Javelin Restoration - Project B

[robert lintott]

I am not sure why you think the brake drums might be from an A-H . The first Big Healey was the 100/4 , experts could tell you but I think the early ones had Girling drums of 11 inch diameter . The first production was marketed in 1953, when Jowett was all but finished, but quite possibly the brakes ,as with other mechanical parts, came from an Austin saloon, the A 90, which was in production in the Jowett era.

The subsequent Big Healeys had disc brakes.

Have you seen the voluminous posts currently active on the Forum concerning ways of fitting other wheels ,including alloys , to Javelins to either cure the cracking problem with standard wheels and or fit radial tyres? I think you may get some ideas from them.

Bob Lintott

[robert lintott]

Just a further note and apologies for not spotting your posts on the Javelin alloy etc wheels forum. The 100/4 was based on Austin A90 Atlantic components , which itself was based on the Austin A70 saloons, Hampshire and Hereford. Maybe the "Austin Counties " club could help. Bob Lintott

[Drummond Black]

When Javelin JKU 777 was purchased from Jowett Engineering in 1963 it arrived in Scotland with CD brake drums and wheels. Jim Dailly and George Mitchell drove in up from Bradford. The car was not interfered with until it's first rebuild many years later. All the different components were transferred. I helped with a few.

Drummond

[Jack]

When Javelin JKU 777 was purchased from Jowett Engineering in 1963 it arrived in Scotland with CD brake drums and wheels. Jim Dailly and George Mitchell drove in up from Bradford. The car was not interfered with until it's first rebuild many years later. All the different components were transferred. I helped with a few.

Drummond

Hi Drummond,

I understand (separate to the JKU story) that George had found alternative drums and wheels from another vehicle, which he advertised in the Jowetteer in the 70s - it looks like these are the ones fitted to JKU at the moment, and they have a PCD of 150mm, significantly smaller than the Jowett drums. They are the same size all round, but the drums are different on one corner, leading me to think that they are from a production car that had pattern parts available. This is related to the alloy wheel and alfin drum discussion, if there were a drum that bolted straight on from another vehicle then it may make the search significantly easier.

I don't know if the steel drums fitted to the car currently are Bradford CD drums, or if the Bradford CD drums and wheels were from a different car altogether, or were made specifically for Jowett.

Jack.

[Forumadmin]

The thread of what is going on in the various projects spawned by 'Team SC' is getting difficult to follow. After getting the SC ready for the NEC there were still some things to do (as there always is with any Classic Car) and some tasks are still to be done . We then set about Project B to restore a unique Javelin owned by Norman Snell but a major extension to the garage was then undertaken which is still on-going and Project B stalled. We never named that garage extension project but we should have done as it is well into its second year. The extension is complete with lift, shelving and work benches and we are now remodellng the old garage. The last few months have concentrated on the body shop; but even that was delayed in preparing three cars for Wales including hood and seats for the SA, steering and many other long overdue tasks on the Javelin Taxi and knocking off some of the important SC tasks.

The engine assembly and final finish area have yet to have the floor laid and walls and roof insulated. Meanwhile Project C (Derek's Javelin which we acquired after his death) and Project D (Peter Pfister's Javelin) are awaiting attention. Add to that the collection of 'spares' from various sources for JCS and the garage is very cluttered.

Anyway now off for another day down there painting the ceilng and walls of the bodyshop.

[Jack]

More information coming through as a result of our appeal at the NEC for more information.

The drums are believed to be Bradford CD type, which are a very similar design to the Javelin and Jupiter but with a smaller PCD. The reasons for this smaller PCD are not clear, however this does mean that the drums that we have are fairly rare (i.e. realistically unobtainable) however fabricating new drums is feasible using Javelin drums.

The wheels will be Dunlop wheels, but come from a vehicle described as even rarer than Jupiter wheels, so despite their slightly thicker gauge this is not likely to provide a ready source of replacement wheels less prone to cracking. Apparently much easier to use a hydraulic press to manufacture Jupiter wheels out of Javelin ones than to try and source either the drums or the wheels to replace what we have. Luckily we have all the wheels and they are not visibly damaged!

We need to investigate, but apparently they may have modified front wheel bearings, but depends on what design these are.

It occurs that being as they are modified Jowett drums that remanufacturing these using standard Javelin or Jupiter drums would not be too onerous but would require a blank from the casting process to drill to the correct PCD for these wheels. There is unlikely to be a car which uses the same drums as they are Bradford CD prototype, so no easy solution there.

I will be forwarding photos of the drums, wheels and seats to JCS for their records and to confirm some of the details with their experts. My thanks to Simon Wood for his help so far.

More questions, perhaps a few answers, but at least we are making progress. It seems that this is a unique car that we should save as a part of Jowett history - as a car which seems to have tested various parts destined for the Bradford CD it may offer us more clues about the cars that never got to full production.

Jack.

[Keith Clements]

Thanks Jack for resurrecting Project B, which as the post before suggested had been rather overtaken by events. The garage rebuild is STILL continuing with a new roller shutter door fitted this weekend, but prior to that I have spent endless days trying to sort the parts and shelving out to make space and find things. The result was space to store parts off Peter Pfister's Javelin and Chris Spencer's Jupiter whose chassis now hangs from the roof. There is still some insulation and panelling to finish off in the old part of the garage ready for the laying of a concrete floor which has simply been earth covered with polythene and carpet for the last nearly 40 years. Jack put a thick oak worktop on top of the new parts washer bought at the NEC. Unfortunately for Project B another Javelin has jumped ahead in the queue for restoration, Project D, that being Peter Pfister's very early Jav that is now on the rotisserie awaiting welding and a lot of work on the suspension. So suggest you now jump to that thread! Note that Project C, the Derek Hawkin's Javelin, has been beautifully outsourced to Leeds City College, and Project E, Chris Spencer's bitza Jup, is lying around garage in various nooks and crannies.

[Jack]

Bit of an update, Project B was sent to Envirostrip to remove all the paint and other gunk a couple of months ago, and after us delaying its return for some time I think they eventually got a bit tired of hanging onto the bare shell and parts!

It is parked up for the moment while work carries on with the Bradford, but initial review when it returned was that it had a bit of rot in the usual places, but was a sound shell that should not present major issue getting back on the road.

Another interesting bit from reading 1964 Jowetteer was the mention of sale of JKU 700, obviously a similar reg no and owned by MD of Jowett in the 50s. TOPIC

[richard turner]

Was this the Javelin fitted with Porsche rear lights? If so, I think I have a photo.

[Jack]

It certainly isn't a modification we are aware of, but if you do have any photos I am very interested, most of the pics we have are from the front or when it was recovered, so a valuable part like that may well have been removed.

If you need a hand uploading or want to email them post or pm and I'll help where I can.

Thanks,

Jack.

[richard turner]

Hi Jack
There is a very clear picture of the rear of the car in The Jowetteer 1968 International day special magazine. It shows the aeroflow vents and what I believe are Porsche 356 rear lights. In relation to the wheels, the hub caps look to me of Rootes group design and I was wondering whether other components in the wheel assembly may have been sourced similarly.( Humber Sceptre early 60's)
Regards Rich