Hi from the Isle of Wight !!!

[44DHR]

Just come on this site and find it very good.

I am down on the Isle of Wight and have a Series 1 FHC. It is a very late 1967, one of the last 50 of the Series 1's. UK car, all matching numbers etc, full details of all the owners and a wealth of information on the car's history. I believe in using and driving the car and hence the Track Days and Continental trips. I am very hands on and have a wealth of E type mechanical experience, so hopefully I can contribute to the Forums. Don't really do clubs or shows and sitting in fields all day talking about grommets, I'd rather be using the car for what it was made for - driving !!

The car is how I want it - I am not a purist - I want the car to drive and perform, although everything that is changed is retained, so to all you out there, it can easily revert back to it's original state.

The colour is Lotus BRG - like the Lotus 49 of Jim Clark in 1967. To join the thread on wider wheels on E types, these are 6.5 inch and run 205 tyres. The car is painted gloss black underneath and not a sign of underseal anywhere !!!

regards,

Dave Rose




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[Erikantwerp]

Hi Dave,

a warm welcome to you and I look forward exchanging info on this forum. You will see it is a lively bunch.

Great car by the way. I just love your pictures. Wow, what mint condition,it makes me envious!!

I have a 4.2 series 1 1966 carmen red FHC myself and I just love that car.

have fun !!

Erik

PS: A bit late notice but we are having our first gettogether (nothing formal at all, just really driving and having a good time) in the Antwerp region in Belgium this weekend from June 14th to June 15th. We have about four UK participants. If you want to join, feel free...
cheers
Erik

[Car-Nut]

Hi Dave,

Welcome to the forum, I hope you will gain more knowledge from our technical guys, plus share your knowledge in the community.

Your car looks great, Im glad your a driver and not a polisher to many people just polish these and dont drive them enough. Your engine looks brilliant....

All the best

Clive

PS The car looks so much better on 6.5" wheels

[44DHR]

Thanks Erik for the greetings.

Unfortunately I cannot make your meeting this weekend, but for the first time for many years and for the last few in the E type, I will not be in Europe for Le Mans which is this coming weekend (15th - 16th June).

The last photo in my group shows my car on the Mulsanne Straight in June 2007, (a very wet Le Mans week for me last year). My friends leave today and I am not going down this year, so the Jag will be wondering why we are not travelling abroad this weekend. We have a big annual music festival here on the Isle of Wight, (the Rolling Stones headlined last year, the Police this year), so for this year I'll be staying on the Island this weekend for that event.

With my friends as a group of car enthusiasts, (we call our group ERIC - don't even ask!!), we have a wide range of cars from Aston Martins, Porsches, Corvettes, Mustangs, Ferraris and Hot Rods etc and we love to get over to Europe for runs, (of which Le Mans is our main annual trip), but we keep looking for other events to have as a focus and enjoy a weeks driving.

Thanks for your message and enjoy your weekend !!

regards,

Dave

[Heuer]

Dave

Welcome to the forum. Car looks great so how about letting us have some details on the various modifications you have done? Webbers, alloy header tank and the black coil is presumably Pertronix Flamethrower.

David

[44DHR]

David,

In brief, Engine fully re-built, triple Weber 45 DCOE, Pipercross filters, Hayward & Scott Stainless exhaust mainfolds and system, (sounds soooo good !) - I change the exhaust rubber mounts each year as stainless systems become brittle with heat and MUST be able to flex or they will crack - first tip of the day !! Head flowed, Luminition electronic ignition and coil, 11 plate, (not 10 plate), "E type" black battery, Alloy header tank, new Rad and hoses, Kenlowe fan, Alloy catch tank from engine breather with filters to allow vapor to be vented to Webers.

Coopercraft four pot calipers and vented discs, Coopercraft rear brakes, Braided brake and clutch hoses. Brake stone guards removed, Rob Beere Anti roll bar and urethane mountings with rose jointed adjustment, urethane steering rack mounting (highly recomended as "firms" up the steering feel and so much safer - ALWAYS check and ensure the "fail safe" bolts and washers are fitted to the steering rack mountings - second tip of the day !! Koni Classic adjustable dampers all round. Car is midly lowered from standard. MWS 6.5 Stainless spoke wires, Avon 205 70 Tyres. Rebuilt diff and rear suspension.

All new Suede green interior, CD fitted behind new console panel which hides it when closed, Willian race harnesses, 15 inch Motalita wood rim steering wheel. new front and rear screens. Halogen leadlights. Paint Lotus BRG. Painted underneath in gloss Black. Had new floor pans and minor body work in 1997 before it was painted - now totally rust free - a big claim I know !! - fully rustproofed everywhere.

I do all my mechanical work - Thats about it !!

Third tip of the day - they come in threes !! - I have run an extra earth lead from where the battery earth lead mounts the bulkhead, direct to the engine block, by the dipstick, (in addition to the usual braided earth lead to the block - the car now starts first push of the button.

Just wanted to say, when I said it was a late 1967, I meant it was a late Series one, (one of the last 50, before the so called first one and a half chassis number). It was built in May 1967 as a UK RHD car. I am the sixth owner and I have traced all the previous owners and got their tales. Loads of documentation and history. Between 1972 and 2000 (28 years - it covered less than 6,500 miles). A good very low mileage UK car.

regards,

Dave

[andyp]

Another Hampshire E. I'm only a couple of miles from you Dave but we've got the Solent in between.

You have a very pretty E from the looks of it. If I see you this side of the water we'll see how well she goes!

Andy

[Moeregaard]

An extremely nice, well sorted E-Type that is obviously enjoyed regularly. I love it!

[Heuer]

Dave

Interesting stuff. If you have the time maybe you could post your experiences of individual upgrades in the "Restoration/Upgrades" forum, preferably with pictures, so we can all take advantage and maybe try some ourselves. Even small tweaks are appreciated along with some of the bigger ones.

David

[44DHR]

David,

Will do when I get the chance. My day work is in the Commercial and Legal area and we say "the devil is in the detail". For the car arena read "the devil is in the detailing". I'm basically a Hot Rodder who has grown older and just love the Series 1 E type, not only because of it's aesthetic beauty, but because of what it represents in terms of the heritage. I just loved the photo of your car in Geneva, (I can see you are into the heritage as well), when it was so low and looked so mean - you see the rodder in me still lives !! I collect Series 1 models and books, period articles etc - so well into it !!

I could bore you senseless with the detail, but that what makes any car stand out from a similar car parked next to it. My headlight rims for example are held by M4 stainless steel screws, into new remade M4 stainless steel female captive lugs, to replace the old cr*p metal original lugs, so I can work on the headlight bowls and not fear the lugs stripping out. Living and involved in Cowes in a yachting environment, the use of stainless steel in fittings and clips makes such a difference. I will try to pick out some detailed points as you say and hopefully help others. The wonders of digital cameras will help !!

regards,

Dave

[MarkE]

Welcome Dave, superb looking machine and very determined looking driver!. The wheels look spot on?I was starting to feel lonely on my quest to fill out those arches. I think that it was the Modsports era that did it for me.

Are you sure that you?re not a frustrated Elan driver? Lotus Green, lots of Webers?.a fantastic sound. A few years ago a chum built a S3 E Type with a 6.5 litre V12, a 6 pack of twin choke Webers down the middle and a twin straight through exhaust system. It sounded like a cross between a race Ferrari and a Spitfire?the flying one that is. Trouble was, at 3 or 4 to the gallon, he had to fill the boot with a 30 gallon petrol tank to get any sort of range. Not the most practical car in the world, but a huge amount of fun.

I?d also be interested to hear of any tweaks that improve the car. My ?65 Coupe is away at CMC currently, being re-trimmed and fettled for the road after a 12 year restoration?and off the road since 1975. Pretty standard, except for the Coopercraft brakes and Koni Classics?and the 6 inch wheels recently acquired from David (Heuer). There does seem to be quite a bit more room for a wider wheel and tyre, but I am more used to Elans where the gap between tyre and wheel-arch is measured with a feeler gauge, not a tape measure!

Mark

[kingzetts]

Hi, Dave, welcome to the forum.
That's a great looking e-type you have, and with all the mods you've done I'm sure your input will be of help to those like me who have just embarked on e-type ownership (in my case after many years of 911s) and have years of gradual improvement ahead (in the car and in my own knowledge, hopefully!).

Cheers
John

[44DHR]

Thanks Guys for all the nice comments. I just wanted to respond to Mark's comments on the wheels and getting a size to fill out the arches.

I'm not sure how long these threads go, but if I'm starting to give some tips which may benefit others, perhaps I best start a new thread as suggested under Upgrades or Series 1 headings, so others can see them, rather than buried down here.

The MWS wheels I use are 6.5inch with 205 tyres and definately the widest wheels you can use without major mods. The key difficulty is the amount of wheel and tyre located up under the wing - a fact I like to see on the car. Obviously the fronts can be removed with the bonnet up, but the limitation is on the turning circle of the wheel and mine will just rub the paint off the bead on the front wings on hard cornering and lock - so just right then !!

The rears are so tight in the arch that the rear wing needs the bodywork lip to be flattened back against the wing, (or the tyre deflated !!), for the wheel and tyre to be removed. It is so tight that what I do is jack the car up on the opposite side to be removed - which compresses the cage mounting on that side and this allows the cage to "hang" down on the mountings on the side the wheel is to be removed. This give that extra amount of clearance and by manoeuvring the wheel off the splines and back into into the arch, the wheel can be removed/fitted.

There you go - another tip !!

Cheers,

Dave

[Heuer]

The MWS wheels I use are 6.5inch with 205 tyres and definately the widest wheels you can use without major mods. The key difficulty is the amount of wheel and tyre located up under the wing - a fact I like to see on the car. Obviously the fronts can be removed with the bonnet up, but the limitation is on the turning circle of the wheel and mine will just rub the paint off the bead on the front wings on hard cornering and lock - so just right then !!

The rears are so tight in the arch that the rear wing needs the bodywork lip to be flattened back against the wing, (or the tyre deflated !!), for the wheel and tyre to be removed. It is so tight that what I do is jack the car up on the opposite side to be removed - which compresses the cage mounting on that side and this allows the cage to "hang" down on the mountings on the side the wheel is to be removed. This give that extra amount of clearance and by manoeuvring the wheel off the splines and back into into the arch, the wheel can be removed/fitted.

There you go - another tip !!

Cheers,

Dave

That half inch of wheel width must be what starts to make things difficult. With 6" wheels and 205/65 tyres I had no problem removing the rears even with my (then) ground hugging suspension. I wonder if you were to use lower profile rubber there would be more clearance? For track days 195/50 or 205/50's work well with the added benefit of reducing the ride height by about 2". Quickly click the shocks onto their firmest setting (assuming you have Spax) and you will have a whale of a time. For road use return to higher profile rubber and click the shocks back to normal.

I loved my car with the low mean look and it worked for about five years but then Europe caught the speed bump rash which made progress when touring a pain. Two miles per hour at a 45 degree angle over every bump (six usually in a French town/village) was no way to enjoy life. Once, in a hotel in Switzerland on the Rallye des Alpes, the car got jammed on a down ramp to the garage - had to be lifted off! Hence the return to standard ride height.

David

[Heuer]

Then again you could go for this look!:




On eBay at the moment #290238303990

[skiday]

Just come on this site and find it very good.

Don't really do clubs or shows and sitting in fields all day talking about grommets,

It's great to meet any fellow E owner. It's a shame you think clubs are all grommets and fields. We like driving too. If you change your mind you will find us a friendly bunch in the Jaguar Enthusiasts Club - Isle of Wight. We meet at the Fighting Cocks pub every first Monday of the month (except some Bank Holiday Mondays).

[44DHR]

Hi Skiday !!

No worries - I am well aware how friendly the Isle of Wight Branch of the Jaguar Enthusiasts' Club is - as I am one of them - and possibly longer than you !!! I did not mean to cause upset with my comments about saying some clubs and static shows are all grommets and fields - it's just that static shows are not my thing. I am lucky - like you with your other interests - to have other "toys" such as boats and motorbikes, so often my summer weekends are a difficult choice to decide what to play with.

I do however support the Island JEC whenever I can and have attended all their regional shows since 2002 with the E type, (with the exception of the August 2009 one, as we also had our 20th Anniversary weekend in June at Havenstreet that year - at which I marshalled the cars all morning and had my car there). I also supported our Bill Parsonage when the E type Club had their sucessful weekend over here. By it's very nature the Island is sometimes a bit insular and often the frequent car club shows see the same old cars turning up to each others club show. This is why I have worked actively with Vic Gallucci and our partners in the IW Council, the Wightlink Ferries and the local media over the past 6 years to build up the International Two day Car Show in September and encourage the large influx of 100's of cars from the Mainland to provide a welcome change of scene on the Island car show circuit - and yes I do attend these shows !!

I am also lucky to be friends with a frequent visitor to the Island - who has been described in some books as the most successful E type driver ever - John Quick - and John is visiting me in May. Perhaps one day I will persuade him to come out to one of the club nights to tell some of his interesting tales of the Modsports era of the 60's. In fact in Chris Harvey's book there is a quote from the Jaguar Driver magazine "that it is likely that his car - WOO 11 - has won more awards than any other Jaguar, albeit in the same hands". Certainly it was an amazing car and still going strong if my recent Christmas DVD present of GT Racer Season II is to go by. By the way - a bit of a late response to your post - I get my stick on number plate letters from our local ironmongers - Hursts, as these are just standard 3" letters.

So, I hope you see I am not against static shows and by being involved with several car clubs on the Island - and on their committees at various times - I have hopefully helped to promote them. I am also fortunate to travel widely for work, so I am often away too, so before you ask, I am unsure when I will get the car out of winter storage and to the next show, but I will make a point of trying to get to more now as we have a few more E types on the Island - as long as we don't talk about grommets !!

[Heuer]

[44DHR]

Very funny Heuer !!!

OK - we will make an exception with this Gromitt !!

regards,

Dave

:D

[Abarth]

Dear Dave,

I have just read through your thread and have found your technical advice incredibly helpful/inspirational. I was wondering if I could ask you what intake manifold you are using with your Weber set up?

I am in the process of rebuilding a series 1 4.2 engine with a big valve/gas flowed head and free flow exhaust. I have read though via several sources that the choice of manifold is critical. I wonder if you might have a particular opinion or experience?

With many thanks in advance,

Arnoud