New member introduction

[nickb59]

Hello there. I would like to introduce myself to the forum. My name is Nick and I live in Hurstpierpoint, West Sussex.

In September I acquired what was once a late 67 S1.5 that had been converted to a track racing car and used in Australia until about 15 years ago. The chassis number is 1E21735, and can be seen on XKdata. It is a non-runner. My challenge is to convert the car back to a standard street car! The car currently has a 4.2 turbo powered souped up engine fitted, but fortunately the original unmodified 4.2 engine has come with the vehicle. I am planning to fully rebuild this engine myself and I have already started researching local machine shops!

When I bought the vehicle I didn’t know the difference between an S1 and S1.5. I do now! I couldn’t understand why an S1 bonnet was installed, especially as the car came off the production line in December 1967. On further investigation I found that the headlights had been converted back to the S1 version at some stage - I am tempted to leave these as is as they look much better than the S1.5 lights.

Regarding starting work on the car, I have still to finish off my XK140 FHC project, but I will continue with the Etype research in background, in preparation for the project.

The bodywork appears to be in very good shape, but I am just hoping there are no major surprises when I strip the paint! My current plan is to paint the car Opalescent Silver Blue, while retaining the dark blue interior - some of the original material is still fitted and in good shape (ie seats and boot boards).

The budget is being prepared - already I can see that I need to keep a tight control of costs to avoid a large overspend. I intend to undertake most of the work that I can within my limitations, with the final paint job and engine machining outsourced.

I have already looked at a few topics on the forum, but will definitely need some help and guidance when I finally get around to the rebuild. I have already identified a few new or used parts that need replacing or are missing and need sourcing. I will post a request for a number of used parts in a separate message on the forum.

I look forward to being on the forum, and bye for now!

Nick

[DWW]

Hi Nick, congratulations for joining the pack and the best place for all etype info and help. I see you have got your work cut out but I am sure you will find all you need here, I wish I had joined before I embarked on my own restoration rather than after but still maned somehow to put her back to original plus a few discrete upgrades to make her more compatible with modern driving. Good luck with both your restorations.

[Gfhug]

Hello Nick and welcome to the best place for all things E Type. You may plan to do all the engine work but you can always turn to https://www.cmesuk.co.uk/ at Bracknell for help.

The three things to watch out for on an E are rust, rust and rust. Hidden in sills, engine frames (buy new ones from Hutsons https://www.hutsonmoco.co.uk/) and other hard to inspect areas.

Have a good read through the restoration section to see how others have gone about similar work and get all the manuals especially Jaguar E-Type 3.8 & 4.2 Series 1 & 2 Service Manual available from the long river company and elsewhere.

The knowledge section is your help as is the search function.

Good luck and ask questions, you’ll get lots of help.

Geoff

[politeperson]

I like the orange. I might like the turbo too if plumbed in correctly.

In the 911 world Bahama Yellow is one of the most popular colours for 60's cars. Still available today. Looks like your car might be a similar shade.



I am pretty sure I have come across an early orange factory E type too. Not sure if this was called Dusty Orange back in 62. 6 were produced. You might only have to paint to bonnet to match.



The XK has been successfully turbocharged to great effect as a very strong long stroke engine.

I would estimate that to gain a similar torque output from a naturally aspirated tuned engine would require a Crosthwaite and Gardiner wide angled head, a forged crankshaft and about £80,000 of investment.

Of course, as mentioned already above. If the car is structurally unsound, its all got to come to bits - for £20k of body panels to be expensively welded in over the course of months- costing £thousands - followed by 2 years of screwing all the bits back on. Restoration would be the only way to go because of the financial investment.

On the other hand if its structurally solid, you could be hooning around in it this summer for very little.

You can always restore it at a later date.