1964 E Type roadster Team CJ driver restoration

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Specification (briefly) for this project is as follows: Take a partially restored car - and finish it!

As promised, some photographs in the Texas sunlight......

Time to put the seats in place! All we are waiting for to finish the interior are the chrome dash finishers and the underdash board set. Otherwise, it's time for some serious shakedown and road testing!

One snug fitting convertible top...This afternoon we are installing the seats and the trimmed out radio console.

The frame is slotted to allow fine tuning the fit		Starting to install the new canvas
	Measure twice, cut once...

Time to install the windows and the convertible top....

Restored frame is first bolted in place		Header bow trimmed out
Bow is then attached to frame and  latched to the screen	A great deal of time is spent obtaining  best possible fit.....	.......between the window glass and the conv top frame

More interior progress: trimming out and installing the centre console and the B post shut face panels.

		Installing the chrome rim and special rivets
The centre consoles are not symmetrical so....	We moved the hide gaitor seam around to line up with the joint in the aluminium mound
Finished result looks very nice	Now installed in the car	Time for some seats and the top frame...

More interior progress...

Time to start installing the interior trim.

If you click on the photograph of Andy filling up your car with gas, you will be treated to a slightly extended (full screen) video of the subsequent test drive. I'm afraid it is a large file, so the first time you click on it you will probably need to go and make a cup of coffee while it is downloading, unless you have a really fast connection. Once it has been downloaded once, however, it should play pretty quickly when you view it on subsequent occasions. Oh yes, and I recommend you crank up the volume!

As you can see, we have now trimmed out your seats and the centre console. In the meantime we are pressing on with extensive road testing, thoroughly shaking down the car prior to installing the new interior.

Time for a proper road test! CLICK HERE to be a fly on the wall as we take your E Type down the back roads with no bonnet or interior! Put your earplugs in and wrap up warm, it's a bit noisy and blustery!

It's maiden voyage time! Click on the picture below to see a video clip of Sam's maiden voyage earlier today in your E Type.

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I am delighted to report that we have now test run your engine and everything is working beautifully. The Rob Beere oil pump is providing about 70 psi at a cold idle. Click on the photograph below to see a short video clip of the initial firing!

Warning - no exhaust fitted!

Team CJ headers	Delco alternator going into place

I am delighted to report that we now have the engine and transmission installed.

Installing the engine from beneath...	A couple of views from beneath...
Alloy radiator a thing of beauty from any angle

Over the last couple of days we have been busy installing some of your new chrome and brightwork. After the struggle we had fitting lights and bumpers, especially to the fibreglass bonnet, I am very pleased with the finished result. We have not yet received the front sidelamps or the rear lamps back from the platers, although we should have them back and installed early next week.

The engine rebuild has now been completed. I am going to find you a replacement set of valve covers as yours are cracked. We should have the engine and transmission in the car in the next couple of days.

Putting together your Stage One engine......plus unpacking some of your replated chrome.

Who needs matching numbers?	Plugs are removed from the crank to properly clean internally	Compression with Cometic head gasket now 9.4:1
Large, FI intake valves	Note how smooth the hemi domes are	Flow increased through intake ports by more than 30 cfm
Wide blade rods and ARP hardware	Tappet hold-down kit on exhaust side

Removing the shipping primer from your new gas tank	primed and painted	Heater box repaired and painted

 
We now have the doors installed and latching/locking, as well as the dash components rebuilt and assembled.

Centre dash restored with new aluminium facia panel	Hopefully you will spend lots of time sitting in front of these!	License plate and reversing lamps installed and wired in
Doors now installed and latching

We now have the new Triplex windshield permanently installed and are in the process of installing Dynamat XTREME throughout the cabin. We also have the doors and bootlid installed - so lots of progress since my last report!

A few powder coated items	Not sure where the part on the left goes....	Installing Dynamat everywhere
Triplex screen installed

We have supplied, rebuilt and installed a 4.2 brake booster and have also started to install the Dynamat XTREME insulation. The project is moving ahead nicely!

Core brake booster	Installing Dynamat in boot area
Rebuilt booster installed		Upper steering column installed

As you can see, we now have the reassembly stage well underway. My thanks to Andy McCreadie who took the following photographs during my absence last week.

Installing the rebuilt IRS		SS heater pipes are installed at a very early stage
As is the wiper linkage	Notice the 4.2 pedal box with upgraded MC, etc	Starting to install the new wiring harness

All the outer panels have now repainted and we will be colour sanding and buffing the body in the next couple of days. The IRS has also been rebuilt.

Today we painted the dash, the underside of the bonnet that had been reworked, the outer edges of the firewall, the new forward sills and the new bonnet hinge frame. On Monday we will be painting the entire outer body - so look out for some really encouraging photographs on Monday afternoon!

We have now finished the bodywork and applied a little high build primer to the areas that had been massaged in the Coachworks. As you can see from the photographs below, the bonnet now fits beautifully.

On Monday we will do a little blocking then seal the entire car in DP90 epoxy primer.

We have overcome a bunch of challenges in fitting your bumpers and lights. The photographs below demonstrate the importance of trial fitting such things before painting the car! The main problem with the bumpers, other than them being of poor quality and barely resembling the shape of the car, was that holes (to mount the bumper) had already been cut in the wrong places.

The left hand front bumper was almost an inch lower than its right hand counterpart. Furthermore, the hole had been cut for the left hand side light 3/4" too low. As a result, with the bumper blade in the correct position, it covered half of the hole that was supposed to be occupied by the lamp housing.

Anyway, I am pleased to report that everything now fits beautifully and we can move ahead to painting the car. We did a number of things that are not easy to photograph, such as bonding phenolic blocks behind the headlamp openings so the headlamp chrome retaining screws had a strong purchase point.

It has been a messy, noisy and frustrating 3 days!

Bumper blade covering hole for side lamp housing	Headlamp buckets and scoops being trial fitted	Holes were cut in the bonnet diaphragm
Headlamp chrome a little dinged up but we will straighten it out before it is replated	Filling the incorrectly cut sidelamp hole	New hole will be cut 3/4" higher
	Marking the outline with the bumper blade installed
Perfect!	No reversing lamp pod??	A used one (at left) will be welded into place
The two side holes will also be blanked off	Grinding away welds
	More photos to follow....
Yes, there is a lot of bondo  under the boot floor....

Fitting the modified fibre glass bonnet, trial fitting and grinding bumpers, etc. None of this work is very photogenic, perhaps, but it is vital that we do it at this stage as we prepare to repaint the car.

Powder coating finished	IRS assembly underway	Modified bonnet made deliberately too long...
The rear edge being filed to fit	We also now have 3/8" of shims both above and in front of hinges	Passenger door received a new hinge and improved fit
High spots in bonnet centre section where interior panels are bonded	We will obviously address these prior to repainting the car	Bonnet gap now shaping up very nicely
RH rear bumper needs a great deal of grinding to fit	Literally possible to slide my fingers between bumper and body	After grinding, the bumper now fits well
LH rear bumper also a challenge	Now fits nicely with seal installed	The rear lamps appear to have been replated but are quite pitted
Time to spot weld sill end panels in place	Sill repairs now complete

The following sequence of photographs show us extending the length and wing depth of the bonnet. Obviously far more material is added initially and in due course the bonnet will be trimmed to fit. When we are finished, the join where the new material was added will be invisible.

Gloss card is taped to the top surface...	New glass will be sanded and cut to the required length and depth	Seam is bonded on both sides...

Time to correct the 'sawn-off sills' and at the same time to add some length to the back edge of the fibreglass bonnet. We found a fair amount of bondo under the paint, particularly on the RH sill. We also found some minor rust so we decided to cut away a section of each outer sill to afford access to the inner box section. As I write this we are in the process of acid treating, priming and rust proofing the inner sill areas. Tomorrow's update will be much more encouraging for you.

Slightly less radical sill end panel will be fabricated	Cutting away the old panel...	revealed quite a bit of plastic filler
Also some rust that will obviously be cut away	Straight edge shows why there is so much plastic on RH side	We decided to cut away a section of both sills to examine inner sill
Looks worse than it is - really not too bad	Inner section being doused with acid	Likewise on the other side of the car
This will be primed and treated with Wurth Body wax	Cutting down a new sill panel
Wurth Body Wax	Trial fitting new panel

As you can see, we have pulled the IRS and rebuilt the differential. The calipers have been sent off for Nickel plating and the cage and the radius arms are being powder coated. The differential has received new bearings and seals, although it was otherwise in sound condition.

We finally got the back ordered sill panel in and will be installing both sills and reworking the rear edge of the bonnet early next week.

When we receive a car that has already been painted and we are asked to complete the project, as in this case, there are a number of additional challenges that have to be met and overcome. With this E Type, unfortunately none of the chrome was trial fitted and the bonnet was not fully adjusted before the car was painted. The photographs below show some of the issues we are facing, particularly with regard to the bonnet fit.

Having said all of that, no problem is insurmountable and we are up to the challenge!

Bottom gap is too wide and there are no shims to work with	There is a 5/16" gap right across the cowl	Bottom gap is about 13/32"
On the driver's side we have  a 1/4" gap to deal with	We are married to this inconsistent gap along the door tops	No shims at all on the RH side of the bonnet
Getting the door top chrome to fit nicely with screen pillars is a challenge	Notice how originally the door top chrome protruded significantly from the screen pillar chrome	We have already dealt with this and the two pieces are now flush

I am pleased to report that your car has arrived safely at CJ (in two separate shipments) and that we already have the restoration well underway. As we discussed on the telephone, the engine block and crankshaft were not servicable so we will use another core to build you the Stage One powerplant that you want. The paintwork is really quite nice, although it is a shame some of the lights and bumpers weren't trial fitted before now!

After some initial concern about the relocated screen pillars, we trial fitted your new windscreen and the Triplex glass fit very well, although we are still a little concerned about the fit (actually, they don't fit at all) of the chrome screen pillars. I will report back in due course on this issue.

That's about it for now! I hope you enjoy watching your car come together - and I thank you for entrusting this important project with Team CJ.

S2 Dayton wheels?	Funky sawn-off sills	Superb fibre glass bonnet made by Predator - nice job guys!
All parts now cleared out of the interior	Bumpers and light trims are horrible fit	You need a new hinge frame
A little too much green...	Certain items will be removed and Nickel plated	Inner dash will be painted
Rest of car arrived on pallets

Engine as delivered	...as delivered....	...as delivered...
Surface rusted cam lobes	Rust in bores	Rust in bores
Rust in bores	This was an attempt at photographing the studs	Intake valves are standard 1 3/4"
Valves are also surface rusted	Good sized gouge in cyl head gasket surface	Most of the studs are rusty
Another attempt at photographing the studs.....	Easier to see problem with the flash - even the threads are corroded
Lock tab not bent back and piece of tab fell off when touched	Grooves cut in crank, also original style con rod bolts	These rings would be struggling to seal anything!
Unfortunately the block is also cracked between #2 and #3	Also cracked between #1 and #2	With the engine we rebuild for you we will be able to give you a precise compression ratio
Rods are C7917 (early 3.8 E)		98 cc's