The Engine Is Out

Today has been a milestone for the Jag project.  The engine and transmission were separated from the car.  This is actually quite an elaborate process on the E-type.  The biggest problem is a cross member that runs between the back of the oil pan and the front of the bell housing.  This cross member is a tie plate that resists the torsional load applied by the front torsion bars when the car is on the ground.  There are several tricky ways suggested for unloading the torsion from this plate so it can be removed.  I opted for disassembling the front suspension allowing the torsion bars to fully relax and making it possible to remove the tie plate (cross member).  Actually the part that gave me the most trouble in dismantling the front suspension was a rusty cotter pin that I almost had to drill out!  Sometimes the smallest things are the most time consuming.

The shop manual for the car instructs you to remove the engine and transmission by lifting them together up through the frame.  But the experienced owners on the "Jag Lover's Forum" unanimously recommend dropping the engine down onto a dolly and then lifting the front of the car up over the engine.  After a few unsuccessful attempts to lift the engine, my son, Josh, and I decided to try lifting the front of the car.  We lifted the frame with the engine hoist and rolled the engine out on a dolly.  That does work much better.

I will next remove the Independent Rear Suspension (IRS) from the car and proceed to work on the body and bonnet.  It would be interesting to see the condition of the upper end of the engine so I will remove the head and have a look.  But the engine rebuild can wait for a while so the body can be prepared for painting.  I prefer not to leave a rebuilt engine sitting around for too many months after assembly as all the special engine assembly lubricants may drip into the pan and the oil on the piston rings may run out of the cylinders. 

Having removed the bonnet from the car I am pleased to report that there is no serious rust anywhere in the bonnet.  Unfortunately there is rust in the dashboard and bumper areas of the car due to the humid and perhaps salty air in John's Menlo Park location. 

Several of the smaller fasteners in the dashboard area and in the tail lights broke when I tried carefully to remove them, but those have been now removed and the threads repaired using drills, taps, easy-outs, grinders, and the acetylene torch.  No permanent damage anywhere.  Stay tuned next time for a preliminary report on the condition of the engine and the rear-end assembly.

One Month Later

Today is October 10th and more progress has been made on all projects.  The '98 Ford Ranger pickup is done and is providing good transportation.  I am pleased to have it back after 5 years separation.  The old Honda 305 did start up just fine and runs well.  It won't be driven any more this winter so back in storage it goes till spring.

 The Jag is coming along well.  I took a couple days and restored the original distributor by soaking it in oil for a week (the advance spindle was frozen and other bearings dried out) and I soldered new wires where the original had lost all their insulation and had probably been shorting out.  I'm not surprised that John reported having electrical problems when he quit driving the car back in 1990. 

I had to cut the exhaust pipes off at the manifolds.  The mufflers were so corroded you could see right through them.  I didn't even take any photos it was so bad.  But I have a complete new stainless-steel exhaust system waiting to be installed!   The manifolds have lost all their ceramic coating and I am not sure yet how I will restore those.  More on that later.

The rest of the interior trim has all been removed, and the doors and wing windows disassembled.  The only interior trim left in the car is the headliner.   It will come out next.

 Everything is so corroded that it is extremely difficult to remove the many small, No. 10 screws without breaking them, and some of the 1/4 inch screws even break.  Three out of 6 of the screws securing the tail lights had to be broken off to get the lights off.  Fortunately I was able to heat up the remaining broken bits with a torch and get them out.  Many of the rusty fasteners have required torch heating to remove them.  The over-riders on the rear bumpers were held in place by long screws that I had to cut out with the torch.  Those over-riders were fairly damaged already but after the torch operation they will have to be replaced with new.   The rear bumpers came off without any damage but it took all afternoon to remove the 6 rusty screws that secure them.  They will get re-chromed.

There are lots of pop-rivets to drill out and trim clips to pop out, most of which are too rusty to reuse.  All the rubber trim had turned to solid and had to be chipped out with sharp tools and swept up off the floor.  I have already purchased a new complete set of all the body rubber pieces.

The wiring harnesses were a challenge to remove but they had to come out so the interior can be sandblasted and prepared for paint.  Many of the wires have damaged insulation and some broken connectors.  All of the fabric-insulated wires have lost their color coding and the insulation is flaking off. So a new complete set of wiring harnesses is is order.  Trying to reuse the old wiring would lead to endless headaches and frustration so away it goes.

I am able to successfully apply Zinc plating to small parts in my garage, so all of the fasteners (screws, nuts, bolts, washers) that are not chrome plated will receive new zinc plating.  Many of the small steel parts will also be done at home.  The larger zinc-plated parts are going out to a shop.  This shop does a nice job with black-chromated, zinc-plated coatings.  All of the small parts that would otherwise be painted black are being plated black by this black-chromate process.  The finish is satin gloss and will not chip when fasteners are put through the parts, the way paint would.  This will be a nice improvement over the original black and not really distinguishable from the original paint, except for not being chipped.

This month I will remove the engine and transmission and the rear-end sub frame and set them aside while I work on the body.  A temporary rotisserie can be built from two engine hoists.  This is how I will try to handle this body.

The project is progressing nicely, though not without frustrating moments (these old Jags have a nasty sense of humor).  It is a thrill for me to own this old car and to work on it.  I have read Phillip Porter's excellent history of the first public E-Type, the 9600HP that was unveiled in March 1961 at the Geneva Auto Show.  Reading the history of this car makes me very grateful to own one.  Thank you, John Newkirk, for saving this one for me. 

Following are some photos of the progress described above.

Here is the Honda Super Hawk.  Also a 1964 model, same as the Jag.  They are contemporaries.

The finished distributor.  Some owners insist that this unit should be replaced with an electronic set-up, but I have always had good performance from mechanical distributors so it is going back in as original. 

This is only about half of the interior trim that has been removed.  It is not pretty, but I believe the final Suede Green interior will be elegant and richly impressive.  Can't wait to put it back together.

The gutted interior. The windshield is still in here.  I am nervous about removing it because of the chiseling required to remove the rubber seal which has hardened to the consistency of Bakelite.   It would be easy to chip or crack the glass with the sharp metal tools required.   Lots of corrosion where metal was bare, but the floors and foot wells are solid, not rusted through anywhere.  From what I have read this is a rare condition, usually new floors need to be welded in.  I will scrape out the old sound-deadener, sand-blast all the corroded spots, straighten some damage in the driver's foot well, and re-seal and paint the interior.

The old wiring harnesses came out with considerable difficulty and will need replacing.  I tried to label all the old wires but the new harnesses come un-numbered and with no instructions.  So wish me luck in getting it all back together after the painting is finished.  I do have the factory schematic which I have enlarged so it can be read and marked up.  Don't worry, it will eventually all come together.

To finish up, here are a bunch of the finished plated parts that are about ready for re-assembly.  This group is probably about one-fifth of the total number of plated parts that will go back into this car.

Fall Update

It's been almost three months since my last entry in this Jaguar Restoration blog.  Progress on the Jag has been slow as I have finished up the Model T motor and put it back in the car and put the car in the storage trailer.  I had to take a few weeks and do a mild restoration of my 1964 Honda Super Hawk which had been sitting with no attention for 5 years and was in pretty sad shape.  The fuel had partially congealed in the tank and the carburetors were totally stuck shut and a number of other problems needed to be dealt with.  I have not yet got it running again but that moment is not far away.  For the last three weeks I have been working on my 1998 Ford Ranger pickup which needed a complete engine rebuild.  That should be finished up in another week or two and should provide me with reliable transportation for the winter months. 

The Jag work fills in the odd moments between these other projects.  Mostly I am disassembling things, trying to salvage what components can be saved.  I was able to clean out the fuel tank using the improvised tumbler shown below.  Unfortunately when I had removed most of the ancient varnish and tar from the inside by tumbling nuts and bolts around inside the tank filled with hot lye solution, tiny pin hole leaks began to appear where the tank was most corroded.  I decided easily that a new tank would be needed as no matter how many holes I might braze up, more would surely appear as soon as I installed the tank back in the car.  I didn't want to deal with that so the Jag will get a new tank.

My home Zinc plating system is working well enough to start plating small parts.  All of the fasteners that are showing corrosion will get re-plated in my garage.  The larger, or more visible, parts are being done at a shop in Springville; Duris Plating.  The chrome work is being done at Crown Plating in Salt Lake City.  They have finished one batch of parts for me and are working on a second. 

I was pleased to discover that much of the original zinc plating, although dark and tarnished after decades of sitting idle, will polish up better than new with a little effort.  Below is a photo of the throttle linkage, mostly all in original zinc, just polished.  The larger flat parts were too corroded to polish and needed re-plating.

The interior is slowly coming out.  I am currently shopping for a complete interior kit.  There are many providers and they all claim to be the best quality available anywhere in the world.  I will eventually have to choose one and order.  I will retain the original Suede Green color.  What's left of the upholstery in this car is faded and has lost its original rich appearance, but a new acquaintance in SLC has shown me a photo of a convertible with new Suede Green interior and it is the most luxurious and rich-looking of all the colors I have seen. 

The paint debate has now been reopened.  New upholstery wants to be installed after new paint.  To repair the worst body damage I would have to repaint about half the car.  I received an estimate for paintless repair of just one area of the hood and it was over $1000 which would almost buy enough material to repaint the entire car.  It is becoming clear to me that I need to repaint the whole car in order to coordinate with the new interior and all the rubber seals which absolutely must be replaced.

Following are some photos of the work to date.

Fuel tank tumbler made on an old engine stand.  This worked pretty well to clean the inside of the tank.  Pinholes made the purchase of a new tank a better option than attempting to repair this one.

All the gauges and switches have been removed and the three sections of dashboard have been replated in Copper (center section) and Nickel (left and right sections).  The gauges appear to all be usable with a little cleaning up.

The complete throttle linkage has been repolished.  All the plating is original except the plate on the left that fastens to the firewall and the arm on the right that comes off the pedal box.  These were too corroded to polish.   But the original plating on all the rods and links must have been well done 55 years ago to still clean up this nicely.

The carbs and intake manifolds have been removed.  The engine will have to come out and be rebuilt.  The cooling system is full of crud and the engine will not turn.  Pistons must be frozen.  The carbs are corroded shut but may be restorable with care.  This will be a project worthy of its own blog!

New wheels and gas tank removal

Review of latest progress and some challenges.

The last two weeks I have been able to complete a few difficult restoration tasks and discover a few more that will be challenging.  I ordered and received a new set of four wire wheels from SNG Barratt and a set of four Vredestein tires form the Tire Rack in Nevada.  Both orders arrived very quickly and I had the tires mounted at Big-O in Orem, and balanced with stick-on weights.  I put the new wheels and tires on the car to see how they looked and was pleased with the results.  They seem to clear everything but may touch the rear swing arm bottoming blocks at full drop.

I also succeeded in removing all of the gauges and switches from the instrument panel.  All are a bit rusty and I broke off a few of the welded-on studs that were too rusty to unscrew.  But I think these can be replaced.  The switches all seem to work and I think the gauges will work, just need cleaning up.  I had two duplicate keys made in case the one gets lost again.

I also got back the repaired clock.  I have not tried it but there was no note so I assume it is now working.  That will be a treat to see working again. 

The big project this week was the removal of the gas tank.  What a mess!!  I had to cut the hardened filler pipe hose and vent hose to get them out.  The sump on the bottom of the tank was not willing to unscrew with any bar I could put on it, but it did succumb to my new 800 ft-lb pneumatic torque wrench.  That beast slowly unscrewed the sump with no obvious problem except the partial rounding off of the corners of the 13/16 in. hex at the bottom of the sump.  But it came off in one piece and without damaging the tank.  The fuel gauge sending unit and the old submerged pump also came out eventually, the pump inlet was badly stuck in the sump but came out with some damage from twisting.  The pump came out as a shapeless mas of horrible tar that can only be removed by chisel and scraping.  No solvent will do much.  It was still submerged in about five gallons of 30-year-old gas that I suctioned out of the tank and put in a gas can to somehow dispose of.  Fortunately I don't have to try to restore the pump, I have already purchased a new after-market pump from SNG.  But I will try to clean it up just as a memento.  The sending unit may be restorable. 

The gas tank may be impossible to clean.  One suggestion is to cut it into two halves, clean it out, and then weld the halves back together.  I will look into this but it might be wiser to just buy a new tank.  I don't know how much they cost because they are not listed on any of the vendor web catalogs.

I also ordered a bunch of new miniature lamps from Grainger for the dashboard and they have arrived.  XKs has sent me a complete rubber seal kit and a front-end rebuilding kit.  Not cheap but totally necessary to the restoration.

I really should be setting the Jag aside while I finish painting the back porch and getting the Model T motor together, but I can't resist working on the Jag a little.  Sometimes it is still hard to believe I actually have in out in my garage.  It is still a dream come true for me.

Summer progress July 2018

A little more progress on the Jag.  I finished building the back-yard deck last week (see photo below) so can now turn more attention to car projects.  The engine to the 1927 Model T is coming together nicely and should be done in another week.  I will then set that project aside and turn to the Jag.  I recently ordered a complete new rubber kit to replace all exterior rubber seals and a front-end rebuild kit plus new wheels and tires.  My plan to disassemble and re-chrome the original wheels would not work as no matter how carefully I tried I could not get the spokes out without breaking them, they were just too rusty.  The only solution is new wheels.  They should arrive this week and I will take some pictures. 

With the wheels off I will pressure wash the bottom of the car so I can start working on undercarriage.  I was able to complete the disassembly, cleaning, lubricating, and painting of the speedo and tach as shown below.  I am also setting up a home-zinc-plating system to re-plate many of the fasteners and small parts that were plated but have become corroded.  I will report later on how that is working. 

I will finish the dash board to final restored condition as all the gauges, levers, and switches need refurbishing anyway to be put in operating condition.  But I'm not sure what to do with the rest of the interior, especially the seats.  It would be nice to preserve the original interior at least for a while, but the seats cannot be left undone.  More on that later.

It is an exciting project.  I have waited 50 years to own one of these and so far the project is delivering all the satisfaction (and some of the frustration) that I thought it would.

 Model T engine nearing completion

 Finished deck in back yard - a 12-month project

Finished tach and speedo for Jaguar dashboard.  Clock is away being repaired.

23 May 2018
It's time for a little update on the Jag project.

I have decided, based on suggestions from friends and family, to do a first phase of this restoration in which I will do just enough to get the car running safely and then drive it some, maybe take it to a show or two while it has it's original paint and as much originality as I can preserve.  As one friend said, "it is only original once", so it would be well to preserve it as much as possible.   To make it drivable, save and reliable,  all the electrical parts of the car will have to be cleaned and restored.  Also all the hoses and belts.  The carburetors and brakes will require complete restoration, and some of the rubber seals to keep water out of the car.

The windows regulators and all latches and locks will be looked at, the shocks and suspension will be checked.  The steering will be restored as needed for safe, smooth function.  I will check the engine to see if it can be put in running order without overhaul or rebuild, at least for a while.  And the exhaust system may have to be replaced if it is rusted through.   I will assume that the clutch, transmission and differential will be OK with just new fluids.  If they make unusual noise or behave badly they will have to be restored.

The wheels are pretty rusty with many broken spokes.   If these cannot be repaired with reasonable effort I will purchase a complete new set of wheels and, of course,  new tires. You can't drive on bad wheels.

Inside the car everything having to do with the gauges and electrical switches will have to be restored to good working order.  It looks like all the original components can be preserved.  The dash top will be replaced and the steering wheel refinished.

Because I am finishing a large, 600 sq. ft. deck in my back yard there has not been much time for car restoration, but during some evenings and rainy days I can do a little.  Here are two things I have accomplished in my evenings.  Daimler certificate and steering wheel restoration.

Below is an image of the Jaguar-Daimler Heritage certificate for the car.  The name of the first owner is given, and the car was first sold in New York City.  It must have come to California fairly quickly.  The certificate confirms that the paint and interior are still the original.

The steering wheel had become badly weathered.  It was so badly cracked in places that you could see the aluminum ring through the cracks inside the laminated wood.   I filled all the cracks with a urea-based glue mixed with sanding dust from other pieces of hardwood.  After filling and sanding the surface was rubbed with paste wood filler and wiped with 5 coats of urethane finish, sanding with 1000 grit paper between coats.

The aluminum was badly pitted and required a good deal of hand sanding with increasingly finer grits finishing with 1500 grit paper and then polishing with a cotton wheel and two stages of rouge.   You can now see your face clearly in the surface.

Of course, the shift knob was done at the same time.   There are three things about an E-Type that contribute in a major way to its beauty, the road wheels, the engine when properly finished, and the steering wheel.   This is the original wheel and looks rather nicer than an aftermarket replacement.  I am glad I could save it.

By the way, did everybody notice at the end of the Royal Wedding last Sunday that Harry and Meghan drove away from Windsor in a 1868 Series 1.5 E-Type?  I understand Harry's brother, at last year's wedding, also left for honeymoon in a 1961 E-Type.   This is clearly the most desirable car in all of Britain, even after 50 years!  These couples could drive any vehicle they wished, as long as it was British, and they chose the Jag!  

The purpose of this new blog is to allow family and friends to track the progress of restoration of a 1964 Series 1 E-Type Jaguar Fixed Head Coupe.  The car was purchased on 21 April 2018.  The project is budgeted to require about two years of work and hopefully will be completed to a show-worthy level of quality.  One objective will be to preserve as much of the original vehicle as possible. This blog will not be made available to the public, but only to invited family and friends.

Here is the car as received on 21 April 2018

This car had not been run since 1990 and had spent about four years parked outdoors
Remarkably, three of the tires still held air.  We replaced the fourth with a mounted spare
we had brought just for that purpose.

We are loading the car into the enclosed trailer

In the trailer, ready to be strapped down for the trip home.

At home now after a quick polish to see what color the paint is.

There will be a delay for a while as other projects need to be completed before work on the Jag can be continued.