Jaguar MK2 2.4 Restoration Project
 

Hi All,

Was just relaxing from restoring my 3.8 when this came along:
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...3c6a5b3231.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...b82ae1eb50.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...943ca5dd2d.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...07f389d0d0.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...813a6fd393.jpg
Its a 1967 2.4 Auto super special lightweight version as nature has reclaimed a fair bit of it :icon_special:

Seriously its rough and even the tops of the chassis rails in the engine bay have rusted out, dread to think what the under side of them is like when I start digging!

I'm not sure what to do with it, whether to restore as standard, fit a bigger engine, manual box or even a full XJR running conversion like Doug (although not sure about that one with the UK IVA). On things for sure I don't have to worry about keeping this one standard unlike the last one so I can choose a colour, i'm thinking burgundy but a lot of time to think about that.

All I know about it so far is its a 1967 car, E reg, has reclining seats and appears to have last been on the road in 1977 (tax disk in the car and also still on crossply tyres.

I need just about every panel in Martin Robeys catalogue for it so if anyone in the UK has anything left over that they would be prepared to sell and post for a reasonable price drop me a line!

Ouch, I like a challenge but that looks like a £25K parts bill and a labour of love !

Would love to see what the underside looks like !

That one looks like a project and a half...

Good luck!

Will get some pictures of the underside to post up, whats left of it anyway! The front chassis rails are totally rotten but otherwise it wants:

Inner and outer sills
Front arches both sides
Front crossmember, crows feet etc.
Repairs to inner wings
Repairs to front floor
Baffle panels under front wings
All door skins
Rear spring hangers both sides
Repairs to inner rear arches
Rear Valance
Rear tonneau panels
Bootlid
Bonnet
Repairs to front wing nose cone
Repairs under rear seat.

On this one the front chasis rails are bad, on the last one it was the panel behind the back seat and all around the rear window, otherwise they are pretty similar. I reckon the last one cost less than 10K and I reckon I can do this the same if I shop around (panels from ebay and spares days rather than full price).

As the metalwork and bodywork is the bit I love I wanted a challenge and it was cheap.

Sounds much like my parts list ! I have another one with a similar list too !!! Don't you just love a challenge, what fun you have ahead Homer

Is that 10K finished ? Or just metalwork/body and mechanical's

This is what I have spent in the last 4 weeks Chrome work £2500, Interior £3500, you have a whole set of wood to deal with too, I may have to employ you as my buyer if you can get the whole refurb for 10K

I guess it depends on what you want, what you are prepared to do and how lucky you are, for example I just bought a front crossmember, inner and outer sills, front jacking points and crowsfeet as new panels today for £350 from someone with a failed restoration, would have been £6-700 from Martin Robey. I will probably buy a second hand interior and better chrome which will be good but not perfect. I have a very understanding wife which helps.

I ought to add up the bills on the last one but I be I spent around 10K, of course I kept the original seats and some of the chrome which helped financially and also preserved as much of the originallity of the car. I don't need to worry so much about this one so can choose a better colour than the 'primer grey' of the other one (my cousin saw it in the garage when it was finished and asked what colour it was going to be painted as he thought it was in primer).

I have plenty of time to collect parts and with my current commitments I think this will take at least 5-10 years so can wait for a good deal on bits,

I'm also not sure about what to do because if I go the XJR route the cost of mechanical parts drop dramatically as a good XJR with rust/damage is around £1000-1500 and I can use most of the bits straight from this with very little work.

I do quite fancy restoring it as a 2.4 though just because they arn't that popular so there arn't as many about as people tend to put bigger engines in. I do think its nice to resotre the less loved classic cars, thats one of the reasons I love my MK2 sprite, not as popular as a frogeye and not as practical as the later cars with folding hoods and wind up windows.

I had a poke around the chassis rails earlier and the off side one is really bad so need to strip it and see whether I can save it or whether a new one will be required. Its going to be interesting as I can't fit it to the rotissery with the chassis legs as they are, not sure yet whether to make a frame to fix it elsewhere but if I do where do I fix it to?

One things for sure, It will keep me out of mischief for many years to come! (and on here asking questions!).

You make a very good case there Homer, whenever I have found repair panels for sale they have wanted the same price or more than I can get them from Robey's so being in the right place at the right time makes a huge difference, guess that's where the luck comes into play.

Not perfect interior and chrome would also be a huge saving, I was going to re-use a lot of the chrome on mine, but when I offered it up to the fresh paint it looked shabby so I got it all re chromed so as you say it's what you want. The other Mk2 that's sat waiting for resto has usable seats etc, but they will look a lot older, so that is food for thought, the general feel of that one will be much more worn, so imperfect chrome would look much more in place.

The rotisserie question is another good point, it was a right pain doing the front end of my current project before I could get it on the rotisserie and I have the same issue with the next one, I won't get onto the other project until after Christmas, but will look at that, what timescale are you looking at to start yours ? If we work this right, between us we could come up with a frame plan and both use the same one, we are close enough for me to drive up. (I can see some cost /time saving there too!) Ideally the frame would adapt to existing rotisserie/s, but also stay clear of the front cross member.

Post some pics of what's left on the front end and your rotisserie and we can exchange some ideas.

Hi Homer
I do know of 2 mk2 jags that have had the bodys put on xjr floor pans,
I have a 4.2 v8 with manual box in my mk2,

Looking forward to this, Plenty of pics please when you start cutting and welding! As your considering not going totally original like your 3.8 i reckon a 4.2 XK6 and a manual box would be cool :)

Well i've started to strip it down and as expected the chassis legs are terrible/non existent. When I took the front axle/beam out the engine started to drop!

For some reason I can't get a picture to load tonight, will try again tommorrow.

you can make some chassis legs out of 60mm x 60mm box if you wanted,and the front cross member same,

You could use that for the rails running under the floor, but the Vee mounts wont fit if used at the front, and there is a lot of fabrication required for the front and cross member to allow for attachment of the bumper brackets etc. You'd be braver than me to try that on the front end.

Homer, can you post some pictures, been giving some thought to getting it on the rotisserie and was interested to see what the extent of the corrosion is.

I've added a picture below of the chassis rails, they arn't good and the base of the inner wing is weak/rotten so it will need this repairing as well.

Interesting David Manners do a repair for the chassis rail which seems longer than the Martin Robey one as it includes the curve section in the picture, they are £300 per side though so going to have to sweet talk the wife into letting me buy them!

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...15180fc087.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...0ff1e14572.jpg

That is interesting, I thought they got their repair panels from Robey's, SNG show the same part as Robey under the same part No as Manners,

The rust generally goes past the straight section onto the curve as you have, so having the extra length would be a real bonus.

Can you post a pic showing inside the engine bay now the engine is out, are the sections that come from below the screen by the A posts to the chassis rails intact ? That is where I am thinking a frame could be attached to get it on the spit, but you would need to get the frame in before you cut out the front crossmember to keep the clearance intact.

I remember watching a programme, (I think it might have been car SOS) where they went to David Manners and they were making their own door skins. I seem to recall that David Manners used to sell two types, one was their own and the other was Martin Robey's and there was a slight price difference. I queried it on the last project but in the end of a second hand never fitted set came up at the right price and I used those (I like a bargain!). Before this I had always assumed that Robeys made everything but maybe not.

I will get some photos with the engine out and post them up, interestingly with the car on stands on the chassis rail near to the front jacking points the front doors become difficult to close, not terrible but you just notice a slight resistance that isn't there when on its wheels. Need to be careful when welding it up to ensure that the doors sill fit, i'm thinking that I will strip all the weight out the doors and leave them and the chrome frames in so I can check that it hasn't moved. Will need to brace the doors apartures before removing the sills on this one.

I would expect this with the engine in but as it is I wouldn't have thought this would be a problem.

Next step is to strip it to a shell, scrape off the underseal and send it to the blasters. Should be ready around this time next year!

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...d715c2778a.jpg

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...ffad4ea278.jpg

I've uploaded some more pictures of the front chassis rails, looking at it I think I could probably fix to the rail by the pedal boxes and down to the chassis rails where they are good (probably weld on), however, as my rotisserie only fixes to each end and doesn't have a bar from front to back i'm concerned about the effect of the leverage on it.

I may need to put a bar front to back to counteract this, however, looking at it I may just be better to replace the chassis rails first then get in on the rotisserie.

On another note, is anyone able to measure the distance between the engine mounting plates on the chassis rail so I can make sure I get this bit right? I'm assuming that the front sub-frame will set this but it would be good to double check this.

PM me your email and I will email you the dimensions you need to set the front end up.