1960 MK2 JAGUAR
DIPSTICKS MARK AND BINDY DATSON
Mark and I had bought a 1960 Automatic 3.8 MK2 Jaguar, online and sight unseen, something which in hindsight could have come unstuck in so many ways!
THE JOURNEY - RESTORING AN OLD CAR
Part One
Mark and I already had the car ‘bug’ having bought a 1949 Citroen Traction – this car had been partially restored but having been stored for some time the engine gave some initial problems with rust from the block completely blocking the radiator causing massive overheating issues. Our first inkling of this problem was when we blithely drove the car to York on its first major outing – it wasn’t far into the trip when the car began overheating, meaning a slow trip to York and back, stopping periodically to let the engine cool off. To add to our woes, petrol also began leaking into the (hot) engine bay from a loose pipe fitting which we were concerned might start a fire – all we needed!
Mark with the Citroen Traction
After we put a new radiator in the car with a sieve to catch rust the Traction was back on the road, but we decided to look for a car that we could restore from scratch; something that would hold its value and was comfortable and stylish.
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Having had a silver blue MK2 Jaguar many years ago I was keen to find a similar model and Mark liked the look of the MK2s also. Mark started looking on the internet for suitable cars. We had in mind to get a 3.8 model as they were powerful and held their value – if you could get a car with the original engine.
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Eventually a suitable car was located in Newcastle, New South Wales and after some online bidding we were the proud owners of a 1960 Automatic 3.8 MK2 Jaguar, sight unseen! Looking back, I guess we put a fair bit of trust into the transaction and could have come unstuck, however, it all went well - the car was shipped by car transporter over to WA and arrived in November 2016.
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We borrowed a car trailer and took the car to a friend’s property where we put it up on stumps, away from damp ground, and put a honky nut-proof cover over it. There the car sat for months while we looked for somewhere suitable to begin pulling it apart.
Part Two
Finding out about our car and what we had to do next was a steep learning curve for us and Mark spent the time while the car was stored in the ‘bush’ searching the internet for information. We knew the DG250 automatic gearbox in the Jaguar was not suitable for us to use – they had a notoriously bad name for being clunky and failing, not to mention leaking, so after much research Mark decided to replace it with a more modern Holden gearbox – a conversion kit could be brought in from the USA to fit it to the Jaguar.
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Our friends were understandably beginning to ask when we thought we would remove their garden ornament, so we decided to buy a suitable car trailer and bring the Jaguar home to work on. This was a good decision as not only did our friends lose their unsightly (silver clad) garden ornament but once the car was home, Mark found it easy to spend a few spare minutes or hours working on the car in between other activities.
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After some enquiries we were recommended a panelbeater/spraypainter and began a dialogue with him. He came to our place to look over the car and we were pleased to learn that out of a score of 10 body-wise, our car was a 7. Again, we were lucky to have obtained a car that was restorable – our panelbeater said that many cars are just not worth restoring. Our car had been involved in a ‘bingle’ at some stage which had damaged the front right wing and been somewhat inexpertly fixed – nothing that couldn’t be repaired.
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After the vote of confidence body-wise, Mark began the tedious task of removing the chrome work and everything else to ready the car for sand blasting to remove layers of old paint and ‘bog’.
Jaguar partly stripped for sandblasting
Part 3
We had found a local panel beater we were happy with and Mark set about the huge job of pulling the car apart ready for its restoration. He did this mostly after work – a few hours here and a few there, until finally the day came when the car was at a stage where it could be taken to the panel beater.
We went to see him, only to find that he had shut up shop and retired from the business! This threw us into a tailspin as we had utmost confidence in the fellow.
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After rethinking the whole project, we decided to book the car in for specialist sand blasting – the same one our panel beater had recommended - and try to find another bodywork specialist we were comfortable with.
Jaguar on the dolly minus engine and suspension, and ready for sandblasting
With only three weeks until the sand blasting booking, everything fell into place. We took the Jaguar to our mechanic in Midland to remove the heavy engine and suspension and he told us about a restorer of old cars in the same street. Eventually we found him, built a rapport with him and we all made the decision that he would do the bodywork. Our friend and fellow Dipstick Dave Pole had constructed a ‘dolly’ for the Jaguar – a metal frame with castor wheels – to place beneath the car after the suspension was removed, which allowed us to put the car shell back up onto the trailer, the whole lot well strapped down, and taken back home.
We then made the long trip down to Pinjarra to Galloway Engine Reconditioning with the precious engine strapped to a pallet on our trailer. Reconditioning the engine was beyond our capabilities as we didn’t have the expertise or equipment to even attempt it and we wanted a reliable car at the end of the process. The engine would come back to us practically brand new, ready to be installed.
The Jaguar body then went to the specialist sand blaster in Naval Base to have the bodywork cleaned of rust and ‘bog’ and then came back to us clean and ready for the next stage in our car restoration adventure.
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Part Four
Oh, how much we had learned from being the hopelessly optimistic and naïve new owners of our beloved Jaguar! After a year spent stripping the car back to a bare body, we took it to be blasted and primed before taking it to a panelbeater to remove rust.
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We took it to a local panelbeating workshop and there it languished for a year with only sporadic work being done, which in hindsight was probably a blessing as the work done was below our expectations. Mark was beginning to lose interest in the project, so we decided to look for another panelbeater to complete the work.
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Well! We discovered our body saviour in the shape of ‘Tom the Tatt’, a lovely young man covered from head to toe (we assume) in tattoos. We had an inkling of the calibre of job he intended to do when he asked us if we wanted the new welds in the original spots! He then proceeded to remove every bit of pinhole rust and replaced panels either with ones we ordered from England, or he had fabricated himself.
Jaguar at Tom's fabrication workshop
We were always a little concerned that the engine might be seized or the cylinder head cracked, which would have been problematic as heads are hard to come by, however when we visited Galloways in Pinjarra to see the engine we were pleasantly surprised to see that everything had come apart easily with no damage to the head and only a small amount of corrosion – not bad for a 60 year old car! Galloways reconditioned the engine and made small changes such as a seal at the rear of the engine to stop oil leaks, and ‘top hat’ cylinder sleeves to prevent movement.
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We were happy that everything was back on track and were looking forward to seeing the body finished and painted in its first coat before putting the car back together again.
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Part Five (June 2021)
Decisions need to be made when tackling a 60-year-old vehicle, the most important being how far you are able or prepared to go with restoration. All vehicles from that era will have some or a lot of rust. Do you remove the worst visible rust, patch it over and paint it or take the body back to bare metal and repair every last pin hole?
The final decision depends on a few things – how much you love the car, the popularity or rarity of the car and last but not least the ability to recoup a large chunk of the costs if the car is sold. You can never recoup all the money spent on a full restoration even with a popular car like the Jag, so in our case two factors influenced our decision to undertake a full restoration – one was love of the car, the other was the sense that we were saving a heritage vehicle which should now last another 50 years.
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In Part Four we had taken the sandblasted body to a metal fabricator (not panel-beater, as was pointed out to us) after a poor experience with another person. Over 2020 and into 2021 Tom, the metal fabricator, worked his magic and removed every bit of rust, undid every seam and resealed them, fixed old accident damage and fabricated new panels where needed. By the time he had finished it was better structurally than when it came new from the factory.
The repaired body then went next door to Mike the painter who prepared it for painting with different sorts of undercoat and finally the topcoat. The original colour had been white, but we chose the opalescent silver blue (a Jaguar colour) instead.
Jaguar body arriving back from Mike the painters
While Tom was restoring the body, we were busy getting other bits and pieces restored or purchased. The woodwork was restored – with beautiful walnut veneer, the undercarriage was pulled apart and renovated, the chrome was re-chromed, the motor was reconditioned, and new wire wheels and tyres purchased. The brakes were upgraded – there were already discs fitted but modern versions are superior.
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We ordered new leather upholstery and carpet (in blue) from the UK which arrived promptly, but which has languished at the Upholsterer’s since – the upholstery will be the last item to be done.
Jaguar minus engine but with suspension fitted
While Tom was restoring the body, we were busy getting other bits and pieces restored or purchased. The woodwork was restored – with beautiful walnut veneer, the undercarriage was pulled apart and renovated, the chrome was re-chromed, the motor was reconditioned, and new wire wheels and tyres purchased. The brakes were upgraded – there were already discs fitted but modern versions are superior.
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We ordered new leather upholstery and carpet (in blue) from the UK which arrived promptly, but which has languished at the Upholsterer’s since – the upholstery will be the last item to be done.
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Part Six (May 2024)
Time has passed and the Jaguar has slowly been put together again. Mark has found that everything he does gets done at least four times as nothing goes back exactly as it was originally. We decided to have air conditioning to replace the old heater box – again the parts came from the USA, with instructions that said it was a simple job to instal! Two years later and he has only just installed it to his satisfaction. A problem with the Jaguar is that the engine bay is small for the size of the car and the engine takes up most of it, so there is a lot of juggling to get things to fit.
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While Mark installed the new wiring loom himself, he has had Alex the auto electrician, tidy up and check the fiddly bits and make sure everything is working as it should. While the car was on the hoist at Mike the mechanic’s, the linesman came to run brake and fuel lines – all neatly bent and secured.
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The restoration has taken much longer than we had anticipated as Mark has only been able to work on it when he has time from work. We now have a deadline coming up as we are moving so the job has taken on a new urgency.
Jaguar receiving reconditioned engine and suspension plus brake and fuel lines
Jaguar coming home from the mechanics
There is now a rush to get the car finished before we shift. Tom is coming back to adjust the doors as one is a bit tight. The auto electrician and linesman are coming back to finish off sundries and Mark is busy putting the rest of the chrome and woodwork on. Once these jobs are done, we will take the car to the Upholsterer to get the seats and carpets fitted and the front and rear windscreens will be fitted at the same time. Then it will be back to Mike the mechanic to get the engine running and the car licensed before we take it to Bremer Bay for its new life😊