The 'E' Type Forum

Hi Everyone,

My name is Jim and I am a blueberry farmer in Oregon, USA. My mother in-law purchased 1R11203 a Regency Red OTS in early 1970. She drove the car for about 10 years but very few miles. She gave the car to her son as a wedding present in the early '80's. He damaged the front end but had it repaired. He was not mechanically inclined and about the 3rd time the battery died he parked the car near a barn until 1998. The car was moved from southern California to Oregon and has sat in a garage in Oregon until today. The phase, "take this car or it's going" was uttered one and the title is now mine.

The car has 15,800 miles, it is number matching. Obviously there are problems. The worst visual problem I have identified is rust in the engine bay that come off of either side of what Americans call the fire wall. Some is just surface rust but some is rusted all the way through. There is more surface rust around the front of the engine bay. The interior is beige and the carpets have been consumed by mice but the floor boards seem sound. There is over spray on most of the undercarriage from a shoddy repair to the front end but that may have preserved the metal.

My plan is to make this a weekend driver. I am hoping to be able to clean, repair and replace parts and make her a runner. I know this is wishful thinking as I have restored several Willys Jeeps and Porsche 914.

Anyway, I look forward to working with this group as I progress through this journey.

Thanks,

Jim
1R11203

Welcome Jim

I'm sure you will find all the help you need here in this forum.

The car looks great but be prepared to find more problems as you progress. That seems to be the norm.

Regards

Hi and welcome! The car looks a lot better than many we've seen on here.

Jim,
Great looking series 2 OTS with such low mileage - Wow !
Enjoy the journey, it's worth it !

Jim and congratulations!
Seems to be a nice project, and obviously you even have an original hardtop that came along which should be adequately stowed.
Good luck and keep us posted all along your adventure!

Why wasn’t that car owned by someone I know? Why wasn’t I asked to take it away or it’ll be dumped?

Ho hum!

As had been said others have produced stunning cars from much much worse. I hope you have fun getting it to the condition you want.

Lets see some more pictures of the worst bits of rust please.

I would be interested to know how bad the corrosion is.

I just cannot believe that a car with the excellent history of yours has rusted engine frames, unless it was parked next to the sea.!

A few more pictures of where the rust is on this low (15,835) mileage Series II OTS build date 12/69. It looks like the heater can be salvaged but the vacuum tank will need to be replaced. The petrol tank was also full of rust. If you look closely, you can find one of the many mice in eternal sleep that enjoyed dinning on the wiring.

Ah, It was parked next to the sea.!

Mine was made in January 1969 and is from the West Coast of America. Must be within a few chassis numbers of yours.

It literally has no rust and has never been welded. Everything on it is like a recent car. Never been restored.

Strange how they can age so differently.

Never mind, its looks like a great project all easily repairable!

James

I think I have even closer linage as I have an ex-US Nov 69 Regency Red OTS!

Jim - Good luck with the rebuild and I hope you enjoy driving her as much as I do mine

John

Wow Jim, that engine frame looks very crusty. I think that will have to go. Funny how they all seem to rust differently...

Regards

Hi Jim,
Looks a fab project with great potential. My car, a 69 Series 2 OTS is quite close to yours, 1R11289 in Light Blue, came from San Jose California and is almost completely rust free.
The corrosion within the engine frames on yours looks quite localised as though part of it has been exposed to the elements for a while
Best of luck with the project. Will watch with great interest
Simon

Hi Jim

Lucky you! I need to find someone who is "disposing" of an E-Type in that manner! Looks like you have a lovely car there. How's the interior faired? From those shots it looks as though you have a nicely aged interior which doesn't require too much attention.

With a bit of patience and time, you'll get the car to exactly how you want it, and everyone on here is on hand to help (probably not me, but I will do my best! )

Simon