1963 Jaguar E Type roadster (GF)
Major mechanical rebuild/upgrade, new interior


 

 
Specification (briefly) for this project is as follows:

Major mechanical overhaul, including a Stage One engine rebuild, Weber carbs, brake, suspension, cooling and ignition upgrades, as well as a new Suffolk & Turley interior.

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This project has now been completed with the excpetion of the original (rebuilt) Blaupunkt radio which is due back in the next few days.

 
 
   

 

 

 
   

 
 


I am pleased to report that your engine has been installed and is running beautifully. The car has now been moved to the trim toom to receive its new Suffolk& Turley interior. We should be calling the trucking company within the next couple of weeks!

 
   

 
 
 


Your Stage One engine rebuild has now been completed...

 
   

 


Repairing internal cracks deep inside the cylinder head.

 
 
   

 


Short block now assembled...

 

 

 
Spin balancing replacement crank
Measuring crank thrust
   
   
   
Uprated ARP rod and main bolts
 
   
Uprated rear seal
 

 


Lots of progress in the machine shop! We have completed the cylinder head portwork, which resulted in gains of almost 60 cfm, and we have also performed an align hone, cylinder hone, and surfaced the block.

 
Pulling new cylinder liners
Main caps ground square prior to align hone

 

 

 
Measuring main caps during align honing process
 

 

 

 
Honing cylinders to size
Block surfaced with new timing chain cover installed

 

 

 
Measuring deck height in order to calculate compression ratio
Flow test results - baseline

 

 

 
 
After porting we saw a gain of over 57 cfm
 

 


Stage One engine rebuild underway, trimming seats with new hides...

 
Pressure testing cylinder head
Water jackets will need welding and re-shaping

 
 
 

 

 
Machining out the old cylinder liners
Custom CJ top hat sleeves

 
 
 

 

 
Crack testing de-sleeved block
Carlos has been busy trimming your seats

 
 
 

 

 
   


We have now completely stripped out the engine bay and have the drivetrain rebuild underway. We will also be replacing the engine side frames before going back together with the suspension and running gear.

 
 
Perhaps the heaviest E Type bonnet we have seen
Car placed on roll-a-round jig while drivetrain
is being rebuilt

 

 

 
Engine frames will be replaced
Front suspension will be Nickel plated

 


We now have this project underway. First up, disassembly of the car from the firewall forward...

 
 
Removing the engine for rebuilding
 

 

 

 
This engine has been leaking coolant and oil from
various failed gaskets
Old CJ5 five speed transmission will be serviced
and re-used

 


I am pleased to report that your car has now arrived safely in Austin and we will have the mechanical rebuild underway in the next few days. The car obviously has a great deal of bondo beneath the shiny red paint, so we will be investigating to make sure that this excess of filler isn't covering any corrosion issues.
 
 
 
 
Certainly the prettiest "starting point" we have had for 
a while
Engine has blown head gasket, inconsistent compression
and major oil leaks - Stage One rebuild underway

 

 

 
Car has a lot of bondo - note how thick the
door skins are at their rear edge
Compare to door skin thickness on a CJ resto


Go to CJ Workshop