Update report - October 30, 2018

The grille has now been repaired, re-plated and reinstalled.

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AC controls now hidden behind glove box door

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Putting the finishing touches to the interior retrim.

Old lap belts are no longer worthy of the new interior	Restored and re-trimmed seats have now been installed
	AC controls will be hidden in the glove box behind a false partition wall

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With the carpets and new door seals installed, Carlos turned his attention to the center console and assembling the dash. The seats will be trimmed in sumptuous Suffolk & Turley hide over the next few days.

Several square yards of Wilton wool carpeting	Note placement of AC vents
Huge center console restored and retrimmed	Refinished interior wood now installed
	Dash progressing nicely!

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The door casings have now been trimmed and Carlos is about to turn his attention to trimming the rear seat.

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We have now completed the sanding and buffing process and I am pleased to report that we were able to dramatically improve the appearance of the old paintwork, eliminating the majority of the shrinkage issues and severe orange peel texture evident in the old clear coat. Carlos has now begun trimming the door casings.

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Restoring the seat frames and installing the new wool headliner.

Seat frames have been blasted and powder coated
Frames now reassembled and ready for padding and foam
Earlier today Carlos finished installing the new wool headliner material

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Carlos has now begun the process of installing the new wool headliner. When he returns from vacation in a little over a week he will trim the seats and begin the process of installing the new Suffolk & Turley interior.

Rear screen surround panels were damaged beyond repair	We fabricated new panels from aluminum
	Carlos has been trimming the various headliner panels in new grey wool cloth
	Sanding and polishing the center gauge panel

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Stripping and preparing the seat frames for trimming.

Front seats stripped to their bare frames	New burlap material will be applied to the seat frames
	Almost ready for the cushings

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The restoration of the interior wood is now virtually complete. We have another couple of coats of clear to apply before each element can be sanded and buffed to a high gloss finish. We are about to start installing the Suffolk & Turley interior and have already stripped the cabin and installed Dynamat throughout. Removing the old underfelt and glue revealed pristine, totally rust free floors.

Scraping away all the old glue and underfelt revealed pristine sheet metal beneath
Applying Dynamat throughout the cabin	New veneers sanded and ready for final clear coat applications
Applying the first of several coats of clear	Several coats will be applied then sanded and buffed to a high gloss

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The following sequence of photographs show how Jason applies the beautiful European Walnut veneer to the main dash panels, beginning with the central minor gauge panel.

Preparing to apply veneer to the minor gauge panel	Special veneer tape is used on the front side
	4 pieces of book ended veneer will be used for the center gauge panel
Rear side of the veneer sections are secured with masking tape
	Sanding the veneer before the gluing process
	Removing old veneer from the panel
	Cutting relief slits for the gauges and switch panel
Applying the special veneer glue	After gluing and taping, the panel is placed in a vacuum press and left for about 6 hours
	Removing the veneer tape
Using a chisel to remove veneer tape from the front side of the panel
Selecting the best veneers for the main gauge and glove box panels	An important part of the process as it's important that neighboring panels complement each other
	Minor gauge panel almost ready for sanding and varnish
Now to repeat the process with the main gauge and glove box panels
	Main gauge and glove box panels in the vacuum press

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It is now time to start the process of applying the burl walnut veneer to the interior wood elements. The veneers are first treated with a special softener, before being pressed flat for around 24 hours. The veneers, which are by now noticeably flatter and more flexible, are then "book ended" in order to produce one continuous burl pattern throughout the width of each piece of trim.

The veneers are treated with a special softener	With the softening agent applied, you can start to get an idea what the finished veneer will look like
Book ending the veneers to provide one continuous burl pattern for the longer trim pieces
Selecting the best veneers for each trim element	6 book ended veneers will be used for the cantrails above the side windows

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Jason has been busy stripping all the old stain and varnish from the interior wood trim pieces. Initially this is done with paint stripper, lacquer thinner, Scotchbrite pads and elbow grease. Once the wood is stripped, it is then sanded with 320 grit, soaked in water to raise the grain, then sanded again with 400 grit.

	Trim will require several repairs
Damaged veneer in the RH cantrail

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It is now time for us to remove and restore all of the interior wood trim. Some of the veneers have been damaged over time so we have chosen some very special European Bur Walnut veneer that will be matched, book-ended and applied to each of the trim pieces.

All of the interior wood trim has now been removed
	European Bur Walnut will look absolutely beautiful inside the Jaguar's cabin

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I am pleased to report that your rebuilt front and rear suspension has now been installed, as has your rebuilt engine. The AC installation is progressing well and the car has now been converted from steel disc to wire wheels.

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I am pleased to report that we have now completed your engine rebuild.

Machined block washed down and ready for final assembly
Valve covers and crankcase breather have been repaired and machine polished	Installing the crankshaft
Pistons installed	Installing the timing chains
Cylinder head now fully assembled	Setting valve lash on the Stage One cams
New timing chain cover was required
Tappet guide hold down kit has been installed on the exhaust side of the head	Polished valve covers add the finishing touch

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The front suspension and brakes have now been completely rebuilt, restored and installed back beneath the car. The rear suspension and brakes have been serviced and the IRS will be reinstalled early next week. Your engine rebuild is progressing nicely in the CJ machine shop.

Main bearing housings after completion of the align hone	Measuring main bearings in order to calculate requisite crank journal sizing
Torque plate cylinder hone in progress	Original timing chain cover was damaged beyond repair, so a new cover will be used
IRS tie plate also in poor shape	New billet alloy IRS tie plate installed
New output shaft seals, bronze fulcrum bushings, rebuilt brakes, new springs and Koni shocks	Fabricating new brake lines
Front suspension and brakes completely rebuilt	Rebuilt front suspension subframe now installed beneath the car

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We have now completed your Stage One cylinder head rebuild and have the block machine work well underway.

Block on the floating boring bar to machine out old sleeves	Note water jackets behind sleeves
Cylinder head has now been machined and assembled	Stage One head rebuild completed
Front subframe blasted and powder coated

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We now have your engine rebuild well underway, with the Stage One cylinder head rebuild scheduled to be completed by the end of this week.

Engine as received in the CJ machine shop	Removing the cylinder head
	Tearing the cylinder head down on the bench
Valve seats were in very poor shape	We surfaced both exhaust and intake flanges
	View along one of the intake runners after porting
Pressure testing the head	Installing tappet hold down kit
Front of head prior to sanding and polishing	After polishing

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I am pleased to report that we now have this project underway. Our first task is to remove the engine, transmission and front suspension.