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Milestones have been reached this week on the '66 Series 1 FHC project in the restoration room. The sumptuous red leather trim has been beautifully installed in the rear completely transforming the car. A post rubbers have been glued in place and the classic rear quarter lights with the original catches have also been fitted. Meanwhile under the bonnet all the wiring is now in place along with the air filter plenum, and upgraded alternator for more powerful and reliable charging.
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As our most liked feature on our Instagram feed this week, the '66 Series 1 is coming on leaps and bounds and really starting to take shape. Following last week's complete gearbox build overseen by Leon and Murray, the opportunity arose to get the competition wheels on the body to get it rolling which then led to the engine and gearbox being fully installed. Late Wednesday afternoon the car was lowered carefully down on to the newly re-conditioned 4.2 engine and connected beautifully with perfect ease. The technicians then set to work on connecting the propshaft and focused on the delicate wiring tasks. By close of play the loom had been strapped in, starter motor connected, and the vacuum pipes installed. The car - with 30 years of undisturbed isolation in a dry, Californian garage under its bonnet - has been an absolute joy to re-assemble. The original components, after necessary powder coating, are just like new and has meant that this re-commission has been progressing at a record speed! Deciding to re-commission this special E-Type was a tough one to make but since our last update we have been making such phenomenal progress that we are confident we have made the right choice. The first noticeable change is that we have given her a fresh coat of the Jaguar Original colour of Opalescent Silver Grey. When applying for the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust Certificate we discovered that this is what the car was originally painted in back in 1966, so in honour of keeping the car as original as possible we decided to keep this colour. Now back in the workshop the colour is absolutely stunning and is getting a lot of compliments from customers visiting us. A lot of the bulkhead has been built including front suspension, the original radiator has been re-commissioned, brake lines have been hand bent and fitted beautifully by Murray, and the wiring loom is almost complete bar a new strapping kit. The rear suspension has also been built up, fitted and the new fuel tank is now fully installed. The iconic dash board is now in place paving the way for the more technical wiring tests. We decided to keep the car LHD as we plan to use the car for Continental trips a lot this year including visits to Germany, Italy and Belgium. Finally, as Murray heads up modification projects, he has installed a roller release bearing to the gearbox so that once the clutch is applied an even amount of contact is made to the flywheel. The original clutch release bearing was carbon which would wear over time, whereas using a roller bearing means you should need to replace it after a higher mileage. We have made the decision to 'refresh' our original FHC. We wanted to start using the car for Continental journeys so a new wiring harness was required. The engine needed to be rebuilt following a piston ring breakage. The rear axle ratio had to be changed to bring the revs down during long trips and the paintwork had worn down to bare metal in places. So, after much soul searching, we decided to re-commission the old girl. We are being very careful to retain as much of the original car as possible. Here the shell has been stripped and not an inch of rust has been found. Absolutely incredible. When we took the car over to Holland last year, the head developed a rattle. We believe it is down to the cam bucket followers moving so Leon is installing a hold down kit. |
