved ultimately although we would like to see the car running about for many more years!!
The car is fitted with my patent ABS wing extensions which we like as does the MOT man who insists all of wheel should be under body.
I have just bought a 1978 TR7 and can use it on Motorways and longer journeys to car shows with brother in law who runs a '68
MG so sadly time is up for the Jago, we will be extremely sad to see it go.
We have mostly used car around the Lake district but have made longer trips to North Yorks, Lancashire and Northumberland, classic Ford meets as well as up to Kilmarnock .
Kilmarnock pics here:
It is great fun in the snow
Car has never let us down apart from running out of fuel when we have decided to chance it without putting in the fuel before setting off, we are all human
If you want to know more give me a ring, mobile is 07732357267 there are huge numbers of pics in my photo bucket and flicker accounts - links are on the bottom of any posts we make, we have the full history of the car from new including all old MOTs and detailed instructions for all bits fitted + factory manuals + build manuals etc
There was a write up by the previous owner in a copy of Transmissions after we got it detailing the history of the car.
So there it is a great example of the Jeep which is very driveable and very easily maintained - big wheels mean you can just creep under without need for jacks and the car can be customised/ personalised to your hearts desire. Insurance as a second car for mature (
) drivers is about £85 a year through Sykes with a bit more for break down coveratb
Mike
