Today Moss Motors released a set of videos called Identifying And Finding A Short Circuit. It’s a good primer for the novice before attempting any electrical work on an old car:
To lighten the mood let’s throw some Lucas bashing in the mix:
Lucas – Inventor of the first intermittent wiper.
Lucas – Inventor of the self-dimming headlamp.
The three position Lucas switch – Dim, Flicker and Off.
Why do the English drink warm beer? Lucas refrigerators.
What is the motto at Lucas Electric? A good day’s work and Home Before Dark
The Original Anti-Theft Device – Lucas Electrics.
Back in the 70′s, Lucas decided to diversify its product line and began manufacturing vacuum cleaners. It was the only product they offered which did not suck.
“I have had a Lucas pacemaker for years and have never had any trou…”
Today the Keno Brother’s will stage their first autmotive auction in New York and offer 40 of the finest cars they could find. One is this first-year 1961 Jaguar Series I Roadster chassis 875323 with an estimate of $390,000 to $590,000USD.
Having just benefitted from a ground-up restoration by Classic Showcase in Califronia, this Opalescent Bronze roadster on white-wall tires really stands out. Classic Showcase are the predominant E-type restorers in America and took special lenghs to ensiure accuracy with the Butler license lights, voltage regulator, generator, starter, Dunlop master cylinders, sealed-beams.
Being among the first 400 E-Type’s produced chassis 875323 has many interesting one-year features such as the outside bonnet latches, a pumpkin-colored cylinder head and black-oxide fasteners.
Once our BJ8 project was stripped bare and blasted, we then had a unique opportunity to address the weakness of the original design and deal with any present or future problems.
We trusted Steven Gicas to do the job. Trained by Roy Moore for Jetstream, he has put together several of the Hugh’s brothers Healeys and will be working on more Healeys in the future.
After cutting away the inner, intermediate and outer sills, we decided under Steven’s guidance to replace all 10 floor board pieces. These were simply tacked onto the chassis by the factory with little regard to corrosion protection between the floor and chassis. Steven applied weld-through primer the entire ‘sandwich’ surface which when combined with seam sealer should outlast the intended lifetime of the structure. This also refreshed the flanges that the inner sill attaches to.
We also spent considerable money to get the fenders, doors, sills, shut panels and hinge panels sufficiently lined up. Steven weighed down the chassis to mimic the 690 lb engine and transmission, but I would recommend leaving the engine in for this process otherwise.
This leaves the Healey ready for Trevor Black to do final bodywork and prepare it for one his superb topcoats. It will be going back to its original hue of dark Britsh Racing Green GN25.
A service shop full of nothing but E-Types and a parts department to build an entire new E-Type: XKs Unlimited has it all.
As a precursor to our Monterey Car Week, we headed down to San Luis Obisbo to XKs Unlimited. This is the same company that has saved our bacon in a pinch and provided the many specific parts E-Type parts on request. Pete in ordering knows every E-Type part number off the top of his head.
The facility itself is setup into two distinct operations, that being service and parts. XKs does full service and restoration work, leaving only the paint work outsourced. The parts take up a bulk of the space and are ordered in a small showroom. This time around we spotted the E-Type racecar owned by XKs Unlimited president Jason Len.
In this building is nothing but Jaguar Parts.
a peek inside the parts warehouse.
Jason Len’s E-Type racecar in the showroom.
A closer look at Jason Len’s potent E-Type racecar with bespoke bits everwhere.
Today the annual English Car Affair in the Park at the Fort Rodd Hill & Fisgard Lighthouse National Historic Park, Colwood, BC was held by the The Old English Car Club OECC.
Centered in field was a great display of MGAs surrounded by many of the great cars from the local area.
Interesting debuts included Malcom Mackenzie’s freshly restored Triumph GT6 and Paul Watkin brough along a very rare 1981 Aston Martin V8 Volante.
We also spent some time with Cam and Karen of Coventry Woodworks to see the incredible wooden dashboard restoration for our Austin Healey BJ8 project.
Upholstery and Trimming area
the work-in-progress dashboard for our BJ8 restoration.
