Opening report - July 14, 2018

Putting the finishing touches to another Stage Two engine rebuild in the CJ machine shop.

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With all of the machine work completed, it is time to assemble this special Stage Two engine.

Cylinder head has now been fully rebuilt
Balancing the billet crankshaft	Torque plate honing the cylinders
Final surfacing of the block	Note timing chain is installed for surfacing
Hanging the Carrillo rods on the pistons	Short block assembly underway

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We have now received this E Type back after being blasted to bare metal. As usual, the blasting process has revealed a little more rust than was evident before the car was disassembled, but all in all, not too bad. One thing we have noticed is that the left side of the body has significantly more rust than the right. We wonder whether the left side may have been more exposed than the right during an extended period of storage?

Bonnet will be disassembled prior to blasting
Left hand intake will be exchanged with a better one from our used inventory	Left hand wing clearly has some rust beneath the paint
	Cutting out the outer sills prior to blasting
	This is what was hiding behind the LH outer sill
Corrosion behind LH engine frame bracket	Corrosion in LH inner sill
The body will require full floors and inner and outer sills
Jury still out on whether the boot floor can be saved
	Time to melt out the factory lead
Door skins will be removed
	Bare metal sealed in epoxy primer
Sealing the door frames

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Lots of progress in the CJ machine shop!

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We now have the main bodyshell completely stripped and on one of the blasting rotisserie jigs. We have the Stage Two engine rebuild well underway and have already completed the machine work to the cylinder head.

Lots of evidence of the car's original Opalescent Silver Blue paintwork
	Front suspension removed
Floors are extremely solid
	Bonnet will be disassembled prior to be blasted back to bare metal
Engine in the CJ machine shop
Using the crane to remove the head
Tearing down the cylinder head	This engine was burning a lot of oil prior to being laid up!
	100% blockage behind the petcock (drain tap)
Water pump could probably stand a rebuild
	Pressure testing the head after initial cleaning
Several water jackets in head are badly corroded
Surfacing the head after weld repairs to water jackets	Surfacing the head after reshaping the water jackets on the mill
Intake and exhaust flanges were machined flat	Align honing the cylinder head camshaft caps
Trial fitting cam bearings after align honing head	Port work underway
Pressure testing the head after completion of the port work	Outstanding (58 cfm) gain on the flow bench
Machining the multi-angled valve job	Honing tappet guides for oversized RBR tappets
Installing tappet hold down kit	Machine work completed on cylinder head, now time  for cosmetic polishing, painting and assembly

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I am delighted to report that we now have this exciting new project well underway!

Our first impression of the car is that is extremely solid and retains many original features
	First task is to remove the engine and drivetrain
All numbers match on this car, front to rear
	Seats are as dry and rust free as you are ever likely to find
The cabin is also extremely dry
This key was found beneath the passenger seat	Gas tank removed
	Lights and bumpers were clearly not removed when the car was painted
	Engine and transmission now removed
	First engine rebuild report next week!

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I am pleased to report that we will have this exciting restoration underway very shortly.