1965 E Type roadster (Brad) Total restoration

Specification (briefly) for this project is as follows: Another Team CJ Special total restoration

Opalescent Silver Blue might just be my all time favourite E Type colour.

Final road testing is now complete and we will be contacting you in the next week or so to arrange delivery of your beautiful 'new' E Type.

Really not much left to do but install the convertible top and seats!

 

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Update report - September 18, 2003

New steering wheel finishes off the dash nicely!

Interior trimwork now almost completed. It is just about time to install your restored convertible top frame.

More completed trimwork....

Interior retrim now well underway.....

Note heat insulation around trans tunnel	Sound deadening material inside doors	Interior coming together very nicely

Now that we have the car back on the road, it seems only right that we should install a new Triplex windscreen.

It's maiden voyage time - after 20 odd years off the road! Click on the photograph below to see Sam test driving your car for the first time.

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Update report - June 28, 2003

Lots of progress since our last update report! Look for a maiden voyage during the coming week.

Click on the photograph below to see a video clip of the initial engine firing earlier this morning! I am delighted to report that everything is working perfectly.

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Update report - June 4, 2003

We continue to make great progress with your car and actually hope to fire it up for the first time later this week or early next week. In lieu of the new Team CJ stainless headers (which we will have in the next few weeks) we have temporarily installed some mild steel headers for the test run.

Rebuilt carbs installed	Restored heater box	Restoring top frame
Lots of new stainless hardware goes into the top frame	Temporary headers for test running the engine	Installing the new exhaust
New resonators installed	Dash restored...	....front and rear

I thought you might like to see a photo of the bonnet going on the car! If you go back to the March 28 update, it is amazing how far the car has come in less than 4 weeks.

Installing upper steering column	Looking like a car again!	Installing wiper rack

Time to go on with the doors and bootlid...

Installing new rubbers seals	Our preferred adhesive	Installing the doors
A post is masked off during installation		Installing the bootlid
It is a 2 man job

More great progress...

Rebuilding pedal box	High build primer for heater box.....	Which was badly pitted
Starting to restore dash panels	Mallory Unilite	Installing pedal box
Installing harness	Fuse boxes in place	Running harness to rear
Rear bulkhead	Installing heater valve	Linkage going into place
Installing rebuilt wiper motor	Spin on oil filter	Installing ign wires
Firewall blanking plates	New washer bottle	Silicone hoses thro'out

Fairly astounding progress, I think you will agree!

Team CJ flywheel	Braided oil line and new clutch	HP crank damper and billet Team CJ pulleys
Mating trans with engine	Installing the engine	Nickel plated suspension
Adjustable reaction plate	Back on its (temp) wheels!	Starting to look like a car
Opalescent Silver Blue	Front end coming together	Billet rack mounts & Team CJ shocks
Installing steering column	Booster failed inspection!	Gold zinc plate
Rebuilt booster installed	Note custom timing pointer	CJ rad and tank
Silicone hoses	Polished intake	One of the prettiest sights in the automotive world.....

Starting to go back together!

Back in the main CJ workshop	Installing stainless heater pipes	Grade 8 hardware everywhere
John C happy in his work!	Rebuilt steering rack	Yes, it really is your car!

The following pictures are just a teaser while you are enjoying your vacation! Kevin and Charlie have now sanded and buffed the entire body and next week we will be installing the frames/suspension and getting your car back on four wheels for the first time in decades.

We are actually using a new 3M sanding system (3M 3000) on your car which incorporates an incredibly smooth paper and produces an especially smooth, high gloss finish. Although the photographs don't do justice to Kevin and Charlie's efforts, I can promise you the car looks spectacular.

We upgraded the IRS to  slotted CJ rotors	Kevin sanding the decklid	Charlie hand sanding the main monocoque
	Photo does not do justice!

I am delighted to report that we have now finished painting your E Type. I am thrilled with the result which looks absolutely beautiful. It is difficult to give you a true idea of the colour under the special booth lighting, but I can assure you that it is a true Opalescent Silver Blue and the car is about as straight an E Type as I have ever seen.

After the sanding and buffing process (probably Friday), the car will be moved through to the workshop for reassembly.

As you wait to see pictures of your car painted (this week) I thought you might like to see the finished engine rebuild!

As you can see in the attached photographs, we are very close to shooting the car and actually hope to be doing that in the next few days. We are running a week or so behind schedule, largely thanks to additional work I had done to the bonnet in our attempts to achieve as close to perfection as possible.

I have included photos of the boot area and the underside of the bonnet in the hope that you (and others) might see the incredible attention to detail that Kevin is maintaining throughout the painting process. I do not believe I have ever seen an E Type boot compartment looking better!

Incidentally, we really are getting to the point where we need the rest of the mechanical components you still have at home!

Click on the FAQ link below for an answer to the frequently asked question about when and where we apply 3M rock guard (also known as body schutz) during the course of a Classic Jaguar restoration.

	FAQ - application of Body Schutz
Underside of bootlid and door are painted in advance	Can a boot compartment be described as stunning?	Interior also way better than new
Notice where we apply Body Schutz	Effectively in the front arches	Prior to applying base colour
Belly pan painted separately	Underside of bonnet finally ready for some colour	Assembling front frames

Although I have not updated this page for quite a while, I am happy to report that Kevin and Brian have been diligently priming and blocking your E Type almost without let up! They now have every panel beautifully straight and have already shot colour on the frames, interior, trunk area and inner sections of the doors. We will be shooting the final coats of colour during the first week in January.

If you would like to be present during the painting process, you would be most welcome. The extra pressure is good for our painters.......

Have a wonderful Christmas from everyone at Team CJ!

The following photographs show how a (used) bonnet can be reconstructed and made to fit beautifully using only shims, a hammer, lead....and about 40 hours of Lawrence Toneto's time. Not only is there zero bondo on your car, there isn't even any primer on it yet!

Notice in picture # 2 how the curvature of the right hand wheel arch is continuous between the bonnet and the sill. See also the shape of the bonnet as it relates to the cowl in front of the windscreen (picture # 4).

Enlarge picture # 4 to view the best bare metal E Type bonnet fit you will ever see.

	As good as it gets...trust me

As you can see, the 3M rocker guard and Opalescent Silver Blue colour have now been applied to the underside of the floor. The car has been transferred to the frame jig and Lawrence is in the process of repairing and installing your bonnet.

Trial fitting the bumpers....	..and the door top chrome...so often an  overlooked part of the bodywork process
We grind the bumpers and lead load the body for a perfect fit	We will do the same at the front of the car
Opalescent Silver Blue	Notice the texture of the 3M  rocker guard beneath the paint
	On the frame jig about to have the  bonnet installed

Lawrence has now finished his work with the main monocoque. The following pictures show the underside of the tub being put in epoxy primer - which will be followed by 3M rocker guard and a generous helping of Opalescent Silver Blue. Once the underside has been painted, we will transfer the shell to one of our frame jigs so that we can install the new frames and start fitting the bonnet.

Do you recall only a month ago asking whether your bodyshell was beyond repair? Well I am delighted to tell you that, as of today, nobody in the world has a better Series One roadster bodyshell than you do.

Lead loading pretty much completed	Lights and bumpers have all been fitted during the lead loading process
New bootlid installed and rear quarters lead loaded	Better than new...much better

Perhaps my all time favourite bodywork photo - exquisite workmanship beneath the floor boards..........

Here you can see the new rear boot assembly being offered into place. There has been something of a lull in proceedings because Lawrence broke his spot welder. Happily a new replacement arrived this morning so we should get the last bit of welding finished before the end of this week.

This week my photographs are not particularly glamerous, but they do show in graphic detail why an E Type restored by Classic Jaguar will never rust again!

Body wax is sprayed on the inside surface of the outer sill that will be enclosed	Ready to receive the outer sill
Bulkhead kick panels installed	Seam sealing around newly installed IRS mounting panels
Another inner box section is liberally coated with body wax	Any enclosed sheet metal is primed and rust proofed - if they had done this at the factory Lawrence would be out of work
This is the inner section of the side cowl (A Post)	New side panel offered into place

 
What a difference a day makes!

I think you will particularly enjoy the latest pictures as they show Lawrence dealing with an area that I know caused you a great deal of concern when you first brought the car to us - the chassis legs and rear bulkhead where the IRS is attached.
 

Exposing the insides of the rear chassis leg IRS supports	Almost ready to start reassembling the rear compartment and bulkhead
New panel goes above IRS and allows access to rear brakes	Unusual inverted view of the gas filler
Lots of new sheetmetal is visible	Everything is lining up beautifully
Wurth body wax forced into all the  chassis leg inner box sections	New IRS panel welded in place - here you can see Lawrence fabricating a new bulkhead
It is fun to watch LT at work..

Lots of progress since our last update just over a week ago. We are getting very close to having to make a decision on the colour because we would like to apply the stone guard and paint the underside of the tub while it is on the jig.

Although we will be replacing the tunnel..	We leave it in place for structural reasons until the last minute.....
Certain panels have to be fabricated	Spot welding the passenger B pillar together
Left rear wing welded in place...	Applying body wax to all the box sections
New floor and tunnel in place...	We will be replacing the panel above the IRS cage
and have some repairs to do up inside the box section	Body waxing the inner sills and  support brackets

Well, I gather my August 20th update gave you a bit of a shock! Sorry about that, Brad! We do so many of these E Type monocoque restorations that sometimes I forget that some of the photographs must look pretty frightening to the owner of the car. The good news is that your car could not be in a better place. Fear not!

I hope the following photographs give you a little encouragement. Notice how we rebuilt the doors first so that we can build the rest of the body (or at least the sills and the A and B pillars) around the door frames.

Give Lawrence a door and a section of firewall and he'll build you an E Type	Inner LH sill going into place
New rear inner side box sections and B pillars are welded in place	Hopefully photos like this will remind you that the car is in good hands....
Fabricating conv top pivot panel	Starting to take shape....
Smoothing out the inner arches	Like doing a jigsaw puzzle...with a hammer
Cutting and bending sheet metal	Forming the required shape and contour
The panel (top) spot welded in place	Everything secured in place
Welding rear fillet in position	Trial fitting LH rear wing

This roadster body is about as bad as you will ever see. Most, if not all, of the internal box sections are badly corroded and hardly an exterior panel will remain once our work is complete.

Notice in the photographs below how Lawrence cut away a significant portion of the outer bodywork prior to sending the car off to be bead blasted. This is something we do commonly when we know that extensive sheet metal replacement is inevitable.

Follow this restoration through with us and you should get a very clear picture of how we tackle a roadster body reconstruction in the Team CJ Coachworks.

Cutting away out panels toallow the  blaster access to inner box sections
Doesn't look good under rear wing....	Or behind cowl side panel....
Just returned from the blasters	More nastiness at the rear
Inner sills barely holding together!	Door shells will need a great deal of work before being reskinned
Onviously new floors and sills throughout	And a new rear bulkhead...
Now we can see what we have to deal with	Bootlid and second door shell
Another view of the inner sill	Upper rear bulkhead virtually gone..
Same on the driver's side	How many hours did you say  I had for this one???!!!!