Back to Goodwood - Workshop update

As Spring pushes on we remain very busy in the workshop. Cars are in and out for servicing and the store is gradually emptying as cars are prepared and returned to their owners. We are finally settling back into what feels like a more familiar working pattern after a very unusual twelve months. This bank holiday Monday we were even back at Goodwood for the first time in far too long.
In this weeks update we look at two fully restored XK140 drop heads, an E-Type back from paint, power steering and a pair of XK race cars.

Jaguar Drivers Club Goodwood Track Day

This bank holiday Monday saw the Jaguar Drivers Club track day at Goodwood. This is always a great event with a real variety of Jaguars taking to the track. This year was no exception with everything form XK120s to a rather lairy supercharged modern XK which you could hear whistling from the other side of the circuit. Sadly, said supercharged XK ended up being black flagged for noise but it was great fun to watch whilst it lasted! There was a very good showing of E-Types celebrating their 60th year.
We had prepared the XK120 pictured here for the track day. We have known this XK for some years and used to look after it alongside out XK150 in the XK Challenge back when Ian and Nik raced. This XK120 really is good fun on a track day and it was lovely to see the driver come back in with big smiles after each session. It certainly was a delight to be back at this kind of event and great to see Goodwood and the Jaguar Drivers Club run the even in a successful and safe manner.

Twyford Moors XK140 'Reggie'

'Reggie' is the Twyford Moors XK140 DHC. He was named by Lyn in the office and despite many protests that cars should have female names it appears to have stuck. We followed the restoration of this car from start to finished. To read the full article and see what goes into one of our full restorations please click the 'Full Restoration' tab on our website.
Since being restored this XK140 has attended shows and taken part in many tours. It is lovely to have a fully restored car like this which we are able to get out and use. It allows us to demonstrate that these cars are built to be used and how reliable an XK can be in good condition.
This year has been so busy in the workshop that we are a little bit behind on getting Reggie out of the store. Customers come first! The car is now out, has been checked through and is ready to be used. We will also be testing a new upgrade to try to make the notoriously vague XK fuel garage more accurate this year so watch this space for update.

Jaguar E-Type respray

We featured this lovely 3.8 Series 1 E-Type roadster a few weeks ago when we were stripping it down pre-paint. The car has now been painted and polished and is ready to be built back up. Whilst the car was being painted the chrome work was sorted through and several items have been re-chromed to bring them up to the standard of the rest of the car. The parts which didn't need re-chroming have been cleaned and polished and new rubbers are ready to be fitted throughout the car. Now begins the careful task of building the car back up and the particularly tricky task of making an E-Type watertight.
As with many of the E-Types we have been working on recently this car is being spruced up ahead of the E-Type 60 weekend at Shelsley Walsh on the 12th and 13th of June. This event, run by the E-Type Club and XK Club, promises to be a wonderful weekend of classic cars, music and motorsport. Visit the E-Type 60 website for more details.

Classic Car storage

The stunning Jaguar XK140 DHC pictured was fully restored here at Twyford Moors a couple of years ago. Since then, it has been enjoyed by the owner and covered many miles. It has toured all over the UK and Europe, attended many classic car shows and has become a well-known feature of the XK Club scene.
The owner keeps the car at home during the summer months when the car sees much use but during the winter the car is left in our care. After each summer of use the car is given a check over and a thorough clean before being tucked up in our storage facility where it is kept on trickle charge and checked on periodically. Once Spring comes back around, we collect the car from the store for the owner, carry out a service and MOT and prepare it for collection. We can even offer delivery where required. This way the car is always kept in top condition and is ready for a summer of reliable classic car fun every year.

XK Track Cars

Our bank holiday visit to Goodwood got us thinking about all the different track day and racing cars we have looked after over the years. We have had all sorts through the doors from John Cooper Works Minis to Vauxhall VX4/90s. We have built XK race cars and we have built specials such as the well known and unique XK140 based Gomm Special. Our time taking part in motorsport allowed us to develop and test many of the upgrades which we now use on road cars, particularly engine upgrades such as our rear main oil seal.
Pictured here is our old Jaguar XK150 race car at a Goodwood track day some years ago. Our manager Ian Mills is in the drivers' seat with some brave soul having a passenger ride. By pure coincidence, the XK120 in the picture is also in our workshop currently and will soon be returned to the owner. XKs are such wonderfully engineered cars that in standard form, race prepared or somewhere in-between they are great fun for track days.

Electronic power steering

One of our most popular upgrades is the electronic power steering system. The system utilises an electric motor which is fitted to the steering column behind the dashboard. It leaves the rest of the steering system exactly as it was designed by Jaguar and is completely hidden away behind the under-dash panel. We even fit the system with an on/off switch so you can have assistance when parking, but should you wish to return the steering to normal you just flick the switch off. That way when out on the open road, enjoying a tack day or cruising on the motorway you can drive your XK exactly as it came out of the factory. This of course comes entirely down to how you like to drive and many people like to keep the power steering switched on at all times.
Pictured here is a motor ready to be fitted to an XK120 but we have fitted the system to many different classic cars over the years. We have fitted this system to countless XKs, E-Types, MKIIs, a MKV, MKVIIs, an MGA, a Morris Oxford and many more beside. Please get in touch for more information.