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E-type V12 1973
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Having
owned and restored a number of Jaguars during the last 28 years, it was now
time to fulfill my biggest dream, an E-type! I purchased it on the 12:th March 2005,
on my way to the annual boardmeeting of the Swedish Jaguar Club.
In these pages You can follow the life of the car during my ownership. The
contents will be added to as more things happen.
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The dream to become true... |
This is the way it looked at the sellers place.
I was in a heck of a hurry and the weather and road conditions was all but
ideal, so the checkup was not very thorough.
Nevertheless, I took a chance and made the deal anyway.
A very good example of how not to do it... |
Floor job |
Work begins....
The most obvious faults must be fixed immediately.
Some knucklehead had at some point(s) raised the car by using a
2-column lift, -not bothering at all about where to put the lifting arms!
Fortunately there seems to be unusually little rust... |
First run.
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The first real trial run went to Jaguar Light meet in Kolsva.
Very nice event! The fuel consumption, of 2,5 liter/ 10 km, was not so nice however,
and at least two of the carbs kept flooding intermittently.
We also had some problems with overheating, and we had to keep the AC on all the time
to keep the electrical fans running.
But the song from the V12 put a big smile on our faces!
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Engine, gearbox, EFI...! |
The original engine turned out to be the victim of bad or nonexistant maintenance.
The numbers from a compression-test was not very inspiring.
It will be restored and put back later, but for now this "little" package will do the services instead.
Big thanks to Björn! |
Electronic control... |
This pile of cables is no laughing matter.
It was sent to me in a big cardboard box together with the new engine
and unpacked it filled a whole parking space in the garage!
Fortunately, not all the cables were needed.... |
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Well, these were the happenings in 2005.
We did attend a small meeting in Örebro on the 8 of October too; ( see
link HERE: ).
Note the dribble under the front, the belt to the servo pump had filed a slit in a coolant hose.
Fixed that with gaffertape and silicone and it still works a year later. Then the warm days were at an end and Cristal (I named her after the Champagne),
was parked in the garage for the winter.
Sad, but one has to work too.
The intention was to do a slight cosmetical restoration during the autumn and winter, but as
it turned out, my time had to be spent fixing various things on the website of the Swedish
Jaguar Club. Some bloody hacker had been in there and a lot of time was spent repairing the damage.
So, writing these words on the 24 April 2006, I haven´t seen the car since it was parked in October!
Two weeks ago I was contacted by an American soulmate, and he told me that:
THIS CAR IS THE THIRD LAST LHD 2+2 MADE!
The last one is kept by the JDHT museum in Coventry. I have searched but not found, any records
of the second last one. Possibly, this one could be the last remaining privately sold V12 coupe! ??
This puts things a little bit on its head when it comes to future restoration and upgrading.
I had intended to continue with various upgrades and modernisations, but now I think it might be better to
go for a complete nut and bolt restoration to the original state. I think I will have to dwell on this
thought, while enjoying this upcoming summer with the car as is.
Probably, I will go for the original, and instead put the upgrades on my other 2+2, a -69 totally in pieces
, called "The wreck". Time will tell. What ever happens it will be shown here.
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Rear end, and more.. |
Now it is 2006. Time flies much too fast!
One cannot sit idle a whole year, some little thing has to be fixed.
The IRS had been a bit noisy, maybe it´s time to take a look at it? |
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Next up will probably be some cosmetical upgrades. Welcome back! |
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