I have a 1965 XK-E coupe and I am currently repairing some sections of the passenger floor area. There is undercoating applied in this area and I was wondering if this was originally done at the factory or was applied later at some point.
Also, can someone tell me what the original carpeting material was? I have the Haddon restoration book, but I can't seem to locate any info about this or the undercoating question in the contents.


Any help with my inquiries will be greatly appreciated.

 

In the odd event that nobody comes along with the answers you can try the KCNA we site. They have a concours section with E-type 'originality' guidebooks that should give you the info you need


cheers
DD

 

The application (or not) of undercoating by the factory is the subject of much myth and debate. It seems that the consensus is that for concours (if one cares about such things) it doesnt matter as the judges arent allowed to look under the car.

After stripping the undercoating from my car, I found maroon primer and black paint (car is light blue) which suggests to me that the undercoating was from the factory. On the other hand, Jaguar didn't build the cars to last more than a few years so maybe in their minds primer was sufficient on salt strewn roads. You can check out my video on cleaning up the last of the undercoating and can see the finish of the fore-aft structural rails.

There is a hard coating on the inside of the floors that directs moisture to low spots to enhance rusting of the floors. :-) That chips off pretty easy with a HF needle scaler.

The undercoating on my California 70 OTS was tar-like and that seems common. It is easily removed by having a helper heat the inside of the floor with a heat gun while you scrape the coating off with a putty knife (if you want a good job) or you can heat while your assistant scrapes (if you don't like hot strips of tar falling on you).

Then using some kitchen sponges with the green scuff pad glued to one side and some mineral spirits or turpentine the remaining residue is easily cleaned up. I wore painter's coveralls, a filter mask and goggles as it's a messy job.

A rotis obviously makes the job a no-brainer.

For the interior the concours crowd seems to like Suffolk and Turley but there are lots of alternatives. It all depends on your goals and budget.. IIRC the carpets are Wilton Wool.

Good luck with your project,

Jim

 

There must have been a lot of variation. I have seen pics of some that even show the red primer in the rear wheel wells rather than body color. My FHC had the disadvantage of being repaired at some time by have new outer sills welded over the old ones--sad comment on whoever did the repair.

 

Would any kind of light sand or bead-blasting remove the undercoating a bit more efficiently than scraping?

 

Probably not, Atomic. Blasting doesnt work well on squishy stuff because the force is absorbed. The scraping is really not a big deal especially with heat applied from the opposite side which melts the material next to the metal so it comes off easy and in long strips.

 

Yeah the bouncy rubber undercoat is hard to blast off--hope to try the dustless blasting system on it as they say does work on undercoating!! Home - Dustless Blasting

 

Thanks to all for their replies to my questions. I will probably remove the old undercoating and then decide whether or not to re-apply new stuff.

 

I'm planning on tintable RaptorLiner (catalyzed bedliner). Greg from Greg's Garage did it on his Karmen Ghia and it turned out very nice.
I know ClassicJaguar has some in their blogs with the underside painted up like the body but that is probably most appropriate for a trailer queen with mirrored garage floors.

 

Wheel wells (rear) on my 68 series 1.5 are primer red.