Does anyone have a steel sunroof Mk 2 or know any historical information on these ? Believe there were only about 500 of this option built and the bodies were strengthened at the factory. Understand that they would take a standard body number off the line then modify and give it a new body number. Reason for asking is that during the process of obtaining a Heritage Certificate the body number I provided, which is on the engine bay plate and handwritten behind the rear bumper, (no plate or stamp seen) is different from the number the trust have on record. Curious to see if this is indeed the case as the car appears to be completely original especially with the number behind the rear bumper matching the front plate. Car is a 1961 3.8 litre manual with overdrive and wire wheels and of course the steel sunroof. I will be selling the car soon as have recently bought a 1965 3.8 litre driver.

 

very interesting. I have seen the Fabric sunroof but never the metal panel one.

 

Thanks for the comment and think they were Webasto the fabric style. I have never physically seen any other steel sunroof Mk 2's but there must be some survivors of the 500 out there. Hopefully someone can shed some light on the background to them.

 

yes, the famous Webasto "accordion curtains" as someone called them.

It seems that in the 1959-1961 period a lot of experiments were happening at Jaguar, for example, the aluminium steering column covers or "nacelles" which were used in the very early MK-2 and which few have seen in the flesh.

just imagine the value of your car with a steel sunroof and the aluminium nacelles. Double rarities.

and though your car must be a 1961 Model/Year, it might have been built in 1960.

I also see parts carried over from 1960's Jaguars into 1980's Jaguars, as I have one original example of each period.

 

The body number should be stamped on the channel where the bonnet latch catches, what does that number say ?

 

If I remember correctly, the steel sunroofs were not factory. But I could be wrong. George Camp should be able to tell you if it was a factory option.

 

Steel sunroofs are listed in the optional extras in the parts book page 513, so would assume it was a factory option, also pretty sure they are mentioned in Nigel Thorley's book as a factory option, but have not checked that reference.

 

TilleyJon,
Thanks for correcting me and listing the page of the parts manual.

 

Everyone, thank you for the help. I have just ordered several of the Nigel Thorley books online as they will be useful for me to have to research my 65 3.8 auto and can maybe glean some information from there on this body subject. Do not have a parts manual I'm afraid so can't refer to those pages. To answer the question above the number stamped next to the bonnet latch is 217### which is same as the car number on the main identification plate which says 217###DN. The body number on the main identification plate says SO 149## and the number handwritten behind the rear bumper is 149##. These numbers tie up and I believe SO probably means Special Order which would be the case as I understand it for steel sunroof cars requiring modifications in the factory. The reason I am actually asking the question is that I now have a Heritage Trust Certificate saying the body number I provided (SO 149##) does not match what they have on file. I believe the number they have on file is the body number they took off line to modify with the steel sunroof and they never recorded the new special order SO 149## number. Any further input from anyone would be appreciated as I'm guessing there can't be more than a few of these still in existence and it is in restorable condition. Thanks again.

 

Apologies if I came over that I was, trying to correct you Bob, all our memories are probably not what they used to be, (assuming that most of us are no longer under 30 that is !), that's why I need to refer to documentation on many occasions !

 

Difficult to work out as you have ## out the numbers, but assuming the #'s are equal to the number of digits, the body number should be S0149## the S for 3.8 and the 0 should be a digit not a letter, also the 217###DN should be a later 1961 built car not 1965 which started at 219926.

Appreciate if you wish to keep the details private, but would be helpful if you posted pics of the relevant markings. You could also email Nigel Thorley and ask if he has any further insight, he will email back, but may take a while a he is very busy Nigel Thorley nigel.thorley@jec.org.uk, he is very helpful if he can.

 

Hi TilleyJon,
Don't take what I was saying negatively, no need for apology. I was glad that you had the correct info and it was backed up by the parts manual. Yes 30, was a long time ago :-)

 

I have a 1960 steel sunroof 3.8 mk2. Numbers match the heritage certificate.

 

Here is a picture from the day I picked it up a few years back

.

 

Man !!!
You have to love those copper coloured wheels and that home made battery bracket....
Die Hard on the battery fits this situation !

 

A little further on with getting an answer on this subject.

A forum member suggested I contact JEC and this is the response I received back from the gentlemen who has written several books on Mk 2's.

"On the matter you discuss, as I understood it, steel sunroofed bodyshells were a separate item, virtually hand-made and substituted on the production line when someone specifically asked for such a car. They therefore may have been modified from a standard bodyshell, but they were listed as a separate item."

Therefore I am assuming the number stamped on the main identification plate and handwritten behind the rear bumper is either (A) the original body number before modification or (B) a new number created to document the modified body. The number the Heritage Trust have on file is either (A) or (B) but does not match the number stamped and written on the car. I will need to look for the number stamped under the rear seat which may solve the mystery if I can find one.

I would be interested to learn what the letters LOD mean before the body number 14944 hand written behind the rear bumper.

Not even going to hazard a guess as my theory on SO was wrong.

Just to confirm, there is no stamped or riveted body number on the body behind the rear bumper.

 

I have just read a lovely book written by Brian Martin about his life at Jaguar which gives a good insight into how the factory worked it depicts how the "production line" was an assembly line, and not how we perceive it to be today by any means. A special order would have been taken aside and assembled off line as has been mentioned already.

I was thinking about the hand written numbers on the rear bumper, this was obviously done after paint, but the sunroof modifications must have been done before paint, so if the original body number had been amended, and not documented in the same manner as the rest, this would be a quick visual reference and identification for the workers to know which car they were working on.

Just my opinion, and of course I may well be wrong, I have no idea what LOD would mean, but will keep thinking on that one.

 

Thanks for this info, sounds like another book to get my hands on. Little bit of a mystery but interesting getting to the bottom of it and we're on the right track.

By the way I had thought that LOD may be "Lord of Darkness" but then realized it was not an electric sunroof

 

The latching handle on the sunroof sure looks the same as the one fitted to the MK-IX that was a part of the family when I was a youngster. If Jaguar was fitting metal sunroofs to the MK-IX it certainly seems logical that these were also being fitted to the MK2. My Grandmother said this was the only sunroof that she had encountered which did not leak like a sieve.