Beautiful. Are they bolt-on wires like mine? If so, are they 14" or 15"? Mine has 14" and uses spacers to clear front end stuff

 

Indeed rivets are not the go to repair. As I mentioned earlier "I look forward to learning how to weld."
The Audi repair was a weekend warrior repair to stop the rust from getting worse until the summer when I can take another look.
The point was that a sheet metal piece was made to suit and install, body filled, and painted.
The botched job was actually done by the dealership before I bought the car. Which lead to premature rust and a hole in the rocker panel.
Ended up suing Audi for $7000, and I won!

I think it is clear that the Quebec car is a risk no matter what.
Without the ability to do an inspection, and take it in "as is" condition, for sure it is a gamble.
And as some have mentioned here, this is a heart vs the head decision..
No one has mentioned how impossible it will be to get the engine going. Since no one knows what is wrong with the engine, nor do I. That is a big risk too!
If and when I actually do get possession of this POSC see Adam Sander take on POSC.
I will get back to this experienced group for real questions, whilst I have bleeding knuckles and gas and oil soaked body odor

Please feel free to keep the comments coming, it is entertaining during the -18 C Quebec winter.
Jimmy

 

If you are referring to my Cream S type first thank you.
Second these are splined painted wire wheels which I have since replaced with stainless steel wires. My S Type originally was a steel wheel car so I bought some second hand rear hubs with splines and splines for the front. The front splines are easy to change over as the splines are held on with the same bolts that hold the front hub in place so quick change. The rears are a little bit harder as I had to replace all the hub bearings and have them professionally rebuilt and shimmed. The wire wheels are 15 inch which is the normal size for the 1960s Jaguar but I have put 205/15/70 tyres on which fill out the arches better. Only problem is getting the rears on and off is a pain from under the flat arch with wire splines. With steel wheels you can put the wheel on at an angle so the top of the tyre goes under the arch and then the wheel is angles on to the studs. Easy. With the splines the wheel has to go on perpendicular to the splines which does not give you a lot of room to get the tyre under the arch. If you don't mind the hassle then 205s look good if not stick to the 185R15 tyres.

 

Jimmy I think you are making the correct decision especially if you have not seen the car and he will not accept a scrap value. Too many people think they are sitting on a gold mine and put a ridicules price on a rusty car. This is not a 37 Bugatti.
If I was you I would work out how much you are willing to spend on the car, total . Purchase price and restoration costs. It might come to £20k plus. Save yourself five years of work and go and look for a car that has already undergone a restoration. Make sure it has a history and photos of the restoration. I went with a friend in 2017 to look at a Mk2 which had been restored. When we got there he had photos of the restoration but I could see rust coming through on the front wings and sills. On the back of one of the photos was the date of the restoration 1991. A 26 year old restoration is not in my books a restored car anymore.
Even after a restoration the work is never completed as I have done so much work improving things over the years, buying and fitting new or newer parts.

 

Rivets in general aren’t approved on motor car bodywork. Pop rivets in particular aren’t great; they serve to hold things together while structural adhesive sets or to attach ornamentation. I have seen pop rivets fail in little test structure and it’s really quite dramatic, like a repeating air gun, bang, bang, bang and the rivets fly away like air pellets.

This makes another point that it’s better to buy an unrestored car than a badly restored one. Apart from the fact that rust and holes are cheaper than half a tonne of bondo, more things will be in the right place, distortion will not have been welded in, and you don’t waste time removing poor work.

Welding has been something that I’d always found difficult. Over the decades, people have tried and failed to teach me gas and stick welding. I first tried MIG when the DIY welders appeared and found it easier but still very hit and miss. Just over a year ago, I bought an R-Tech MIG180, tried it with Hobbyweld 5 (93% Argon, 5% CO2, 2% O2) and suddenly MIG welding is easy. The results are as good as the best you’ll find from experts on YouTube. I’d also recommend reading the advice on

https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/mig.htm

A good place to learn about restoring our cars is the Practical Classics ‘Mk2 Jaguar Restoration’, published by Kelsey. It's from 40 years ago, but turns up on ebay and AbeBooks. The work was done by Geoff Maycock who was a knowledgeable and down to earth Mk2 restorer and described by Peter Simpson and Paul Skilleter who also knew what they were doing.

 

And some old photos for encouragement:

 

A friend who buys and resells classics always said: "Buy a restored car because you can pretty much get the restoration for free." That being the case or not, I'd look for one that's been redone or almost.

 

All standard centre lock wheels for this era of the Jaguar compacts are 15" (i.e. with proper centre spinners)

 

The only issue I have here is the definition of "restored". Cass car is an example of a proper restoration as is mine. I have seen some examples of restored cars that are cars that are not really restored but made to look pretty.

 

And you'd be right. "Drivers" as I think of them. Still, after having "revived" a couple of cars so they were very good drivers, well, that was enough work. Went to a party in Bolinas once and in the driveway was a 300SL Gullwing... original paint, original interior. And a total rat. The passenger seat had been removed and replaced with a bed for the owner's mutt. It was perfect.

 

Indeed ~ start from a media blasted shell & then repair, replate or replace every single part etc. etc. as in my signature or Cass' car. A ground up rebuild of every part seen or unseen.

 

Glyn, I'd start cutting corners and otherwise cheating by day two. Just to get it on the road. Haven't got your resolve!

 

Tell me Peter, how are these photos encouraging ?

 

They're realistic of what you may find.
Expect to get in there, get your hands dirty and go at it.

The days of finding a car that needs light restoration is pretty much a thing of the past.

 

Absolutely Jeff. I found my car over 35 years ago and then I had to look at many to find it rust free. These cars were not well protected. And that's in South Africa. In countries with salted slushy roads matters were far worse.

 

I know it sounds mad but I was stripping a part down, such as the heater box, Whilst rebuilding it I removed all the internal paint to bare metal and repainted it to a high standard knowing full well no one was ever going to see the inside again unless they stripped it down. At least I knew it was done and done properley and would not need taking apart again in my life time. In my view you only get one chance to do it properley unless you want to do it all again in five years time.

 

Absolutely Rob. It's like people that don't respray behind the door cards ~ why?????

 

The one that bugs me Glyn is the person who changes the colour of his car and not only does not spray behind the door cards but leaves the engine bay in the old colour or just paints it black. I changed from Warwick Grey to cream, even sprayed behind the dash and the underside of the car so there is absolutely no Warwick Grey anywhere on my car.

 

Fully sprayed BRG behind the protective plastic. This car started life "Old English White". You won't find any Old English White anywhere on the shell inside & out. I did it your way Rob.



That's filler coat. Not the old colour. The old colour was media blasted off. Missed spots in cavities were all fixed before completion. All cavities were sprayed with Glasurit Porsche self healing primer which is pale green. Then Tectyl was applied after final painting. This was the second respray. See the story in my signature.



My man can paint!

 

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