1965 E Type roadster (SC)
Total Team CJ restoration


 

 
Specification (briefly) for this project is as follows:

This E Type will receive a full CJ restoration and will feature just about every Team CJ performance and reliability upgrade in the book!

 
 

 

This E Type, restored by Classic Jaguar in 2007/2008, sold at the Gooding & Company Scottsdale, Arizona auction on January 21, 2012 for a new world record price of $220,000.
 


 


Dan, the car is beautiful and such a joy to drive! It is magnificent!!! One of these pictures is your new home page photo!


Again, thanks to everyone at CJ!
Stephen and Andrew



 
 
 

 

Time for a little test drive......



Although we still have a few finishing touches yet to complete, I thought you might like to see a few photos outside in the Texas sunshine.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     

 


We have now retrimmed and installed your seats and have wired your iPod inter phase into the glove compartment. I hope you like the way your interior has turned out!
     
   
     
   
     

 


More interior installation progress...
     


With road testing and shakedown now completed, it is time to install the new Suffolk & Turley interior.

 
 
   
   
   

 


We now have most of the chrome installed, as well as all the lighting and the door glass and windscreen. Over the next few days we will install a slave seat and thoroughly road test the car before starting to install the new interior.

 
     
     
     

 


We now have the doors, bonnet and boot lid installed.

 

Installing the doors was another excuse for a test drive 
 

Bonnet now installed...


Maiden voyage time! We have now fired up the engine and taken your car on its maiden voyage around the CJ carpark. Click on the photo below for a short video clip!



 


Happy Independence Day, Stephen! As you can see, we have made lots of progress with the mechanical reassembly of your car. I have included a photograph of your 'dodgy' gas tank. Although it is not currently leaking, it has been previously repaired and must be paper thin due to the extensive pitting on the underside. For the record, I do not recommend using it and I am installing it under sufferance 

 
 Engine bay filling up rapidly
Dynamat installed 
 
 
 
 Chrome has now been sent out
for re-plating
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Gas tank is badly pitted...


Engine installed...

 
     
     
 
     


Installing the rebuilt drivetrain...

 
IRS now installed
 
   
 
Time to install the engine and 
CJ5 five speed transmission


It is now time for the fun part - going back together!

 
Color sanding and buffing has now
been completed
Bolting the new engine frames
in place
 

 


On Friday afternoon we painted the bodyshell, doors and boot lid. Although I say it myself  the finished result looks absolutely fantastic. We already have the color sanding and buffing process underway.

 
     
     
     


Yesterday afternoon we applied the first of your Opalescent Gunmetal paint, starting with the underside of the floor. The rest of the car will be painted over the next few days.

 
Preparing to paint the underside 
of the car
 
Rocker Guard is applied before painting
     
 
The first of the Opalescent Gunmetal
 
     
 
Next we will paint inside the cabin
and boot compartment
   


We have now completed a solid week of chrome trial fit. The bumpers, lights, overriders and door and screen chrome trim have all been beaten, hammered and ground into submission - and of course now everything fits perfectly! The car has been moved back into the coachworks where it has been disassembled and the final sanding is well underway. The first of the Opalescent Gunmetal paint will be applied in the next few days!

 
All chrome at front of car now
fits beautifully
Fit of screen and door trim must flow
into one another
 
     
 
Even new overriders are sanded
and massaged
Last of the Nickel plating can now be sent off
now that the car is disassembled


Differential and IRS rebuild underway...

 
Disassembling the differential
3.54 final drive
Rear brakes now rebuilt


All the bodywork has now been completed and your car has been primed with Slick Sand (sprayable Polyester). The next stage will involve a week or so of blocking with 120 followed 180 grit sand paper, after which it will be time for priming and painting!

 
     
     
 
     


Your engine has now been completely rebuilt to Stage One specs. I will send an Opalescent Gunmetal sample out to you late next week.

 
Rods meticulously rebuilt and balanced
Venoli forged pistons
Stainless valves
     
 
Installing the pistons
 
     
 
Uprated cams
 
     
Upgraded seals, front and rear
The finished article!
 
     
   
     


The following photos show Darrell installing the new boot floor assembly and bonnet.

 
Boot assembly has shipping primer
stripped
Panel then sealed with BASF
etching primer
 
     
Installing new rear cowl panel
   
     
Drain pipes incorrectly installed
   
     
New rear clip is spot welded
into place
 
All new joints and seams are then
lead loaded
     
   
Boot lid needed som attention
     
Rear cowl panel also lead loaded
Car now moved to one of the 
frame jigs
 
     
Installing the new Robery bonnet
Initial fit is typically horrendous!
 
     
 
Back edge about to be trimmed
Battery tray is trial fitted and trimmed
as part of bonnet fitting process
     
Sill end panels installed and 
lead loaded
Cowl side panels are replaced as part
of bonnet fitting process
 
     
Inner sections are rust proofed
Trial fitting new side panel in conjunction 
with bonnet and door
Welded seams then lead loaded
     
New bonnet was completely stripped
of shipping primer
 
Sealed bonnet then reinstalled
     
   
     


I am pleased to report lots of progress since our last update. The floors and inner/outer sills have been installed and the doors have also been restored and fitted. Next week we will be replacing the rear tonneau panel and the complet boot floor assembly.

 
 
 Cutting away old boot floor ass'y
 
 
 
With shipping primer removed, new 
panels are sealed with etching
Doors will be rebuilt using new skins
 Shell was blasted and primed
 
 
 
 Trial fitting cross-member and new
trans tunnel
 
 
 
 
 
 Floors are tiral fitted prior to
being welded together
 
 
 
 They are then spot welded together on 
a horse (stand)
All inner box sections are acid washed,
primed and then coated with Body Wax
 Sot welding the assembled floors in place
 
 
 
 
 
 Battery tray must be trial fitted at this
stage
 
 
 
 
 
 Trial fiting RH outer sill
 
 
 
 
 Sill now welded into place
Trial fitting newly fabricated
repair panel
 
 
 
 Inner panel will be buzzed
back to bare, shiny metal
 
 
 
 
 
 
Repair panel TIG welded into place 
 
 
 
 New subframe mounting brackets are
welded into place
 
 
 
 
   
 Stripping shipping primer from new 
boot floor assembly
 
 


The following photographs show some of the problems with your original bonnet. The biggest problem is probably the extensive rust pitting which means that the sheet metal is paper thin in a number of places - and indeed already holed in others. We have been weighing whether to repair or replace the bonnet and it seems to me that, even given the high cost of a new bonnet, replacement is your best option.
Front corner of LF wing
Bottom corner of LH wing
Center section
     
Center section would need extensive
panel fabrication and patching
Belly pan also has issues
Difficult to photograph the pitting
     
   
X & Y are holes, belly pan is paper thin
due to extensive rust pitting
   


I am pleased to report that we now have this restoration well underway.

 
Some of the replacement panels
Shipping primer is removed and new 
panels are etch primed
Cutting away the rusy sheet metal
     
 
Notice etching primer not applied to
the flanghes that will be welded
 
     
Rear trans tunnel will be replaced
New door skins
 
     
Up inside the A Post
Wurth Body wax is applied
to all inner box sections
 
     
Shut face panel will be repaired
Fabricating various panels
 
     
Offering fabricated panels into place
 
Time to weld everything together!
     
 
 
Inner sills first to be installed
 

 


Your car has now been blasted and the news is not great. The bonnet and doors are much worse than anticipated, and the monocoque is obviously going to require extensive panel replacement. The good news is that it is in the right place - and it is a better starting point than many others we have restored.

 
Off to the blasters!
   
     
     
     
Floors will be replaced
   
     
     
     
RH side has suffered some fairly
heavy impact damage
   
     
 
Bonnet center section is quite bad
 
     
     
     
 
Doors were nasty beneath about an
inch of bondo
 
     
   
Sealing all bare metal with BASF
etching primer
     
     
     
 
This frame rail was obviously not 
serviceable
254 pieces for Nickel plating
 


Cutting away the outer sills and disassembling the bonnet prior to blasting.

 
Bonnet will be disassembled prior
to blasting
Cutting away the outer sills
No big problems on LH side
     
 
RH side has obviously seen some 
pain
 


We already have this car on one of the rotisserie jigs and it will be off to the blasters in the next day or two. Keep your fingers crossed!

 
What's wrong with this picture?
RH bulkhead panel installed on
LH side of the car!
Floors look pretty solid
     
Boot compartment also looks
pretty dry
We'll cut off the outer sills and send
it over to be blasted tomorrow
IRS apparently rebuilt but will still
need some cosmetic help
     
   


Stephen and Andrew Cross decided their 1965 roadster needed the full Team CJ treatment so they hauled it almost 2,000 miles from the San Francisco bay area to Classic Jaguar in Austin, Texas. As Stephen put it, he and Andrew have done the hard part (in tearing the car apart) and had decided to let CJ do the easy part (putting it back together)!

It was good to meet you both today and I hope you enjoy watching the restoration unfold over the coming months!


 
 
 

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