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XK120 Roadster 660372
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XK120 roadster chassis number 660372 came to us in July 1994 along with XK120 roadster 660197 and XK120 FHC 669089. All three cars were dismantled and were in early stages of restoration. The trouble was the work that had been done on the cars was very sub standard and a lot of parts had gone missing. When we finally got the three cars sorted, the FHC was mostly complete, chassis 660197 was complete, but poor old 660372 was basically a chassis, an engine block, an incorrect head and an incorrect body from a later XK120 roadster (660789).
660372 has been a very lengthy restoration for various reasons, mostly due to the fact that so many components needed to be found which is not easy these days. The brief was to restore 660372 back to 100% correct, including painting the body in the original Birch Grey and trim the interior in the original biscuit and red.
As purchased in 1994, most of these parts are from 660197 and the body is from 660789 but it formed the basis of 660372.
This is essentially what we had to work with. The chassis, which needed fairly major repairs, the incorrect body of which we are only able to use a small portion of and the engine, which had an incorrect head and sump, so we really only had a block.
There was considerable rust in the chassis which had to be repaired.
It is easier to list what we didn't have to remake on the body than to list what we did make. We were able to salvage the top of the tonneau panel and the scuttle - that's it. The bonnet was louvered, so we had to rectify that.
We made new front guards, new doors, new rear guards, new spats, new bootlid, new rear bulkhead and a new front bulkhead.
Whilst all the bodywork was taking place, we were scouring the world to try to locate the remaining parts that we needed. Like a right hand drive steering assembly, an ENV rear end, a correct gearbox, a correct cylinder head, front suspension and all the small parts, which were the hardest.
Finally, we were able to paint the chassis and begin the assembly.
