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 Restoration in Progress

Introduction

The restoration we will be following is of a right hand drive XK140 Drophead coupé. The car was built on the 19th of May 1955 and left the factory on the 2nd of June 1955. It is now red (where the paint is still attached to the body) but we know that it was originally finished in ‘Suede Green’ with a ‘French Grey’ hood. The chassis number is 807136, engine number G 3643-8 and the body number is P 3605 all of which match with the documents.

We have discovered from some initial research that the car was used for rallying back in the 50’s and 60’s (see the picture below). As soon as we find any more information about the cars racing history we will update this page. If anyone has any information about the car please get in touch by emailing us at twyfordmoors@jagxk.co.uk.

The Strip Down

So it’s Friday the 13th, unlucky for some but the lucky number of the cars owner, and the car has rolled into the workshop. We have begun stripping the car and sorting through the parts. This is a complete car so we will be reusing, refurbishing and restoring as much as possible.

Progress is always quick at this stage of a restoration and this particular car is throwing up lots of interesting surprises already including some of it's original paint hidden behind the headlights. So far we have stripped down all the front end, the interior, the doors and the engine is ready to be lifted our. Thankfully this XK140 has put up very little resistance in the form of stubborn nuts and bolts. As we mentioned before this car is almost complete but what we hadn't appreciated was quite how original the car is. The vast majority of the bolts we are removing are the original "BEES" bolts which are very rare indeed. On removing the dashboard we discovered it still has the body number "3605" written on the reverse (below right); this was used in the factory to identify which car each component was to be fitted to. Other than original bolts, lots of restorable original parts and the odd handwritten number we are also discovering a lot of corrosion. The chaps at "the farm" will really have their work cut out for them from the looks of things.

   Original Paint Hidden Under Headlight                      Door Stripped Down
                       Dashboard                                      James Removes the Bonnet
Front End Totally Stripped
 
 Body Number '3605' Written on the Dashboard

RGW 491 continues to come apart nicely. Now that the chrome work, lights and interior are out we can really start to access the extent to which the dreaded tin worm has affected the bodywork. Although the level of corrosion on this car is fairly typical of a restoration project and nothing that cannot be dealt with, we felt it would be useful to put some pictures on here to illustrate the extent to which these cars can rust.

On removing the exhaust, which as you can see is well beyond repair, a large amount of rust and seeds poured out of the end. There is nothing unusual about an exhaust being filled with rust however the seeds got us scratching our heads. The answer, as it turns out a fairly obvious one, presented itself some hours later when removing the rear bumper irons. As can be seen from the photo, one side of the fuel tank has completely rotted away and a mouse, or several mice, had made their home in there.

The hood has been stripped and removed, as can be seen in the photos, and the frame is complete. On inspection it seems to be in good condition so will be repaired, fitted with new wood and will be reused.

 
 
  Corroded Rear Floor
   
 Hole in Sill

All the trim has been removed from the body and all the mechanical components have been disconnected so the time has come to remove the body. As can be seen in the pictures above the sills are very rotten so we cut the body in half along the sills to ease removal. First we lifted off the rear end and then the front end. It looks like the body has never been removed since 1955 so it took four of us to jiggle it free. Then the front end was lifted off over the engine leaving us plenty of room to work around the engine and lift it out.

Now the body is off we can really get a good look at the chassis. From the state of the body we didn't have high hopes for the chassis and we were geared up for extensive repair work however this XK140 offered up yet another nice surprise. On inspection the chassis is in remarkably good condition and should need little more than shot blasting and the odd repair.

With everything exposed the next jobs were to strip down the suspension, remove all the pipe work (fuel lines and brake pipes) and remove the engine. Although this car is remarkably original and hasn't been messed around with too much we did find some inexplicably odd fuel lines running in and out of the fuel pump. Whoever had effected this repair had decided that rather than cutting down the new hoses they were fitting they would leave them long and coil them round each other. On the upside you probably have an extra liter of capacity in the fuel system as a result. Beyond that the engine came away from the cassis without incident and is now waiting to be rebuilt, the suspension is in good condition and is waiting to be powder-coated and work is already underway on the body.

 
Rear end being lifted off
Front end being lifted off
Chassis with engine and suspension still in place
Inexplicable loops of fuel pipe

Bodywork

With the body and chassis separated and stripped the chassis was sent off to be shot blasted. Whilst waiting for the chassis to come back so the extent of the work on that could be assessed Jim from 'The Farm' came down to asses the state of the body.

Whenever a car is restored we like to use as much of the original car as possible however most of the XKs we see have had hard lives and once rust has taken hold there is no real choice but to cut it out. Other than a couple of small cracks the bonnet is in good condition under the paint work and very hard to replace so will be repaired. We will also reuse as much of the door and boot as possible. Usually we can reuse all the woodwork from the doors and boots but we will repair it if it's rotten and then reskin the doors. We always reuse the wooden door frames because the reproduction alternative is made of steel and doesn't give the correct sound when you shut the door. The rear wings will be repaired but other than that the back end of the car was well beyond repair. Finally as shown in the pictures Jim removed the bottom half of the bulkhead and the bottom of the front wings. This leaves us with the top of the front wings and the top of the bulkhead. Although this may seem drastic it is the only way to get a good as new finish from the panel work and ensure it lasts. To put this further into context this is the usual amount of work that we will put into the restoration of a body and it's very rare to find a body in any better condition than this but fear not; our experienced team of bodywork specialists will have this car looking better than it did when it first left the factory in no time at all.

           A very rotten battery box                  Front end with bottom of wings cut off
 
Jim sets to work on the bulkhead
 
Another mouse nest

The chassis has now returned from the shot blasters a proper assessment of its condition can be undertaken. The chassis has been blasted clean of all corrosion and dirt and then sprayed temporarily to protect the chassis whilst it's repaired. Once all the repair work is done the chassis is then cleaned up again, zinc coated and then painted.

This chassis is in fairly good condition but there are a few areas that will need new metal. The rear leaf spring shackle is a favorite place for rot on XK chassis. The large box section chassis can also allow water to sit inside and rot though when cars are left standing. This was the case with this chassis towards the rear end so work has been started on that (photos to follow). For reason that have not yet become clear someone has welded a large, steel block to the right hand side of the chassis (see below). If anyone has any explanation as to the reason for this block we would be most interested to find out.
                           Steel block welded onto right hand side of chassis
 
Rotten rear leaf spring shackle
 

Shot blasted chassis

Much work has gone into the chassis over the last month or so. Much more new metal was required than was first thought including extensive repairs to the outriggers. We were never able to establish the purpose of large steel block that had been welded to the chassis so it has been removed. It can be seen amongst a selection of other metal removed from the chassis in the photo. New metal has now been let into the chassis and it is as good as new. All that is left is for it to go off to be zinc coated and then painted.

Work has now also begun on the body shell. We begin by fitting the bulkhead to a dummy chassis and then fitting the sills. This allows the bulkhead to be aligned to the sills and everything can be built around it ensuring a straight body that fits over the chassis perfectly.

Repair work has also been undertaken on the bonnet and new metal let in. The boot lid has been stripped back to its wooden frame and reskined, which gives an excellent and strong finish but keeps the original structure, feel and, most importantly, sound of the boot when it closes.

The doors are also being treated to a new skin. As can be seen in the photos the lower half of the doors were not only rotten but had been inexpertly repaired with a mess of fiberglass, mesh and filler. This has all been peeled off, cut back and removed. What is now left is the original doorframe, again to keep that authentic sound when you close the door and the very top of the metal work. New skins are being applied to these as I type this.

 

 


A fully repaired chassis waiting for zinc protection and paint


Rear wings waiting to be repaired


Boot lid with the frame removed