The XK

[jtparr]

Templates….oh yes….naturally…...by request, the opening is now 1mm bigger than it was originally….to allow for a little thicker build up of paint around the inside of the apertures….this picture shows the chrome surrounds in place to prove it…

[Ian Donkin]

Having paid a visit to Carter Towers last Friday, I can confirm that this is going to be stunning. Enjoy the updates as and when JP posts them

[Nige]

Yup, Barry's work is always off the scale.

[jtparr]

Part 13

The Metal Meister …part 4

Learn as you proceed

Removal of the rear wings whilst not straightforward…was required…however unlike a 911 which are purely bolted at the front, in the case of a 120 they are ultimately brazed in a few places to assist alignment and maintain their position

They are also bolted from underneath with a curious Whitworth 1/2” headed bolt….with a head that varies from 12mm….1/2”….and 13mm…not much fun when they all need heat to loosen them…whilst upside down and being showered with dried roads debris…..ah..the joys of old cars…

And if that wasn’t enough…unbeknown to both of us, given the gentle spread and settlement of the car over its 70 years they had begun to contribute towards the alignment and rigidity of the central body tub….but that role was only something we realised later…..

Meanwhile….we carried on …with the inevitable rot repairs to the wings, along their top edge…and reinstatement of metal where they had been crudely cut by the factory to get them to fit easily in the first place…cue the customary and elegantly made repair sections












Then onto the roof edge….…..













….and re-fit the wings.…..?





Hymm…this doesn’t look right….


That was when we realised something was afoot….cue the porter power tools and push the slumped roof and B panel assembly back into place….fortunately, although the beautifully crafted multi layered edge of roof profiles had been made, they had yet to be fitted…so the car could be eased back into shape and then they were added











…thats better….






This whole episode lead to us taking the decision to make a meaningful improvement to the strength and contribution of both the floor and bulkhead structures….


This is where we started….





Back in the day the original first release of roadster cars were not only aluminium bodied…but had full floor panels made from 3/8” birch plywood….as assembly moved into a proper production process the floors were amended to largely steel…with some plywood access covers….but notably these steel floor panels remained as a pair of bolt in items…so the whole of the floor is bolted….transmission tunnel included…which means a tremendous loss of potential stiffness in the shell

Also….

All XK120’s originally had a pair of 6v batteries, located in purpose made compartmented located behind the seats, which whilst good for weight distribution compromise the storage potential for the car, so we now had a perfect opportunity to make a stronger and stiffer shell….firstly using a single AGM battery in the passenger footwell, we could develop a better storage focussed, but fundamentally a far stronger design of the rear bulkhead…..so an almost chance discovery of the somewhat flexible rear wing issue lead to building a purpose designed and much stiffer integrated solution that would resolve many issues in a single design….included amongst them an invisible location of inertia seat belts


So….first removal…..





And fabrication….





















And then the belts….

















All I can say is the difference in stiffness was most noticeable …the floors acting in unison with the transmission tunnel which was then linked to a far stronger rear bulkhead made a fundamental change in the way the shell (didn’t) move


And as a final gesture, the original 1/4” flat bar sweat runner reinforcement plates were replaced with a lighter and stiffer steel channel with bespoke inserts, all welded to the floor pans to provide additional stiffness…..upstand reinforcements being part of an overall plan to be adding generous floor insulation and carpet, which will finish flush with the top of the channel sections



















Will it change the way the car drives…I have no idea…but fundamentally it has to be better


Thanks for looking…next update should be a little quicker….

[911hillclimber]

Fabulous as ever, a real treat.
Guess much of these cars were designed by intuition and experience while on the drawing board and went to production with a hint of 'I hope this will be OK'.

Mods here where needed and so worth it!

Great progress.
Makes you wonder what Barry has for breakfast...

[PeterK]

That Barry is not too shabby at metalwork, is he

[inaglasshouse]

Great stuff jp. Thanks for posting.

[sladey]

Fantastic update JP - thanks for sharing - some really lovely work there

[hot66]

Love this part of your restos JP

[jtparr]

Part 14

The Metal Meister …part 5

Moving backwards……

Which we were doing systematically….from front to rear….so now it was onto the “winglets”….the slim panels between wings and boot….aptly named by Barry

Somewhat rusty….and with a truly dreadful junction to the real inner wings…involving 3 layers of metal…we had a situation to resolve…but first there was also the small matter of the boot edge trim profile which had largely disappeared….requiring repairs to the rear of the inner wings…..cue the classic Barry kit of parts….and bespoke tools to form the same…..


































So….whilst it would have been lovely to clean up and repair…truth was it was impossible to remove all rust unless we cut them off….





















And whilst that might sound a trifle drastic…it actually was the logical thing to do…..as there is a moment in the life of a panel that needs both repairs and modifications that to replace is simpler than to repair….but why modifications you may ask….

3 reasons, that start with the concept of the car…

Early on in the stripping of the car I started on the inevitable retail therapy…..the pleasure in spending money on new parts…..and what a wonderful thing that is…made all the more enjoyable by talking g with specialists that can help you in deciding what to buy……at which time I should introduce Guy Broad and Coventry Auto Components

Guy Broad is run by the man himself…who has modified and raced XK’s for many years…..Coventry Auto Spares is run by Stuart Macneill, a self confessed Jaguar anorak…a truly friendly, helpful and decent Brummie to boot and someone who has made a serious attempt to engage with local industries and suppliers to manufacture better made replacement parts

The immediate question when I first called round to Guy was…”what’s your concept for the car…”….”you want to modify it….sounds good….what are you trying to achieve….once you have an idea of where you want to get to….we can work out how we do it….”

….and so the “Gentleman racer” was born…..a car that would be essentially stock, but devoid of all superfluous exterior brightwork….a decently tuned engine ….slightly stiffer suspension…better brakes…slightly wider tyres, still with a full interior…but modified to be less walnut golf club….a visible hint of racing with the Monza fuel filler cap and subtle refinements to bodywork details but with a serious and hidden approach to stiffening the body shell

One of the earliest 120’s LWK 707, was equipped with such a thing….chiefly as this was the car that ran continuously at a minimum of 100mph for 7 days and nights….almost 17,000 miles being covered…







Plus subsequent C types had a more recessed fitment…more to our liking







So with the need for a Monza filler we had to remove the completely rusted original filler assembly….but I also wanted to change the rear light pods….

















In the early days of the 120 the rear light pods were painted body colour as can be seen on LWK 707 quite why they were a separate cast aluminium item I do not know….after a short time they were changed to a chrome finish….probably to match the original roadster cars which had chromed front indicator units…but curiously enough once the coupe was introduced, the front indicator units became body colour and integrated into the general bodywork…..quite why this did not extend to the rear of the car is a mystery….any way….body colour was the inspiration and a more flowing design taking inspiration from the fronts was what I wanted as the original aluminium lumps are far from sophisticated

So first I made a few mock ups and checked the right height for mounting….which we kept to original in the end



You can see here how lumpen the originals are…



Final choice…



And in metal….





and once having done this we just had to refine the bonnet badge….just because we could….the aesthetic of the half recessed needed to be applied throughout wherever possible

First a trial….







Then the real thing….











Such a simple and elegant solution to creating a recess….but you need years of experience to know how to come up with such things…..


So….what shall we do next……?

[911hillclimber]

My word, no more superlative's left to express the work.

I presume this adventure is also in the world of the Jaguar enthusiasts?
What a treat this thread is.

[sladey]

Fantastic read and as usual great work by Barry

[jtparr]

Hi Graham
Actually this is the only forum I have posted on….not sure if a modified 120 is so acceptable to the Jaguar community….maybe I will investigate one day….this forum is much more open minded….

[inaglasshouse]

and once having done this we just had to refine the bonnet badge….just because we could….the aesthetic of the half recessed needed to be applied throughout wherever possible

Of course!
Madness. I mean that as a compliment.
Thanks for posting.
R