1966 E Type FHC (JA) Team CJ restoration

Specification (briefly) for this project is as follows: Total restoration with a full complement of Team CJ performance and reliability upgrades.

I was saddened earlier today to hear that my long time friend and customer, Joe Arretteig, had lost his courageous battle with cancer. Joe had been a big CJ supporter for many years, and I always appreciated his enthusiastic input on all matters. The layout of this very website is partly a result of suggestions that Joe made to me when I first started feeling my way around cyberspace, way back when.

Rest in peace, Joe.

Dan,
 
We lost Joe on Monday. I thought you would like to know.
 
You already know how much he loved the Jaguar. We took him and the car to the “Hands Across the Pond” car show two weeks ago and he won 1st place in his class. He was very proud of his car.
 
He valued your friendship a great deal.
 
Thanks for everything,
 
Christine Arretteig

"Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle"
 

Obituary
 
U. J. “Joe” Arretteig III, M.D., age 69 of Jupiter, FL passed away on April 16th 2012 after a courageous 2 year battle with cancer.
 
Joe was the son of Lilly May and U. J. Arretteig Jr. and was born in Church Point, LA. He grew up in and around Lafayette, LA. He received his medical degree from Louisiana State University. Joe was a Captain in the US Navy and was stationed at Norfolk Naval Hospital, Bethesda Naval Hospital, and Pensacola Naval Hospital. After he retired, he was in the reserves at Naval Reserve Center in West Palm Beach, FL
 
A loving husband and father he is survived by his beloved wife of 36 years, Christine Arretteig; his daughters Amy Michelle Angelo and Elizabeth Renée Setzer; and his grandchildren, Jordan and Grace Angelo.
 
Joe was  an excellent cook, which his neighbors, friends and family can attest to. He was an experienced wood worker, having built many pieces of furniture for the Arretteig home. He was an avid sailor, having been instrumental in the founding of a yacht club in Slidell, LA, where he participated in races and cooked for many of the yacht club events. He was also an avid reader and loved to fish. His passion and knowledge of exotic yesteryear automobiles was amazing and always provoked great conversations.
 
A memorial service will be held at the Coast Guard Station at the Jupiter Lighthouse from 5:30 till 7:00 on Monday the 23rd of April. In lieu of flowers donations in his memory may be made to: Hospice of Palm Beach County Foundation.

Congratulations to Joe Arretteig for his class win at the recent "Wheels Across the Pond" concours held in Jupiter, Florida. This amazing event boasted an entry list of more than 200 classic cars!

I am pleased to report that your car was picked up earlier today and is headed towards Florida. Best wishes from all at CJ for a speedy recovery.

We have been busy breaking in the engine on the dyno and I am pleased to report that she is running beautifully. The following dyno run is at a very conservative (safe) state of tune, so once we are finished dialing everything in, I expect to see close to 300 HP. Even as it stands, we are already seeing 228 HP and 265 ft/lbs of torque at the back wheels, which equates to around 285 HP at the flywheel.

Click on the photograph to see a video of the dyno pull. As it is such a large file, you may have to let the video run all the way through before you can watch it without interruption to the quality of the sound or video. Also the mic on my camera doesn't do a very good job with the audio, so the clip does not do justice to the sound your car is really making 

	Note headers changing color after firing engine

Installing the new stainless steel exhaust
Rebuilt carbs now installed	CJ headers

Engine and transmission now installed...

	CJ5/600 bolts directly to Jaguar bellhousing
Preparing to install engine into car	Carbs and headers next to be installed
	Worm's eye view of the CJ5/600

Over the next couple of days we will be installing and firing the engine and breaking everything in on the chassis Dyno. I hope to be road testing the car in about a week...

Opalescent Dark Blue looks spectacular in the sunshine
Not much left on your shelves!
Building your CJ5/600 transmission	CJ5/600 shifter assembly
215/65 Yokohamas on center laced wheels
	Rebuilt engine will be installed Monday

Restoring and trimming the center console.

Carlos has been busy and has made lots of progress with your interior installation.

Installing lower quarter light cantrail....	Secured by stainless screws from the outside
	Installing conduit for under dash wiring
Tailgate trim now installed
Trial fitting trimmed boot boards	Almost there....

Installing chrome trim, restoring dash top...

Installing windscreen chrome trim	Trimming out dash top
Trimming headliner border panels	Installing door trim

Lots of progress in the CJ trim room...

Trial fitting chrome finisher	Carlos installing sill covers	Note edge is not padded where  chrome finisher is installed
	Time to tackle the rear bulkhead
Cutting the moquette to size
		Carlos made new filler panels from plastic board
Trial fitting parcel shelf

Installing the new headliner, assembling the rear quarter light windows...

Not the best photos, but I wanted to show you your car back on its wheels...

I forgot to include a photograph of your assembled seats in yesterday's update...

Tan with custom black piping

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Lots of progress since the last update! Your car is scheduled to be back on its wheels tomorrow.

Starting to look like a car again		Vented Wilwoods now installed
Poly bushings in front suspension
Doors installed and adjusted	Installing window regulators	Almost time to start installing the chrome

Carlos has been busy re-trimming your seats...

Your car in the booth earlier today...

Applying the first of the Opalescent Dark Blue paint...

Underside of floors is first sealed		Rocker Guard is then applied
	Sealer then applied over the  Rocker Guard

Repairing and trial fitting chrome trim...

We have now completed the Slick Sand blocking stage and primed the car with Glasurit filler (sandable) primer. Everything has been reassembled once again for the final sanding stage prior to paint. Over the next few days we will sand the car with 400 grit sand paper, followed by 600 (wet), then begin applying the first of the color.

Speaking of color, we will be sending you a sample of Indigo Blue for your consideration, early next week.

All of the bodywork and panel fit has now been completed and your car has been put into Slick Sand. The doors, bonnet and tailgate have been installed with new rubber seals, ready for the final blocking stage prior to paint.

Bodywork complete, car now in Slick Sand	Guide coat applied prior to final blocking	Panels adjusted and latched with new rubber seals for blocking

Fine tuning door and tailgate gaps by adding and grinding beads of weld.

Lead loading in progress...

Fabricating and installing the cowl side panels..

Wurth Body Wax applied to inner cowl		Welded seam is lead loaded

The following sequence of photographs show Darrell fabricating and installing a large repair section for the left hand front wing.

Large section of front lh wing will be replaced	Cutting away damaged area
Trial fitting new sheet metal	Bottom edge of panel rolled over new beading	Creating leading edge where panel meets wheel arch
	Fabricated panel is first tack  welded in place...	Then TIG welded...
	Another invisible repair...

Lots of sheet metal repairs, fabrication, lead loading, restoring your bonnet and belly pan...

Lead loading in progress
		Front wings will require major sheet metal replacement
	Darrell shaping steel for front wing repair	Matching contour to cowl side panel
Bottom edges of wings also rusty	Repair panel fabricated
	Belly pan also requires some sheet metal repairs
Upper rubber seal rail is rusty	Badly pitted and paper thin	Repair panel fabricated and offered into place
Rusty original lip cut away	Repair panel is first tack welded in  place, the seam is TIG welded	Finally, lower edge is spot welded
	Close up of repaired section
Inner bonnet panels require a number of repairs	Another invisible mend...

With your doors rebuilt, we have now trial fitted and installed the outer sills, sill end closing panels and firewall kick panels...

Trial fitting outer sills	Outer sills trial fitted with cowl  side panels and doors	Applying Wurth Body Wax to inner  sill box sections
Outer sill then spot welded in place	Jacking point TIG welded to new outer sill
Trial fitting firewall kick panels  and sill end panels	Everything welded together and sealed with epoxy primer	Left side also completed

The following sequence of photos show Darrell rebuilding your very rusty doors. I will try to get paint and leather samples sent off to you this week.

Both door frames were very rusty	Bottom panel was fabricated and replaced on rh door	Installing new door skin
Top panels had to be fabricated and replaced on both doors	Right hand door now completely rebuilt
Fabricating another repair panel		Left hand door not much better than the right...
		Left hand door now rebuilt as new

Clint has been busy installing your new floors and boot floor, as well as fabricating and replacing the lower lip of the tail gate opening...

Welding new cross member to transmission tunnel
Trial fitting new floors		Wurth Body Wax is applied to all inner boxed sections
Spot welding floors to inner sills		Installation of floors now complete
How the lower edge of tailgate opening used to look...	New lip fabricated and spot welded into place	New boot center floor section welded into place

Lots of progress in the CJ Coachworks this week...

This car had rust issues beneath both A pillars	Corroded metal will be cut away	Repair panels fabricated and welded in place
Time to close up this unwanted opening
Left hand inner sill is first new  panel to be installed	Inner braces are spot welded in place
Trial fitting right hand inner sill	Clint welding the new right hand sill in place
		And the work goes on...

We now have the restoration of your bodyshell underway..

New panels stripped of shipping primer and sealed in epoxy		Time to get the sheet metal replacement underway...

With your car back from the blasters, we are able to see the full extent of corrosion throughout the body. Both engine side frames are toast, the bonnet and door frames are marginal (replace versus restore), and the main monocoque also has a very bad case of the tin worm. We have sealed everything up in epoxy primer and your car is now waiting in line for its much needed CJ makeover!

Belly pan is in rough shape
Both engine frames are toast	Engine mount platform cracked
	Both door frames are rusty
	Tailgate opening is very rough	Top of rh A post is nasty
You probably know more about this than me, Joe?!	Acid wash then seal with epoxy	Primer drying in the sunshine

Clint has cut away most of the sheet metal that we already know we are going to replace and your body has been sent off to be blasted back to bare metal. At some time in the past, your car received a coat of fiberglass over the floors, inner sills, both front and rear bulkheads....actually pretty much everywhere!

Clint melting lead from welded seams	Boot floor will be replaced
Both door shells are rough	Fiberglass all over the body	Cutting away outer sills
Inner sills are rusty	Note fiberglass visible through rust holes in inner sill	Floors are also typically rusty
Rat's nest in trans tunnel	Rats were apparently partial to Brazil nuts	Lots of bondo an filler in both cowl side panels
	Cutting away main floors
Removing boot floor center section	Bonnet has been disassembled prior to blasting	Off to be blasted

We have been busy rebuilding various components while your car waits in line for attention in the Coachworks.

Latest CJ vented brake kit	Steering rack has been rebuilt	Wiper motor
Upper steering column rebuilt		Upper and lower control arms  reassembled with Poly bushings
More Nickel plating to be done

We have now completed the rebuild of your IRS...

We now have your engine fully rebuilt and I am pleased to report that we made some very significant gains on the flow bench, following our port work. We picked up about 45 cfm on the intake side, with an increase in velocity at the same time. This should be a very strong running E Type when we get her back on the road!

After welding corroded water jackets, we  cut and reshaped the jackets on the mill	A view down the ported exhaust runner	An intake runner after porting
2 damaged cam caps were replaced	Replacing the caps made it necessary to align hone the head	Surfacing the head deck surface
	Head now fully assembled	Venolia pistons
Testing our work on the flow bench	Intake flow before porting	Intake flow after porting

We have now torn down the front and rear suspensions and submitted all the relevant components for Ni plating and/or powder coating.

We found a number of issues when we tore down the cylinder head. Virtually all the valve stem tips had been hand sanded and were badly 'mushroomed', and the front cam cap on the intake side was damaged and will have to be replaced. We have now completed the machine work on the block and the new sleeves have been honed to size.

This cam cap is damaged and will be replaced	Valve tips mushroomed
Honing the cylinders to size		Pressure testing the head - OK

Stage One CJ engine rebuild underway...

Grinding main caps square		Align honing in process
Cutting out old sleeves	Water jackets behind sleeves unusually clear

Your car is now disassembled and in-line for the full treatment in the CJ Coachworks. In the next week or so we will get your Stage One engine rebuild underway.

Interior now virtually stripped out
Engine will receive Stage One rebuild	CJ5 five speed will replace old 4 speed

I am pleased to report that your car has arrived safely at Classic Jaguar and we will have this exciting project underway in the next few days. I hope you enjoy watching the restoration unfold on your own personal restoration webpage!