Early E type questions

[steverush]

Hi Guys
I am hoping some knowledgeable person out there can help me with a couple of questions.

I am restoring chassis no 860042 which started life as the Henleys of Manchester demonstartor car.

The car has several features I have not seen previously and there is no details of these in any of the books on originality including the Haddock book, two of these are;

The car has a perspex rear screen which is quite badly scratced and needs replacing / restoring - any ideas ? Which cars had perspex rear screens, was this maybe something to do with getting weight out of the car to achieve the magic 150 mph with this being a demonstrator car ?

The other strange feature is a type of secondary front windscreen surround set back from the standard scren surround at the top of the screen only, it looks almost as if it was fitted as an afterthought and is made in 3 pieces, riveted to the inner skin panel just behind the top of the screen.

When I work out how to do it, I will attach some photos of it and would be most interested to find out what it is supposed to be there for.

Thanks

Steve

[Heuer]

Steve

Instructions on posting photos here: http://etypeuk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1666

We would love to see some pictures.

With such an original early car it is worth doing some painstaking research. Suggest you talk to Harry at E-Type UK who is currently restoring three very early chassis numbers and knows as much as anyone about them. Maybe also take a trip to Bridgnorth and visit CMC who are closer to you. They are friendly and hugely knowledgeable - ask to speak to Andrew Turvey and mention the Forum.

[vipergts]

Probably non related but Harry also has a later 4.2 Coupe that has a perspex rear screen.....thought it was odd but maybe from an early car

[steverush]

hope this works !

Here is the link to the photos of the part at the top of the windscreen, hope someone knows what it is /

http://s1065.photobucket.com/albums/u391/sarfluidpower/

Steve

[Heuer]

Steve

That link does not work. Something is missing in the address.

[jonr]

The colon was at the wrong place:
http://s1065.photobucket.com/albums/u391/sarfluidpower/

Jon

[christopher storey]

No idea what that addition is, but it is totally non-original . Incidentally, Haddock is a good guide to originality on US cars, but nothing like as accurate on RHD cars

[Heuer]

Could it be crash damage and repair? I doubt the perspex rear screen is a factory addition which could suggest the roof sustained an impact and the owner opted for a cheap repair and a bit of perspex instead of stumping up for Triplex.

[PeterCrespin]

Looks as if there was a need to fit a lower windscreen. Either a simpler shape for racing (suggested by the Perspex rear screen) or because only an OTS screen was to hand at some point, rather than the marginally higher FHC version? No production car would ever use Perspex - espepecially as it probably WAS Perspex (an ICI tradename) which is soft and scratches very easily. Modern polycarbonate (Lexan (c) DuPont) is much tougher, as are the anti-scratch coatings you can put on softer plastics nowadays but which were not available in the old days. Even race cars wouldn't have used Perspex front screens though I suspect.

I cannot imagine any dealer, even Henlys, modifying a demonstrator to that extent just to show potential customers 150 mph. They sold all they could get on the strength of the road tests - customers wouldn't have needed to see the figure themselves. If they had, 'tuning' the speedo would be easier...

Wouldn't such an early car have had outside bonnet latches?

Pete

[christopher storey]

Peter : the perspex was on the rear hatch as I understand the post. Also, it is not a particularly early rhd car, built about December 1961 by the looks of things from the run of numbers, so outside latches long gone. FHC rhd production was very slow to get going

[PeterCrespin]

Peter : the perspex was on the rear hatch as I understand the post.

Indeed. That's why I referred to the Perspex rear hatch as a possible clue to a past history involving a bit of track work?

Also, it is not a particularly early rhd car, built about December 1961 by the looks of things from the run of numbers, so outside latches long gone. FHC rhd production was very slow to get going

Thanks for that. Can't say I'm very well up on the early cars. In fact I sat in my first 3.8 OTS with the top up on Saturday, and very tight it was too. I promptly made my own 'Gurney bubble' in the hood fabric, due to a long body perched in non-reclinable seats. Seems the 3.8s and I were simply not made for each other. Good job I didn't try one of those in the first place way back when, or I might have given up on the E-type altogether.

Pete

[Dawnpatrol]

I agree wrt the practice of fitting perspex rear screens in FHC's for race purposes. I'm not sure how common it was but when my dad race prepared the John Cuff FHC, 8448 TJ in the mid 60's he fitted one and had the tail hatch remade in alloy, the side windows where also perspex. He did two or three other cars that raced in the North West so they probably had them as well. Lightweights left the factory with perspex front and sides. IIRC, there where only two factory prep'd FHC's, not sure with out looking up if, they had perspex or not, would have been quite unusual in period.
A lot of early cars had comp history of some sort, might be worth checking around for unusual holes or brackets.
Having said that, it would be rare for a car to retain these early mods 50 years later unless it had been locked away.

Mike