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I am new. I am, at best, a "shade tree" mechanic. I bought this car as a retirement gift to myself; just before unfortunate emergency spinal surgery. Needless to say, I am no longer able to do many things I'd planned to do myself.
I found a good mechanic. Unfortunately, he has just moved to another state to semi-retire. He is willing to let me ship the car to him for major work.
We have a three part plan. We'll get the mechanicals sorted bit-by-bit with me acting as the quartermaster to ease his burden of search and acquisition.
First, we plan to remove the entire drivetrain to reseal it as it is leaking too much to ignore now.
Once out, I was thinking of upgrading the auto transmission to something that will perform better and with better mileage on US highways. Please feel free to make suggestions with "bolt-on" devices being preferred. I know some devices may be better, but I do not want to cut-up the car if I can avoid it. I heard the GM 700R4 CVT suggested by a friend would necessitate such an operation.
Then we will sort out the paint and body. It looks like the bonnet will need replacement as it has been in an accident and was not repaired to maintain it's curves proximally. The mechanic thinks it is past it, but all I've read said it comes in sections that may be cut out and added back in. Thoughts?
Thoughts? I'll look for a photo when I can get into the garage (I just had to have a knee replaced (;-) ).
I do NOT want to do a concourse restoration. I want to do a good quality driver. This art is meant to be driven.
Should I pay someone to come out with one of those meters to eval the paint and bondo? Honestly, if it will blow up the budget, I am going to have to live with it as I am now a pensioner.
Then there is the interior. The seats are past it. I want to buy an entire kit now and just do the seats and save the rest for after paint. It seems like a good compromise to make sure it'll all match. Thoughts?
Since nobody's replied, I'll jump in and bluntly state that IMHO your situation has the makings of a bottomless money pit. You are talking a LOT of major work. Have you talked to your mechanic about the total estimated cost? He should be give you SOME sort of estimate of the total number of hours involved.
If you could find a car that needed less work, it would probably end up costing less in the end.
I agree. This sounds like a big project. If it was me, I'd get a best-guess quote for the whole job, then maybe consider selling it on and getting a reasonably priced driver. Probably save you money in the long run, and give you a car to drive earlier.
Agree with our two earlier gents' remarks. UNLESS you can arrive at a total cost ahead of time - or a close guesstimate, you are heading for a huge Money Pit. My 2 cents.....73' Open Top
57K Azure Blue, with Biscuit interior (NO matching purse).....all 100% less a new front suspension..... ;-(
I'll add my corroboration to the above replies. I've had several old british cars and in the beginning I was advised to buy the best example, one that was complete, didn't need 'much' and wouldn't require bushelbaskets of financial input. In 1989 I passed on an E that looked like it had been neglected, but was relatively inexpensive ($8500 USD). The one I bought was about $5k more (run that price difference to see it in today's dollars), but needed far less. Was driveable, ran well. The paint was going to need to be redone at some point but was serviceable as it was. But there was no rot, an extremely solid car, which has been borne out over the past 34 years of ownership. A number of years ago, the cost to do restoration work (and probably not even concours level) was $60,000 USD OVER and above the acquisition cost of the car.
In 2018, I had the engine and transmission rebuilt, along with a number of things that were found to be suspect... new starter as the OE no longer was able to function, new SS exhaust, for example. This was over $20K USD. Bonnet replacements are not just Plug and Play. Go visit Monocoque Metalworks on YouTube to see Chuck Hadley's great work with Es and listen to his advice.
Then your mechanic... what is his experience with E types? These are NOT cars that just any bodyshop or mechanic can work on. How familiar are you with the Etype suppliers and the level of quality of the parts they sell? I would suggest Martin Robey or SNG Barratt to get an idea of what you are looking for price wise. How do you plan to monitor the progress? view the progress? There are any number of horror stories of owners of cars who have them in a shop and it doesn't get worked on, or is shabbily done, the owner is charged exorbitant amounts, then ends of retrieving the car and taking it somewhere else, and again paying out large sums.
As the others have suggested, I would not go any further with this car (photo would help us provide you with further guidance). Just from your description, it sounds like it needs so much. I truly understand your attachment to an E, as we all do here, but there are better ones out there.
If you are familiar with Hemmings (car publication) here is their advice:
I'll add my corroboration to the above replies. I've had several old british cars and in the beginning I was advised to buy the best example, one that was complete, didn't need 'much' and wouldn't require bushelbaskets of financial input. In 1989 I passed on an E that looked like it had been neglected, but was relatively inexpensive ($8500 USD). The one I bought was about $5k more (run that price difference to see it in today's dollars), but needed far less. Was driveable, ran well. The paint was going to need to be redone at some point but was serviceable as it was. But there was no rot, an extremely solid car, which has been borne out over the past 34 years of ownership. A number of years ago, the cost to do restoration work (and probably not even concours level) was $60,000 USD OVER and above the acquisition cost of the car.
In 2018, I had the engine and transmission rebuilt, along with a number of things that were found to be suspect... new starter as the OE no longer was able to function, new SS exhaust, for example. This was over $20K USD. Bonnet replacements are not just Plug and Play. Go visit Monocoque Metalworks on YouTube to see Chuck Hadley's great work with Es and listen to his advice.
Then your mechanic... what is his experience with E types? These are NOT cars that just any bodyshop or mechanic can work on. How familiar are you with the Etype suppliers and the level of quality of the parts they sell? I would suggest Martin Robey or SNG Barratt to get an idea of what you are looking for price wise. How do you plan to monitor the progress? view the progress? There are any number of horror stories of owners of cars who have them in a shop and it doesn't get worked on, or is shabbily done, the owner is charged exorbitant amounts, then ends of retrieving the car and taking it somewhere else, and again paying out large sums.
As the others have suggested, I would not go any further with this car (photo would help us provide you with further guidance). Just from your description, it sounds like it needs so much. I truly understand your attachment to an E, as we all do here, but there are better ones out there.
If you are familiar with Hemmings (car publication) here is their advice:
We all wish you well on your E adventure, but please rethink what you plan to do with this one.
Ms. Stabenow,
TY for your clearly concerned response.
The mechanic was an Englishman, trained at the Jaguar factory in the 1960's. He has an excellent local reputation and his shop was always packed with British cars.
He's fixed all the fiddly bits that needed sorting. We are down to the leaking powertrain, the tweaked bonnet, and the tired interior. He is willing to finish the car, if I am willing to ship it to Idaho to his new shop once he is settled in. (Like so many, he is leaving CA for a less expensive and less regulated environment to ply his craft.)
It took me a bit of time to find this car. I was clearly duped by the seller. I suppose I could get lucky this time, or I could get duped once more.
Maybe the "devil I know" is the better choice here. If I decide to sell this one, I'll not buy another. It seems to be too risky a proposition.
I will bring into sight all the sites you cited. ;-) TY for the references.
11-14-2023, 10:18 AM
1971 Jaguar XKE V-12 2+2 automatic
