Category: ’61 E-Type (Page 1 of 5)

It only took 15 years, but it did eventually get restored.

Ready to Leave

November 12, 2015 / Roger

The E-Type has found a new home, and I hope the new owner gets a lot of enjoyment out of it! It’s a bittersweet moment, but unfortunately the car had to go as the hole dug getting it finished really needs to be filled in.

Here, the hardtop is in place, but said hardtop needs to be completed–the new owner will be completing that part of the restoration themselves. Depending on how much is left in the “car kitty” once all of the smoke clears, hopefully a new “inmate” here at Rusty Keep will appear soon!

“Finished”…or Close

September 6, 2015 / Roger

Drove the E-Type yesterday!

Top Mostly Topped

August 17, 2015 / Roger

Aside from putting the window seals on the driver’s side and buying another front trim strip to replace the one I just ruined (because, surprise, surprise, it doesn’t fit quite right and kinked while I was adjusting it), the top is mostly done.

Seats, Bumpers…

July 14, 2015 / Roger

I guess I’m getting closer to being done. At this point, it’s waiting for the rear bumpers to get back from the chrome shop, refinishing the top frame (and installing the top), and finishing the dash top.

The dash, sigh–at this point, for expediency’s sake, I’m leaning strongly towards just using the normal replacements readily available, rather than trying to replicate the early car’s thinner dash, much as I’d like to. This car has pretty much soured me on using professionals for much of anything, and I don’t have a good plan for producing a good early dash replica with the means I have available here.

This car will be on the market soon(ish), and if you’re interested, drop me a line. It’s a good 1- to 2+ car using Hagerty’s value guide. It’s a lovely old thing, just wish I could afford to keep it.

Seeing Red

May 4, 2015 / Roger

What would take a pro a couple of afternoons has taken me a month of spare time, but I have most of the interior installed. I only have a few very minor visible mistakes–and I think they’ll be fairly invisible once the seats are in.

E-Type Running Once Again

January 4, 2015 / Roger

It took awhile to get it all back together, and had to wait for new exhaust manifolds, but the car is running again. And it even has third and fourth gear! The most amusing part is that the fix itself took about seven seconds…slip the 3rd/4th syncro hub off and rotate it about 30 degrees, and put it back on. And then reassemble the gearbox, and put the engine back in, etc., etc.

Le Sigh

October 20, 2014 / Roger

Alas, alack, etc.

First Drive in E-Type: Short But Eventful

October 12, 2014 / Roger

I figured it was time to try the E-Type on the road: I’d sit on a cushion, wear sunglasses in lieu of a windshield, and use some trailer lights as temporary brake lights–what could go wrong? The machine has run successfully in the shop, and the addition of a NOS voltage regulator has it charging as expected. Should be a piece of cake, right?

Still Life (Lives?) With Rust

January 28, 2014 / Roger

In case you ever see a photo from this site on CraigsList with some nebulous language suggesting a car is for sale…it’s not me. I’ve had several photos plucked by scumbags over the years–there’s one on the Vancouver B.C. CL right now, look for “1963 MGB” in the “general for sale” area. CL has no mechanism for taking them down, so there isn’t a lot I can do, and I’m too tired to even care. (I’m a little surprised there is anybody ill-informed enough to fall for these type of scams any longer.)

I didn’t feel last week’s photo (which I didn’t post here) was all that great, but above (and below the jump) are four “still lives with rust”, my efforts for this week’s photo. I’m not super-wild about the composition of these, but for 20 minutes of fiddling with ye olde car parts on the bench, taken with my pocket camera, they’ll do.
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52 Photos: Week 2

January 14, 2014 / Roger

My poor XJ6 is, indeed, a daily driver. Roads around here accumulate a lot of muck, and a lot of it sticks to the car! Thankfully it is very rare for it to snow, and hence no salt (car does not go out in the snow in any case). Other shots I liked after the jump.
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