After more than 10 years, the E-Type is back in my possession. Charlie, of Classic Car Couriers, brought it up on his flatbed. The alley leading away from Britsport is even worse than the photo shows. Took about five years off my life watching the truck fall into every pothole on the way out!
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Mark Jones of Britsport just sent me a few photos of what happened in the paint booth today. Car will sit for a couple of weeks in the booth, and then it shows up here for the big mechanical pieces to go in, and then back for color sanding and polishing before exterior trim and interior.
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The E-Type is about to be painted! It’s in the booth and is having a final wet-sand before being sprayed next week.
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Happy 2012 from all of us (well, OK, me) at Rusty Heaps! I had to run to the store and as it wasn’t raining, I got out Reg the MGB today. The MG hadn’t been out in a few months and it was a blast to drive it again. It feels faster than the XJ6 (it’s almost certainly not) and is a lot more involving to drive.
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Finally got a set of used 7″ headlight trims from the UK. The trim pieces aren’t great, but a lot better than the first set I received. The swap was pretty easy to do, though the generic plastic headlight buckets I sourced might get swapped for a Lucas set if I ever get ambitious.
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Here’s the inside of the shop, as you can see I haven’t done a whole lot with the organization of the space. (You can click for a larger image.)

I hope to build in some cabinets and what-not this winter, mainly on the wall where I have a couple of ancient Ferrari posters tacked up (I found a stash from ages ago…anyone for a 1980′s Testarossa poster? I managed to put that one back in the tube). I did get casters onto the metal work tables, they’re now handy for moving close to the action or allowing access to all sides of an unwieldy project.
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Took a few photos of the XJ6 after giving all of the cars baths today. My 7″ headlamp conversion pieces are on the way, so this may be the last set of photos with the standard US lights. Some additional, very similar, photos after the jump.
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It only took slightly longer than painting the Forth Bridge, but I have the new headliner installed in the Jaguar. I also rebuilt the headrests and re-glued the fabric on the back of the front seats. I think it all looks fine though, as with most things I do, doesn’t bear too close an inspection.
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Warning: Unless you like mechanical stuff, this will be the most boring post ever.

The exhaust on my “new” XJ6 leaked pretty badly where the manifolds joined the downpipes, and for good reason: The studs that were installed (in one of the few bodges on the car) were at least an inch too long. There was no way for the “donut” gaskets to be clamped tightly, and (surprise!) they leaked. In the process of removing the too-long studs, I discovered three of the tapped holes were stripped, one on the front manifold and two on the back. Shown above are the repaired manifolds with new studs (temporary, see end note). Below we’ll take a peek how I repaired the threads.
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I have wanted an early “low bumper” XJ6 for a long time, and this car caught my eye on the local CL. Despite having had two owners in the last six months, both quite young, it was a one-owner car before that. Even in the crappy photos it looked pretty original. I like original!
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