1966 E Type roadster
Total restoration, mechanical upgrades

 

 
Specification (briefly) for this project is as follows:

Total restoration with a wide range of mechanical upgrades, Stage Two 4.7 liter engine, CJ five speed transmission, upgraded cooling, ignition, suspension, brakes, Borrani wire wheels, etc.

 

 


These spectacular photographs are a sampling of the images created for us by Danny Batista Photography, a couple of weeks ago. I hope you are pleased with the results!



























































































































































We spent yesterday with Danny Batista Photography shooting hundreds of images of this beautiful E Type. We will publish the photographs in the next week or so.





We dyno tested the car again today, having installed our new CJ long manifold headers and straight through exhaust system. We were particularly pleased with the results, especially given the 100+ degree ambient temperature. Check out the results below!

Installing your new Borrani wire wheels..
Our exclusive Team CJ Borrani wheels used in
conjunction with OEM style Jaguar spinners










Dunlop ER/70 15 SP Sport radials compliment the
new Borranis perfectly
 Team CJ Borrani has uprated hub, spokes and rim
 to handle this car's almost 400 ft/lbs of torque



Click on the photo below for a short video clip of one of the Dyno runs. This car is one of the most powerful road legal Series One E Types in the world.






Fabricating an adjustable dead pedal..

Dead pedal will be fabricated from aluminium











Holes formed using a dimple die










Mounting holes are slotted so the pedal is
adjustable for people of different heights
 Trial fitting the finished article



Reassembly now well underway!

Webers will supply the fuel to the Stage Two engine











Dunlop sport tires look the part on new wire wheels






















Team CJ headers
 Wiring the dash










New gas tank installed
 Starting to install the new red Suffolk & Turley
interior



I am pleased to report that your car has now been moved into the trim room...
Restoring internal dash components
 Retrimming dash panels






















Installing Dynamat insulation



Yesterday afternoon Gerardo finished the painting process and I am pleased to report that the finished result looks absolutely spectacular. There is nothing quite like a freshly painted Opalescent Gunmetal E Type!
IRS now completely rebuilt
 Clear coat being applied to the bonnet










Finished result looks fantastic










Gerardo applying the first coat of clear










Body rolled outside this morning











If there is a better color for an E Type than
Gunmetal, I don't know what it is...














Applying 3M Rocker Guard and painting the underside of the floors..
















Applying the first of the Opalescent Gunmetal paint..














After a week of welding, grinding and hammering, your chrome trial fit has been completed. It is almost time to mix up some Opalescent Gunmetal!

 
Your car (on right) outside in the Texas sunshine yesterday
All chrome, glass and brightwork has been trial fitted

 

 

  
 
Headlamp rings are trial fitted with new seals and the
actual headlamp glass to be used

 

 

  
Screen installed with new rubber seal inorder to trial
fit chrome A post trim
  

 

We have now completed the bodywork stage of this restoration and the car has been put into high build, sprayable polyester primer. The last photo in the sequence below shows a magnified image of the bonnet gap, which is as good as it gets..

 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 

IRS rebuild underway, some beautiful powder coating, assembling vented front brake kit...

 
   

 

 

  
   

 

 

  
   

 

 

  
   

 
 

Lead loading continued...

 
   

 

 

  
   

 

 

  
   

 

 

  
   

 

 

  
   

 

Lead loading, installing new door skins...

 
   

 

 

  
Trial fitting rear lamp housings as part of the
lead loading process
  

 

 

  
 
New door skins installed

 

 

  
Trial fitting rebuilt doors
  

 

Your bodyshell has been removed from the rotisserie and is sitting on one of the roll-around frame jigs. Over the next few days we will be installing the replacement engine frames and fitting your new bonnet.

 
 
 Lead loading underside prior to removing body
from rotisserie
 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 Monocoque now on roll-around frame jig
 Assembling the new bonnet

 
 
 

 
 
 
 

Progress in the CJ Coachworks....
 
Trial fitting left lower quarter panel

 

 

  
Driver's shut face panel welded in place
  

 

 

  
Left lower quarter now welded in position
RH wheel arch has some rust on inner
skin that will have to be dealt with

 

 

  
Surface rust ground away, bare metal treated with acid
Fabricating repair panels

 

 

  
 
TIG welding repair panels

 

 

  
   

 

 

  
Installing the gas filler box
  

 

 

  
Rust proofing inner sill areas before installing
new outer sills
New floors and outer sills now spot welded in place

 

I am pleased to report that your Supersports 4.7 engine rebuild has now been completed.

 
Laying stroked billet crank in the block
Piston and rod assemblies installed

 

 

  
The finished article is a thing of beauty
  

 

 

  
   

 
 

Installing new transmission tunnel and new floors....

 
   

 

 

  
Trial fitting new trans tunnel
Preparing to rivet new radius arm cups under floor

 

 

  
 
Wurth Body Wax applied to inner box sections

 

 

  
 
After trial fitting, new floors are spot welded together
prior to installation

 

 

  
New floors now installed
Cabin is now 100% sound once more

 
 


This body restoration project is now officially underway ...

 
 
 
   

 

 

  
   

 

 

  
   

 
 

Things are about to get interesting in the the CJ machine shop...

 
 
   

 
 
 
   

 

Some gorgeous machine work on display, as well as your custom 4.7 Supersports stroker pistons, and a set of forged Crower rods.

 
 
 Lots of fresh Nickel plating
 4.7 Supersports stroker pistons are 48g lighter
than even our regular forged piston

 

 

  
Cylinder head now completely rebuilt
Stunning machine work

 

 

  
OEM rod (top) and Crower rod compared
Crower rod approximately 120g lighter than stock rod

We have been busy stripping the 'shipping primer' from your new replacement panels...

 
   

 

 

  
   

 

 

  
 
 

After blasting the body back to bare metal, we can now see exactly what we have to deal with in terms of bodywork and sheet metal replacement. All in all, your car is certainly much better than most E Types that visit the CJ Coachworks, although there are a few issues that will obviously need some attention. The underside of the floor, while not terribly rusty, is pretty beaten up. We should discuss your options in this regard, although I would be inclinded to replace the entire floor, if I was you.

 
 A few extra holes on the rear cowl
 Both front floors are pretty beaten up!

 
 
 
 

 
 
 Aftermarket driver's footwell
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 Suspicous phillips screws up inside rear arches
 Rust holes lurking beneath

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 Accident damage to left rear

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 The lower quarter will be replaced

 
 
 
 

 
 
 About to seal the disassembled bonnet in epoxy
 Belly pan also showing signs of accident repair

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 Doors are in great shape

 
 
 
 

 
 
 Up inside the nose of the bonnet center section
 Trans tunnel has been chopped about a bit

 
 
 
 

 
 
 Body sealed in Glasurit epoxy
 

 
 

The body has now been completely disassembled and sent off to be blasted back to bare metal....

 
   
   
   
   
   


I am pleased to report that your Stage One cylinder head rebuild has now been completed. We picked up a very healthy 55 cfm on the flow bench, which will make this a very strong running engine.

 
 
 Our port work resulted in big gains on the flow bench

 
 
 

 
 
 Pressure testing head after completion of port work
Head on assembly bench 

 
 
 

 
 
 It is a shame this machine work will be hidden!
 

 
 
 

 
 
 Head rebuild now completed
 

Torque plate honing cylinders and surfacing the engine block...

 
 
New timing chain cover was required because
the original was badly corroded
Torque plate honing cylinders to size

 

 

  
 
Surfacing block with new timing chain cover installed

 


The following photos show some of the block machine work in progress...

 
 
New linders now installed
Squarinf main caps prior to performing a much
needed align hone

 

 

  
 
Align hone in porgess

 

 

  
Forged CJ pistons
Honing cylinders to rough size - the process will be completed
with torque plate installed

 
 

Stage One engine rebuild now well underway...

 
   

 

 

  
Balancer was cracked
  

 

 

  
   

 

 

  
Cutting out old sleeves
Note block water jackets

 

 

  
The same water jackets cleaned out
Pressure testing cylinder head

 

 

  
Performing a baseline flow test
Magnafluxing block (crack checking)

 

I am pleased to report that your car has arrived safely at Classic Jaguar and we will have your restoration underway in the next few days.

 
   
   
   

 

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