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E TYPE SERIES 1 3.8
As the first photo shows, this red roadster looks nothing like a restoration project what lies beneath came as a big shock. As we carefully dismantled the car it soon became evident that past restorers had spent more time trying to conceal their terrible workmanship than actually executing proper repairs.
These three photos show just some of the rust and poor past repairs that were all hidden with tar and bog. The bodyshell and panels were dipped to remove all traces of paint, sealer, fibreglass, filler and rust. The body went in all shiny and red but came out of the tank in two pieces with extensive rusted and damaged areas revealed.
New floors and sill being aligned on our jig.
Rear body section before restoration.
The body received new floors, lower rear quarter panels, inner & outer sills, sill ends, boot floor, door skins and a lot of other local repairs. It is compulsory for a major body restoration like this to be performed on an accurate jig. Ours is made from the factory body dimensions and it ensures that the body is restored with 100% accuracy.
The repaired and fully file finished bonnet.
Paint preparation well underway.
Bodyshell fully painted and ready for assembly.
Following lead wiping and file finishing, it's over to the paintshop for hours of preparation before the final coats of signal red are applied. We then cut back the top layers of clear and buff the car all over; leaving a peel-free finish that is extremely durable.
The SU carburettors were fully restored in house.
Mechanically, the car did not escape the same sort of shoddy workmanship that the body was subject to. The engine had been bored to the incorrect size giving a too large piston to bore clearance and low compression pistons were fitted. We fully rebuilt the engine in house using the correct 9:1 Powermax pistons and we converted the cylinder head to enable the car to run on unleaded petrol. The gearbox had been recently rebuilt but was extremely noisy. When dismantled, we found that a worn layshaft and badly pitted bearings were the cause of the noise. This was rectified and the gearbox was rebuilt in house. The rear suspension / differential was dismantled for assessment. This revealed that the original Limited Slip differential centre had been substituted for a standard "open" diff. This was rectified with a new centre and the rear end was fully rebuilt again in house. All new suspension bushes and bearings were fitted, the brakes resleeved with stainless sleeves and new KONI shocks were fitted all round. Then the car was fitted with new 15x6 chrome wire wheels, radial tyres and new splined hubs.
The engine components laid out ready for assembly.
Just some of the suspension components restored, ready for assembly.
Careful assembly of the rear end unit.
Front suspension, steering & brakes fitted.
A rolling shell with engine & gearbox fitted.
With the painted body now in the assembly area, the engine / gearbox, rear end unit and front suspension assemblies were all ready and waiting. The car was rolling with engine & gearbox fitted within 1 week, then careful assembly continued. Trimming of the car is done on our premises by our trusted trimmer, thus enabling us to continue with the assembly and to keep a close eye on the trimming.
It took 8 weeks from the time we started assembling the painted shell to the first test drive. All brightwork was rechromed and new taillights, parklights and reverse lights were fitted. A new correct cotton braided wiring loom was installed and every electrical component dismantled, checked and rebuilt. A correct cooling fan motor and blade were fitted and a new aluminium radiator, as was originally fitted to 3.8 E Type's, was fitted to keep things cool. The interior was completely retrimmed in black, with genuine Connolly leather being used to cover the seats. After filling up with vital fluids, the car was fired up and test driven, minus the bonnet, and then run in under controlled load on the rolling road. Apart from a new cooling fan switch failing and a resleeved brake master cylinder not releasing, there was no reason the bonnet couldn't be fitted and some testing on the open roads started.
On the road, the first most noticeable, pleasing aspect of this car is the way that it handles. With every suspension and steering component restored to as new combined with the 1in wider wheels, modern radial tyres and KONI shock absorbers (not set at "full hard", like so many are), this E Type handles precisely. The car also stops very well with the bigger front callipers fitted, and the engine has excellent pulling power thanks to the larger inlet valves, 9.5:1 compression, regraphed distributor and most importantly, all fully tuned and sorted on the dyno.
Testimonial:
Gavin King and his team at Concours rebuilt
my Jaguar E-Type Series 1 3.8 roadster from the ground up in 2002.
I was delighted with the project, from start to finish.
Like most E-Types of its vintage (1962) , it had suffered horribly
at the hands of some bodgie restorers over the years. While
it looked ok on the surface, beneath the skin it was a patched-up
mess in almost every way, so badly out of shape that the chassis
had bent like a banana.
Working with Gavin over a period of months, we decided what could
be salvaged and what should be replaced. The instruction
was to rebuild the car close to 100% A1 concours condition, but
with modifications that would retain all the original Jaguar style
and spirit while adding subtle touches to make it more driveable
in the modern era.
His craftsmanship was meticulous. Gavin sourced parts from
both the UK and the USA or, where they were not readily available,
or of sufficient quality, he made them himself in his workshop.
(This particularly applied to body panels, some of which are,
quite literally, a hand-built work of sculpture.)
I particularly appreciated his willingness to have me, the client,
involved at every stage of the process. Many workshops won't
do this, but I was welcome to drop in at any time, unannounced,
to see how things were going. He kept a complete photographic
record, and every item was carefully costed and billed, so I knew
exactly what was happening and when. Modifications
included wheels slightly wider than the original, to improve handling,
(although only a truly expert eye could tell), bigger callipers
and pads for the disc brakes, and conversion for the engine to
run on high octane unleaded fuel.
The result is an E-Type as close to perfection as could be
certainly a far better car than the original that rolled off the
production line at Brown's Lane 41 years ago. You can see
the project on his website. I can thoroughly
recommend him as a classic restoration expert without peer.
Mike Carlton
Radio 2UE
The Sydney Morning Herald