The 'E' Type Forum

Morning,

Has anyone any experience or views on strengthening the sills of an OTS using the strengthening bars sold by Monocoque Metal or something similar? They also add a bar across the back of the floor pan. My car rattles a lot when on poor surfaces and would like to improve this is possible.


Thanks

John, several owners on here have used strengthening in the sills when they have restored their own cars. I think you don’t have to go to Chuck for these parts. Does Hutson’s make them? Perhaps chat to Andy Rayner there https://www.hutsonmoco.co.uk/jaguar. There are other panel suppliers in the UK, too.

If you’re planning to do work then are you prepared either yourself to pull the car apart or pay a n other to do it?

Geoff

If your car is "rattling over poor surfaces" I think the stiffness of the body tub would be among the last culprits. Much more likely to be worn suspension bushings, steering rack in need of rebuild, failed/loose exhaust hangers, misadjusted bonnet catches, or any number of other mechanical bits which are attached to the tub.

Unless of course your rockers are so internally corroded the whole tub is twisting/bending, in which case it needs more than a few reinforcements. The E type tub is plenty strong enough for normal driving ex factory if it's in good condition.

Never having driven one, is scuttle shake a thing on E Type roadsters?

I don't remember ever hearing or reading about it in connection with E Types. I think that is probably because the tub is so well designed from that point of view.

As Steve has already said, it's more likely to be wear in suspension and/or steering.

Regards

bitsobrits wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 19, 2026 2:51 pm

If your car is "rattling over poor surfaces" I think the stiffness of the body tub would be among the last culprits.

I agree. Fix all the other things first.

bitsobrits wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 19, 2026 2:51 pm

If your car is "rattling over poor surfaces" I think the stiffness of the body tub would be among the last culprits.

I'd have thought the prime culprit would be old torsion bars which long since weakened so have now been wound up tighter to maintain ride height. That's like having strong springs with only small movement in them, i.e. so called "upgraded torsion bars" people think are an upgrade. The dampers ought to also then slow down the rate of change of vertical movement of the car versus the road. If those are old and lose their fluids due to old seals starting to fail, then they will be far too easy to compress and they will not dampen movement.

kind regards
Marek