first restoration

[jaybee]

I am now at the point with my first restoration of looking closly at the various chrome bits and pieces, I made an enquiry for the front grill ,the emblem on the bonnet and the boot opener and the four door handles, I recieved a quote of £960, just wondering if thats about right or am I better to try and source the parts already in a better condition??

[Jack]

Is that quote to restore parts that you have got already, or to manufacture parts brand new?

If they are parts that you already have, that is very high in my opinion. My chromer would do that pile for approx half that, probably less.

Assuming that does not include breaking the grille down and putting it back together, you could probably save quite a bit doing that yourself.

The difficulty with the bonnet emblem and door handles is usually as a result of condition - if they are heavily pitted then repairing the material can be very time consuming.

If you found a member with a front grille, emblem, boot opener and four door handles in concours condition, I doubt they would charge as much as that for the parts.

What kind of front grille is it, assume an early model one piece grille if you are chroming it?

Jack.

[jaybee]

thanks for your reply

yes I already have the parts, only two of the door handles seem, to me at least, to be pitted, the front grill is an early one in one piece, I thought the price to be a bit high so will ask around in the meantime if anyone out there has those parts in good condition please let me know, or if you have had dealing with a reliable chromer you would recommend please let me know, no rush on doing this part as I dont imagine the car to be ready for "on the road" driving until the spring

[Jack]

My chromer is good, but based in High Wycombe. They do a huge number of car and motorbike parts, and have always been very good for us.

If you want to find a way for them to get to me I can take them to my chromer for you, I wouldn't advise dealing with them mail order - they get dozens of deliveries every day, and you want to check all parts in and out on jobs like this.

I would get the grille apart yourself to save cost - from memory only a few fittings hold these together, and no problem coating the thing in WD40 to get it apart as it is being rechromed! You also have the luxury of investing time in the job to avoid snapped fittings and any damage to the slats.

Have you checked with JCS? It strikes me that they may well have door handles in good condition, as they are fairly easy to remove from a door rusted beyond repair, but you'd need to call to find out. An early grille may be less likely, but is possible.

Is there enamelling to be done on the front badge? If so, that might be something worth replacing - the cost of rechroming and re-enamelling is probably more than a concours condition badge would sell for even on ebay - again it is a part easily removed from a vehicle or bonnet before it goes for scrap. The later javelin badges come apart with tabs on the back, so can be more easily rechromed and reassembled.

Jack.

[jaybee]

thanks Jack
I will explore replacing the parts first ,but might still come back to with regard to the grill.will post a request in the parts section

[Chris Spencer]

The rear door handles are identical to the Austin Healey 3000 and can be purchased new (According to Scott Renner they require a minimal adjustment on the internal catch plate) in order to make them work - unsure exactly which one it is so you just need to check the images on the below posted web links - even the gasket for the handle is availble - Now the front door handle is a different issue - in the coming months we shall be running a couple of experiments on the refurbishing of front door handles / mazak chrome - they are very few chrome compaines that will undertake this type of work - but I have attached a link to one who does at the bottom of this post

http://www.ahead4healeys.co.uk/DOOR-HAN ... d1591.html
http://www.ahead4healeys.co.uk/DOOR-HAN ... d1592.html
http://www.ahead4healeys.co.uk/DOOR-HAN ... d1593.html
http://www.ahead4healeys.co.uk/DOOR-HAN ... d1594.html
http://www.ahead4healeys.co.uk/GASKET-- ... d1596.html

http://www.chromerestorationspecialist. ... ak-repair/

Regards Chris

[Jack]

thanks Jack
I will explore replacing the parts first ,but might still come back to with regard to the grill.will post a request in the parts section

I checked with the guys over the weekend, and we definitely sent the spare early grille to JCS. Worth contacting them to see if they can supply, it would need rechroming but having a spare seems like no bad thing. In current condition I doubt it would be an expensive item, but with a small amount of work could be brought up to very good standard.

Jack.

[Amy]

Just spotted, perhaps helps with the bonnet badge at least?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Jowett-Javeli ... c35&_uhb=1

Jack

[jaybee]

thanks for all advice and help

[jaybee]

Inspired by Chris Spencers great looking documentation of the early restoration, I am hoping to document my own,. Thankfully there wont be any cutting and grinding as I bought this partway through its restoration already having had the bodywork done, I hope to post requests for comments as I proceed when it comes to some jobs that I am undecided on.The car originally was Brown but has had a Black paint respray in the past which is now in need of being redone so have decided to paint it in a black/cream colour scheme, the interior is brown/tan and needsto be completely replaced so am planning to redo in black and grey and it is here I plan to start first with the roof lining and door cards.I also plan to cover the dashboard in a wood veneer.

[Keith Clements]

The interior does seem to be the first thing people think about. WARNING we have just had to take out all the freshly done interior and all the glass on Peter's car because welding, grinding, sand and soda blasting, spraying and sealing would all risk spoiling the new bits. Add to that the need to take out the floor and boot and all the mechanicals just to get at some of the cracks and bodges for welding. The previous bodge to the rear shock absorber mounting set alight the sound deadening felt, so be warned.

The second thing people do is the paintwork which is then scratched when mechanical or electrical bits have to be taken out again to fix some annoying problem. Best to take the car on a good test drive with an experienced person to identify all the issues, noises and rumblings, smells and non-original bits. Also look at everything very carefully to identify leaks (oil, grease, water , brake fluid), wear, chaffing and electrical issues. Make sure these are fixed before final paint and interior fitting, or even better fix them before you take the car apart.

As I have said many times on the forum, no end of faults can be found (that otherwise would not be) when the car is up on a lift.

I have spent 40 years doing it the other way and wish I had had the sense to do it the way I am now suggesting. But then I was enjoying my car all the time, even during the many problems it gave me through not doing it properly when I first got the car.

[Chris Spencer]

Always nice to start with a solid shell - just post any issues that you may have and someone will be along with the answer soon enough - I have a source for headlinings if you are planning on doing it yourself, I also have a contact for recovering seats / door cards and producing carpet sets should you need it.

Good luck

Chris

[jaybee]

thanks for the advice, unable to drive as no engine,luckily apart from refitting the engine which has been rebuilt,all the mechanical parts have been done,I received, with the car a full photographic record, of brake,, shocks ,,steering ,,fuel system refurb..I am undecided about electrics,I am about to replace all the wiring , remove dynamo and regulator and replace with alternator and fuses. I have been in touch with Drummond and he has supplied a full diagramatic and photo record of what I need to do,not sure about fitting indicators and stop/side lights to bring car up to date as I like the clean lines as it stands ,but I understand the safety issues with regard to modern traffic.

[Jack]

I would avoid fitting a wooden dashboard to the car - making a standard into a deluxe may be aesthetically nice, but the standard (or very early cars) are much rarer and to me more interesting as a result. Worth thinking about this, not sure how undoable this change is, but you definitely don't want to lose that early styling.

Replacing the wiring is a very good idea - we are replacing two wiring looms soon enough, Keith should have a record of where we got ours (JCS perhaps?) but if it is a commercial company we might be able to get a deal for ordering three at the same time, they tend to make up a loom to order on the appropriate boards, so three in one order might save them a few hours.

If you don't want to spoil the lines by fitting indicators etc, you could easily use bolt-on indicators on the bumper brackets. I've seen quite a lot of cars that do this, and I agree about the clean lines. They are fairly neat, particularly if fitted under the bumper, they are not particularly visible when looking around the car, but should be easily visible to those behind you.

Jack.

[robert lintott]

Ref modern indicators , see the "flashing indicators " thread on the "Javelin " forum, lots of ideas there about ways of installing to avoid spoiling the original appearance . Bob