A New Year and a new
Classic Jaguar XK Project

'Project 140'

Re-Building a 1955
Jaguar XK140 FHC
Part 2 of 4

Well it's three months later on and the restoration project is well under way.

Adam at AMR Tech Logistics has thrown his all into the car and stripped everything back to the bare metal. Notwithstanding, many of the panels have had to be replaced due to either damage or rust.

We started with the boot and quickly realised that the boot panels had to be replaced with new ones as the battering the car took going across the stretches of China and Mongolia et al, had taken their toll on the bodywork.

The chassis thank goodness, has not thrown up any surprises, but the cosmetics have been sadly neglected for such a pretty car.

The door pillars had taken a lot of punishment and an ‘A’ Frame was damaged and just filled. This has now been properly welded and a crease in the roof has been removed. The ‘B’ Pillars have been either straightened or replaced with new metal to the original specification and doors are again showing perfect ‘Shut’ Lines.

The bonnet has 26 Louvres cut into it by James Sidwell and it looks very racy indeed and front wing steel sidelight housings have been replaced and all-round welded in and not just tack-welded in place.

The front wings lower ¼’s we found had been damaged in the past and just fibre-glassed over to look ‘OK’. So Adam and I agreed that new Lower ¼ Front wings should be welded in.

Yesterday I picked up the new Petrol Tank for the car. It has been built to the original shape and specification, only this time in aluminium. A very professional project carried out by Aubrey Finburgh at Classic Autos. The wooden Dipstick adds to the period racing authenticity.

The engine and gearbox have been shipped down to Sigma Engineering in Gillingham in Dorset, for a complete re-build in line with FIA Appendix ‘K’ requirements and both items are nearly ready for installation and running-in once the rest of the car has been fettled.

Mike Presgrave at MotoTrim is taking care of the new period Bucket Seats to be trimmed in Suede Green leather and will also include new door trimming to match.

Finally, I took the car to ‘Caged’ in Dorset to have a full Roll Cage fitted to the car in readiness for the first race day. Phil Squance and his chaps have done a fantastic job and it really strengthens the body shell.

That’s it so far. In words it doesn’t sound a lot, but in reality, a lot of work has been undertaken to get this far. It will be Autumn time when I write Part III, but for now it’s over and out from,

John D Roberts