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.