1961 E Type FHC (ES) Total Team CJ restoration

Specification (briefly) for this project is as follows: Another total Team CJ restoration to include just about every conceivable performance and reliability upgrade, including a CJ5 transmission, uprated brakes, cooling, ignition, etc, etc. The car will be finished in Opalescent Dark Blue with a biscuit Suffolk & Turley interior.

Your finished car is being collected and will be New York bound later today....

Time for shake down and road testing. We anticipate your car will be ready for delivery in less than two weeks...

Interior installation now virtually complete...

		Note early style tailgate bracket

Lots of progress with your interior installation....

Dash installation and retrim now complete
Carpets now installed
Installing door panels	Almost ready to install seats

I am pleased to report that we have begun the installation of your new interior. First up was the headliner and cantrails..

Sam trimming your cantrails
		Headliner and cantrails now installed

Restoring and retrimming your seats...

Seat frames will be blasted and painted	Teak veneer tack strips are then cut	Carlos fabricating the tack strips
		Time to start installing the new hide
	Trimming out seat base	The finished article !

Maiden voyage time! Click on the large image for a short video clip of your vehicle on the move again for the first time in decades!

Next on the agenda will be installing the glass and replated chrome trim.

Opalescent Dark Blue is a popular color in the workshop today!	Upgraded Smiths mechanical oil pressure  gauge and volt meter	Negative ground badge warns future mechanics of alternator conversion

We are expecting to receive all the chrome plating back in next few days and we are also getting very close to maiden voyage time!

Bonnet now installed		Alec wiring in your dash
SS exhaust has been installed	Assembling the restored heater box	Chrome plating is expected back any day

Installing the IRS, engine, transmission, carbs...

Time to start going back together. This is the fun part!

Lifting the body off the jig		Grade 8 fasteners thro'out
4 piston Dynapro Wilwoods	Car will be on its wheels early next week

Painting in progress....

Time to start applying the first of the Opalescent Dark Blue paint...

3M Rock Guard is applied to the underside of the floors	Underside is then painted in Opalescent  Dark Blue	Next up, the inside of the cabin

The bodywork has now been completed and the car is going through the Slick Sand process. It is painstakingly blocked with the doors, tailgate and bonnet in place before being primed and painted. The panel fit is absolutely spectacular on your car.

Slick Sand is applied with the car assembled	Note fit between top of door and rear wing,  with one panel flowing into the next
	Guide coat is applied	Followed by long days of blocking!

Your IRS has now been completely rebuilt and we have also now reassembled and installed the bonnet.

Flash back to your IRS as it was...	It was so dirty it almost looked 'furry'	Looking a little better!
	Bonnet panels all stripped to bare metal
Making a new cowl side panel	Inner bonnet panels glued and bolted into place
Old cowl side panel cut away	New ly fabricated replacement panel	Rust proofing with Body wax
Lead loading the sills at bottom of doors		Bonnet now fully assembled and  installed

Your differential has now been rebuilt and we have started assembling your IRS. Darrell has been working away on your body and I will publish some coachworks shots (as well as completion of the IRS) for you next week.

Differential completely rebuilt	Final drive is 3:31	Front suspension Nickel plated
	Starting to reassemble IRS

Your gauges have now been rebuilt with the exception of the speedo that will be calibrated by a rolling test once the car is back on its wheels.

Your Stage One CJ engine rebuild has now been completed.

Five angle valve job	Uprated cams	Tappet hold-down kit on exhaust side
		HP ProRace dampner

The following photos show your engine rebuild in progress.

Inner surface of block coated with Glyptal paint	Team CJ's Ray Silkwood has been building engines for 40 years	Rods meticulously resized and balanced  in all CJ engine rebuilds
Bearing clearances are checked and double checked	Installing the new forged pistons
	Upper chain guides are installed 'backwards'  to better center the chain in the pad and for improved rigidity when bolted to the block rather than the aluminium chain tree
Crank slinger is removed and upgraded Teflon front seal installed	Items being sent out for Nickel plating	Items to be polished

More bodywork progress....

Repairing the inner rear wheel arch	Body wax is sprayed between the inner and outer panels	Inside of the repaired wheel arch is also coated with wax
Fabricating the filler panel		Inside of filler panel also coated
Filler panel TIG welded into place
Repairing RH outer wheel arch
Modifying the firewall to accept upgraded pedal box

This may be my biggest single photographic update ever! As you can see, we have been very busy with this project since my last report!

The following photos detail the restoration of your door frames and the installation of your new skins. The first photo shows some beautiful forged pistons specially made for your car by Arias.

Custom made Arias pistons	Door shells had some rust issues that need attention
Bottom of each door frame needed some new sheet metal
Time to install the new skins
Trial fitting the reassembled door

The following sequence of photographs shows Darrell repairing the forward transmission tunnel as well as trial fitting and assembling the new floors.

Trans tunnel needed a little attention	Using the Beverly sheer to trim the repair panel	Offering the new panel into place
New panel is then TIG welded into position
Bead roller forms the required lip		Trans tunnel repairs now completed
Etching primer being removed	Weld thru zinc primer is then applied to areas to be spot welded
Trial fitting the new floors		The two sides are then spot welded  together

Installing the RH inner sill, the floor cross-member and the rear driveshaft tunnel. Almost time to install the new floors.

Up inside the RH A pillar
RH side did not require quite as much work as the LH	Trial fitting the new inner sill
Installing the strengthening gussets
Trial fitting the new cross-member...	....and new rear trans tunnel	Spot welding the cross-member into place
Almost ready for the floors

The second photograph in the following sequence gives an idea of just how rusty this particular E Type monocoque was. Thankfully, some of the later photographs should be a little more encouraging for you!

The rear bulkhead was repaired first...	Yikes!
The inner box sections are  gradually rebuilt....	A number of component panels are fabricated
The new panel is then spot welded into place	All inner sections will be coated with Wurth Body Wax
Starting to come together...	Almost ready for the new inner sill	Shipping primer is stripped and the new panels are properly etch primed
Trial fitting the new sill		Spot welding the new sill in place
		New floors also stripped and etch primed

We now have your car back from the blasters. What was left of the bodyshell we have sealed with BASF etching primer.

Unloading the blasted body
Both rear wings need major repair
Door shells will also need significant help	LH rear wing is plain nasty!
Bare metal was sealed without  delay

We have now cut away all the panels that are obviously going to be replaced and have the car ready for blasting, which is scheduled for early next week. As you can see, this is one very rusty E Type!

	Cutting away the outer sills
The monocoque is in very poor shape		Not much left of the floor
Trans tunnel will be replaced	Boot floor is gone...

Your car is now completely disassembled and will be placed on one of the rotisserie jigs on Monday morning in readiness for media blasting.

		Original body tag in boot compartment
Dash panels originally intended for a different body?		Engine frames will be replaced

This 62 FHC (car # 935) was recently acquired by the grandson of the original owner and is about to receive the full treatment in the CJ workshop. I hope you enjoy watching your come car together over the coming months!

Bonnet is probably not serviceable	Engine bay relatively complete
Correct early carbs	Generator missing	Correct early steering wheel
Picture frame is original		Factory crayon marks on firewall
Early style rad with Marston tag