Josephine rebuild

[Keith Clements]

This story is in 3 parts currently.
The chassis rebuild.
The body prep.
The body paint.
Further episodes will follow as the shell is refitted and the engine rebuilt after splitting coming back from Oulton Park

Whilst I was at a Jowett Car Club Executive meeting, Amy wanted to use my Jupiter. After starting the car she noticed a fire under the bonnet. Her quick thinking in smothering much of the flame with a fire retardant car cover and then phoning the fire brigade and then going to the garage and getting the fire extinguisher probably saved the car from more damage. The prompt action also saved her SC Jupiter next to the SA and the house. She unfortunately missed seeing the other extinguisher next to the back door which would have saved a couple of minutes.




The brigade arrived within minutes but had little to do and dragged the car out of the garage and put a fan in the house to extract the smoke.
Amy suffered from shock and smoke inhalation and was taken to the hospital by a neighbour. I collected her from there on my way back from the meeting.




The next day we inspected the damage and spent the day cleaning the house from the corrosive fire extinguisher power and many following days cleaning the garage and cars of it. Horrible stuff that eats into metal.



The Hagerty Insurance assessor visited within a couple of days and gave the go ahead. Chris gave a quote for the work which was accepted.
The engine and gearbox were cleaned up and the minimal of wiring repaired to get it started, checked out and to blow out any fire retardant. The engine was then removed for a thorough cosmetic overhaul, mechanical check and carb rebuild, ready for the Restoration Show.


The front suspension needed renewal. The wiring loom needed replacement. The hoses and alternator had to be replaced. Tyres and front lighting units needed replacement. The scuttle had also been damaged and further inspection revealed the need to do some remedial work on it rather than painting over rust. So I convinced myself after more investigation and cogitation that a full rebuild would be sensible. Although the car looked presentable after 65 hard years without a rebuild, when you got under the covers the list of things to do increased.




The bonnet was removed and stripped of components. The bonnet catch was renovated. The bulkhead was stripped of components. The seat and floor were removed. The torsion bars were removed.



The torsion bar isolator was replaced with a plastic section cut on the lathe from one for a VW Beetle.





The main rusted sections of the sub-frame were cut out and welded up. The mounting points for the racing roll bar were removed. The support brackets for the luggage rack were also repaired along with the rear sub-frame supports and some rust on the rear inner wings.







Then I looked at the rear and found some stress fractures in the aluminium so the rear aluminium body section was removed by drilling out the many rivets.

I had got so far cleaning the chassis and then found the rear chassis tubes could do with blasting. Nothing for it but to strip everything off the chassis. I cut the sub-frame into three sections- the bulkhead, the mid section with B-post and the rear section with battery boxes. I put two girders above the middle and rear end of the two post lift from which I attached ropes to each of the three sections. This allowed me to raise the chassis and body on the lift, release the six bolts and 2 u-bolts attaching the sub-frame to the chassis and then lower the chassis to separate them. I then lifted the chassis off the lift, raised the lift again and lowered the sub-frame down so that it could be worked on.

Rather than blasting it myself I decided to use a small operation in Uxbridge previously used by Jack who organised the chassis move and return. I also included the rear sub-frame that I had restored to go for blast and powder coating as well. Then I added all the body panels for paint stripping to the job.
Whilst waiting for return from the blasting, I renewed the front suspension and replaced a half shaft in the rear axle that had worn. The rear axle was also stripped, derusted and repainted. The front drums were also worn after thirty years of competition so were replaced.





On chassis’ return from powder coating, the renovated rear suspension was replaced.




All the threads were cleaned out.


The three sections of the subframe were provisionally realigned.




Petrol tank and pipes installed.




The old overdrive mounting.

New design of over-drive support manufactured and fitted so that it is now completely on the chassis and not touching the sub-frame. All the welding had been done prior to sending to blaster.











Renovated front suspension and steering on.


The torsion bar replacement.

The front suspension set up.

Frame level.

Check on chassis straightness

Camber check




Track ball height adjustment.






Track adjustment



Castor check and adjustment.


Aluminium repairs.
Whilst Chris set about steel repairs on the sub-frame, I tackled renovating the aluminium.
As well as many corrosion holes and splits, patches were needed to be inserted in the rear bumper support bracket holes , the spare wheel carrier support and lower rear wing attachment holes.
Splits were mended on the bonnet near the catches, the door near the quarter light, the top of the rear section where it has a waist.






The section in front of the rear mudguard was also replaced on each side. A template was made and in the absence of an English wheel I made up a jig with scaffold pipe and clamps to form the complex shape. The shrinker in combination with some saw cuts and welding was used to get the flange curve.











Then all the panels were taken to Chris where I continued extensive work on the bonnet and front wings to repair corrosion and cracks. After fitting, some additional welding was needed to get the gaps correct.
The bonnet frame was brought back for sand blasting and a pair of bonnet supports, that were lost at the blasters, were fabricated using those off the SC as a pattern.

[Keith Clements]

This story is in 3 parts currently.
The chassis rebuild.
The body prep.
The body paint.
Further episodes will follow as the shell is refitted and the engine rebuilt after splitting coming back from Oulton Park
Apr 6, 2017
So next in the queue is this little Jowett Jupiter - Tubular chassis of ERA design (English Racing Automobiles) clad with a largely alloy body, all round torsion bar suspension, 1500cc water cooled 4 cylinder Jowett boxer engine, 4 speed column change gearbox - Class winner at LeMans in 1950, 51 & 52 - This particular car has been with the current owner for the last 49 years who has raced / rallied the car in no less than 27 countries
In race trim


Now with me for a complete body restoration - whilst the car has always been continually maintained this is the first full rebuild in the 65 years of the cars history - the chassis has already been rebuilt by the owner who is just rebuilding the engine









These are a rare car - only 830 built out which circa 350 survive today
The steel bulkhead requires quite a bit of work (steel) & new sills prior to setting the rear shroud / door apertures up - I will post more updates as progress is made
Apr 12, 2017
Commenced the structural repairs on the offside

Removed the sill section & tidied the door pillar up (note the brace frame to temporary hold the shell structure in place)

Patterned up for the lower section of the bulkhead return prior to cutting it out

Floor pan repair & body mounting bracket welded in

Bulkhead return repair panel in the making / trial fit
More to follow tomorrow
Apr 13, 2017
With the bulkhead mounting done I could get the car up off the floor and on to stands - care is required however as although the chassis is strong - they do flex so an additional pair of stands is used under the centre of the car


Bulkhead return panel welded in

Cleaned / dressed back
The lower A post is available as a repair section but it takes a lot trimming / fettling to obtain a decent fit - what is more is the fact that these were handbuilt cars and no 2 are the same - the A post covers the front end of the sill section and the same applies to the B post

Which is in a proper state with patches over the top of patches



Only one thing for it - chop it all out - but only after much careful measurement / alignment & offset marks were placed - I also have the bracing to act as a jig for the refitting

I will salvage the B post with some repairs to lower section


Rear chassis - body mounting point pending a exit to the scrap pile

And can start rebuilding from this point

With the rear mounting point spotwelded in I can trim / trial the sill section for a fit

With a some minor fettling in the morning the sill should make a good fit - I only intend to clamp into place and then trim the a post repair in and around it - same with the B post - at that point I can drill the holes and mount the bottom door hinge to the underside of the A post repair panel then hang the door and look at door gapping (notorious for poor fitting on these) - do any adjustments - recheck before welding anything up - the sill determines the door width as it joins the front bulkhead to rear frame of the car - hence it's critical to get it right at this point - otherwise the doors just don't fit !!
Apr 14, 2017
Sill panel fettled and refitted temporary with cleco pins - then sorted the inner panel on the B post



Once sorted I refitted it but only to the bracing jig - I do not want fasten it down anywhere else as it will more than likely have to be adjusted to obtain the correct door gapping


I will sort the lower section of the B post adjacent to the sill once I am happy with the door alignment / aperture gapping


Now starting to take shape

So is the scrap pile
Then started the A post repair battle - I have had to over trim the cut out around the sill section in order to obtain a slip fit under the existing A post which I have joggled the side panels upon for a rebated weld and likewise on the external face but overlapped rather than underlapped for additional strength



Measurement wise it has come in perfect but still needs a little more fettling to the panel - and will need the overcuts around the sill section letting in / making good - once I am happy with the fit I can temporary secure the panel - drill the base for the door hinge and hang the door to see where we are with the door fit which will hopefully get done tomorrow if I can find an hour or so
Apr 17, 2017
Latest progress - lots of adjustments / fettling in order to align the door aperture and to fit the lower door hinge

A post repair section removed / reworked / refitted several times over - minor adjustments made on each occasion

Likewise for the door


Until I got to the point that the bottom door hinge could be fitted - this fits under the bottom of the A post repair section which has to be drilled - these are hand built cars and nothing comes the correct shape /pre drilled etc - it all has to be made to fit

Rear shroud to the lower sections is fatigued with splits & corrosion and will have a new section formed & welded in

Quite a few shims / packers had to be placed in order to get to this point



So tomorrow I can commence the task of taking the A post repair back off along with the rear shroud and start welding the sill insitu along with the rear section to the floor braces

Still some fettling on the front aperture against the A post in order for the correct door gapping to be achieved - but this is me being picky - the apertures were never this good when the cars left the factory new.
Apr 18, 2017
Spent a little more time sorting the door aperture out before doing some final offsets / measurements & checks

Took the door back off and removed the sill & B post

The old sill section was open at each end so just used to fill with all the crap thrown at it by the wheels

To combat it happening again I welded blanking plates to either end of the new section

Sill refitted and commenced welding up carefully to avoid any heat distortion
A post repair starting to go in

Then the B post and a clean back of the welds - the door was refitted several times to ensure the aperture gaps remained consistent

Once cleaned up I then refitted the door and the rear shroud - all ok so off it came again and I put the dressed welds / bare metal into construction primer


I have some repairs to undertake to the bulkhead in the morning and then the car can come back off the stands and be turned around in preparation for the structural repairs on the nearside
Apr 19, 2017
Bulkhead repairs required for various reasons

Aerial & other drilled holes

Rot to the underside of the windscreen aperture

Poorly repaired bonnet hinge aperture for the hinge box.

Over plated rot that I will cut back out



So with said repairs sorted I put the car back on it's wheels pushed it outside


Gave it a good blow off with the airline and lost all the loose dust off it - had a good sweep up in the workshop and put the car back in for the work on the nearside



Virtually a repeat process of the offside


Plenty of weak areas & hidden grot

So - onwards we go - more to follow soon
Apr 20, 2017
Not too much done today as I had other work that got in the way, none the less got the grot at the front chopped out






Made up a couple of body mounting brackets utilising the old one as a pattern

Then got the front one spot welded in before packing up for the day

Apr 22, 2017
Floorpan repairs & footwell return panel repairs completed to bulkhead




Rear body mounting replaced along with bracket for connecting rear support framework


The rest of the work is a duplicate of the offside so just going to touch on these has progress is made rather than go into much detail with them.
Sill trimmed in and temporarily placed

Quite a few hours spent trimming / letting in the bottom of the A post repair before getting it to where I wanted - now fastened temporarily to allow bottom door hinge to be centred & drilled - then the door hung to allow B post / door aperture setting - more to follow tomorrow

Apr 23, 2017
B post grot removed, repair sections tacked in and then refitted temporarily to the car

Then hung the door which initially fitted ok to the rear but very poorly at the front

Spent several hours making adjustments to the sill, A post repair & B post

Slowly making progress but still way of alignment in both the aperture gapping & side profile

The lower 300mm of the rear shroud will be remade both sides are suffering from corrosion and are weak at the point the rear wing bolts up to it

Crease to the lower section of the door was throwing the side profile & alignment out

But eventually I got to the stage where with the bottom hinge drilled and bolted up to the A post repair that the door hung / opened and closed close to tolerance - still some further adjustment to be had but I need the sill welded in and the A & B posts tacked to the sill before I can achieve the adjustment - Sports roadsters of this era are notorious for poor door & panel fits - getting them right at the restoration stage just take a lot of patience
More to follow tomorrow
Apr 25, 2017
Door, repair sections & sill back off - blanking plates fabricated & welded to sill ends and everything cleaned up / painted with weld thro' primer - sill going back on

Lower section of B post patterned up & repair sections made up

With the sill on the B post was trialed for fit again


A post repair ready for tacking up

Door refitted & along with rear shroud panel and all aperture gapping / door operation trialed / corrected as required

With just some very minor areas of welding left to do on the main shell structure the temporary supporting framework between the A & B posts & cross bracing could now be removed

This allowed access to weld the rear inner sections around the overdrive & battery boxes - these had been cut to part the rear frame from the centre section when the car was stripped so that everything could be sent for shot blasting

I will complete the welding on the frame structure today and can then make a start on the outer panels
Apr 25, 2017
Side return on the bulkhead had a few non original bolts through it - I removed them and found that the spotwelds had failed on this length and the bolts had been added to keep the panels flush - so cleaned the panel & flanges up

Turned the power up on the spotwelder and rejoined the panel to the flange then welded the holes up left by the bolts

Rot to the underside of windscreen mounting - cut out

Fresh metal let in & cleaned up

Again a weak repair had been made to the bonnet hinge box aperture

Cut out and a double skin repair fabricated and let in

Aperture holes for previous mountings to the horizontal bulkhead panel

Welded up & cleaned back

Structural repairs complete

Used the airline / blowgun to remove the loose dust - quick mask off of the chassis tube and applied construction primer over the new / reworked areas

So I can now crack on with the outer panels
Found the body number on the bulkhead - Jowett numbered all of the production runs in this case '630' out of the circa 830 cars built

May 8, 2017
With the main structural work sorted I commenced repairs to the lower front sections of the rear shroud


With the repairs welded up - I cleaned the underside of the shroud panel off


With a multiple of panels to prep - I like to stop of top of the process rather than do one panel at time only to
recommence the same process again on the next panel I always try to stage process 2 - 3 panels at a time as this saves with drying times - one can be drying whilst the others are being worked on and I just keep advancing the process in rotation - so next was the underside of the bonnet (which had been the subject of damage via a engine fire)


Took a while but carefully removed the support frames so that these could be shotblasted

This now allows unrestricted access so that I can prep all of the underside - a couple of edge splits in the alloy need welding up and there are numerous dents / creases that require some careful hammer & dolly work

The face side of the bonnet although largely stripped of paint have had a good work over with the DA / P80's

Revealing a patchwork of redish colours - the car has been bright red for the last 50 years + however it would now appear that the car was originally a maroon metallic - spoken to the owner and he is all for adopting the original colour scheme - so I am currently doing some research into a paint formula for 'Jowett Maroon Metallic' which apparently is no longer available but I will find a way somehow
Meanwhile the rear shroud was treated a session with the DA to remove the last of the paint


Plan for the next week is to concentrate on the rear of the car - get the shroud refitted to the steel work - refit the rear wings temporally and work / correct the profiles on the car from the doors back
May 9, 2017
Cleaned up / prepped the underside of the rear shroud - this is nigh on impossible to freely access once fitted

Then into primer

Then Satin Black

Fixed new frame packing to the steel work



Then on with the panel



This can be adjusted in the morning for aperture fit prior to flanging over and applying the permanent fixings (riveted)
May 10, 2017
Started to fasten the shroud panel up commencing at the door apertures

They were pop riveted originally at the factory the holes in the outer panel have to be carefully countersunk to ensure that once the head is cleaned back there is still enough of the rivet head existing to retain the panel

With the door aperture edges fastened up I could now close the flange edge around the rear bulkhead - this is also riveted into place

Then fastened the rear section up again riveted but a few bolts come into use on the underside sections

Next was to make up a stay bracket for the lower front sections - these need to be strong as this panel also supports the rear wing which bolts up to it

I fabricated these out of some 3mm equal angle that I cut down / shaped as required

Welded tab helps locate the new bracket prior it being welded to the inner / outer sill flange - once in place I drilled two holes through to locate the fastenings


Rivets to the bulkhead ground back - carefully!!

Now I have the panel firmly fixed I can make any adjustments and do some final panel beating prior to commencing the profiles
Typically the flap for the spare wheel does not fit - the aperture is way too tight so some judicial use of straightening /widening implements will be put to use tomorrow
May 12, 2017
So with the frame having come off the car / shotblasted / powder coated etc - add to this that the car has certainly had life and has been the subject of several minor rear end shunts in it's 65 year life - so time for the said judicial use of widening implements

Few adjustments with the hinges and some reshaping of the apertures / flap and we have a result

Need to close the aperture gap up a little but I can take this into account as I work the profiles
With the shroud panel now fully fitted / fixed in place I could undertake the final shaping on the panel

Looks drastic but by carefully working the panel with a bodyfile the high / low spots are highlighted

From here I can improve the panel profile by a combination of dressing down the high whilst tapping up the low areas - Tapping down is easy from the outside but the access to the underside is now restricted by length / size of the panel / steel underframe / petrol tank etc - my weapon of choice is the long curved spoon dolly seen in the pic - could just about get to everything with this and by tapping up whilst eyeing in the shallow / depressed areas I achieved a decent result - just went back over with the bodyfile prior to applying the first skim - care has to be taken with the bodyfile though - you can't go hell for leather with it otherwise you would soon be filing through the alloy surface of the panel

Side repair sections turned out pretty well once cleaned back & profiled

So on goes the first of the skims - it is going to take several to get it correct but there will be probably less than 2mm in thickness overall once completed


May 12, 2017
Not too much done today due running around dropping off / collecting parts / materials etc but managed to get the the offside of the shroud skimmed over and the guide coat applied

May 16, 2017
Not too much done today as I have a modern in for repair which is hindering progress but managed to get a couple skims blocked back / reskimmed and the profile detail has started to come together on the nearside



May 17, 2017
More profiling on the rear shroud - along with a ash packing piece cut, shaped fitted to aperture edge of the spare wheel flap

Fits between the supporting frame and the alloy aperture edge of the shroud - picture taken from the rear of the panel

Skim number 4 on the nearside and the offside ready to accept skim number 2

May 18, 2017
More progress with the profiling on the rear shroud but I won't bore you with that - Bonnet underside fettled

New side flange return panels made up from 1.2mm sheet - the old ones are wafer thin - I don't need to rebate on the new ones as this was for a old style lock to the bulkhead - I will have to fabricate some type of locator to the lower bulkhead / A post though otherwise the edge of the wing is venerable at speed to moving out - it is very thin at this point and there is not lot of strength in it

Bonnet support frames, flange return panels & underside of bonnet prepped and ready for base primer

Primed (just) as the pic was taken

More to follow tomorrow
May 20, 2017
Nearside rear shroud & side panel now getting close to final profile

Final self levelling glaze applied in order to reduce minor undulation

Happy with the door gapping at the B post

Bolted the rear wing temporary to mark up new repair panels for drilling of holes / mounting bolts

Removed the wing / drilled holes and rehung the wing - it gives me a more solid base on which to work on it from whilst also a better prospective of the profiling can be maintained

It's had it's fair share of battering's during it's life

Removed the rest of the paint with 80's discs on the DA

Then spent some time with the hammer & dolly straightening the wing up ready for profiling
May 21, 2017
I do re-anneal alloys that are badly distorted / dinged otherwise as you start to straighten the panel up the alloy will start to crack / stress - especially old alloys that were not of that good a quality when new - one of the larger problems with alloy panelled cars of this era is that the effect of dissimilar metals were not taken into account when the car was built - so where the wheelarch on the wings are formed over a steel wire bead - 65 years on and the alloy edge of the bead is badly corroded in some areas of the panels - behind the scenes Keith who owns the car has been letting in new alloy sections into the panels where required - he opted to undertake this in order to keep his restoration bill in check - fine by me so long has the repairs are of a good enough quality .
Had an hour or so on the profiling of the wing today - needs a lot more yet

May 22, 2017
When working large areas I always highlight with pencil high / low areas or areas that may require rework or a new hole drilled through - it makes an easy job of reapplying the filler skims rather than having to remember the multiple areas - when working with multiple of panels in order to keep good work progress i.e. commencing on one panel - have another panel at a mid stage whilst bringing a third panel to completion - has I complete areas I drag a diagonal line / cross hatch across them with pencil has an indicator that I am happy with that areas profiles and I can move on to other areas on the same panel or to another panel - you can also say that I use it has a mind set on large projects - the more lines you see the closer to the finish line you are - This is important when you are plugging away at profiling every panel on a vehicle which may take several days / weeks - it's monotonous, laborious, can be quite tiring when constantly working the profiles by hand and can appear never ending - it is very easy loose your way / loose interest in what you are attempting to achieve - allow this to happen at this stage and the paint will highlight undulating panel profiles and lack of care / attention to detail. To view the panels come to completion is the tick in the box that you need to visually see - Its a 'Matter over Mind' vs 'Mind over Matter' thing that works for me (also how I was taught by the master of his craft when I was apprenticed) - I have never found a better way of doing it so It's stuck with me for the last 40 years.
May 23, 2017
Still plugging away at the rear profiles


Rear half of the wing completed

The join between the rear shroud and the wing has a wing piping fitted when painted, the lamp aperture is not critical as I am refitting the original lamp cowls to the wing / shroud - to date it has run with rubber insert / lens type fitting similar to the classic mini front indicator lamps
Then removed the wing so that Keith could crack on with the welded repairs on the forward arch edges

Meanwhile on the offside rear shroud the profiling continues

wonder if I can interest the Tate Gallery in my panel profile jottings

Started to shape up the rear flap

Getting there - offside shroud panel now in glaze - hopefully get this completed tomorrow in between everything else that I got to get done
Glaze is a final filler product - still mixed with a hardener and applied like filler with a spreader - however it is more viscous in form - self levelling and unlike filler flows out - it is used in thin skims to eliminate undulation in work areas - can be applied very thinly if required and can be sanded / feathered back to a virtual transparent layer - there are several brands on the market - personally I use U Pol 'Dolphin Glaze' - it can be seen in the image as the greenish looking covering on the panel
Jun 2, 2017
Back to the profiling after our short break away to Scotland
Offside rear wing rehung and profiling to the front section of it underway (rear half already completed)


Profiling to the rear nearside of the shroud completed and the nearside rear wing hung

Much like the offside rear wing the nearside has also seen much activity and requires a fair share of reshaping
Jun 5, 2017
Work continues to complete the profiling to the rear of the car

Noticed that the bottom of the spare wheel flap was not straight

Checked the interior profile and it all looks original
Researched with a couple of images to check and it would appear that the lower flap edge is covered by the number plate on most of the Jupiters
so I am going to leave it as it would appear to be the original profile

One more skim should do it


Progress on the re-profiling of the rear wings continues

Jun 8, 2017
Update from the last few days
Spare wheel flap profiling completed

Reprofiling on the rear wings complete on the nearside and 90 % complete on the offside


Rear lamp housings are missing and are very rare for this car however - the Jowett Javelin housing is similar but based on a largely flat surface of the Javelin wing

So I stripped a pair of Javelin housings (which are abundantly available) - had to swap the handed sides over nearside to offside & vice versa otherwise the lamps when fitted to the housings would be on a inwards angle rather than square - the other issue being the fit to the wing


With some careful reshaping a decent fit was obtained

Piping bead will be fitted around the housing (as factory original) once painted to prevent the housing from biting into the paint
Threaded studs were welded to the rear of the housing and the rear wing & shroud drilled for fit


Start was made on straightening the nearside door up and the first skim applied

Bonnet centre section assembly going back together

Part riveted / part bolted to rear & centre frames

Front edge support fitted

Bonnet fitted many times - hinges altered / raised / lowered to attempt best fitting to rear edge & bulkhead

Gapping getting there

But the offside fit is miles away

What I am aware of is that at a early stage in the cars life it was involved in a heavy impact to the front offside - some of the chassis sections to the front offside corner have received repair - these repairs are to a good standard and the chassis is straight but the repairs are obvious if you know what to look for - the bonnet and front wings were also replaced at the same time (these carry the body number 94 whereby the remainder of the car carries the original body number of 630) - hence the bonnet is a second hand panel and has never fitted that good on the offside (remember these are hand built cars - the same panel from one car will not necessarily perfectly fit another) - I will have to make some further adjustments in order to get a decent fit here - more to follow tomorrow
Jun 9, 2017
More progress - spent just about all day taking the bonnet on & off - making adjustments / alterations every time in order to better the fit
Happy enough with the central aperture gapping between the bulkhead / rear edge of the bonnet - took several attempts to get this right so that either of edge apertures did not catch upon opening / closing - the nearside radius edge of the bonnet will require some welded repairs where an existing welded repair has opened up whilst I was reshaping the edge profiles to match that of the bulkhead

Bulkhead on the nearside is slightly higher than the bonnet - I will have to shim the hinge slightly to correct this - the bonnet is also deformed on this edge so some skimming will be required

The offside radius edge is the worse area - some previous repairs to the edge have left it somewhat deviated from the original profile line - this will need to be bridged some 10mm with a welded repair to gain the correct profile

Some minor closing up of the bonnet hinge boxes will be required when it comes back off

Couple of pics from the front


Meanwhile the offside rear wing profiles were completed


That just leaves the offside rear light housing to complete and the entire rear of the car is ready for going into a polyester spraying filler
Jun 11, 2017
Bolted the front wings on to determine the work required on the bulkhead / wing / bonnet aperture gaps - due to the amount of filler that was removed from the wing edges we knew that they were not going to be anything like what they should be




Close up image of the issues

This is the best that we could achieve without compromising the fit that we have over the top of the bulkhead with the bulkhead / bonnet aperture has this dictates the datum / starting point to work from - The bonnet had to be fairly heavily tweaked on the offside front to correct the profile with the front of the wing & chassis cross member (this corner had previously visited one of the tyre walls at Donington Race Circuit several years ago) The aperture gaps will have to be closed by adding to the wing & bonnet edges - I need to get to a 5mm gap and currently it's 10mm + I plan to do this with some 4mm alloy rod welded to the edge and shaped to finish by the time the weld is taken into account this should do the trick - some minor work of straightening up the A post on the nearside by running a small MIG bead will also be required but only approx 1.5mm thick - took most of the day to get this point
The rear offside lamp housing was fitted and just requires some very minor finishing to the profiles

Jun 11, 2017
Only thing done today was to open out the inner apertures for the rear lamps and trial fit them

Jun 13, 2017
More progress - sorted the deviation on the A post with a bead of MIG weld run down it & dressed back - also blanked the trafficator slot off - just need to lead load the area prior final profiles

Offside door lower inner panel was suffering with rust perforation

Removed

New panel made up & let in


Door is now rehung - I just need to adjust it slightly to obtain the best closing fit
Originally there was no provision made for this at the factory - I just have to do my best with what I have now - so the repair to the inner door frame where the outer alloy skin meets the steel inner skin - I have primed the steel and applied a sealer either side of the panel - I will use brass nuts / bolts / washers to refasten the wings - there is also a piping bead between the wing joints, some panels can be protected with the use of a non conductive / insulation tape - but just about everywhere on the car there are alloy panels abutting the steel frame work of the car / chassis - next to impossible to prevent unless you started again from scratch
Jun 15, 2017
Spent quite a bit of time sorting out the bonnet location stops and made some new brackets up for them - what was there before was laughable - used some sleeved suspension bushes - I had the bonnet spaced / propped on a couple of wooden blocks / packers from the chassis to work out the height that I needed it sat at

Made up some L brackets from some 3mm plate - drilled for the bush to locate to - slotted the bolt holes to allow for adjustment



The bonnet is then retained down by a screw type hook - which are fitted at the front just to each side of the location stops that I have fitted
Now need to sort the location stops on the wing sides - originally budget locks were fitted at the factory - some Jupiters have been retro fitted with external keeps / locks / locators - the big danger with these are that they get forgotten about - the front bonnet locks get undone and sides don't - the bonnet gets opened and no end of damage results to the wing panels - so I opted to use the same idea has what I had for the front stops - made up some brackets and welded them to the side of the A post - allowed for some adjustment and just drilled a hole in the closing plate - It's all a very simple / primitive set up but very typical for a car of this period



Took the wing off and cleaned / dressed the mounting flanges up - also dressed the edges up and then refitted the wing - removed the remaining paint with the DA - started to dress the numinous dents & scrapes up but needs more work yet - aperture gap to the A post now looking a lot better but again still requires more work

Jun 16, 2017
Sorted the offside front wing - removed cleaned up etc & refitted - checked the aperture gapping with the A post and adjusted the stop accordingly

I could now fit the new front cowl sections (between the lower front wing and the bonnet)


Image from the front with all panels built / fitted

First skim applied

Sanded back and ready for second skim - bonnet will require a lot of work has it has been the subjected to a previous engine / carb fire

Jun 20, 2017
Had to move the Jupiter outside as I need the workshop space to sort a repaint on a Range Rover roof so dropped the wheels back on it - this is something that I need to do anyway has the wheel clearance in relation to the wings needed checking




Like a sauna in my workshop for the last few days well over 30c today and still loads of profiling to do - some long flat areas on the front wings & bonnet - I like to do my sanding dust free so use a vacuum extraction and a specialist abrasive - it's by far not the cheapest way to do it - but is makes it so much easier than breathing in / bathing in tons of filler dust - I have several sanding blocks + 150mm DA / dual action sander electric powered all on auto on / off with the extractor - my longer blocking to date has been done by hand with this

But as said above still loads to do so time to purchase a new toy

Connected to this

Produces this result in 5 mins instead of the 30 mins by hand - I wanted electric powered as air powered is inefficient, but also had to have vacuum extraction on it so it's quite a rare beast in turn £££ more than any other flat bed sander on the market !

So cracked on and got a bit more done




Bonnet is made up of 11 separate sections which were gas welded at the factory - some of the original seams are still visible - very little deflection in them but they all require a slight skim to obtain the correct profile
Jun 21, 2017
More profiling today and now starting to take shape this is the fourth skim - it normally takes between 5 to 8 skims to get panels of this degree returned to the correct profiles

Jun 22, 2017
Still plugging away - a lot more comfortable with the temperature drop though - lower 20's c today in the workshop
Image probably doesn't look much different from yesterday - but front wing and door on the nearside now requires very minor works to complete the profiles

Checked the front side lamp for aperture / profile fit - originally the side lamp now converted to front indicator and the side lamp relocated to the headlamp

Profiling works also migrating to offside of the bonnet

Also hosted a visit from Sid my quality control inspector

Jun 23, 2017
So on the profiling completion list for today
Nearside door

Nearside A post & bulkhead to centre of car

Nearside front wing

Meanwhile the nearside & centre sections of the bonnet are on their fourth skim

And profiling works commenced on the offside front wing

Jun 26, 2017
More done - bonnet centre section & nearside flute 90% completed just requires the glaze sanding back in the morning

Offside bonnet flute well on it's way and offside front wing on it's second skim

I appreciate that on viewing the images that the bonnet / front of the vehicle in fact all the vehicle looks like it's covered in filler - well it is but remember this is merely a thin skimming in order to correct the profiles nothing in excess of 3mm - 5mm deep has been applied - the panels are 95% original and in being so are 67 years old - had numerous repairs and covered well over 500,000 miles - replacements are not available unless you were willing to pay something in the region of £20k to have all new panels made - so it is the only option - I work no different than any other competent vehicle restorer other than the fact that I don't mind demonstrating how it's done
Jun 28, 2017
So one bonnet with the profiles completed


Profiling is well advanced on the offside front wing, A post & offside bulkhead

And a start made on the offside door

Jun 29, 2017
Wing profiling completed

A post & bulkhead very close to completion

Offside door also well on it's way and will get completed in the morning

So with all the outer panels just about completed the wings could start to be removed to allow the flange edges to be finished and the undersides to be prepped, treated & painted


I will make up some hinge location templates for the doors in the morning prior to removing them to allow access to the door & sill apertures so that they can be prepped
Jun 30, 2017
Prepped the underside of the nearside wings and then applied a seam sealer to the rolled edge on the wheelarch where a steel wire froms a brace for the edge - the sealer will prevent crud / water from filling the rolled edge and providing a base for the wire to rust - The front wing will get a stone chip applied to it prior to the paint being applied (the front wing undersides are seen when the bonnet is lifted) whilst the rear wings will be subject to a Dinitrol treatment - the alloy that the panels are formed from is pretty soft and is easily dented by small stones thrown up from the road wheels so the underside of the wings needs something on them to prevent this

made location templates up for the nearside door hinges & striker plate for the door catch - this will easily locate the hinges when rehanging the door after the car is painted and avoids damage to the fresh paint



Door removed and the sill drilled for the rivet nuts which in turn will retain the floor section which is plywood (common for the period of the car)


Apertures prepped and profiling commenced


Meanwhile the offside door is virtually complete just needs a little rub over to complete

[Keith Clements]

This story is in 3 parts currently.
The chassis rebuild.
The body prep.
The body paint.
Further episodes will follow as the shell is refitted and the engine rebuilt after splitting coming back from Oulton Park

Jul 4, 2017
Loads more loose ends tied up
Approx 20 redundant holes drilled in the bulkhead were welded up & dressed back


The new aperture for the hinge box on the nearside required alteration - requiring a plate to lower edge and the elongated bolt holes closing up a little

The slot is a drain - otherwise the hinge boxes fill with water on occasions if the car is used in driving rain

Then just a skim of filler where required - once the car is fitted back up the bulkhead is barely visible

The bulkhead side return panels get hit by all the debris thrown up by the road wheels so I applied a stone chip coating to these

The bonnet / wing end flanges would also get peppered by the road wheel debris so these also got the stone chip coating applied

The profiles to the offside A post & door are now completed

Made up the hinge location templates prior to removing the door to allow access to prep the apertures

Meanwhile the aperture on the nearside is now completed


The last of the panels were removed namely the offside rear wing

And the spare wheel flap

Which leaves me to delouse the cockpit and sort any prep work for primer

Along with sorting a few loose bits - windscreen frame and dashboard closing panel along with the two door capping's

Meanwhile my quality control inspector 'Sid' paid his weekly visit - thankfully he was fine with everything but clearly indicated that I need to start getting some paint on the car

Jul 5, 2017
Last stint of prep work
Old door lock aperture required welding up / dressing back on both the aperture & door



And that is the final piece of welding on the car completed
Offside door aperture was then prepped ready for primer & the rivet nuts to retain the floor drilled & fitted to the sill


Door frame apertures now completed

Windscreen frame prepped

Bulkhead to windscreen closing panel and the two door capping's were bare metaled - they just need a rub over where minor defects have been skimmed

Removed all loose parts out of the cockpit and had a major clean up / blow off of any lose dust

So 12 weeks in of fabrication / welding / panel fitting & panel profiling


It's ready for the first coats of primer (with exception of some masking up first)
Plus I managed to get a colour swatch painted up in order to confirm the paint order - it's a very fine metallic (probably not visible in this pic) created through the use of silver tinters rather than pearlescent tinters that would be used in a modern vehicle finish

Jul 6, 2017
First job today was to sort the final paint on the underside of the bonnet & front wings - once the wings are bolted to the bonnet it forms a clamshell - when requiring access to the engine it can be very dark within the engine bay - the cars left the factory with the bonnet undersides painted in body colour - the owner of this Jupiter had the bonnet underside painted white many years ago out of practicality so this was replicated


Removed the steering column and prepped that for primer along with the column gearshift

Then masked the chassis & bodyshell up as required


Sorted some of the loose small bits for primer


Dropped the original wheels off at the tyre centre for them to remove the tyres which are now 25 years + old - I sincerely hope that they are not going back on the rims once painted - although they have some tread on them all the side walls are cracked & perished - I will pick the rims up in the morning then drop them off elsewhere for grit blasting

Although I had some polyester in stock I was expecting a order with some more to be delivered today that never turned up so I just had to get done what I could with what I had to hand - managed to get the small pieces / steering column / gearshift column & the main body tub done



When the rest of my paint order turns up tomorrow I will get the remaining panels coated up
Jul 7, 2017
Got the guide coat on to the main body tub first thing


Then masked the white undersides on the bonnet and the front wings up


Had to juggle around the workshop to make the maximum use of space in order to get the remaining panels into polyester primer - in the end I had to do them in two stages
Bonnet, both doors, windcreeen frame and one of the back wings ready to go - best way to do the panels such has doors and wings is suspended so that you can apply /spray the paint around all of the panel edges




Sods law that my paint supplies did not turn up until 15.30 but still once they arrived I could get cracking

Polyester applied


With the weather being so favourable I could pull the bonnet outside on it's stand to create some space in the workshop and with a bit of panel juggling I could hang the final 3 wings and get the polyester on to them

Next up is the guide coats and then lots of blocking back
Jul 9, 2017
Quick hour on the car on Saturday - put all the panels into guide coat then hung all the loose panels to one side to free up working area ready for the blocking back of the polyester over the next few days



Jul 10, 2017
Only half of day in today - I had a repair on a bumper corner on a modern from one of my neighbours that needed sorting - I don't really touch the modern stuff apart from the odd one for my neighbours who are all excellent - anyhow managed to get all the polyester on the main body tub initially machine sanded and well over half of it then blocked back by hand




Sid from quality control was also on the case and very through with his inspection but he's ok with everything

Even I am keen by this stage to see the colour on the car although also being careful not to rush things - there is a slight delay with the paint being mixed as it contains a seldom utilised tinter which is currently on order with my paint supplier but the formulated paint should be with me on Friday all being well
Jul 11, 2017
More done - I don't think seam sealer was invented when the car was first built and if it was it certainly was not utilised on the Jupiter production line



Although not original the cars owner & myself are more concerned with preventing water ingress into the seams that can only go to deteriorate the structure of the car - so out with the seam sealer


Once painted & fitted back up you would not realise that the car has had the seams sealed
Access holes drilled in the rear of the sill panels for rust proof injection once the car is painted

Meanwhile the polyester on the bonnet was blocked back initially by machine then the long process of finishing by hand


So tomorrows task is to prep the loose panels that are strung up around the workshop

The guide coat - utilised for sanding back - so I just use a cheap matt black aerosol misted over the primer - when sanding back the black will stand out in any areas of the primer that require more sanding - the black will also sit deeper into any imperfections and highlight them - just makes a easy job of sanding back - basically once the black has gone - stop standing ! - can be used on fillers / primers and with any type of rubbing / sanding back procedure - machine / hand / dry / wet etc
Important to use a matt colour as this will not clog the sand paper as much as the shiny ones.
Just give you a better idea here is a close up image of an area of flatting back where the guide coat clearly demonstrates that the area requires further work

Jul 12, 2017
Very busy but very productive day, machined sanded all the loose panels prior to going over each one by hand which you would normally do in order to rub the areas that cannot be accessed by machine sanding - I then go over each panel individually blocking back by hand to remove any minor panel deviation



All hung back up so that they don't get marked / damaged
I sealed the edge of the door skins with seam sealer on the folded edge - (this has been common place on moderns for the last 20 years or so)


Keith the cars owner brought over the last panel required which is a front valance that sits horizontally just below the bonnet and adjacent to the front bumper - these get a hard life being at the very front of the vehicle - fortunately a small batch have been made to the original pattern - so this just required a quick going over with the DA and some minor deviation skimming over where a couple of spot weld heads were showing through

All the smaller panels & parts, light shrouds, door cappings, windscreen frame, steering column & column gear change shaft were all sanded back


I had another look at the side flutes on the rear shroud - all though I had sanded these back I was not happy with some of the minor deviation that I was picking up on - I reworked the areas on both sides with another skim of glaze and then put the reworked areas back into polyester which I then blocked back by hand when dry - now happy with the result


Everything will be resprayed in an epoxy 2 pack primer in the morning
Jul 13, 2017
With the final stages of paint drawing close the first job today was to have a good delouse of the workshop - much like most of you I don't have loads of space - my place is pretty good but large modern bodyshops have sectioned workshops for dirty work, preparation, paint, fitting up & valeting - nice but their overheads are eye watering - meanwhile the rest of us make do with the same workshop area for everything - I would always recommend this prior to the final stages of paint - my workshop is always kept clean but you will be amazed at what comes out from behind things like light fittings / tops of cabinets / door frames etc - so with a clean workshop floor so that I did not put even more dust into the air I went around all areas of the walls & celling with the airline / blow gun - results shown on the floor in the image

Once the air had cleared a through sweep up produced this pile

You need a few grams of this in your paint to ruin a good paint job - hence the diligence
Meanwhile the epoxy primer went on the body tub and all the panels (had to do this in three stages in order to complete everything)






Then rehung the larger panels to side walls of the workshop

Guide coats again reapplied to the primer

Then started to flat back with 600's wet


More to follow tomorrow
Jul 15, 2017
So with the body tub, bonnet & some of the smaller parts flatted final preparations were made to get these into final colour - paint & lacquer had arrived - all £500 + of it

So time to make it look the part - it's being refinished in a basecoat which gives the car it's colour with a clear lacquer applied over the basecoat - the basecoat when dry looks like a matt finish




So with the basecoat applied on Friday evening the lacquer was applied on Saturday morning




Gun finish to bulkhead

Side panel wet flatted with 2000

Then 3 stage polished to give the following result


So 4 coats of basecoat - first is a pretty light coat then 3 what I would call medium coats to obtain the coverage & depth - It makes a difference if you go too light with the coats or equally too heavy - the Lacquer is 2 coats first one a moderately medium coat and the second a reasonably heavy coat - when referring light / medium / heavy it is the density that I am referring to and can be altered in several ways i.e. gun settings, thick / thinness of paint / lacquer, air temperature / panel temperature & the speed at which you pass the gun over the panel whilst applying the paint - so a lot to consider / balance to get the right finish
So everything that's painted now has to be wet flatted with 2000 by hand then 3 stage polished (needs to be done over the next 36 hours whilst the lacquer is still curing - once completed I can then fit the bonnet to the car and move the car out of the workshop in order to flat / prep / paint the remaining panels -
Jul 16, 2017
Spent much of today flatting back then 3 stage polishing





Its not a job you can rush - you just have to be methodical with it - but that is all of the body tub completed with the polish

Bonnet is flatted

And a start made on the polishing - the polished areas are just to stage 1 so may appear a little hazy / polish swirls

I will complete polishing the bonnet in the morning prior to fitting it

The other loose panels that have been painted also need to be flatted & polished tomorrow


Jul 17, 2017

I find when flatting that I often get micro scratches in the paint so need to re flat to get rid of them - not sure if they are from tiny bits of paint in the paper - how do you flat off to avoid this?
I do use plenty of clean water when flatting.

Firstly depends on how fine the grade is that you rubbing back with you can use 1500 followed by 2000 if you are careful and are confident that you have reasonable depth / thickness of paint - however 2000 is the norm for flatting / polishing - sometimes the paper may stick whilst flatting back and then sometimes you may hear a screech type sound has a corner / edge of the paper travels over the paint this often cuts a little deeper into the paint - trick here is use a little soap (just a plain bar of hand soap) to lubricate the paper - this will help prevent the paper from digging in - especially on paints / lacquers that are still curing

Secondly - I would only ever use high quality polishes - personally I don't rate the Farecla range at all - I use the 3M range in this order after flatting - First stage: Fast Cut Plus (compound) Second stage: Extra Fine Compound (What it says on the bottle) Third stage: Ultrafina (finishing polish) - 3m do a colour coded 150mm polishing pad that matches the top colour of the polish - these are all Velcro backed hence quick change with a machine polisher which I use at the slowest speed setting - link to 3M polish range http://www.3m.co.uk/3M/en_GB/bodyshop-s ... polishing/ - At circa £30 + a bottle its not cheap plus if you are purchasing the pads (only sold in twos) and then the backing pad for the polisher you are heading for £200 of expenditure - however it will last you an age and give results that no other polish that I know of can.

A couple of final tips and apologies if I am stating the obvious - Compounds contain polymer fillers after compounding I always wash these out before commencing my next stage - so after stages 1 & 2 - I use a household spray on (non aggressive) window cleaner and paper towel to wipe back off - I also wash the compounding / polishing pads out with warm water on a regular basis then spin them dry on the machine at high speed - finally before starting a polishing job I always cut my finger nails short so that they cannot dig into the paint / lacquer whilst undertaking the polishing process

Hope this helps but let me know should you have any further questions - Chris

More progress today - bonnet now fully polished



Bolted the bonnet hinge boxes up to the bulkhead - I had templated these so that they could be positioned exactly to the position I had them in prior to being removed for paint - however they required sealing otherwise they can leak water into the cockpit

Then fitted the bonnet and aligned it with the bulkhead

Fitted the front and rear bonnet location stops & brackets

Masked the car up so that the inner front bulkhead, floor supports & rear bulkhead can be painted up in satin black - none of this is seen when the car is fitted up but I am not one for sweeping things under the carpet - I will get this area painted up in the morning



Jul 18, 2017
Pressing on - The satin black was applied to the cockpit

Steering column fitted (steering wheel is a old spare) so that I could move the car about

The two stone guards that fit under the bonnet were cleaned up & prepped - then painted up at the same time has the cockpit

With car now de-masked and back on the floor I could push it outside and have a decent clean up of the workshop - took a few daylight shots so that you can get a proper look at the colour





Flatted both rear wings along with both doors, just leaves the front wings, windscreen frame and a few small panels to flat and then these can go into basecoat & lacquer tomorrow


Jul 19, 2017
Once Sid had made his quality control visit (all good) - I could continue with getting the loose panels prepped for paint



And then on with the basecoat followed by the lacquer





Then had to play the game of rehanging the panels to other side of the workshop so that I could get the car back in - slightly tricky taking into consideration that the paint is only just going tack free and will not be fully cured for the next 3 - 4 days

Bit of a squeeze but doable

Jul 20, 2017
One of those days when everything takes 3 times longer than planned - none the less some progress to report - nearside front wing & door were flatted & polished to first stages

Then had to template the piping bead for the wings prior to cutting them & punching the holes for the fastenings



Then got the nearside front wing fitted

Despite my hinge templates it took an age to get the door fit to a point that I was happy with - but got there in the end


Jul 21, 2017
Nearside rear wing stage one polished (I need to polish the edge has once fitted against the wing piping I cant access it)

Then fitted it (easier said than done)

Took forever to sort the rear lamp shroud with the matching wing piping

But now you can start to see the side profile come together


Then on with the offside - rear wing flatted / stage one polished & loosely fitted

Unfortunately the fitting kit for the wings is only 30 fastenings short !- It's also 2 metres short on the piping bead which I will have to sort / order on Monday

Meanwhile on with offside door

Which after a few hours of adjusting resulted in a satisfactory fit - getting there but still a load to do yet
Jul 29, 2017
So a few days interlude whilst waiting for the fastenings & piping bead to be delivered - now got the offside rear wing fully bolted up and the rear lamp cowl fastened up after much fiddling to get the piping bead to sit neatly around it, polished the front wing up to first stage off the car and then patterned the wing piping up prior to fitting the wing, fitted the door lock & striker plate to the offside door. I now have a couple of areas that require minor paint rectification that I will sort tomorrow - then the car can go through the stages of final polish on Monday (still some small panels to paint up and the wheels to sort which are now back from being blasted)



Jul 30, 2017


Lacquer blended out with a 'fade out blending thinner' this saves from preparing & painting the complete panel

So now ready for the big polish job tomorrow - although all panels have been basically polished already I will now methodically go through the car on a panel by panel basis in order to achieve the final finish
Aug 1, 2017
Put the car in air to undertake the rust proofing - its a filthy job but has to be done - I masked up where required and cracked on - its a spray application - I only ever use Dinitrol - did the undersides /sill sides with black wax based 4941




The cavities, A & B posts and inside the doors were done with a clear penetrant wax


Once completed I carried on with the final polish - net results





So I just need to put it back on it's wheels in the morning and the transporter will be over to collect it and deliver it back to Keith who can commence fitting the car back up - I still have the rear panel & front panels to paint along with the wheels - which I can drop over to him once completed.
August 2nd, 2017
Back on it's wheels, loaded and out of the end of the lane by 8.30 this morning - I received a two word e mail from Keith the Jupiter's owner a little after 10.00 'Looks Fantastic' - so another very happy client - I take nothing for granted in my work - it is a very competitive market and therefore I always stand and work by the principal of 'I am only has good has my last job'

[Keith Clements]

Below is an addendum of the work on few remaining panels and wheels.
Aug 4, 2017 at 10:28pm
Collected the wheels from the blasters - these were originally made by Dunlop for Jowett - they can occasionally crack from certain stress points - in order to prevent any stress crack leading to failure of the wheel the trick is to weld around the known weak areas



Welding done on the inner face of the rims - now ready for primer - and yes there are 6 rims but Keith wants a spare, spare if that makes sense

Aug 9, 2017 at 8:51pm
Close pic of the wheel welding

Now sprayed with polyester primer

Aug 29, 2017 at 9:59pm
I was at Keith's on Monday who owns the Jupiter - unfortunately he has been so busy that car remains unfitted - it's just sat under it's cover in the workshop

Nov 6, 2017 at 7:44am
Whilst Keith is busy putting the car back together which includes a full engine rebuild I have found time between many other jobs to get the final few bits painted, wheels, spare wheel flap, front bumper valence and one of the A post closing panels



Polyester flatted and epoxy primed




Colour base coated



I will run the rims & tyres over to my tyre fitter this morning for him to fit & balance and then hopefully get them & panels over to Keith's before the end of the week
Nov 6, 2017 at 8:00pm

Off to the tyre fitter - with new tyres & tubes


Panels flatted & polished and put to safe storage ready for delivery

[Srenner]

Started to read the post while eating my breakfast. Two hours later, I'm late to work. Superb.

[AmilcarJohn]

A fantastic job on the Jupiter body -and a wonderful colour choice -it really suits the car.

Do you know the cause of the fire? I ask as it is obviously a risk for us all. A friend of mine had a battery charger set itself alight which made his Alfa spider a write off....

[PJGD]

Wow! Extreme dedication, and it shows in the results! Very impressive.

A question: Is the body attached to the chassis via the original Metalastic mounts, or on solid blocks? I assume the latter but was not sure. What do you see as the pros and cons of each approach?

Philip

[Keith Clements]

Hi Philip
The rear is supported on Metalastic and the middle and front on hardwood blocks. This was recommended by the factory in a service bulletin to reduce scuttle movement.
In addition 4 braces were fitted between scuttle and chassis beside radiator. The SC has tubular cruciform.

[PJGD]

Thanks Keith,
I mounted my body on the hardwood blocks, but may change to polymer or similar because I have concerns about the damp wood promoting corrosion at the touch-points on chassis and body.

The original Jowett intent with the Metalastik mounts was, one assumes, to isolate the body from torsional wracking and perhaps improve NVH. Clearly, the Jowett expectation was that rigid attachment of the body would add torsional and perhaps beam stiffness to the chassis. Hopefully, the added stiffness is enough to reduce chassis flex to an extent that under normal (non-rally-style) driving, it does not now cause the aluminium panels to fatigue. I guess that enough people have made this conversion now, and this issue has not shown up as a concern.

[Keith Clements]

The hardwood blocks are probably better than polymer, especially if they have some oil in them, since any water can get absorbed and evaporated. With polymer, or just about any plastic, the water cannot breathe away and gets trapped between the surfaces. Any grit between the surfaces can also break any paint surface. Probably academic anyway as Jups are seldom used in salty conditions, or left outside for long periods and usually have a wax or oily coating.
After 60 years the wood blocks had compressed a bit and a couple had cracked. Not sure how the polymer would have survived.

The only place the aluminium skin would be stressed by a twisting subframe would be around the waist just behind the B post. I did find a crack on each side there but it was hardly noticeable and after the extremely hard life my car has suffered on Latvian roads, Sahara piste and Welsh forest stages I do not think that is worth worrying about.

It might be worth measuring the deflection of the steering column when jacking one wheel up on Metalastic bushes, then on wood blocks and then with and without the bulkhead bracing. Also to do the same on the SC with its cruciform brace. This would give a quantitative rather than subjective assessment.

[Keith Clements]

Scott Renner has been in the garage helping check the parts going into the new engine.
We first checked out the block that I had done a little welding on, spending ages trying to find some suitable studs, one having to be extracted from an old block. This was done by leaving the block on the wood burner to heat it up. The stud extractor I hadwas not up to the job so two nuts were used. Scott says there is German made extractor that looks like the chuck of a drill.
Perhaps like this but I do not know if it damages the thread.
So, having a satisfactory block pair to replace the cracked one, we looked at a selection of crankshafts. Over my 50 years with Jowetts I have collected a selection and always kept a couple reground with bearings whilst racing. Happily never needed to use them. We looked at Bill Lock's rear mains which need to have their thrust faces reduced to get the desired 2 thou of end play.

Also checked the conrods for ovality and twist. Scott mentioned the later rods had an increased filet on them so when I dig out the rest of the stock I will check that.

The heads that were on the engine had 10 years of wear so I will have to renovate them. I have a pair with freshly installed inserts so may have to use those.

After an overnight think, I decided I needed to check out my selection of blocks as both the Javelin and SC need their engines redone as well. I also need to have a spare engine and one for the Javelin shell waiting to be rebuilt. Chris also wants an engine. So why not have a production line as this should save a lot of time and allow me to liberate any parts not required. So on Sunday Scott and I unearthed crankcases and proceed to select the best. My computer list of those I thought I had in stock had 3 cases labelled 'not a pair of S3'. These have a webbed case on cylinders 1/3 and a non-webbed case on 2/4 . So were these a batch that used unmatched pairs that had to rebored and may require oversize bearings?

I have selected six crankcases as candidates (including one sand cast rather than die cast set) but need to figure out how to do the John Airey compressed air test to check on porosity before using them in the builds. I will also do some crack testing on them. Scott said he would paint the inside of the case to reduce its roughness. Just need to find a suitable oil and water resistant paint!

Perhaps this could be the subject of the next technical week/week end in the Gulag. Any one interested should contact me so we can choose a date.

[Keith Clements]

The crankcase numbers of what I call 'not a pair of S3' are as follows :20314-E2PD20256, 20679, 19961-E1PD19933

20171114_162321_LI.jpg

20171114_162053.jpg

The numbers on the sandcast block are H21
The series 3 blocks are 23760-E2PE22487, 23966-E2PE22689, 25593-E3PE23800, 25858-E3PE23966, 91209 which has engine number JUR25761, and 2074 eng.num RO25511

20171114_161909.jpg

Chris's engine is 92035 -RO25915
So a few anomalies there especially the possibility of crankcase number matching engine number!
The engine that came out of the SA in 2016 with the cracked block was 22477-E2PD21693 and a similar incident going to a race at Pembury, Wales in 1989 occurred to block 21247-RO12901. I still have the block that cracked in 1969 but that was not S3.

[Keith Clements]

Keith, Re Pressure Testing.
Well worth doing, you don't want to spend 200 hrs building an engine only to find its leaking when you have dropped it in your motor.  
The first engines I tested I used a Football Hand Pump and the standard valve for pressurising which is a needle with a hole down the centre which I just pushed through the rubber used to seal off the rear water take off the see Pic 0004.

You need a sheet of 1/8 rubber to make up a head gasket and gaskets to blank off rear and front water take off. You can test a complete engine or half engine.
Ideally you need a big water tank and lifting gear to drop the engine in but not having either I used Leak Detection Fluid or plenty of soapy water.
The latest engine I tested I added a Schrader valve and a gauge to a water transfer casting which makes the testing a little easier. See Pic 0010 This was an O.K. Test. 

Pic 0003. Crack in push rod chest, R.H. corner cover fixing leaking into water jacket sealed off. 

Pic 1008. Leak from studs 7,5,3 and drain cock.

Pic 1109. Green welded areas blue pin hole leaks. 

Pic 1108. As pic 1109 block using soapy water.

Regards John.

[Keith Clements]

I would like to test each block before I clean and prepare them. Once I have a good pair I can then test the heads and the timing cover assembly.
Some cases do not have the liners in, so without making up a special seal they will have to be put in.
The head or something like it would then need to seal that face and prevent air leaking into the head.
Without the timing cover on there would be no outlet
The inlet  would need the air pressure intake . I will pressurize to 10 psi. and use the soapy water method and fit a pressure gauge and see if there is a leak over time.

[Keith Clements]

Spent the day designing the test system. Started off with the kit I use for the testing of the balance pipe using a vacuum pump. I then set up with the compressor and finally cut the Schroeder valve out of an old inner tube. I had a lot of trouble getting a seal , and resorted to grinding some of the rubber off the mound of rubber that supports the valve so that it fitted in the rectangular waterway in the timing cover outlet. The rear inlet was covered with the oil pressure gauge take off. There was also much trouble in getting the water drain plug sealed . In the end I made a bolt to plug the hole with plenty of PTFE tape and a fibre washer. Perhaps some lapping in of the water drain cock might stop the leak. An extra O ring was needed under the centre head bolt to seal that. Initial investigation was with my ear in a rubber tube listening for leaks. Then I used the washing up liquid solution.






TOPIC Short video of bubbles


This leak was caused by a little surface corrosion and was cured by wire brushing and filling with plastic metal.
The case and head now hold 50psi for 15 minutes . There is a slight drop of 5 psi which I may investigate after I do the other side.