1961 E Type FHC - 885020 Total restoration for a client in The Netherlands

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Factory records document this car to be the last outside latch coupe built. Only eighteen left hand drive outside latch coupes left the factory and this particular car is one of only eight known survivors. The Jaguar Heritage Trust certificate shows the car was originally Opalescent Dark Blue with Light Blue interior. The certificate also confirms that all the numbers (body, engine, gearbox, etc) are matching. In fact, of the eight known survivors, we understand this particular car is one of only three that still has its original engine, the others being 885004 and 885018. Over the years, 885020 has been hacked about by some of its previous owners in the name of restoration. It currently sports such 'custom features' as welded up bonnet seams, a conversion to inside bonnet latches, at least three different color schemes (currently black), interior trim items from a later (1963) car, a brace of additional gauges mounted on the console by the handbrake - as well as the remnants of an aftermarket air conditioning system. At some stage, the car even suffered the ignominy of having a pair of period Amercian sedan seats installed! Needless to say, we will obviously be restoring everything back to absolutely original specifications.

I am pleased to report that the restoration of your E Type is now complete and the car is being collected and taken to the docks in Houston on Monday morning. All being well she will be in Holland by the end of August. I hope you enjoyed following the restoration of this beautiful car in these pages.

Almost finished....

First time in the Texas sunshine for a couple of years	Note body colored headlamp 'sugar scoops'
The last of only 20 outside latch LHD coupes ever made	Interior almost finished...

More progress in the trim room...

Installing carpeting

We have entered the finishing straight with this restoration, which should be completed in the next couple of weeks.

Headlamp scoops have been painted body color
Luggage rail runners have now been installed
Carlos installing the chrome cantrails	Horns cleaned up nicely

Since our last update we have installed the front bumpers, motif bar, outside bonnet latch covers, bonnet chrome beading and retrimmed and fitted the dash top.

We have now installed your front and rear screens and chrome trim, and have begun installing the cabin underfelt and carpeting.

Your gauges have now been totally rebuilt, mechanically and cosmetically.

Update report - January 20, 2012

Today we installed the new Triplex windhsield and began installing the rear quarterlight windows. We are getting very close to maiden voyage time!

Installing and adjusting the bonnet...

Bonnet installed	Gaps are beautiful throughout	Installing rear lights

I am delighted to report that we have now test run the engine for the first time and everything went perfectly. For tuning and break-in purposes we are using temporary plug wires, a spin-on oil filter kit and a CJ aluminum radiator. The finished car will use OEM spec plug wires and oil filtration, etc.

Click on the second image below for a short video clip of the initial firing.

Time to fire the engine for the first time!	Click on photo above for video of initial firing
Worm's eye view of the rear suspension	Original fasteners used where they are visible
CJ alloy radiator will eventually be replaced by finned  original style unti

Engine and transmission installed...

We are currently rebuilding the original transmission and should be ready to install the engine in the next week or so.

Original Moss transmission being rebuilt
Note early style "fish tail" cantrails	Assembling the radio console
Pedal box and master cylinders have been rebuilt	Engine bay almost ready for engine...

Happy New Year, Marten!

Car now back on its wheels and in the trim room
	Carlos has now begun installing the new interior
We borrowed this from 885118 to use as a template as this panel was missing on your car	Restored cubby panel latches
Fabricating and trial fitting new cubby panel
Note early style fiberglass glove box	Light blue interior nice compliment to Opalescent Dark Blue

Time to assemble the IRS and put this car back on its wheels....

Restoring center console and shifter tower...

Restoring dash components, including very early style fiberglass glove box...

Dash panels were blasted, repainted and trimmed
Center gauge panel will receive new fascia	Restoring the passenger grab handle
Foam padding glued to sides and shaped
Fiberglass glove box feature of very early cars
Interior has been re-flocked

Restoring and trimming your seats...

Your carbs have now been completely rebuilt...

With the new light blue interior kit in hand, Carlos has begun the process of restoring and retrimming the seats. Note that the photos make the carpets look brighter than they really are. Image # 3 below is the most representative of the actual color.

Unpacking interior kit	Carpets not as bright as they appear in this photo!
	Original specification light blue hides
Stripping roadster style seats (as fitted to very early coupes)	Carb rebuild items for Ni plating
Steering rack components restored

We have now received all of the chrome plating back and begun assembling the front engine frames and front suspension, using the original fasteners that we had plated in black oxide. We have also installed both doors, which fit and latch beautifully.

Over the next couple of weeks we will have the car back on its wheels and proceed with the installation of the engine and other major mechanical components.

Both doors now installed with new seals and latches	Perfect panel fit	Original fasteners were plated with black oxide
Starting to install the front suspension
	All chrome and brightwork now ready to install

Double checking fit of 'trial fit' items before final chrome plate is applied.

We have now received back the bulk of the chrome plating. Certain 'trial fit' items have been returned in copper plate so we can re-check fit before the final chrome plating is applied. This extra step adds time and expense to the process, but when perfection is the goal, it is well worth the extra effort.

699 nuts, bolts and washers being sent out for black oxide plating	Copper plated 'trial fit items' have  been returned to re-check fit

Yesterday afternoon we painted the bodyshell and doors...

This week we have been busy painting the inner panels, including the cabin, boot compartment and the underside of the bonnet. The photos below also show us trial fitting and stamping the new data plate. Interestingly, when using Haddock's "Originality Guide" to try to make sure we positioned the data plate in exactly the right position, your actual car was referenced in the text immediately above the photograph we were using as a reference. It's a small world...

We went to some lengths to find just the right rivets for this bracket	See how closely the rivets match the ones  photographed in Haddock's book (at left)	New CJ data plate a perfect match for the original
New data plate stamped	Notice your car mentioned above reference photo!
Cabin now painted	Boot compartment....	Outer panels will be painted next week...

The first of the Opalescent Dark Blue being applied to the underside of the floors. With this car we are limiting the use of the Rocker Guard to the underside of the floors, inside the transmission tunnel and inside the rear arches. We have not applied rocker guard to the outer sills or the underside of the boot floor, as we normally do.

People are often surprised to hear that it takes us around 40 hours to trial fit an E Type's chrome so that it will fit perfectly following the re-plating process. The photos below demonstrate how much work is involved in getting new bumper over-riders to fit the way they should. If you look carefully at the first two images, you will see Darrell has drawn in arrows showing all the various directions in which the over-rider needs to be adjusted, to fit correctly.

The third photo shows how Darrell modifies the shape of the new over-rider using multiple beads of weld, which is then ground back into the desired shape to match the contour of the bumper blade. The fourth photograph shows the disparity between the installed angles of the left and right over-riders after the fit of the right hand over-rider has been addressed (and before the left hand unit has been modified). It is a lot of work, but the finished look justifies all the extra effort!

With all of the bodywork completed, your car has now been put into Slick Sand. New rubber seals have been installed and the doors, tailgate and bonnet are all latched and adjusted ready for the final blocking stage. Check out the quality of the panel fit of the doors and bonnet in the photos below.

Guide coat applied prior to blocking	Final blocking underway

Your engine is now fully built and assembled...

Assembling the engine short block..

Installing main caps to measure bearing clearances	Installing forged pistons
Installing oil pump and oil pipes	Installing timing chain assembly	Oil pan drain hole was welded up and re-threaded

A special flatting agent was added to the clear coat to provide the desired 'satin black' finish for the front suspension.

Radio console had been butchered	New console sealed with red oxide	Center console had also fallen victim to the skill-saw
		Air cleaner canister painted flat black
Front suspension has been painted with a flatting agent in clear coat

When we cleaned up your connecting rods prior to re-sizing and bushing them, we found one of the rods to be bent. If you look carefully at the first photo below you can see the slight bend in the shaft of the rod. We decided to replace all six rods with a matched set, rather than just the one damaged rod.

Bent original connecting rod	Replacement set has been re-sized and bushed

We have now completed the rebuild of your differential and have begun the reassembly of the IRS. The shock absorbers in the photographs below are new Boges (OEM Girlings are no longer available). Boge shocks are supplied black, so we custom mixed some blue paint to match the color the original Girlings would have been, and we also saved/restored the original Girling caps for the rear shocks. Our goal is for the entire IRS to look exactly like the day it was assembled at the factory. We have re-used all the original fasteners, treated with acid and sealed with a special 'bare metal' clear coat to prevent rusting.

	All nuts and bolts treated with special  corrosion resistant clear coat
Before....	After...
New shocks painted custom Girling Blue	Original Girling caps used on rear shocks	Flatting agent used in clear coat

IRS rebuild progress...

Brake calipers will be Nickel plated then sleeved in stainless steel	Hub carriers have been rebuilt	We custom mixed Red Oxide paint  to match original finish
Early style 2 piece brake pistons	Restored original fasteners being  re-used throughout

Typically, on very early E Types, I would expect the front suspension (control arms and uprights) to be black. In the case of 885020, although most of the components still show evidence of the original black factory coating, the right hand upper fulcrum shaft doesn't look like it has ever been painted or anodized (see photo # 5 below). My best guess is that the shaft must have been replaced at some time in this car's troubled past. In any event, over the next few days we will be refinishing all the various front suspension components in a highly durable, satin black urethane coating.

Rear suspension components  before ....	And after...powder coating	Front suspension prior to tear down
Control arms were black from the factory	Rh fulcrum shaft may have been replaced

We now have the rebuild of your IRS underway..

Hoisting IRS onto a work bench for disassembly	Early rear hubs did not have water throwers	3.31 ratio
	Removing grime reveals diff casing finished in red oxide
Casing blasted and ready for paint	Interior of casing will be finished in Glyptal	IRS components to be powder coated

Installing the external bonnet latch mechanisms, repairing a badly damaged front bumper, fine tuning the fit of the new bonnet...

Starting to trial fit bonnet	Side cowl panels are installed during bonnet fit stage	Weld seams lead loaded
Heater air intake is trial fitted to make sure it clears the heater box	If it is touching the heater box, the bonnet fit will be affected	Welding outside latch mechanisms  in place
	With latches fully functional, we can now begin bonnet fit in earnest	Leading edge of outer sill will be built up  with weld to match wheel arch line
	Lead will be used to finish the repair	Bumpers are in poor condition and need extensive repairs
Ugly DIY repair from the past	This blade will be beaten into shape

Darrell lead loading the driver's door and left rear quarter panel.

We have been busy converting your new bonnet into a welded louver, outside latch bonnet. This is not as straightforward as one might think, as there are many subtle differences beyond the obvious louvers and latches. We had originally planned on using new louvers that we purchased from the UK. Unfortunately, when we compared those to a set of original welded louvers, there were a number of significant differences (see comparison photos below). In the end we decided to cut out a set of original welded louvers and weld those in place in the new bonnet center section.

We also spot welded all the mounting flanges for the heater/air intakes and the mudguards, items which were glued in place on the underside of later (and new) bonnets. We welded up the extra holes that are present on new bonnets to make them compatible with both the centrally located swb and the offset (to the right) 2+2 safety catches.

Cutting out welded louves from an original bonnet		Cutting out the pressed in louvers from the new bonnet
Trial fitting welded louvers		Louvers then spot welded in place, exactly  as they would have been originally
Significant differences between new louvers and original welded louvers	Louvers were completely different shape	Spot welding heater/air intake mounting flanges in place
These spot welds are often visible through the  paint on original bonnets	Bonnet now fully assembled	Repairing original bonnet hinge frame
Car moved to a frame jig to have frames installed	Original bolts and fasteners used to reassemble bonnet	2+2 safety catch holes welded up
Early bonnets had body number stamped in rh  bonnet brace - so we did the same for you	Note correct early style hinge frame and hinges	Time to start fitting the bonnet

More progress in both the engine machine shop and the Coachworks....

Align honing camshaft caps		Front of head is first sanded....
Then polished	Installing tappet hold down kit	Tapping threads
Tappet hold down kits are only installed on the exhaust side	Some of the components that go into a CJ cylinder head rebuild	Custom stainless CJ valves
Head now ready for assembly	CJ head rebuilds feature a five angled valve job
Checking valve lash	New door skins are different from the originals in that they are one piece	Top is also a slightly different shape, so we welded old tops to new skins
Previously welded seams are lead  loaded	Installing new drain tubes	Skins now installed, time to trial fit the doors
Trial fitting doors, bulkhead side panel and outer sills together	Installing rear floor brace	Wurth body wax applied to inner sill area and inside surface of new outer sill
		New outer sills spot welded into place

Lots of progress in the Coachworks since my last update...

Trial fitting floor crossmember	Trial fitting trans tunnel	Trial fitting floors
Welding trans tunnel into place	Note torsion reaction plate is installed when trial fitting floors	Nasty hole cut for aftermarket interior light
		Floors are sport welded together on a worktop
Primer stripped from the weld zones	Rear cowl panel has rust holes and will be replaced	Replacement panel not quite the right shape
Darrell marking the new panel where it will be re-shaped		Folding the upper lip with a hammer and dolly
Temporarily screwed into place for purposes of trial fitting new boot floor assembly	Holes in rear wall of new boot floor assembly  are much larger than originals	Fabricated piece replicates original
Trial fitting boot floor assembly
First of the lead loading

Lots of progress in the machine shop and in the Coachworks...

Installing helicoils in head	Re-cutting water jackets after welding	Exclusive CJ magnesium bronze valve guides
Remember this previous repair	Drilling and tapping valve cover stud hole	Heating head prior to installing new guides
Honing new guides	Repairing rear bulkhead
Trial fitting newly fabricated bulkhead support bracket (marked X)	Items required to convert new bonnet to outside latch specs	Rear bulkhead now welded in place
Newly fabricated trans tunnel panel	Fabricating repair panel for lower trans tunnel side
	Trial fitting the new panel
TIG welded into place	After cleaning the weld, a virtually invisible repair

We now have the reconstruction of your bodyshell well underway. Even your cylinder head has been spending some time in the Coachworks...

Disassembling the cylinder head	Head is significantly warped and will have to be straightened	Pressure testing the cylinder head
	Corrosion ground away around  water jackets	Broken stud boss at front of head
Head is heated in the oven prior to welding	Darrell welding the water jackets
Another view of the broken stud boss	A new boss is built up with TIG weld	Corresponding stud hole in valve cover also welded up
Welds then ground back flat and are now ready to be re-drilled and re-tapped	Water jackets will be reshaped on the mill	New panels have shipping primer removed and  have 'weld zones' masked before priming
Bare metal areas are the weld zones where panels will be spot welded	Cutting away corroded sheet metal
B pillars will be reconstructed		Stripping shipping primer from new boot floor assembly
Again, masking weld zones
Trial fitting first of the new inner sills	Spot welding inner sill into place
A place for everything and everthing in its place...		Wurth Body Wax is sprayed inside all box sections
		Spot welding the second inner sill into place
Sill end closing panel going into place
Tunnel cut away	Removing the inner rear bulkhead

Align honing the main caps and honing the new cylinders.

Installing custom CJ (top hat) sleeves in the CJ machine shop...

Top of CJ sleeve is stepped to prevent sleeve moving	Cutting a counter bore for the top hat sleeve
Pop block in the oven for 45 mins at 400 f ....	Alternate sleeves are frozen then installed in the heated block	Block then set up on horizontal surfacer
Pulling the sleeves down prior to surfacing	Sleeves usually pull down about .0005"	Surfacing in progress
Top hat portion of new sleeve is virtually invisible after surfacing

We now have your engine rebuild well underway. Outwardly we will be restoring everything to a completely stock appearance, although the rebuild will feature a number of reliability and performance upgrades, such as Venolia forged pistons, custom CJ stainless valves, custom CJ valve seats, Total Seal piston rings, custom CJ magnesium bronze guides, ARP rod bolts, upgraded front and rear main seals, etc, etc.

	Note suspect stud marked 'X'	Head separated from block without incident
	Corroded water jackets will be welded up and cut/reshaped	Water jackets in block also somewhat corroded
Exterior (visible) bolts will be media blasted and plated	Tearing down cylinder head	Rear main housing will be machined for upgraded seal
Ouch!	Clearly not the correct sized cam cover stud	A little heat required to remove head studs
	Cutting out old sleeves with boring bar
Behind the old sleeves, water jackets were completely blocked	Scraping silt from water jackets with a knife	A little heat also required to remove crank plugs
	Venolia pistons

Back from the blasters, we are able to see the full extent of all the corrosion and bodged repairs that we are going to have to deal with when the car takes its turn in the CJ Coachworks.

We now have your car completely disassembled and have cut away all the corroded or poorly installed sheet metal. This car has been the victim of some terrible panel replacement at some time in the distant past.

Everything is very carefully labeled and stored	Incorrect paint color suggests head has been removed at some time
Aftermarket screen will be junked	Darrell cutting away the door skins
Door frames are quite rusty	Incorrect crank and waterpump pulleys
Incorrect flywheel bolts signal engine removal in past	Door frames will be media blasted before being skinned
Body is installed on a rotisserie for media blasting		Entire car is a patchwork quilt of repairs
Bodged floor pans installed from inside,  on top of corroded originals		Clint melting factory lead from all the seams
	Cutting away outer sills
	Inner sills are as nasty as it gets!
Note floors stacked on top of  each other		Cutting away the boot floor assembly
		Ready for blasting!

Time to get this very important project underway!