Where to start...
I have always loved and owned old British cars. First love a Hillman Imp, always had one, still have my 1967 Sunbeam Chamois (a deluxe version of the Hillman Imp).
Triumph is a favorite make too. Started (1988) with a Herald 1200. Imported that from Belgium where they were cheaper - being a student I could not really afford a car so it had to be as cheap as possible. But I never wanted to own ordinary cars - no Opel or Volkswagen for me.
The Herald was replaced by a 2000 Mk2. Then a TR4, and an Austin Westminster A110. Then a 2000 Mk1, a Jensen Interceptor Mk1, Triumph 2500 Mk2, finally a Jaguar 420. A couple of these cars I still have, including the 420.

Not sure why but in the last years I got more attracted to 50s styling. Love the Bentley Mk VI, or an AC 2-litre, or a Riley RM. Or a big Jaguar, the Mk IV the ultimate but too expensive, not fond of the Mk V styling. Or a Mk VII - IX...

So I started searching for a Mk VII, I love the early details (split front window, small rear lamps). These are rare in Continental Europe - I wanted a LHD.
Ebay is an interesting place... I had bought cars from Ebay before, a 1959 Rover 90 for my brother which he still has.

Finally found my Mk VII in New York, which was a bonus as shipping costs to Europe are much cheaper from the East Coast. The seller was an old man (according to himself) which wanted to sell his classics. He was not very good in emailing - most was written by him on a phone so had many typo errors and such. Also questions were not always answered or very late.

The main plus point for me was that the car originally came from the Los Angeles area. My experience with cars from there have been very positive: my 1963 TR4 which I bought in 1994 was very good and original, no real rust. My Jag 420 also is very good, a few specks of rust but nothing to worry about.
So I looked with rose-tinted eyes at the 12 pictures of the Mk VII. Body wise it looked OK. The interior was awful, but all there, and I thought I could redo that. Engine was supposedly running. Car was very complete. "some restoration needed" according to the seller.
So we made a deal, he offered to transport the car to the shipping address and I only had to wait a month.

It arrived 6 days ago. We had some trouble pushing it into my garage. Tyres on low pressure, brakes seemed binding, a slight slope to the garage...
The next day I had to leave for the rest of the week for a business trip.
Today was the real first day I could look at the car and start working on it.
First plans are to remove bumpers and interior to have a look at the rust...

Yes rust. I had hoped to have a car with little rust. I do not mind repairing / welding if needed but it is not work I like most. When looking at the car just after receiving I saw that the floors in front of the seats are very bad. Big holes! Also two door bottoms need rust repairs, and what is that behing the dashboard?

So the dashboard was removed - it is very bad. The wood has delaminated, especially the part which goes over the instruments. I am not sure the LH and RH parts are good enough to survive as well. Luckily all other wood is present - around the doors and around the sliding roof. All wood need veneering and varnish.

Now I had a good look at the rust behind the dash. The compartment below the scuttle flap is almost completely rusted away. I can only think this must have been full of water for a long period of time. It probably has leaked onto the floors which are very bad as well. The damp condition worked its way into the wood and also into the bulkhead itself. This contains rust holes.
Aargh!

Pictures: first three are from the seller in New York.

 

Good luck to you. The 1953 Mark VII is my favorite.

 

I am elated to come across this topic because my family did own '52 Mark VII and my dad always express his admiration to the wood work , leather , engine , tranny of that car .
May God speed up on your job and kudos to you for daring such an intimidating restoration job

 

Don't forget it is a chassis car, and this is the part that makes it roadworthy or not. There is quite a lot of commonality in mechanical parts with the XK 120/140 sports cars, the suspension is the same as are the engines, (mostly) and the brakes. The body is huge and expensive to rebuild as is the interior. Wooden dash panels can always be remade, in fact there is a guy in the UK who does them, so there will probably be somebody in the US too.

Big dollars to do a really good job. Wish you all the best and luck too, you need it when restoring !

 

hello, I am new hear and just picked up a 1954 jaguar mark vii which needs a lot of restoration. can you please provide the websites that sell parts for these cars, as to I am missing a lot of parts from the car.mostly body and interior. engine and tranny are complete. thank you

 

The interior is virtually all common to Mark VII, VIII, and IX versions with some slight variations, for instance the Mark IX has a one-piece windscreen. So when you search the internet, enter all the model numbers.

Here is a UK supplier that ships worldwide: -

https://www.worcesterclassicspares.com/mk-vii

Restoring one of these cars is not for the faint-hearted as they were the top-of-the-range Jaguar saloon of their day and the interior is a typical 50s up-market job.

 

badhuis
your car looks more neat than my restoration.
I too had the scuttle on the inside of the car under the wood dash all rusted. I didnt think twice i cut it out.
As the floor slopes towards the doors, you may find like i that the floor panels along the doors are rusted too. I sand blasted the entire car including chassis which i itself was also rusty from sitting for 30 years. Now its shiny like stainless steel.

Im to cut and weld some floor sections , boot floor, front passenger and driver floor areas and reweld some panels in. Did i mention the sills, i didnt llke them so i cut them out too, another weld job.
But after that i see the car lasting another 100 years minimum.
Dont be afraid to cut and weld it all, its a simple car, and welding is easy.
20minutes to cut out a floor panel, and 20 minutes to weld it in.

good luck..
Peter
Mk 7
1999 x308 LWB Sovereign (concours winner)
1980 xj6
1980 Daimler v12 5.3
lusting for a Mk X /420 G
lusting for a bentley S2

 

Hi Peter,

Thank you for your reply on this thread. I must admit I had forgotten that I started this...

Anyway, the Mk VII is now delegated to the back of the garage while I have collected some spares. Some were missing and most of these I now have bought - airfilter box, the pointed steering hub, better wood pieces for the dashboard. What still is missing is the rear window chrome surround - I cannot find that anywhere. And the heater.

While I am all for originality, the missing of this plus the fact that the heater box inside the bulkhead (interior side) needs reconstructing made me think again. In the past years I have installed after market air conditioning units to a couple of classic cars, I think that is the direction I will take. This time I can make a more integrated (ie. not visible from the interior) unit instead of a unit hanging under the dash.

The bumpers were solid and straight but did have fairly substantial rust so they needed rechroming. Or??? I contacted Harrington in Asia who specializes in stainless steel bumpers. They did have bumpers for the Mk VIIa / VIII and IX but not for the early type Mk VII which has a different bumper at the rear. So I made a deal with Harrington. Sent them my originals which they keep as reference, in turn I got a duplicate set in SS for half the normal price. Happy with that!

 

Thank you Mitchell for that. I am sure it will come in handy.