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XK150 (3.8 S Replica)
XK150 roadster chassis number 830141 had had a hard life before finding its way to us at Concours. Originally delivered to New York, the car found it's way to Australia in 1980, changed hands a few times and became increasingly in need of restoration. We purchased the car in a completely dismantled state, but basically complete, and then sold it immediately to a customer who requested a restoration to the highest standard but to full 3.8 "S" specification. No problem, the first step though is to dip the chassis and the body and begin the long resurrection process.
The chassis had suffered from being stored under a house on a damp surface and required remedial work. The good news though was the chassis was straight and original. The body emerged from the tank a bit worse for wear and it was soon apparent that we had a major body restoration on our hands.
New sills, floors, bootfloor and front guard side sections were all fabricated and fitted, along with numerous other isolated repairs. The firewall was also altered to Right Hand Drive configuration at this stage.
New doors and bootlid were hand fabricated to suit, but the bonnet was in perfect original condition.
At about this stage, the vehicle changed hands again to the present owner who wanted to continue with the restoration to 3.8 "S" specifications, but with some additional modernisations. Upgraded brakes, upgraded gearbox and custom wood veneered dashboard were requested and accommodated for in the brake department with XJ6 brake callipers, modern Tilton master cylinders and a modern PBR booster. The gearbox upgrade came in the form of our tried and proven Toyota supra 5 speed conversion kit with aluminium flywheel, modern diaphragm clutch and modern clutch hydraulics. The chassis was restored incorporating various modifications including "S" specification 9 leaf rear springs, KONI adjustable shocks front and rear, 3.77 LSD differential with new billet axles and uprated bushings throughout.
Whilst the chassis and mechanicals were being attended to, the body was in the final stages of trial fitting, lead wiping and file finishing before it was wheeled into the paintshop on our custom painting jig for the painting preparation to begin.
The 3.8 litre engine was sourced from a MKX Jaguar complete with a straight port cylinder head and triple 2in SU's. The engine was dismantled and fully rebuilt and balanced using 9.0:1 Hepolite "Powermax" pistons and new Jaguar wide blade conrods. The cylinder head was modified and fitted with larger inlet valves and converted to allow the use of unleaded fuel. Meanwhile, after weeks of preparation, the body was finally finished in glorious Black and was immediately fitted to the waiting chassis.
With the body now fitted to the restored chassis, final assembly could begin. We had a custom wiring loom made to incorporate all wiring needed for the numerous electrical modifications and to remove the unneeded wiring. Electrical modifications include conversion to negative earth, fitment of an alternator, electric thermofan to replace the engine fan, electric windscreen washers, modern radio and speakers, electric tachometer, high output headlights and spotlights, modern horn, removal of electric choke and removal of overdrive wiring. The carburettors were converted to manual choke, identical to an E Type setup. The exhaust system is a twin 1 7/8in stainless steel mandrel bent system with only 2 baffles in each muffler.
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Whilst the assembly and modifications continued, the interior was being restored in Grey using all correct materials. The seats are an exact copy of the optional bucket seats offered by Jaguar for an XK150 in the late 1950's. These are very similar to the C Type bucket seat and provide much better support and the added benefit of more rearward seat adjustment. The fitting of the powersteering was one of the final mechanical modifications performed. We used a Triumph powersteering rack with an XJ6 powersteering pump. To drive the pump, we fitted a XJ6 harmonic balancer (which is superior to the old style balancer anyway) along with a single row XJ6 pully. We fabricated all of the necessary mountings for the rack and pump in-house. Along with the obvious benefit of lighter steering at low speeds, the fitting of powersteering to the XK allows much more positive castor to be adjusted in providing greatly improved straight line stability at highway speeds and much better "turn in" to corners.
These photos show the completed interior including woodgrain dashboard and the replica bucket seats.