Saturday, 22 November 2008
|
Home  E-Type E-Type Restoration Tale - Part 1 |
|
E-Type Restoration Tale - Part 1 |
|
Page 1 of 3 This was a big one! This is the tale of the restoration of an E-type. PART1
 £750 of original E-Type metal
The pragmatists among us might correctly conclude that my latest investment is nothing short of an expensive heap of rust. I wouldn’t blame them!
Iconic in shape, and still beautifully contoured, but a great big rag-bag of rust just the same.
The canny Yorkshireman who so swiftly parted with this ‘barn find’ for £750 must have thought it his Christmas and birthday had all rolled into one.
 Lacy boot floor
A six month search was over, and on a hired trailer I dragged back to Cheshire the floorless, semi-sill-less, rotting remains of a Jaguar E-Type Series 1 FHC which, 44 years earlier, on April 16th 1963, was shipped gleaming in opalescent dark blue to the banks of the Mississippi.
According to the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust, XKE chassis number 888401 had been a private purchase by an American Doctor, Woody Herron Jr., and in these unusual circumstances for 1963 was awarded the Coventry registration number 4264 WK prior to export. The Coventry City archives even turned up his original signature and registration application.
Still, my son’s reaction was to adopt that look of pity normally reserved for the aged and/or insane, and the next-door-neighbour even had the temerity to disdainfully suggest that my front path was looking more like Steptoe’s yard as each day passed.
Ye of little faith though I, and having instantly dismissed their total lack of vision, set about, with a little help from Google, to secure the wholesale delivery of wire brushes of every size, shape and temper to fit an electric drill.
Then I gave up! Reality had to be faced! The original fixed head coupe body of 4264 WK was not exactly in need of rust removal and cosmetic restoration. She was in fact, mortally injured, in need of major surgery and in various areas, only a transplant could offer any hope.
WK 2
 Interior view of the tub; you have to have vision... or insanity!
If there is one alleged professional guaranteed to make me seriously contemplate homicide it’s the man who stands back, sucks his teeth and suggests that despite the fact he is ‘incredibly busy’ he may be able to ‘have a go’ on some vaguely future date while coming a very precise cost calculated to cause me to question his parenthood.
Mark Lomas, sole proprietor of Blast Cleaning Services at High Peak in Derbyshire is definitely not of that ilk!
Smiling broadly, he strode up my path, and with little more than a cursory glance at ‘the hulk’ announced that by Saturday she would be gleaming. ‘Damn near concourse’ was the actual phrase he used, and he was a good as his word!
Every trace of rust was gone and I set about laying down a coat of Acid#8 etch grey undercoat to preserve his work.
 Sacraping the hulk
I have two guiding principles in life.
The first is attributed to the great 14th century French philosopher Michel de Montaigne who was apparently fond of declaring: ‘My life has been full of the most terrible misfortune, most which never actually happened!’
Which in this case roughly translates to: “It may look like a your worst nightmare, but it probably isn’t” Am I correct? The jury is still out!!
<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 Next > End >>
|
|
Nothing Beats a Good Rant!
The Gentlemen Ranters site is a brilliant compendium of reminiscences of the great days of Fleet Street. – The Times, August 2007 |
|
| Netpromote | Login | Sitemap |
