The 'E' Type Forum

Hi, My name is Steve and am located in Bolton, although I am not an E-Type owner I am about to do some work on one.

So the story is: a friend bought his E-Type some 35-40 years ago in a rough-ish state. It's a 1965 S1 4.2 FHC 2+2 and I did some work on it back then, mainly bodywork, leading etc, as my background then was a vehicle body specialist having been time served at Coleman & Milne in the body shop. This also gave me skills in GRP, Paint and trimming, there after I moved into panelbeating, then fitting Hollandia sunroofs mainly in top end vehicles of the era. I got out of that game and also lost contact with my friend for some 30 years until the last 12 months or so. I was surprised to find he still had it and he has moved on with the rebuild and is fairly close to completion with it.

So we are getting motivated (We are both over 65!) and I will help out with the re-trim and putting stuff back together. The engine has been rebuilt and is back in and most ancillaries back on. (It has been repainted some years ago and kept in a heated garage so may just need a good machining)

I will be putting a few questions up in the S1 part of the forum to clarify a few things with the many knowledgable among you. (I don't like the word expert, as it means ex = has been and spert a drip of water under pressure!)

The last car I restored was a Mini Moke of my own some 10 years ago that I had some great fun with, it was more of a resto-mod being an Australian Moke that I fitted with English and Portuguese parts, wide wheels and a 1275 under the hood.

As I posted the intro, a link appeared underneath of a video of an E-Type in Bolton that was posted in 2014 and someone questioned:

I still can't make my mind up whether it's either a FHC or a 2+2. From the beginning shot it looks like a FHC, but when you see it further on (with the back level on) the rear looks a little higher as would be noticed with the 2+2l

So I am wondering what we have, as Barrie, the owner say's it's an S1 FHC 2+2, what are the differences between the two?

Hi
The 2+2 has seating (for children or short adults!) behind the front seats. The FHC only has 2 seats. As a result, the 2+2 had a longer wheelbase and higher roofline. What is the chassis number of the car in question?

Thanks for the quick reply Richard, I am waiting on Barrie for the number and will post it up soon as.
So the correct designation would be S1 2+2 and nothing else?

Hi Steve....yes...S1 2+2.......as opposed to a shorter 2 seater S1fhc

Great, thanks Steve .. so when looking for parts etc, 2+2 only or else they may be too short or small, coming together now ha ha .. so do I need to worry about the 1.25/1.5 I have read about or not?

Hi Steve....you need to know what your working on.....as in a previous post what is the chassis number....this will tell what you have and should be noted when ordering parts......Steve

Steve, have you registered with SNG Barratts for parts? They will know from your chassis number which version you have and can make sure you get the correct parts.
Our knowledge section is great for telling you all about the cars and it lists some invaluable books, not just the owner’s maintenance manual but Clausager’s originality guide and others are important references. And there are lists of trim suppliers etc.

Geoff

Update! ... Barrie cannot find the logbook so is sending off for a replacement which should have the chassis no in it, in the mean time, where would the chassis no be located on the vehicle, he's had a look for it but can't find it .. it sucks being old ha ha! .. I thought it would/should be around the bulkhead area?

Also I'm getting him to register on the forum.

He did manage to find a tax disc with the registration on it, as he can't find the plate either! .. So I put the No into DVLA and came up with the following:

HWK 409 D (So not a 65!) .. First registered JULY 1966 .. Year of manufacture 1966 .. And going back to when I worked on it years ago, under the Blue paint was the original Primrose Yellow? .. (It's now Red)

From what he has told me, he has all the parts to put it back together with the exception of the drivers seat.

Hi Steve...the chassis number should be on the top of the picture frame.....this is the cross member that goes across the front of the engine from the top mount of both shocks.....so should be stamped just above the top of the right hand shock

Hi Steve, think he's found it due to your guidence ha ha .. How does this sound: IE50227 .. we are guessing the first character is a letter and not a number?

Hi Steve its 1E xxxxxx identifies you ar a rhd S1 2+2 Just looked on xke data nearest to you in 1E 50225 1966 RHD 4.2 2+2 Primrose an in the UK....Steve http://www.xkedata.com/cars/detail/?car=1E50225

Thanks Steve, the link to XKE was very helpful, when we get a bit more information about HDK, we will add it on there.

Hi Steve...is the avatar photo the car your working on?....it looks left hand drive can i see a steering wheel and only 2 wipers parked for lhd?.....Steve

Unfortunatly not Steve, it's 50225 and I just flipped the image. I do love that yellow though, I had an MGB Roadster back in the 70's a similar yellow, Citrus something or other. I managed to get Barrie onto XKE (Which was no mean feat over the phone, don't think he's too PC savvy!) So he was pleased to see how his will look with all the chrome work fitted back on although now in Red.

We do like to pay attention to detail

Hi Steve, I also have a series 1 2+2 unfortunately still off the road but I am working on it. I'm not far from you, about 6 miles. PM me if you would like t pop up for a chat once we are out of lock down.
Steve

Hi Steve, PM'd ya!

So your friend has had his e type for 35-40 yrs, but doesn’t know the registration number, and doesn’t know where to find the chassis numbers. He’s lost the number plates.
He hasn’t got a log book, but thought it was a 1964 coupe.
You say the colour is red, or blue, but has been yellow.
Now it seems it’s a 1966 2+2

You have it in a nut shell! .. in that time it did a couple of house moves so he's not done bad keeping pretty much all the parts together, what's a log book and number plate over that time period ha ha. At least he still had a tax disc for the VRN. Had a look over the car today and he has done a lot of work over the years, under the bonnet is about 99% comlete, the rest is mainly body trim and interior to sort out, I'd say 4 - 8 weeks work should see it on the road.

BTW, we thought it was a 65 FHC as that was what he had been told it was, so only a year out at being a 66, we didn't know about the difference between the 2+2 and the FHC, even his workshop manual refers to it as an FHC, so it's a school day and we have learnt a lot since joining this forum. As for the colour, as stated earlier, original colour was Primrose, when he bought it, it was Blue and when it was stripped down, he had it painted so now it is Red that was easy to follow