Touring and tuning – Workshop update

We genuinely believe that XKs are probably the best classic cars for touring. Sure, we are biased but hear us out. They offer the perfect balance of performance, practicality and comfort. A well sorted XK is a comfortable and pleasurable car to cover mile after mile on the motorway, especially when fitted with a five-speed gearbox and good sound deadening. On twisty country roads, a trial or a track they have plenty of power on tap without having to rev the engine excessively and risk damage. When in good condition the handling and brakes are more than up to the job and there are plenty of upgrades to assist with this. The seats are comfortable and there is enough room for luggage for two people along with spares and tools. Indeed, if you are so inclined you can get some excellent sets of fitted luggage for XKs and E-Type such as those from Classic Traveling Luggage. Our full nut and bolt restorations really embrace all this and are designed and built with a view to the being the best possible cars for touring. Reliability, comfort and performance are always our goal.
In this weeks’ update we have a look at a couple of classics struggling with overheating problems, catch up with some of our restoration work and show off a wonderful variety of XKs and E-Types.

Jaguar XK120 OTS inspection

This Jaguar XK120 was on the ramp for a full check through and inspection prior to going on sale. Many view the XK120 OTS or ‘Roadster’ as the purest and best of the XK range. It is hard not to appreciate the clean lines and uncluttered look of the early cars along with other charming touches such as separate chrome side lights. Indeed, sporting steel wheels as this car is they really do look the quintessential 1950’s British sportscar.
Each car that comes in for sale here at Twyford Moors receives a full inspection and evaluation prior to being accepted and marketed. That way buyers can rest assured that we have thoroughly assessed the car and we are able to clearly communicate the condition of the car. From the good bits and the not so good bits our aim is to help buyers understand the car they are looking at inside out.

Jaguar E-Type Partial Restoration

It is always an exciting time for us when we are finally able to reunite an owner with their beloved classic car. In the case of our usual restoration’s owners can be without their cars for anything from 18 months up to 2 years. This E-Type however has been away from its owner for some 5 years! We have been following the progress of this Series 1.5 E-Type for some months now since it was bought into us as a painted body tub and a pile of rusty and oily bits. The owner had taken it to be resprayed 5 years previously and the car had been stripped down, repainted it and then left in a corner. The owner then brought it to us last summer to have the project completed. Having never intended a full restoration a careful eye was kept on the budget and parts were reused, refurbished or replaced in the most economical way.
We are delighted with how the car has come out now it is completed. It is certainly greater than the sum of its parts, looks great and is a joy to drive. We wish owner and car many happy years of motoring together.

Jaguar XK140 Restoration

In the past few updates, we have followed progress on this XK140 drophead coupe which is in the process of having a full nut and bolt restoration so we felt it worth keeping the continuity and giving you another peek. When we left off last time the engine was just about to be fitted to the car. As can be seen here the engine and gearbox are now in place and progress is continuing with fitting the car up. All the electrical equipment is being fitted and, in the picture, you can see the fuse boards, the uprated wiper system, the DB10 relay, flasher relay and a relay for the cooling fan. Also fitted is the original regulator box which is no longer required as the car will be fitted with an alternator. We have removed the insides of the regulator box and created a hidden extra fuse board. This way all the electrical additions such as power steering and electric cooling fan can run independently of the cars’ standard wiring thus avoiding additional load.
The car is now having its stater motor, carburettors and inlet manifold fitted whilst our electrician continues to run in the wiring. We will share further progress with this car in future posts.

Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Paint

We have known this 4.2 litre E-Type for quite some years and as it lives quite locally, we get the pleasure of seeing it out on the road from time to time. Over the past couple of year, due to the pandemic no doubt, the E-Type has been conspicuous by its absence. Now after some time off the road it has returned to us to be recommissioned for the road.
We started by carrying out a full inspection of the car and found some of the usual failed seals and perished bushes which are typical of a classic car which has been off the road for some time. We also found that the rear axle was suffering with very leaky output shaft seals. 
With all the mechanical work attended to the owner asked us to have a look at a few paint issues. Notable the paint on one edge of the bonnet had bubbled up quite badly. It seems from other corrosion on the car that this side of the car parked close to a damp wall which had caused a number of issues after two years of storage. This minor corrosion dealt with, the car once again looks tip top and is ready to get back out on the road in 2022.

Jaguar XK140 OTS Upgrades

This Jaguar XK140 OTS is in with us for an extensive programme of improvements and upgrades. The car is a sound running and driving XK in overall good condition but the owner wants to take it to the next level both cosmetically and mechanically. The brief here is to create a usable and reliable classic car.
As can be seen here the car has had the interior and electrics stripped out and the engine and gearbox removed. The engine bay is currently painted black and will be repainted whilst the engine is out. The engine will also receive some tlc whilst it is out with new core plugs, a cooling system flush, some oil leaks attended to and finally a clean, detail and repaint. The gearbox will be removed and upgraded with a five-speed unit. The car will receive a full rewire as the electrical systems had become unreliable and the wiring was in poor condition. With a view to increase reliability an alternator, electric cooling fan, electronic ignition and a radiator expansion tank will be fitted. Once complete this is going to be a fantastically reliable and useable car.

Jaguar E-Type touring

This lovely Series 1 E-Type belongs to Sarah of Classic Travelling. Classic Travelling was founded in 2003 by Sarah Dowding, who is a life-long car and driving enthusiast with a love of travel. Sarah and Classic Traveling have put on countless wonderful events since 2003 and you can be sure of a well organised, planned and enjoyable tour with them.
Sarah has entrusted her E-Type to us ahead of Classic Travelling’s Jaguar 100th Anniversary Tour. Celebrating 100 years since the foundation of Swallow Sidecars which went on to become SS Cars and ultimately Jaguar.  The tour has been inspired by Norman Dewis’s famous dash from Coventry to Geneva in 77 RW, a Series 1 E-Type, and will take in other famous Jaguar landmarks along the way. The tour will start in Coventry, home of Jaguar, taking in drinks and dinner at Coventry Guildhall, Gaydon, Wappenbury Hall, Arras, Reims, Geneva, the Emil Frey Museum, Brussels Autoworld and the Jabekke Highway. Full mechanical support is included, with good hotels, great food, fascinating visits and plenty to make every Jaguar lover smile. For more information on what promises to be a wonderful tour please get in touch or visit Classic Travelling’s website.

Jaguar XK150 restoration

We have been following progress on this Jaguar XK150 restoration over the past few months. When we last shared and update, we showed the dashboard fitted in place, the wiring being completed and working underway fitting various interior components ahead of trim. With this work complete the car has now been moved around and onto one of our ramps before having the interior trimmed. Here one of our expert mechanics will check though every mechanical aspect of the car. The suspension has been set up, the hydraulic systems have been blead out and the suspension has been set up. The engine has now been started up for the first time, tuned and run up to temperature. Next the car will be put on its wheels and can be driven within our yard to allow the suspension to settle and any final tweaks to be made. 
Once we are content with all the mechanical and electrical systems on the car it will then be trimmed. This way if we do run into any issues, we do not have to spend time removing nice new trim or risk damaging it. Finally, the car will have the last few chrome parts fitted and be road tested ahead of being delivered to the owner.

Jaguar E-Type Series 3 Overheating

This V12 E-Type has a wonderful history having been in the same family ownership from new. It is such a privilege to work on such special cars which clearly mean so much to their owners. This car had been suffering with overheating, rough running and hot starting problems. These issues had become so bad that the owner was starting to lose confidence in the car.
On inspection of the car, we found several issues contributing to these problems. First of all the coolant was very thick and murky. It looked as though it two different types of coolant had been mixed. This can’t have been flowing around the engine well. We also found that the 20-year-old cooling fan sensor which was fitted to the fins of the radiator rather than in the waterways somewhere. This sensor was only bringing the fans in for a very short period and then switching off as the fans drew air across the sensor without actually bringing the internal water temperature down. This was allowing the car to get hotter and hotter. We have replaced cooling fan thermostatic switch with and adjustable unit fitted into one of the radiator top hoses so it will sense the actual water temperature.
With the overheating issues attended to we set about getting the car running correctly and the hot start issue. Much of the hot start issue was probably being caused by the car running too hot but we also found that the carburettors enrichening screws were seized and that the car was running lean. This would certainly exacerbate any hot starting problems. With the carburettors freed off and set up correctly the car once more runs beautifully and we hope will give the family many more years of enjoyment.