It's been a while, but I'm still pluggin' away.

Wow!  It's been quite a while since I posted anything on the blog.  I have been working on my regular job a good bit, but I have also been slowly progressing on the Jag.

 Since my last post, I have completed the wiring, all but strapping everything to the frames.  It's just hung temporarily with Zip Ties at this point.

I have started work on getting the bumpers mounted.  I had to take the rear overriders to the chrome shop.  Originally, I had no intention of carrying the restoration this far, but now everything is looking so good, things like the overriders that were "good enough" are no longer up to standard. I got them back the other day and have gotten one of the rear bumpers mounted.  It's not an easy thing to get right,  I have it close now.

I have reconditioned and installed the vacuum reservoir.

With Rodney's help,  I got the windshield wiper assembly and motor installed, another difficult task.  I also got the windshield washer lines run and the washer nozzles installed.  It's not an easy thing to get to so I sure hope it's gonna all work OK.  I'll definitely check it all out before I put the dashtop and windshield in.

 The steering column is in and working, the turn signal assembly is all reconditioned and looking good.  With Stuart's help, it's wired and should work fine.

I got the mud shields all sanded and repainted.  I have installed them temporarily to see how they look.  I'll probably want to remove them when I get ready to put the engine and transmission in to give me more access.




I finally, after a number of attempts, have gotten the heater box faired and painted to suit me.  I've now gotten it all put back together and ready to take its place on the bulkhead just next to the brake assembly.  All that work, and I'll probably never turn the heater on.  ha ha ha





After installing the Zero Clearance in the transmission tunnel, I installed it in the tunnel cover also.  I'll top it off with KoolMat then the carpet and I might need to turn that heater on after all.

I decided to pull the fuel tank out, first because I realized that I couldn't reach the center bumper bolt with it installed (embarrassing) but now that it's out, I went ahead and put KoolMat in the boot for insulation and sound deadening and after learning a little more about the Ethanol content in our fuel now, I might get it coated inside with a coating that will not be affected by the alcohol.  I still have some research to do on the subject.  Any input from you readers is welcomed.

Hopefully I'll be posting a little more frequently now.

A Look Back

For those of you that don't know me well, I thought I'd take you back to the beginning of this restoration project.

Not long after I got the E-Type.

I purchased this 1964 Jaguar E-Type Coupe in August 2001, just after we moved into our new house in Baldwin County.  It was definitely in drivable shape and I drove it a pretty good bit.  Mostly just around here and to car shows and such.

British Car Festival at Fairhope Beach

A sailboat beached by  Hurricane Ivan

It never won any awards to speak of, mostly because under the bonnet was pretty disastrous looking.  It was painted black first of all, which is wrong, but not only that, it was peeling and flaking and just looking bad.

Many of the components under the bonnet (hood) had surface rust and generally rundown looking.  The wiring was kinda scary, even though it didn't give much trouble.  One carburetor was prone to leak and it had a tendency to just run bad sometimes. But I still drove it occasionally.
In June of 2004, right after my nephew had started construction on my garage, I had major heart surgery.  While I was recuperating, Mike Darby, my very good friend, rebuilt the carbs for me and my nephew finished construction on the garage.

We had moved to a lot of about 5 acres so there was plenty of room to build a BIG garage.  It turned out to be 40x60 feet with 12 ft ceilings (my intention was to put a lift in it at some point). I figured that I might as well have it insulated while it was being built, it would never be easier or cheaper.  We air conditioned it and before anything was put inside, we put an epoxy coating on the floor (one of the best things I did or should I say, my nephew did.).

Once the car came back from Mikes, it ran really good, but eventually it got to where it would only go good for about 10-15 miles, then it would start running worse and worse.  I changed out everything..  coil, plugs, points, condenser, nothing changed.  Eventually, after a good bit of research, I ordered a Mallory distributor, coil and ballast resistor.  FIXED!!! 

Now that it ran so good, I decided to "clean it up under the bonnet" to make it more presentable.  That's where it all started....  I pulled the bonnet off and started cleaning it up...  it was hopeless, I was just making a mess so I decided to pull the engine and transmission out.  That's not much of a challenge for me, I have been taking things apart all of my life.




Once I got the engine out, I pulled the frames off of the monocoque body tub, took them to the blaster's to have them media blasted.

After he finished and had them primed, he casually mentioned to me that there were several holes rusted through them.  I couldn't believe it.  These frames hold the engine, the entire front suspension, radiator, bonnet...  everything that is in front of the driver.  They HAVE to be structurally sound (and they aren't real cheap)  sigh.... 

There was nothing I could do but order a new set of frames.
I had done some research and learned that there was a guy in England that made the absolute best frames for E-Types, Uryk at E-Type Fabs so I ordered some.
Meanwhile, I pulled out the old nasty looking wiring harness, ordered new and started stripping the paint off of the bulkhead. My plan at this point was to paint the bulkhead and frames with as close to the same color as the car as I could get mixed locally.

Sandblasting

Mike came over and blasted it for me and I had it sprayed with primer.At some point, I received the frames from Uryk and was totally blown away.  They were a work of art.

There was welding like I have never seen. I'm not totally sure what made me decide to take the car apart further...  I think it was just the fact that since I had gone this far, I might as well do it right.  I removed the interior, and the rear suspension.



There was nothing detectable wrong with the differential, so my plan was to just clean it up.  

Fitting the frames before painting the body

There were a few things that I wanted to correct, and I knew that the only way was to paint the whole car so with a great degree of trepidation, I started sanding on what to most people looked like a pretty darn good paint job on the car body..
During all of this, my friends Mike Darby and Rodney McDonald and Stuart Waddington were a big help. I learned a lot about bodywork, which before now I had never experienced.

Once I had the body like I wanted it and it was approved by Mike,

Primed and ready for paint

I took it to the painter, Jerry Tomacek.  He has a paint shop at his house and a very good reputation in the area.  Once he had finished and I brought the car home, I started the long task of putting it back together..  Rodney convinced me to start a blog so...  here it is.  I had done a website outlining all of this but haven't updated it for a long time.  If you would like to get even more of the story go to www.my64etype.com also, I have uploaded nearly all of the pictures I have taken during the restoration.  You can find them at https://picasaweb.google.com/my64etype/FromTheLift.
I have to say this has been quite a learning experience, and a lot of fun.  It just might not be the last.

I just got "Noodled"

I finally got the E-Type's pedal box installed. I was waiting on the "servo seal" to come.  I had ordered it from one of the usual parts places and it had been back ordered, so I called the other usual place I order from and they had it.  When it came in, it was something like $16.00 and $8.00 shipping.  I wish I had taken a picture of it to post here.  It was, and I'm not lying, a piece cut off of what is known in this area as a "water noodle"  A noodle is a long round plastic/foam tube that kids play with in the water.  I could have gotten one at the Dollar Store up the street had I known.  My car didn't have one when I took it apart so I wasn't sure of what it consisted.   I figured it was some kind of special seal.  Needless to say, I was wrong.  Anyway, I stuck the cut off piece of water noodle on the back of the brake servo and got it mounted to the bulkhead.  Now I have to assemble the accelerator peddle and it's pedal box, it should be pretty simple.  I was going to do it right after I finished with the brake box, but then I remembered that the steering column went through this box and I had not yet refurbished the steering column.  That I will finish in a few days.

I also installed the taillights and had to fiddle with the gaskets a lot.   They don't fit worth a flip.  Then once I got them all mounted, the fit was horrible.  I could have sworn that they fit much better before I had taken them to be chromed.  School is still out on what exactly I'm gonna do to make the fit better.  I did learn something very useful from Rodney .  He was over here and I was about to soak the lens from the backup light in some bleach.  It's clear plastic and had yellowed.  He told me to just put it in the dishwasher.  I thought he was nuts, but since he is a good friend and is really pretty dang smart, I stuck the thing in the dishwasher with the rest of the dishes (I had to put it in the little basket to keep it from flying around).  When Donna took it out and asked me what it was, I was astonished!!!  It looked like it was BRAND NEW!!!  It was crystal clear and not a sign of the yellowish tint that it had before.  I'm thinking I should have been sticking all the parts in the dishwasher.  Give it a try.

Now for the good news...  I am pretty sure I have ALL of the wiring completed, with the exception of hooking up the steering column electrics, that should be very straight forward.   Once that is in and connected, I can start putting the interior upholstery and carpets in, install the door and window seals..  It's really coming together.  I should be getting the 5-Speed transmission and the rear brakes from E-Type Fabs in the UK pretty soon. I'm starting to think that a mid-summer completion date is a real possibility.

The mail came today and with it, my reconditioned XJS wood.  

The grain looks just like a Growler

Saul replaced the ashtrays with cupholders

  If you remember a couple of posts back, while searching for a shorted connection, I had to remove some of the wood from the console and the veneer started curling up and falling off.  At that point I decided to bite the bullet and send all the wood off to British Autowood in Florida.  Saul Chaplin is the proprietor and resident artist.  Take a look at his website, this man has made some of the most beautiful wood pieces for automobiles that I have ever seen.  I couldn't wait to get mine out of its box.  He had sent me a picture of it, but to see it in real life makes you wonder just how someone can do work this gorgeous by hand.  An interesting touch is seen just below the radio, in front of the shift lever.  It looks almost exactly like the Jaguar Growler logo.
And he also embossed the Leaper logo in the door panels and a Growler on the glovebox.  I'm extremely happy with the finished product.

Notice my $45 Momo steering wheel :-)

I almost immediately started putting it back in the XJS.  Stuart came over to take a look and give me a hand.  It went well, and the V-12 Jag is back on the road, prettier than ever.

A little over a week... and what have I done?

I have finally gotten the chance, and built up the motivation to post another entry to my blog.  It's been over a week since I have posted any of my progress.  It hasn't been an incredibly productive week either.  There have been a number of things that have interrupted my rhythm. I spent a day and a half last week in the edit suite working at my regular job. Then on Saturday I rode to New Orleans with Mike Darby in his fabulous MGA 1600.  It was a gorgeous day and the New Orleans club put on a spectacular show with 143 British cars on the field that included 10 MGAs and no less than 7 Morgans, along with a multitude of other marques. There are a ton of pictures on the SABCC Picasa site http://tinyurl.com/6cdh7ky .  So, in spite of those little asides, I did actually get some work done on the E-Type. Let me point out here to some of my less "internet savvy" friends.  You can click on the small pictures in this blog and see the full sized picture..
As you may remember, I had gotten all of the parts for the pedal box cleaned up and clear coated.  Well, now I have it all put back together, and it would be in the car by now but I am waiting on a new seal to arrive. It goes between the back of the booster and the bulkhead. It's foam and about the size of a Krispy Kreme doughnut (glazed, of course).  I'm not too sure exactly what it does, but in belongs there so I'll wait till it gets her and put in a new one.  The old one was practically dust when I took it apart.

Now when I tell you this was like putting together a jigsaw puzzle, I'm not kidding.  I don't know how many parts there are, but there are some very strong springs that have to be fitted to help return the clutch pedal, a big fiber washer that must fit in between the pedals and then you have to line up a shaft and shove it through, guessing where the correct spline lineup would be.  If the 2 pedals don't line up, you have to take it back apart and try it again.  I was lucky, I only had to take it back apart once. I rebuilt the two brake master cylinders (one operates the front brakes and one operates the rears) and I replaced the clutch master cylinder with w new one.

While waiting for the booster seal to get here, I directed my attention back to the instrument panel and the wiring.  I completed wiring the center instruments, installed the driver's side instruments containing the tach, speedometer and a few levers and lights. That went well and I got it installed.

  Then I put in the passenger's side.  This first involved installing the glovebox.  I had bought a new one of these.  It's basically a heavy cardboard, folded and riveted into shape.  Oddly enough, it is only held in by a small bar bolted across the top fold. I saw a spot where I could add a little more structural support, so I got an oval body washer and bolted it to one of the screws that holds the passenger handle on.

So now the dash is in all except the top dash pad.  My good friend Mike Darby has convinced me to recover it.  Let me point out here that when I started this project, I had no intention of taking it anywhere near this far.  But the dang car looks so good now that every thing that I thought would be "good enough" is now not and needs to be recovered, revitalized, reconditioned or replaced.... Sigh....   Fortunately most of the stuff I need has already been purchased over the last 3 years.

Also, about a week ago I got the stuff back from the chrome plating shop.  It included the parking lights, brake/tail lights, handbrake, mirror mounting rod, rear hatch prop rod, and a few other odds & ends.

 
I reconditioned the light fixtures and have installed them into the chrome housings for the parking and brake lights. I have most of the fiddly rubber gaskets spot glued onto the housings so I can then put them on the car.  I had to replace a couple of the innards of the light fixtures on one of the brake lights. I also have purchased all new lenses. Hopefully they will all be going on the car real soon. Then it will start looking even more like a car.

Just this afternoon, I got the heater valve installed on the bulkhead. Yeah, it's new too, not too expensive...  and from what I understand, probably not as functional as the original but it looks good.  If it gives me much problem, I still have the original one and it CAN BE REPLACED! 

I won't be getting much done on the car tomorrow, but that's OK.  Tomorrow morning I'm taking my 90 yr old dad down to the Gulf to do a little sitting, watching the water (which he loves), enjoying the cool breezes and having a good lunch of crabmeat canapes at my sister's house.