Here are some rather poor photos of the finished IRS.  If I dont ever have to rebuild another of these it will still be too soon.  Seriously, this is a job that in itself is not difficult but would be far easier if you had done them before.  I found that although the book says that the calipers can be fitted once the diff is in the carrier frame, its a lot easier if it was done before.  Also, whilst my paint does look very nice and shiny its a nightmare as there are so many machine fit faces which all have to be clear of paint or else they would not fit home well.   Being an early 3.8 the caliper fixing bolts are safety wired.  Try doing that once the diff is in the carrier.

Then there is the rather unhelpful but true comment made by a friend of mine.   "looks great but what a shame it wont be seen by anyone once its in the car"  Great.  Anyway, on the positive, its done, and it is a major part of the car and will enable me to get the car back on its rear wheels pretty soon after I get the body back from the rebuilders. 

Meanwhile I have also fitted up the heater box.   Really pleased with that, only have to make sure it doesnt get chipped before its fitted to the car.

Carbs are fully restored and I will post some photos tomorrow.

Here she is before the sandblast ....more to follow

OK, we have action at last!!!   I am afraid that the E has had to take a back seat for a number of reasons, but now, I can confirm it is full steam ahead. 

The body shell is currently with the rebuilders, a well known company who have rebuilt a lot of important E Types and have all the jigs.  After this it will go to the painters and I should get it back, minus a load of cash, sometime in the early New Year.  Cant wait!.  Back axle is now completed and so is the gearbox.  I am working on all the ancillaries so that I can start building it back as soon as I get the shell back.  Opted for a new bonnet, thank you Jaguar, and new set of engine frames from E Type Fabs. 

I am going to try to post some photos either tomorrow or later today.  thanks for watching, things should start to move now!!

For all of you that have been kind enough to watch this blog, I have been sidetracked on finishing another project which I needed to get out of the workshop.  However, things are about to get going again.  I am picking up the painted parts for the rear axle this weekend and I promise to get some photos up and move the E forward again.  A trip to Goodwood last weekend served as a great motivator, as there were some beautiful series one cars to oggle.

ok, so whats going on?  well I have to admit that I have another project that I am restoring alongside the E and this has meant that I seemingly neglected 860897.  Not true,   I am still awaiting the painted bits to reassemble the rear IRS, and I have also made up some natty little dollies for transporting the E around the shed.  I bought the basic dolley from Machine Mart and then adapted them to carry the greatest car ever made.  I will endeavour to photograph my application for those that may want to do the same.  However, whilst I am in fact an superb welder, those that spend the time to study the welding on these frames should realise that they were put together by a blind man on a galloping horse as I was in the pub at the time!  Anyway, all is well with the E, and I am hoping for some real traction in the next couple of weeks to get things going once more.  Photos to follow. , but meanwhile here are some of the E before I vandalised it.  It even looks good on a trailer!

Oh dear, not been very active at posting recently I am afraid.  I have been a bit sidetracked on another project and I am still awaiting some bits back from the paint shop for the IRS.  However, I did manage to make up some dolleys for trailing the E type around and will post up some photos tomorrow.  Thanks for watching and I hope to get moving again soon.  

I thought it was going rather well

Wow.  Bent double in the FHC removing the wiring loom, wiper mechanism and heater pipes is a job I am not looking forward to reversing in a few months time.  The loom is quite a bit more involved than I had thought and I am sure its going to take some careful planning to get it fitted back in correctly, well a new one anyway.

The wiper mechanism is pretty fiddly too.  Basically there is a double skin on the E Type bulkhead and the wiper mechanism and the heater pipes fit in between the two and there are three holes about the size of a hand to work through.  Note to self.....make sure the wiper mechanism is greased up nicely when refitting as if it squeaks in action it would be akin to heart surgery to get it out once the dash and wiring loom is in.

Anyway, the old girl is pretty bare now, not much left to remove before the tub can go off to be rebuilt. As I stripped the E down I have thought about attempting the rebuild of the tin work myself, but to be honest, the experts out there are so much better prepared it really would be false economy.  They have the jigs, experience and welding equipment to make it a much better job.  And it will free me to restore and renovate all the bits ready to fit back into the car when it comes back.

I have found another Iconic bit to consider in my competition of the all time favorite E Type part.  The centre dash.

I know all you chaps with 4.2 series one E's will prefer the all black dash. But for me, this is a superb bit of design and was a key element in helping establish the E Type design status. The early toggle switches connect the car with an early time, and illustrate how the E when launched was such an advance on other machines.  More to come no doubt as the rebuild continues.