I would appreciate the group's wisdom on this 1967 3.8s I looked at today. There's a lot of experience in this forum and I would appreciate the extra set of eyes.

I enjoy working on cars but I also drive them. My use case for this would be local Coffee and Classics, the two hour drive up to Lake Geneva for summer Sunday dinner, the occasional 5 hour trip to St Louis to see family, and later this fall a trip from Chicago to the South Alabama British Car show. This isn't my primary car so taking it off the road for months at a time to make repairs is not a concern.

I do have some specific questions but I also appreciate any other thoughts you might have:
- The car has a manual transmission and an overdrive that works. Not that I'm worried about mpg but would should I expect highway rpms and mpg at 70mph?
- The lack of head rests bothers me in the event of a rear impact. Is it easy to retrofit? What are others doing here?
- The right-hand drive was a little awkward but I assume that's something one adjusts to after a while? If I ever wanted to swap it over to LHD how difficult is sourcing the parts? Sitting on the right side of the car was weird but changing gears left-handed will take some getting used to.
- The power steering felt incredibly stiff - is that how these are? I assume I'm looking at some repairs there.

I appreciate everyone's thoughts.

 

To change to LHD, you'd need to source a LHD steering box, that may be a challenge. Fortunately, the cars were designed to be built both ways and all the fittings exist to swap things over. You'd need a new dash wood set, otherwise the instruments move over. You'll need a new throttle linkage, as it is a series of rods and levers, so harder to fabricate than a cable. I think the steering column will move across. I'm not sure about the pedal box, I think the arms for the pedals are unique to RHD and LHD cars.

According to the manual, 70MPH is 2670 rpm in overdrive when equipped with a 3.77 axle. As this is a European (?) spec car, I don't know if it would have a 3.77 or a taller axle.

The power steering should be quite light if it's working right. Think 70's Cadillac sort of light. I suspect it's not working at all if it's stiff.

That front bumper looks like it's been welded, I see evidence of a lot of heat there. Has it been hit in the past? If it's a UK market car originally, my big concern would be rust. I'd want to look over the underside very carefully.

 

It's from South Africa and was brought over to the US about 4 years ago.
I noticed the left side of the front bumper looked not quite right but I can't tell what's going on.

 

the car looks very good from the distance.

but RHD in the USA ? not for me.

How do you know it has Power Assist for the steering? Many of these cars did not have it in Europe when new. But it can be added at high expense and labor, as well as sourcing the needed components will consume your time. Instead, go for the EZ STEER electric power steering system which is not cheap either. And you mighr have to upgrade the electrical system to an Alternator, more expense.

I have a ,'65 S type with factory power assist and it is nothing to cheer about either, the car is hard to park at zero to low speed, sure, once it is moving it is easy.

Check the twin exhaust system for rust, check the monocoque body for rust, check the twin tanks for rust. Check the floor for rust. Check the spare tire compartment for rust. Check, check, check, rust, rust, rust.

 

The reservoir is visible in the engine bay photo.

 

Has it been in an accident, the gaps on the left side of the car are worse then usual ?
Hood and doors; and there seems to be a very bad joint on the forward rocker panel to where it meets the lower rear of the front fender.

The gap on the hood is the big concern.

What appears to be the brake line hanging down at the front of the engine, that can't stay that way on a single line system, but it looks a bit thick for a brake line.
The handy-man has been at the car.

 

I have a South Africa S-type,, those are CKD ( Complete Knockdown cars, made in South Africa )
I converted it to LHD, you need a LHD steeringbox, and two dash panels, for the Middle part you need a new plastic bottom part.
The pedalbox can be placed on the left side, but the arms of the pedels need to be reoriented ( At least the what I did through a farrier )
Handbrake mechanism needs to be mirrored ( If you can weld, you can do it yourself)
For the wire loom, you need to disassemble the part behind the dash, and I only needed to extent one cable ( rh flasher ) to get everything right.
On the pictures I see cracks in the rubbers from the front subframe.
But being an ex african car you probably need to replace all rubber parts, perished due to the heat!

 

SA CKD cars were usually very well put together vs Pressed Steel. Built over bucks provided by Browns Lane. Body fit usually superior. I own No 4 from the CDA line and body fit is excellent. By 67 they were built at Jaguar & Land Rover plant. Blackheath, Cape Town.

Both bonnet/hood & trunk/boot lid fitting is odd. What is going on with that rear screen chrome. Can be a sign of a bash in the tail. The rear screen opening distorts.?

Vinyl upholstery & headlining is tough.

GP in the number plate means it's come from the Highveld so should have no rust. Doors & sills should be perfect. Some cars had all seat centres like that both back & front.

Has had a bash at the LHS front corner. Nothing major.

You need to look at condition from underneath on a hoist. Gives an excellent view of rust & potential crash damage severity. Minor knocks are easily repaired.

Freedom from rust is the big attraction of Highveld cars. After media blasting my car had zero rust and I mean zero rust.

The car has odd but still South African front seats. See woven pattern on passenger front seat centre. Most later cars had that on the centres of both back & front seats,

I restored my car to British Standards. None of the old finishes from SA cars are still available. See my signature.

 

Read this for interest. Click on newsletters. There are a few minor errors. Nothing of any consequence. Both in multi-page pdf format. CKD S Types.

Jaguar 'S'-type Register

 

The panel gaps are a bit worrying, especially for a South African body S type. On the A and B posts they should be uniform from about 6 inches below the waistline going down. Judging from photos is never easy and misfits are very visible on a white car. The joint at the bottom of the A post looks very suspicious to me. The rocker-fender (sill-wing) join hasn't been made well and the line of the bottom of the fender is wrong; it should taper in rather than out. What's more important is hidden behind: the connection of the intermediate and inner sills the the A post. This is of structural importance to the stiffness of the side frame and door fit.

The underside of the subframe and front cross member have had a bashing and those hanging pipes?l

From the pictures, there's an encouraging absence of rust in this car, but I don't think it's as good as the first glance of the paint work suggests. A good body shop and mechanic could make it into a nice car.

I drove my RHD Daimler in Houston, Texas and the South-West without any problems. I've also driven a lot in continental Europe (including Rome, Naples and Paris). Car parks that require you to use tickets with machines at the entrance and exit are a complication when you don't have a passenger.

The rear axle will almost certainly be 3.77 giving 3,000 rpm at 80 mph in od top, which is comfortable for highway cruising. My Mk2 gave me a bit more than 20 miles per UK gallon in cross country type driving.

 

I go with most of the comments here. It looks from the photos to be clean and rust free. Points to check are all four wheel arches and the area known as the crows feet which are on the front wings just behind the indicator lights. If you have a rust free car the rest is easily repaired by replacing parts but as several have pointed out there are signs of accident damage and the lack of visible rust might be due to repairs and a recent over painting.
The panel gap on the left side between the bonnet/hood and wing/fender are the bits that would concern me. The wing appears to have been dropped and this could be because it has been replaced (good thing) but they have welded the new wing on without first offering up the bonnet (bad thing) and in consequence have welded the wing on too low. I have the same problem for the same reason but not as pronounced as this one. Reasons for replacing the wing could be from looking at the front bumper and front cross member are that it has been in an accident. If so check that the front chassis member is straight and the front subframe is bolted to this and anything out is going to alter the tracking and suspension.
This S type is the same years as mine so with the power steering you should have the Adwest Marles Variomatic steering which was a lot better than the older Berman types 1 and 2. The steering at speed is very light but not so at lower speeds. This is down to the way the pump works. The pump is driven off the back of the generator and is reliant on engine RPMs. High RPMs whilst driving and you have good psi in the pump meaning light steering. At tick over especially with an Auto the RPMs are so low it does not generate a lot of psi in the pump and the steering is heavy. With the manual you should be able to Rev the engine to create psi whilst slipping the clutch to get more psi and lighter steering with an Auto this is not possible. Some one did suggest I change to a smaller pulley on the generator from the E Type but I have not got around to this yet.
The decision to buy is yours and if this is just going to be a worker, putting the miles in, as long as it has a good strong engine and the price is right everything is repairable.

 

Please get this car up on a hoist. You can tell a lot standing up and examining the under-body. Prod any area covered with underseal with a large screwdriver. Look for distortion & rust.

Door hinges can be reshimmed to achieve correct gaps. B pillar can be corrected with a 2X4 & a BFH. They are the least of your worries. I agree with Cass. LHS fender likely replaced. My car had had the rear RHS fender replaced but you would not know it inside or out. Only showed after media blasting. Finding a car of this age totally skirmish free is unlikely unless it was unused.

 

I'd put a qualification on Glyn's words on adjusting door gaps at the hinges. They're completely true if the body isn't too distorted through corrosion and previous repairs. The gap at the A post, like that at the side of the hood, depends on the fender being correctly positioned, which is a very difficult process. The front door to B post alignment can be lost due to sinking at the A post caused by corrosion at the base and also rot in the front jacking point. A poor restorer may make a strong repair but neglect to remove the distortion.

A lot of experienced restorers will tell you that separating a Mk2 wing from the car at the original join is something to avoid if possible. It's much better to leave as much as you can, at least a couple of inches, of the original wing and make a butt weld.

When you buy a classic car, especially a 50-year old one, and it's not a product of one of the better restorers, you have to think of it as buying a kit of parts. Ask yourself how much is this kit worth?
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There's a ton of great info here guys - thank you all. I spoke to the seller last night and we agreed that he'd rather keep it and id rather start off with something already LHD.

I appreciate all the insights.