A Mostly British Obsession
Valuable, if hard, lessons learned
In an effort to get ready to bolt a few things back onto the car, my friend Paul came by and helped me move the bonnet from the E to a cart I made for the purpose. I always forget how relatively heavy the E-Type bonnet is…even without lights and bumpers it’s probably closer to 200 pounds than 100 pounds, and you don’t want to damage it or the car. (Edited to add another photo.)
Continue reading
After more than 10 years, the E-Type is back in my possession. Charlie, of Classic Car Couriers, brought it up on his flatbed. The alley leading away from Britsport is even worse than the photo shows. Took about five years off my life watching the truck fall into every pothole on the way out!
Continue reading
Mark Jones of Britsport just sent me a few photos of what happened in the paint booth today. Car will sit for a couple of weeks in the booth, and then it shows up here for the big mechanical pieces to go in, and then back for color sanding and polishing before exterior trim and interior.
Continue reading
The E-Type is about to be painted! It’s in the booth and is having a final wet-sand before being sprayed next week.
Continue reading
Here’s the inside of the shop, as you can see I haven’t done a whole lot with the organization of the space. (You can click for a larger image.)
I hope to build in some cabinets and what-not this winter, mainly on the wall where I have a couple of ancient Ferrari posters tacked up (I found a stash from ages ago…anyone for a 1980’s Testarossa poster? I managed to put that one back in the tube). I did get casters onto the metal work tables, they’re now handy for moving close to the action or allowing access to all sides of an unwieldy project.
Continue reading
The GT left today on its journey to the Finger Lakes region of New York state, where it will live with its new caretaker. (The car was actually sold a month or so ago, but I had a few things to take care of and transport had to be arranged, but it’s gone now.)
This is a very nice machine; I’m sorry to see it go. I hope the new owner is happy with the car–long distance sales are tough. I have high standards and try to describe things accurately, but it’s difficult to tell what other folks may be happy with and what they might find disappointing. Hopefully lots of the former and not much of the latter, in this case!
I have the GT on eBay at the moment, moving it would be very helpful to seriously get the E-Type restoration moving again, sadly. I’m not sure eBay is the right venue, but it’s worth a shot, eh? You can see the auction here.
[flickr id=”5976930245″ thumbnail=”original” overlay=”false” size=”original” group=”” align=”none”] My friend Brent came over early Saturday morning to drive the GT to the All British Field Meet in Bellevue, and I rode the BSA down in convoy with him. The trip was relatively uneventful–only a couple of easily retrieved pieces fell off the BSA and the MGB seeped some oil from the oil cooler, but that was the extent of it.
The BSA took first place…out of two bikes. Can’t say I’m proud of that one. The GT, which took third last year when entered in the wrong category (MGB roadsters), this year was entered in the right category–and failed to place, out of eight GTs entered. It’s the curse of “shiny primer” and red wheels, by gum.
[flickr id=”5928736281″ thumbnail=”original” overlay=”false” size=”original” group=”” align=”none”]Those the big-end bearings from a couple of the rods. You should not be able to see copper, and you definitely shouldn’t be able to see big chunks of it flaking off. This bearing had also spun, I believe. Continue reading
[flickr id=”5928736225″ thumbnail=”original” overlay=”false” size=”original” group=”” align=”none”]It turns out the misfiring cylinder was nothing more than a bum spark plug. Took a nice ride this evening: Less comfortable than the BSA–but a heck of a lot smoother and faster! It’s funny how power can affect your perceptions; there are some dotted-line byways where driving the MGB or the F250 you think “there’s not enough road to pass, what were they thinking when they striped this?” On the 955i: “there’s plenty of road to pass here, nice of them to be so generous!”
© 2025 RUSTY HEAPS
Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑