Early Javelin Restoration

[Chris Spencer]

I had a clean up and moved the bodyshell across the workshop - several small areas had been revealed since the car was dipped that required attention from the mig

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Some were pinholes and others were splits

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Duly welded and cleaned up

[Chris Spencer]

Offside front door was next

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All of the doors have taken a battering and if door skins had have been available I would have reskinned all of them - but they have not been available for a significant number of years so I am having to repair them - the bigger problem is that they all will require extensive reshaping, lead loading & filling.

[Chris Spencer]

These two very thin / perforated areas were cut out replaced with fresh metal to front leading edge on the front door

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So front door welded up - still requires some final reshaping though - next is the rear door which requires minor welding repairs to the door skin but needs a complete new bottom to the frame.

[Chris Spencer]

So on with the offside rear door

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A few areas on the outer skin were suffering from the rust disease

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With the area carefully cut back and new metal made up to pattern

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Welded in / cleaned up - Quite happy that there are only a few more of these to do

[Chris Spencer]

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Bottom of door frame was shot - looks solid but more suitable for straining rice through in reality - we had a new panel in stock so that saved some time in making the panel up

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It took quite a bit of time to get it to fit correctly - I had trim it down in several areas - once I was happy with the fit it did not take long at all to weld it in and get it cleaned up

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So with the exception replacing a section of the window channel inside the door that will be another panel completed

[Chris Spencer]

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The hinge rebates on the O/S/F door were spliting from the frame and required tidying - soon sorted though

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[Chris Spencer]

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Small pinholes to the upper edge of the door skin on the O/S /R door were filled with brass

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The lower section of the window guide channel had seen better days

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A new channel was fabricated and welded into situ

[Chris Spencer]

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Front edge of the O/S rear shroud - just above the the rear wing required fresh metal letting in

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Final profiles shall be achieved with lead loading

[Chris Spencer]

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O/S roof channel just above the top of the front door was holed / weak on the radius section - this was cut out and new section formed from fresh metal

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The new section was made up oversize - once welded into place I used a large file to dress the correct edge profile

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It just requires a final dressing to complete it - the welding on the bodyshell & panels is now down to the final few inches before we can claim that all welding is complete

[PJGD]

A very impressive job on that bodywork, Chris. Well done.
Obviously spending all hours at it!

Philip

[Keith Clements]

More done at the weekend.
A bit of panel pulling using the spot welder and slide hammer.


And some more lead loading.

[David Kemp]

I still am amazed how much work has been needed on this car given how it looked originally. Makes me wary to buy a restored car.
Though very good to see at the end of this restoration it will be better than when it left Bradford new.

[Jack]

I still am amazed how much work has been needed on this car given how it looked originally. Makes me wary to buy a restored car.
Though very good to see at the end of this restoration it will be better than when it left Bradford new.

Personally I think this the difference between a car which looks solid on the internet, where pictures can look dramatically better than reality, but without knowledge of what might have come before to keep it on the road over a long period, and a car which you know is completely solid. Also quite a bit of what has been discovered would probably have been suspected viewing the car in person, but until you get the paint off I guess it is hard to tell what the steel will look like underneath.

The scary thing is that this car went through New Zealand and Swiss MOTs. Knowing what strange things can get through a UK MOT, it does make me wonder about many of the other cars on the road, and it certainly makes me wonder about the cars on the road since the MOT has gone. Now that this car has been back to bare metal and fixed up I am confident that it will be one of the most solid cars in the country, many restorers wouldn't have gone as far as Chris has done with the bodywork, and worse than that we've seen cars on the market where dealers or even owners have skimmed over rust problems with filler.

Jack.

[Forumadmin]

It will not be long before magnets, screwdrivers and other diagnostic tools for body maladies are replaced by full body scans of cars if the prices keep rising.
Sometimes the use of filler and the like will not be of much consequence to some who buy the car for its looks and only display it a couple of times a year and will not keep it after the novelty has worn off.

As well as the service history, pictorial documentation of any rebuild should accompany a classic. Beware of a freshly painted car as after a couple of months in the rain the bubbles will appear as the filler on rust finds its way to the surface. The difference between a quick respray for the showroom and a proper restoration is many thousands of pounds on any car that has had any sort of life. The same is true of the mechanicals which can be brought up to an acceptable standard to get the car around the auction house on its own steam, but detecting and correcting wear in the many thousands of bearing surfaces, fractures in the many stressed components and fatigue in those 70 year old components is an extensive task.

That is not to say you cannot safely enjoy a less than perfect car. I just wish I had spent the time 40 years ago getting the car perfect...or do I?

[David Kemp]

Perfect car? Is there such a thing, I work for car dealerships , & despite huge technical improvements , new cars are still machines , they break down. Quality control seems to be second to getting cars out at a competitive price. The result the occasional absolute dud. It does not matter where they are made or by who.
As for perfect vintage car, I think most of us want something we can personalise a bit, depending on our level of skill. To me part of the old car hobby is tinkering & rejuvenating .
Jowetts now of course have minimum of 60 years of tinkers, some good some bad, part of the fun , uncovering the history.