Starting to work through all of the projects. First up: Door Panels

Very Nice Job Scott ! It sure all takes time huh ! The nice part is you get it just like you want. This isn't work. It's a combination of skill, interest, technique and satisfaction all combined from a thought and/or desire.........Bruce

Uh oh...lunatic alert.

You, Scott, are a man after my own heart. You notice details. It's a damn curse, I say!

A madness...

Very nice work!

Excellent craftsmanship!  It is very near and clean...great job!

Good work, I like it, Ed a good dose of OCD helps all builders

While I absolutely bought this little car to drive (and not have the stress of a owning a real one), I am definitely a bit of a stickler on details. This little mess I created on another car kind of sums it up - ha! (yes, I combed through pics trying to count rivets and determine spacing - yet somehow I cant keep my garage clean........)

The craziest ones always love British **** and rivets.

Jaguar C-Type?

Hi Lane -

Yep. The build took four years. Right before the aluminum body was started we were contacted by gentleman who had recently retired from boeing and was getting into car stuff. He offered to build a carbon body for the car. Being as close to an exact reproduction as we could muster, we sort of brushed him off. However, after realizing that the body mounts would not be altered and the entire front and rear clamshells were simply bolt on (and could be swapped back to aluminum at any time)  we went for it. I like watching the looks on peoples faces when we open the bonnet at a car show.

The car weighs nothing, is far more powerful that the original, and is running 1953 Dunlop racing re-pops. It is a beautifully violent car. Here are some pics:

Gawd, that is gorgeous!!!

Magnificent!!!!!  😱👍

WAAAAAANT!!

That Jag.

 

 

 

Wow.

Seriously. Sometimes I fool myself into thinking I'm a fabricator. Then I see stuff like this and realize that I'm just a monkey with a socket set. You sir, are the real deal.

Oh no no no.... building that car involved several folks. I wish I had that kind of talent. 

Quick back story: I have a D-type that was built in the early 90's. It is my mistress (way more so than the C type). When I found the car it was in rough shape, and started the process of getting it the way I wanted. In my quest for parts, I kept ending up dealing with the same guy. Not wanting to pay a middle man, I asked him where he was getting them. He replied that he was making them. I am talking crazy stuff - like cast hinges and beautiful brass fittings. He was an ex jag mechanic, that ended up as a nuke engineer in the navy. Decided I needed to meet this gentleman. When I got to his shop (pole barn) the amount of parts and cars was amazing. On his one workbench was a frame - a c type. he had owned the original car back when they were worth very little. After selling it, It had been subsequently raced and crashed hard. He somehow had received the frame back and had decided it was not fixable, so he was going to duplicate it and build up a car, with the intention of selling it. A deal was struck and we purchased the unbuilt car that day. He knew the cars very well, but still planned on simplifying lots of things - basically build a driver that more or less looked the part. Conversely, we wanted it perfect - down to the print font on the reverse rotation tach. We researched like crazy. He built what he could and farmed out what he couldn't. We sourced and built sub assemblies. There are a ton of "real" parts on that car - including the cylinder head.

It was quite the process. 

Very cool, Scott (the door panels and Jag replica). Al

Love it...

Those guys are out there, building under the RADAR.  When we were rebuilding our Austin Healey BJ7 I was told of a guy who rebuilds transmissions (those 150 pound wonders) and overdrive units - Quantum Mechanics.  I think he was once in the Nuke field, too.  His shop looks like it's right out of Oxford England, transplanted to Oxford, Connecticut.  You drop off your O/D unit or tranny on the day he tells you, and pick it up two weeks later, no more, and it is PERFECT.

Yup, they're out there.  You guys should follow Wray Schelin of ProShaper on Facebook.  He has several outstanding projects underway, including an aluminum 550 Spyder and a Studebaker "concept car" copied from an artist's sketch - the real thing was never built, til now.  and as Wray will tell you, "Doing the sheetmetal is the easy part" (relatively, I'm sure, given Wray's talent - gn).  "The hard part is everything underneath!"

Once you get into it, it's all "the hard part."

I bumped into Wray at a funeral, yesterday, and was talking about all of the projects he has cooking with his metal working classes (like, half a dozen different cars and a commercial Still) and how his students really blossom in his classes.  Obviously, people coming to his classes have some talent to start with and a desire to learn more, but he is really tickled that they quickly learn how to do much more than they ever expected, and just in a few days.  Wray is a Rock Star and his students are all Super Stars.  I am so lucky to live nearby and can drop in from time to time to see what's happn'in.  Plus, the best BBQ joint in New England is just down the street!

Just found these pics on my phone. Here is the D.

Back when race cars were beautiful.  I...  need a moment, folks.  Sigh...

Gordon...Do you have an email for Wray ? I  have some questions that he may be able to help me with.........Bruce

Yup.  

508-347-7749

wesparts@charter.net

http://www.proshaper.com

Thanks Gorden............Bruce

@ScottS, when you said the original steel top garnish didn't fit the replica door, is it due to the door being shorter? because the original top garnish could be cut down a little and have new ends welded on. . or was there another fitment issue? I'm asking because I was planning to attempt the same thing, buying an original top garnish. . I'd buy yours if you still had them. .

The original garnish wraps the top edge of the door and then protrudes into the cabin a bit further than the replica stuff. At the time I was a much bigger guy due to an unknown illness. This caused the factory garnish to be uncomfortable against my shoulder/side and make the seat almost feel off center toward the middle of the car. They are steel, wrapped in leather/vinyl, so it was not like leaning up against a soft pad. It would most likely not be an issue for me now.

On a side note, one other thing the factory door top does: If you correct the dash  upholstery to correctly cover all the way to the door jamb and add the pad, the overhang of the factory door top creates the correct alignment between the edge of the dash upholstery  and the door top upholstery. 

Thanks for the info. I believe the replica doors are about 1” more narrow than the originals. I imagine I’ll have to cut them in half, remove that 1” from the middle, then weld back together. .

Agreed. I would also recommend checking the alignment of the side curtain pins. It could be easier to make a few cuts vs having to mess with moving the pin mounting points.

Thank you Scott.

now I just need to bite the bullet and spend the $700+ on the rails, plus the cost of the aluminum strips. . Do you have any leads on more affordable suppliers? I’ll probably buy from Sierra Madre over Thanksgiving weekend. Hoping for some Black Friday discounts ; )

Thanks

If you're willing to vary a bit from the original look you could do as I did and make some nice wooden rails for the door tops.  I used sapele mahogany with faux rivets and then had my buddy Mike Lempert make a matching steering wheel.  Its a different look from stock, but I liked it.  The cost of the door tops was limited to the materials and a little time - all in under $50 if I recall.