1956 XK 140 MC roadster (SZ) Total Team CJ restoration

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Specification (briefly) for this project is as follows: Another total CJ restoration to be finished in silver with red Suffolk & Turley hides and a host of Team CJ performance and reliability upgrades, including a CJ5 transmission, uprated brakes, cooling, ignition, suspension, etc, etc.

I am pleased to report that this restoration has now been completed and your car will be heading North in the next few days!

Sorry to hear Miss Justine has been a little unwell. Here are a couple of photos to cheer her up!

All that remains is to install the convertible top...

Seat belts installed		New canvas conv top
New jack in place under the spare tire floor
Still waiting for the 'door lock' knob for the driver's door

Installing the padded crash roll on the door tops...

Lots of progress in the last few days. We have repaired all the metal work and trim for the side screens and submitted the relevant parts for chrome plating. With the grill now installed, all we are lacking up front is the grill badge and bulbs for the new headlamps, both of which are on order.

Grill and bonnet spear now installed	Side screen framework took a lot of straightening!	Side screen frames paint OEM grey
New canvas for side screens	New Lexan windows

Wiring in the lamps...

Fog lamps now installed
Boot courtesy lamp and license plate lamps now working	Still waiting for headlamp bulbs

Installing the front bumpers, bonnet, etc...

Installing the rear bumpers, license plate panel, etc...

Installing the leather crash roll around the cockpit...

Sam had the front roll installed before I got a chance to take any photos...		Tack strip is trimmed in place -note right side has yet to be trimmed
	Finished result is absolutely beautiful

Time to install the new Suffolk & Turley interior...

Pedals are masked off for the spraying of glue	Carpets are glued to the firewall
	Rear bulkhhead is trimmed in a mixture  of hardura and moquette
	Next we will be trimming and installing the crash roll...

Assembling and installing the new front screens....

Installing new screens	All lighting now installed
	New windscreen fits beautifully!

We now have the chrome plating back and will be firing your engine early next week.

Gathering chrome together for replating, new floor boards and a new steering wheel....

Great to finally meet you yesterday - and I am glad you liked your car!

Assembling the center dash panel	Beautifully trimmed out in hide
	Gorgeous Suffolk & Turley interior kit
	Seats were trimmed by Eric Suffolk  himself

The engine bay is rapidly filling up...

Beautiful Ron Davis radiator now installed
Rebuilt carbs		Vacuum line to aftermarket brake booster
	Booster up inside LH front wheel arch	Vacuum reservoir up above the battery box
View up through battery box

Time to install the body onto the chassis! I am pleased to say the operation went smoothly and your car is now a "roller" again, after many years in pieces. The wheels and tires currently installed are just old slave E Type wheels.

Engine and transmission installed	CJ5 five speed, of course!	Body waits in the background...
Lowering the body onto the chassis	Everything lined up perfectly	Looking like a car for the first time in decades!

I know you are away on vacation, but just in case you have access to the Internet, I though you might like to see pictures of your completed engine rebuild 

HP harmonic balancer installed	Upgraded composite head gasket	CC'ing the cylinder head
Re-ground Stage One cams	Tappet hold down kit applied to  exhaust side	Carbs rebuilt
Sorry, this one got a bit blurred!	Famous C Type valve covers

More engine progress....

Measuring the deck height	Calculating piston dome volume	Piston 1" below deck surface
	Rebuilt rods	ARP rod bolts
Pistons now installed
Brass galley plugs clean up nicely!	Distributor drive installed	Teflon front seal, new oil pump, etc

Over the next few days we will be building your engine...

Painting inside the block with Glyptal		Installing the new freeze plugs
Pressure plate was balanced with CJ alloy flywheel		Crank has been ground and balanced

We have now completed the painting of the body and doors. This afternoon we will be painting the bonnet, boot lid and rear wings.

Painting progress.....

Although tricky to photograph, the following sequence shows us rock guarding, sealing, then painting the underside of the bodyshell.

The following pictures show the etch priming of the underside of the boot lid, bonnet and doors, as well as the painting of the inside of the rear wings. We are gearing up to do the main silver shoot in the next few days. Watch this space!

The first of the silver paint being applied...

Time to paint the cabin, engine bay, boot compartment, inner wings and the underside of the floors. I have to dash to an appointment this afternoon but will put some photos of the silver up for you first thing in the morning!

Outer panels being masked	Applying sealer to the cabin	Boot compartment is also sealed with epoxy primer
Sealer was tinted silver	Inner wings have rock guard applied before base coat

The Slick Sand has been blocked and your car has now been primed. Next it will be sanded with 400 dry, 600 wet, then it will be time for some silver!

Building up the chassis....

Installing the new fuel pump and fabricating new lines...	Trial fitting new fuel tank

The filler stage has now been completed and the Slick Sand was applied earlier this afternoon. LT has now completed his work with your car - which has now entered the prep and painting stage.

The following photographs show Lawrence creating lots of dust - and the best XK boot lid fit you will ever see...

I am pleased to report that all the sheet metal and leadwork has now been completed and we are about to get started with the filler and block work. The car will be sealed with etching primer later this afternoon.

We have been busy fabricating and running all your hydraulic lines and installing the Wilwood front brakes, Koni shocks, etc.

E Type uprights, hubs and rotors allow  us to use Wilwood brakes	Braided brake lines thro'out
Huge improvement over original brake drums	Rear Konis installed
Front to rear hydraulic lines run down side of chassis

The passenger door was solid and only required fairly basic repairs, although the driver's door ended up being much worse than we had originally thought and LT ended up making a complete new door....

Passenger door repaired and installed	Disassembling the driver's door	LT demonstrates how weak the inner panels are
New door bottom fabricated	New latch panel fabricated	Making a card template for the new door skin
Hammering out the complex shape at the door top	Shaping the new skin
New inner door top fabricated	Reassembling the new door	The finished article
	Lead loading back underway

We now have the lead loading well underway....

Moving to the other side of the car for the last significant sheet metal replacement before attacking the lead loading.

Fabricating repair panel for front edge of LH rear wing	The old one was in poor condition
	Lead loading the repaired area
Installing the repaired wing

Front RH wing repairs completed and welded into place, RH B pillar fabricated and installed, lead loading begun...

Time to weld the RH wing in place	Captive nuts are welded to new structure first	Job done!
B pillar panel we made earlier..		Starting to look like a car again!
First of the lead loading begins		RH door gap starting to take shape
Leaded areas etch primed		Before being bolted back in place

The following photos show rust repairs on the top of both front wings and the fabrication and beading of a new RH wing, etc.

Rust under the lamp pod of the LH wing	Rust cut out, new panel formed and welded in place	LH wing now repaired
	Similar corrosion dealt with on RH ing	Lower valance was also repaired
Headlamp pod was extensively rebuilt		Cutting out the vent hole for the RH footwell
Installing the beading to the edge of the newly fabricated RH wing
	Beading adds strength to the wing and helps it keep its shape
	Ready to install on the car!

Lots of great progress this week. Basically, a completely rebuilt firewall and inner A post structure.

LT hard at work		New sheet metal virtually  everywhere
The view from the clutch pedal		Etch priming before moving to the other side of the car
RH side A post just as nasty		Origami with steel...
	Trial fiting the newly fabricated front wing repair panel	Look for more next week!

Reconstructing your firewall and inner A post structures....

Starting to rebuild the inner A post structures	Flashback to how they were....	Starting to look much better already
		The hinge on the left had been badly repaired
We cut it apart and re-welded it....	Everything now lines up as it should
	LH inner A post starting to take shape
Rusty panel at bottom left will be cut away....	As will the upper LH firewall	Offending panel has now been removed...
RH firewall will need help as well	Fabricating a new panel for upper LH firewall
Frabricating LH firewall	Trial fitting	More soon!

Happy Birthday for yesterday, Andrew! The following pictures show the fabrication and installation of the main floors.

The braces are spot welded into place
Trial fitting the new floor		Starting to spot weld the new floor to the sills

The rear bulkhead and upper floor has now been reconstructed and LT has turned his attention to the main cabin floor, the front wings, the main (forward) bulkhead and inner A post structures.

	New rear bulkhead now in place
	Finishing up the welding beneath the rear floor	The view from the other side....
Removing front wings from forward bulkhead		Trans tunnel has some Frankenstein repairs
	Inner wing panel has been removed, probably to accommodate triple carbs
Both front wings will need repairs	One (this one) is worse than the other....	A Posts have also been subjected to some crude repairs
Yikes!		Most of this wing will be cut away and replaced
Making card templates for new wing	Starting point for new main floor	Driveshaft tunnel is formed first....
	More soon!
More card templates..

Lots more panels being fabricated and welded into place....

Upper leading edge of LH rear wing was corroded
Fabricating a new LH B pillar
Support braces for inner LH B post	RH B post also installed	New panel fabricated for RH rear wing repair
Trial fitting	Making a complete new rear/upper  floor and bulkhead	The side braces for the new bulkhead
Trial fitting...

Your weekend photo fix 

	This is not your bootlid. Yours is missing the bracket marked 'A'	This is your bootlid. Note missing bracket
LT made you a pair of new brackets	Primed and installed, good as new
The next area of rust to be tackled		New radiator finally arrived

 
More sheet metal replacement...

Finishing off the left side	Making a replacement panel for the RH side	That panel now installed
RH side wall now in place	Fabricating a new boot floor	Original boot lid catch cleaned up  and installed on new side wall
	Boot floor now better than new

I am pleased to report that we now have the sheet metal replacement well underway, as well as pushing ahead and rebuilding some of the major mechanical components, such as the rear axle and suspension. I hope you enjoy watching as the rust is cut away and new panels are fabricated and welded into place!

	LH inner rear wing is rusty and will be replaced	Rust exposed when the boot  side walls are removed
Starting to fabricate the various boot compartment panels	Shaping the panel for inner wing repair
Initial trial fit	Rusty original side panels	Newly fabricated replacements
	Compare to photo above!	More new sheet metal
Diff completely rebuilt		Rebuilt axle and new leaf springs now installed
Making a new rear license  plate panel		Shaping the lic plate panel
		Newly fabricated side wall supports welded in place
Ready to install new license plate panel	Welding new side walls into position

We have now completely torn down your engine and we found that it had not been run since it was 'freshened' some years ago. It had new rod and main bearings, new rings and the cylinders had been honed, although it had not been rebuilt in the true sense of the word. The valves were original and the pistons, timing chains and chain guides were all used. In any event, we not have a complete Stage One CJ engine rebuild underway.

		Pistons 0.030" oversized
Head had ben cleaned up but not rebuilt	Notice old chain guide	Rings had been renewed
	Bearings had been replaced

I am pleased to report that earlier today I took delivery of the last few bits and pieces, including the engine and transmission. I will tear down and inspect the engine next week. The transmission will be set aside for some future owner 

Original matching number engine about to be torn down	Last few bits and pieces have  now been delivered	Original matching number close ratio gearbox

I am pleased to report that we have already started assembling the front suspension and have also etch primed the body panels to protect them until we are ready to start the body restoration.

Starting to build up the front suspension	This car will have Koni shocks all round	Steering rack rebuilt and installed
E Type uprights were first blasted......	Then painted..	New 60 spoke Daytons
Body panels etch primed	This will protect them until we  are ready to work on them

Having removed the body from the chassis, we then cut out the cabin floor, as that was going to be replaced anyway. We then removed the rocker panels and the RH shut face panel, both of which turned out to be brand new (just surface rusted).

We removed (and cleaned up) the body tag before blasting	Body separated from the chassis
Cabin floor is going to be replaced	The rocker panels and RH shut panel are brand new	Time to strip the chassis
	Body off to the blasters
Chassis was pretty grimy	First is was de-greased...	Then pressure washed...
Chassis number on LH side of frame	Painting the chassis (the light colored  areas are etching primer)
Painted chassis baking in the  Texas sunshine!	Body back from blasting	Body will be etch primed later today

The Leopard skins were apparently a gift from the King of Botswana to a previous owner who was using  the car in Africa while working as a reporter with the National Geographic magazine

I am delighted to report that the body and rolling chassis arrived at CJ yesterday evening. This afternoon I took delivery of the bonnet, doors and boot lid. Tomorrow afternoon I have an appointment to receive the engine, transmission, chrome trim.....and the leopard skin trimmed seats 

As you can see in the photos, the steel panels are covered in superficial surface rust because it was never sealed/primed after being sand blasted a few years back. The overall condition is very much as expected, however, and in fact much the same as the other XK 140 currently receiving the full treatment in the CJ Coachworks. The chassis, which is in excellent condition, was apparently powder coated while the body was removed for blasting.

If it isn't too late when I have all the remaining components unloaded tomorrow afternoon, I will try to send a few more pictures up to the webpage for you then. Otherwise, look for a full update on Monday!
 

Superficial surface rust makes body look worse than it is	Note factory lead around lamp pods
Chassis is in excellent condition	Chassis # stamped on front cross-member	Boot lid is in excellent shape
Underside of boot lid	Passenger door is also exceptional	Driver's door not quite as good
Bonnet is excellent	Steel panels will all be blasted back to shiny bare metal