The XK

[neilbardsley]

That is going to be very special

Sent from my 22011119UY using Tapatalk

[inaglasshouse]

Excellent!

[911hillclimber]

All been said above, a very nice effort and will be a startling result.

Wonder what next?

[middlefour1]

Looks quite fantastic, what amazing work.

[jtparr]

Well…..deadlines…..who wants them…life has enough already

In truth I was set on CLM, but that is no longer going to happen

This has been the most challenging build of the cars I have done so far….to put it mildly the car is fiddly to build….and as I have refined and developed so may parts of it…there is a great deal which is bespoke and needs time to resolve, that progress at times is a snails pace

3 weeks to fit a radiator, that in itself took 2 attempts to get the right size and have fabricated correctly…needed me to work out and fabricate… then modify the support brackets….all because I changed from a worm drive steering box to a later XK140 style rack and pinion….which sat in the way in the way of the original radiator…so needed modifications….which then required bespoke rubber hoses and connecting stainless pipes sourcing and modifying….with custom sourced aluminium banjo connectors as the originals didn’t fit being so close to the distributor and water pump….which was an uprated water pump, which was more bulky…which was because I need to ensure the engine doesn’t run too hot….because the new radiator has less space than the original…as there’s a steering rack in the way….

It not a chore…but at times a series of spiral journeys to solve a sequence of problems….

The interior is all custom….as we strengthened the rear bulkhead so all needs designing and me to make the new plywood or aluminium panels and then decide is it leather or vinyl or hardware or moquette or carpet….hymmmm

Dash….don't want the golf club burr walnut…so that to do…also don’t want the useless glove box so I have made a new plywood dash….and recently recovered…in leather…which I had to send away to get it thinned so it stretches correctly …

Cant rails…don’t want the multi pice walnut veneered and aluminium design, so sourced new aluminium profiles, bought shrinker/stretcher set to make my own single pice aluminium trims, which will then need to old timber bonding to them….so I can then trim in a pale grey leather to match the headlining


Headlining….hymm….never done one of these stretch ones on a series of hoops before….keep putting that off


So

In a word

No CLM in a XK….will drive its younger sibling….the E Type

And I will enjoy this build in my own time…still get it ready for summer some time to enjoy some sunny hours of driving

More later

[anglophone1]

Good thinking Jonathan- what an amazing thing!!!
C

[hot66]

yep it should be an enjoyable process as you get off on the build anyway

[sladey]

Excellent stuff Jonathan - love hearing about those details

[johnM]

Just catching up on this JP. STUNNING as usual from yourself. Car is going to another belter.
Looks beautiful in paint. Very much looking forward to seeing this in the flesh.

[BILLY BEAN]

JP,
I spoke to you briefly before the XK arrived in the UK. I thought you were a little unhinged taking on the resto of a XK120. I love your prose and the explanation of some of your thought processes. This type of project makes early 911 restoration look like a cake walk. The level of commitment and vision is truly impressive. What a pleasure to see the car emerging into something with such enhanced beauty and practicality. Hats off to you and all those who have helped with the project.

[jtparr]

Part 24


Firstly…..apologies form the slow updates…no tangible excuses…just wrapped up in the process that telling the tale seems to fall behind…however…..



Assembly….


except there’s one tale I haven’t explained….back in April 2024 we did actually start up the engine…at the time it seemed like the sensible thing to do…and indeed it was..if only I had looked more deeply at the way in which I had assembled the clutch I could have avoided the loss of a months time 15 months later…and saved a few hundred quid in the process…()…but then who said anything about

a) doing it right the first time
b) actually knowing what I was doing

This is a hobby after all….and as such needs the assistance of your best pal in the motoring world……


https://youtu.be/rWW3Bgl7jx0?si=B_sCP_6z5HeLipXO

[markm]

That sounds. Ice & sweet. Very jaguar’ish. Looking at the rear pipes just gives you a idea as to the rear overhang

Can’t wait to see the finished car

[neilbardsley]

That does sound smooth

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[sladey]

Sounds great JP

[jtparr]

Part 25

Finally…….

Just build it……

Sounds simple and straight forward doesn’t it…..hymmmmm….as I have been discovering and reminded during the last year….as it is almost 12 months since the painted shell returned to me….months of looking forward to weekends of pure car building….supplemented by week day evenings of more of the same….spoilt only by the seemingly constant feeling that this car is fighting me every single part of the journey

I can safely say that there has not been a single component that has not ended me to make adjustments….or worse still realising access for the next component means I have too take things apart as their sequence of building is prescriptive …but not at all apparent…….and all this whilst for the major part being in the cab which is tiny and restricted in terms of access….I should have kept count….1,000….2,000 times I have been in and out…or underneath needing another tool….dropping an impossible awkward screw or nut into a crevice…or just under the car…scraping knuckles…elbows…head…knees along the way

If there is a Zen attitude towards this process I must have unknowingly adopted it….sure…3 counts of loosing it….cursing the thing as a simple task was thwarted by some predicable ill fitting reproduction component or impossibly demanding access…..…how did jaguar ever make any money…the entire car is built in-situ…..

However………at the end of every weekend I have only wished it were longer and I could continue…its a very slow process I am finding out…but I am truly looking forward to seeing it complete…and driving it…it’s like a female that you can’t get enough of…who is demanding and unpredictable at the same time…but you know its the right thing to spend all you’re time with…

The colour has now fully grown on me….anyone and everyone who sees the car in the flesh or on photos says they love the colour….what a great colour……so I guess they must be right….


So where did I start…..?…..and how did I continue….. and how do I want to tell the story….previoius threads have been the normal chronological sequence of gradual assembly….but with this one it will be more a series of individual parts of the car….as each one has if money small….and individual story


Windscreen Wiper

Seemingly as every car I have built does….the windscreen wiper assembly…..and the first case of me realising that when you modify a car you encounter unforeseen obstacles….as I upgraded the single speed motor that the XK120 came with to a modern 2 speed device…which as a kit from Guy Broad came with upgraded spindle mounts…new copper tube guides and a new push/pull cable

The problems were threefold….

The external spindles are a much more contemporary design….not the beautifully slim original type…sure they grip the wiper blades more effectively having the detail….but they are bigger than the original openings…so the original formed gasket would no longer work…







The new motor is bigger and was only supplied with a cheap U shaped clamp which looked dreadful….so out with the metalworking tools to add metal to the original bracket so it looked more original and less of an afterthought

The original serrated inner pull/push mechanism had a specially shaped end terminal to lock into the original motor…so this had to be modified so it would fit into the new motor…but the copper pipes supplied with were to act as guides were no longer useful….as I wasn’t using the newly supplied spindles….

So the end result is original pull/push cable…plus housing…original external spindles and a new motor…noted to self…try not to be so eager to buy upgrades for the sake of it


As for the wiring to 2 speed that was another test of patience….new switches are a crazy price, and anyway I wanted to keep as many of the old dials/switches and so on…so I can canabalised a couple of second hand Lucas switches and with the assistance of a small fabricated jumper cable I was able to modify my original switch (with donor innards) to give 2 positions for power…..I was especially proud of myself that day as it was driving me potty trying to work out which terminals received power in what combination..the jumper cable was such a simple solution…





So what could have been a few hours work developed into days of work…..if I conservatively said it took 4 times longer….that gives you an idea of the typical rate of progress generally for all of this fitting out which was to ensue…..perhaps this picture might help that message to sink home….this is about one of the may times i was attempting to fit wiring onto and into the dash…(more on that subject next….)..tedious and trying are the understatement of the millennia….





…and how did I continue….well in a randomly organised sequence of impulsive decisions….otherwise known as doing what I felt most inclined to do at any time I felt the impulse


Heater

The heater on a vintage Jaguar is probably one of the most useless and least relevant components in the car…..why you may ask…and so I will tell you

250kg of cast iron, aluminium and various pieces of rapidly rotating straight 6 machinery anywhere between 800 and 5,500 rpm in harmony with an antique 4 speed Moss box generates enough heat to melt as small polar ice cap…so the idea the driver needs to increase that upward creation of temperature is bordering on insanity…however the circular heater is a lovely looking piece of vintage kit so I had to respond accordingly and improve it….





And whilst cleaning it up I came across a collection of markings….interesting but never did quite establish what they were…..






The perfectly workmanlike brazing of components is quite fit for purpose…but was not fit for my eyes…despite the fact that once installed it is totally impossible to notice….furthermore my efforts to improve quality had absolutely zero influence on airflow….















Made me feel better though…..


Pedals

In order to attempt some degree of control over the forward direction of travel I decided very early on in the build that the original Heath Robinson affair known as the pedal assembly needed a fundamental re-think….so a modern pedal box assembly from Willwood was sourced….except this is my car….and a Jaguar at that….so the idea that a third party could have its brand identity included in this build was terminated instantly….as were the less than perfect seam mould marks on the pedal levers…..and whilst at it I altered the colour from a dull satin black to a more pleasing dull anthracite









Seats

And lastly in this trilogy of overindulgence there was the pair of human supports…otherwise known as seats…..

On the basis that this was meant to be a gentleman’s driver of the period…then the soft bench like offering…beautiful yet more resembling of a sumptuous sofa had to be improved upon

Bucket seat are easily available , however I didn’t like the shapes of the seat backs….the true buckets seats available had a pleasing curved upper silhouette..but the forward tilting ones did not….and I wanted a tilting seat….so I would be able to access the carefully crafted storage compartments behind the seats….so I was left with no choice….

Modify….

Which was a relatively simple affair and allowed me to create the profile I truly wanted….but that’s then came at a cost as the subsequent trimming became fully bespoke…requiring a bespoke pattern to be made…which required me to invest a deal more finance….

Such…dear reader is the price of individuality……….

These images show the difference in the profile…original in black in the first picture….which was a trial to get a matching shape for both seats…..but with the aid of a specially crafted tool allowed me to replicate the original rolled wire edge…




















Oh….and one more piece of indulgence….the HT leads on an E Type run through a formed piece of coloured boasted….more substantial than pure cardboard…sometimes called millboard I believe…..I was the ported to use this…but the spacing of the cylinder head bolts is different on the 3.4 litre…so I bought this…..











But of course then there is the question of how to distribute the HT leads….this resulted in a curious arrangement perhaps…but it did then arrange the leads perfectly in the valley of the head…..





Thanks for reading…..