I had my green MK2 repainted last summer. Admittedly I have not had much time to devote to the project, but every time I decide to get stuck in, I baulk at the shear difficulty of trying to put this car back together. I have restored and rebuilt quite a few American cars in my time, but this (and my other MK2 ) are the first British cars I have tackled. I tried to get the rear bumper back on this week. I cannot even get the bolts started. I figured out that I have the rubber strip that goes between the bumper and the rear bodywork, but of course I don't have the chrome end pieces, and the Complete Rubber kit I bought doesn't have the clips.
So leaving the rubber strip out (I know - you can't fit it later without removing the bumper), what is the sequence for reassembling the bumper to the car?

 

In theory, you fit the rubber strip, then refit the bumper installing the 2 rear bolts first and then the 2 side mounts, it should be fairly straight forward, it's fiddly to get the bolts in as there isn't much room, a helping hand may make life easier.

I assume you have trial fitted the bolts to the mounts to make sure they fit without the bumper offered up ?

 

Thanks, I'll give it another try today.

 

These are very heavy bumpers, so it really needs somebody to take the bumper weight whilst getting the securing bolts in. Whilst I did this myself in the late 80s, I can't remember whether one first loosely bolts the mounts to the bumper than offer the bumper and mounts up to the body or vice versa.

 

To get the two securing bolts into position is a pain since the head end is heavy and tends to want to fall out of position! I found that a mate had to support the bumper in place, with a suitable support underneath in case of slippage, then offer the bolt and jam it in place with a piece of wood or whatever, then using a thin open ended spanner turn the bolt. Eventually, with keeping pressure on the head of the bolt with the piece of wood and small turns with the spanner a bite can be established!! It is a real pain. Good luck.

 

Alphatrev,
Didn't realize that you are in Sarasota. My wife and I just today returned to Virginia after a couple of months at Siesta Key!

My friend and forum contributor Eric Kriss posted this information on his website regarding the installation of the rear bumper. I have not tried it myself, but you might want to give it a look.

Modified rear bumper mount - Jaguar Mk2 Restoration

Lin

 

I forgot that info Lin, read his site some while ago, great tip.

 

I saw this car on ebay today. Look like a fun project- running V8 conversion.


Guess the bumper was the last straw.

 

I did get the bumper on. I used the reverse longer bolt method but I had to use smaller bolts in the end brackets to get them through the holes.

My main problem is time. I bought the car a year ago to give me something to drive while building my 62 MK2 Coupe. The coupe will take me years to do, and I will probably have to retire just to find the time. I got the 1964 car painted last August (it was green) thinking I would get it back together fairly quickly, but these things just linger on. Now I regret taking on another car as they are both just sitting there is various stages of disassembly. So I decided to see if someone else wants to take it on at this stage.

The other thing is that my wife said 'Stop messing around with all these old cars you never drive, and just go buy something nice and drive it." So I did. I bought a 2014 XKR. Now I don't want to drive anything else.

 

Good luck with the sale. It is a beautiful paint job!


Yes- I can't imagine having a full time job and restoring two cars. The MK2's take a lot of time.