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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 Begins

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 can be seen 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