The XK

[abzadams]

Wonderful JTP. Looking forward to this!

[neilbardsley]

As for the race programme, check here:

https://www.racingsportscars.com/entry/ ... 03-22.html
https://www.racingsportscars.com/race/S ... 03-22.html

I had assumed, after watching the racing there a few weekends ago, that the Sebring track had degraded over time but it looks like it's always been rubbish!

Sent from my M2004J19C using Tapatalk

[rhd racer]

Just caught up - loving the story, thanks for sharing. Looking forward to the build,

ATB
Wayne

[jjeffries]

What a superb canvas this particular big cat represents.

(I must add, that Thornley Kelham car looks like a monstrosity, along with all the pompous-git-drivel in their catalog. Hubris at its worst.)

Best wishes for enjoying this resto as much as the other two.

John/Connecticut

[911hillclimber]

Has Barry finished welding yet?
We are due a mega up-date?

[anglophone1]

As for the race programme, check here:

https://www.racingsportscars.com/entry/ ... 03-22.html
https://www.racingsportscars.com/race/S ... 03-22.html

I had assumed, after watching the racing there a few weekends ago, that the Sebring track had degraded over time but it looks like it's always been rubbish!

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I did a couple of parade laps there in a rental mustang a few years back - lots of nasty rippled concrete…..

[jtparr]

Has Barry finished welding yet?
We are due a mega up-date?

All sorts of things going on in both Sussex and Surrey…..but you will have to wait…..

[jtparr]

Part 6

So…..back in the room…..

where were we……………………………

Oh yes….

Strip Down

As I have a habit as I seem to have done all my life of multitasking… (Something which men are fantastic at, as we all know)…. or perhaps some might just say, an inability to do things in a logical sequence, maybe due to my ADH/dyslexic brain waves, which tend to respond to impulse and doing what I want when I feel like it… I was juggling the remodelling and building of the main bathroom in the house and gently finishing off one or two final tweaks to the E Type at the same time as trying to restrain myself from ripping the XK apart because it was new and much more fun than DIY

Working out in the draughty and damp marquee wasn’t exactly fun in the winter of 2021 which was definitely a wet and windy one, but the urge to keep pulling bits of the car just for the hell of it was impossible to resist















You know what I mean…

Whereas stripping the E Type had been an almost forensic process, trying to do things in a very logical sequence, whilst learning about the way in which the car was built , I approached the XK in a more nonchalant way..more relaxed having had the experience of the E Type before it

Rust there was a plenty….











And plenty of old crud inside the rear wheel arches….what a trial they were to unbolt….!




Brick for scale comparison….this is from one wing….



The Spares Catalogues are fantastic sources of information so whilst carefully bagging all fixtures as I still wanted this car to retain as much originality as possible, I simply started to take anything apart, and when I got bored or especially challenged with a piece that wouldn’t come adrift or loose , I just moved onto something else ..so never got frustrated and never lost any interest, because there was always something new and different to do

The only drive that I had in mind… and I was firm in not wanting to set real deadlines as life has too many of those…..was this restoration should be more in the timeframe of the Porsche, which was 3 years, and not the way of the E Type, which took more like 11

Part of me was not able to dismiss the earlier thoughts about life passing too quickly, and I figured that I wanted to get on and enjoy driving it so I set myself an aspiration to complete building the car and get it on the road as spring or latest summer approached in 2024

In theory this is still possible, as being a chassis based car, there would be a moment when Barry could release the chassis back to me once the more evasive surgery on the bodywork was complete and the alignment between body and chassis no longer needed as he moved onto the final more cosmetic and smaller scale work

The chassis and running gear were preserved in this oily and cement like coating….




And much of the inner woodwork was in a petrified like fossil like state….




But there were lovely original finds such as body numbers…




Headlamps being a classic case of trapped water over the years….




Engine out sure does change the ride height….








Thinking ahead i imagined the sequence might allow me to then clean and paint the chassis and install the running gear and build up a fully rolling chassis …potentially at the same time as Steve was to be prepping the body….and in some magical and seamlessly orchestrated collaboration it would allow the rolling chassis to be reunited with the partly painted body in time for final gapping of doors before final paint

Or at least that was the plan….and in fact is how the factory build them back in the day as you can see in this picture where the painted shell is being lowered on the production line onto the built up chassis

…as it happened this had to change as the DVLA would ultimately want to inspect the car before assigning a number plate….so we had to change tack and re-unite body and chassis and wait for an inspection, before the car went to Steve….but more of that later

[Bigfoot]

“Nonchalant” who are you kidding

[jtparr]

Part 7

Dipping

As is the case for me, a return visit to Vaughan up at Envirostrip was always going to happen

I had managed to unearth most of the bodywork and made reasonable visual inspections that the only true unknown was the chassis

Bemusingly enough by the time I had got to this stage, which was July 2022, I had also bitten the bullet after the storms we had in March of that year to get the roofers in to replace the oldest part of the clay tiled section of the house…standing by the skip it did prompt the question whether to put it in there or not…









Look carefully and you can see glimpses of the original Suede Green paint…which is how it will be finished….different parts of the old paint across the body seem to have faded more or less..the darkest bit is sitting in front of me as I type this as its from one of the front wing ventilation flaps, which was preserved under the silver over black respray it had some time in the past….a colour change that also extended to the leather….all of which is perished but some original colour traces also were able to be found and which will also be reinstated in the original colour of suede green for the interior….also original spec and the same as my E Type

Suede green over suede green…173 of which were manufactured in that combination in total, across 5 years or so of production, out of a total of 2581 cars…it sounds rare but green must have been popular in this days as along with pastel green they were the 2 most prolific colours

The Open 2 seater cars were the more numerous in total, with 7391 and the Drop head cars (featuring the folding hood) numbered 1689….

I removed as much road debris and oil, which as I noted in the previous update had often been mixed into what can only be described as a fine tarmac/concrete like constituency, but whether there were multiple areas of pitting or pin holes was not so evident….thankfully with the oil leakage so often a part of old cars the front chassis areas were still displaying original paint under the layers of sticky oily greasy slime….

The guys had started to clean up some of the body when i paid a visit but I asked them to stop as it was pointless….Barry would clean all of this all over again, so the cosmetic staining you can see is just that….they gave me another 10 litres of phosphate fluid which when wiped over the stained metalwork brings it back to a clean result and leaves a fine Matt protective finish that last for months










Interesting to see the car minus leadwork, and understand how much a part it plays on the final shaping of the body, whether we replace with lead throughout….or use more modern alternatives was a conversation to be had at a later stage…


But…jumping from the past to the present …..and as I write this, Barry has spoken with Steve this week and we have settled on a combination…lead in areas where the body may flex…back of the roof and base of the A posts for example and a modern metallic content filler for none stressed parts….

[911hillclimber]

Very very good to see this update, looking forward to the rest!
Why not lead the lot again?

Tricky process and can 'come back on you' later under the paint, but original process.
Not a criticism, just interested having done a bit on an E Type so many years ago in the 70's.

[jtparr]

Hi `Graham

Whilst lead is strong, the process of application involves cleaning acids and flux which in the case of the headlamp and front sidelight pods means these get under the metal seams…Having spent hours removing and cleaning and repairing these….( see pictures in a later episode) it makes no sense to invade these cavities…hence modern fillers

As with the E Type with a combination of old metal / repaired old metal / new metal there will probably be the need for a fine…almost translucent layer of filler everywhere…

So…it will be a mixture….dependant upon each case

Best
J

[neilbardsley]

Thank you for the update. Multi Task generally means doing many jobs poorly rather than one job well

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[sladey]

Great stuff JP thanks for sharing - keep it coming.

Had to smile when I saw the pic of the rubbish you got out from the wing - only you would take the time to shape that into a rectangle.

Apparently Howard Hughes used to wrap his turds in silk and save them in a drawer…….

Just sayin’

[jtparr]

Thanks Mark….I think we are all a little exentric….that’s why there’s a maverick by our name…