Classic Motor Cars Ltd - E-Type Jaguar Restoration Manual

E-Type Jaguar
Restoration
Manual

E-Type Jaguar
Restoration
Manual

Classic Motor Cars with David Barzilay

THE CROWOOD PRESS

First published in 2017 by

The Crowood Press Ltd

Ramsbury, Marlborough

Wiltshire SN8 2HR

www.crowood.com

This e-book first published in 2017

Classic Motor Cars Ltd 2017

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 78500 285 4

contents

preface

by David Barzilay

The E-Type Jaguar was in production between 1961 and 1975, and during that time more than 72,000 were produced; it was the car that every young man about town aspired to, and the car that Enzo Ferrari described as the most beautiful in the world. It is also one of the few motor cars that has never lost its appeal, being revered by different generations for different reasons, and all the while growing in value.

The car was designed by Jaguars Malcolm Sayer, but there is no doubt that he received significant input from Sir William Lyons, the founder of Jaguar cars, and when it was introduced it caused a worldwide sensation. It was affordable, costing just over 2,000, while its Aston Martin counterpart cost more than double that sum. It was a fantastic design, with a 3.8-litre engine that Jaguar had installed in its XK series, and which was both powerful and proven. The engine could take the car to 150mph (240km/h), and immediately put the E-Type on everybodys wish list and it made other manufacturers such as Aston Martin and Ferrari think about what would be expected in the future.

Over the years the E-Type has become the ultimate classic to own, with early roadsters becoming the most popular, and early outside bonnet lock versions the most sought after. That is exactly where this restoration manual starts, with the potential owner of Chassis Number 60, Chris Anderson, talking to Classic Motor Cars in Bridgnorth: the car coming up for auction, what should be paid for it, and how it could be restored, if indeed he was lucky enough to be the winning bidder.

prologue

by Chris Anderson

Why did I do it? We have all done crazy things. I have done a lot of crazy things. Most of them are best not discussed, let alone put into print, but this one is.

I first made contact with Classic Motor Cars a few years ago when I bought a car from them another E-Type, as it happens: a newly restored, 1961, opalescent dark green flat-floor E-Type roadster with green suede interior, welded-in bonnet louvres (and internal bonnet locks). It was just beautiful, and a joy to drive, a proper car with no plastic hiding the engine, a gear change that needed love and practice to master, the odd oil leak to prove that there was oil in it, a choke as an anti-theft device to confuse anyone under the age of forty, and surprisingly good handling and acceleration to surprise a few modern drivers. Perfect. My wife loves it too. I still have it, I have no intention of selling it, and I drive it lots.

I was talking to CMC one day, and I happened to mention that I would really like to get my hands on one of the mythical 91 RHD outside bonnet lock roadsters, the handbuilt pre-production semi-prototypes that back in 1961 either went to dealers as demonstrators, the great and the good, or those with connections. And that was that. They rarely come up for sale, so realistically it was a fairly hypothetical conversation. Or so I thought. But CMC had filed away my request and did not forget.

Over the months that followed CMC got a number of leads, but nothing that was any good either the lead turned out to be nothing really concrete, or the owner didnt appear that serious about selling. There were even a couple where the only thing that was correct or original about the car was the chassis number itself. Everything else was new or wrong.

Now I am realistic enough to know that a car that is half a century old will have new parts on it. Parts wear out, or even decay, and need to be replaced. But virtually the whole car? I didnt want Triggers Broom from Only Fools and Horses. Originality is important because that is then a piece of history and not a modern copy. So we werent really getting anywhere.

Then one day the phone rang. It was CMC. Again. Theres an outside lock E-Type coming up for sale at a Bonhams auction. We dont know the chassis number or where the auction is, but we think its worth following up. Really? This one sounds like a wild goose chase, I thought, another waste of time. So I told CMC straight: Fantastic news! Lets investigate further! I really must work on connecting my thoughts to my words.

And that was that.

Two days later the phone rang. It was CMC again. Its Chassis 60. The car is for sale at the Bonhams RAF Hendon auction on Monday 29 April [2013]. We dont know much else. We are not sure about its condition or how original it is. We are in touch with Bonhams who dont have the full details yet. We will find out more and get back to you.

And true to their word they did. It had been found in a garage in Somerset where it had been stored since the early 1970s. These garages are apparently now called barns hence barnfind. It also needed a bit of work. That would later turn out to be one of the understatements of the century. We could view the car on the Saturday, two days before the auction.

Now I am not mechanically inept, and I know a bit about E-Types, but Im not an expert like the technicians at CMC. I would need help to evaluate the car properly and make a decision on what to bid, if at all. CMC offered to drive all the way down from Shropshire to London on the Saturday to view the car with me.

I arrived at the RAF Hendon Museum and met the technician. The two of us walked through the first hall, surrounded by our fantastic aviation heritage, towards the hall where the cars were displayed for inspection prior to the auction on Monday. There were some beautiful cars: an early S1 Land Rover, a stunning XK140 drophead, a Ferrari Enzo, a gorgeous 1929 4-litre Bentley, a DB6. But I couldnt see the outside lock E-Type we had come to look at.

The car before restoration.

And then tucked away at the back we saw the E-Type. There she was, hidden under a layer of dirt, pockmarked with rust, disfigured by a (horrid) Lenham hard top and looking rather sorry for herself: a neglected, rusty wreck. But a neglected rusty wreck proudly wearing outside bonnet locks. There they were. But was she who she said she was?

The technician carefully lifted the bonnet carefully I think in case the car fell apart in his hands. He scratched the dirt and grime off the top of the picture frame (engine frame) by the offside front wheel. And there it was: under the light of the technicians torch were the numbers 850060. Thats 85 signifying a RHD home market roadster, and 60 being less than 91, showing that it was one of the mythical outside lock roadsters I was looking for. But what a state it was in.

The technician continued his forensic analysis. I walked around the car, trying to look as if I knew what I was doing, but feeling slightly bemused that he was taking this seriously because it was obviously way beyond saving.