I have gone about this slightly the wrong way by first posting a question on the forum and now introducing myself, as I was in a hurry for some advice at the time. Better late than never though.
Judging by the one thread I have read regarding the age of E-Type owners I seem to be on the younger side of the spectrum at 29. I am a South African living and working in Singapore and have recently purchased a ?63 3.8 FHC, engine # RA3730/9 Chassis # 861297. I purchased the car nearly 6 months ago and have actually not seen it in the flesh as yet which as you can imagine is killing me.
The car is currently with my father in South Africa and undergoing more of a major service than a restoration. Considering the age of the car it is in immaculate condition and has 50,000 original miles on the clock. I am the 4th owner of the car and it has clearly benefited greatly from having spent two thirds of its life on the South African high veld and shows absolutely no sign of rust.
The car also came with a fantastic collection of documentation including the original invoice from Jaguar when it was exported to South Africa. The first owner was clearly safety conscious and paid an extra ?10.00 for seat belts.
We are not looking to turn the car into a show car, but are looking to restore it to a high level and are currently servicing the front and rear suspension, the brakes and replacing an incorrect exhaust with a stainless steel one. An attempt to improve the infamously bad Series 1 3.8 brakes has been made by the previous owners, which appears to have been done by installing Mark 10 hubs.
Below are some photos of the car before we started on the work and as it currently stands. I am hoping that the work will be finished by the July 2012 when I will be back in South Africa for a short period.
Thanks to all for a fantastic forum. I have already gained a massive amount of knowledge and information from the forum and look forward to many more posts.
Regards,
Philip
