A couple of weeks ago, I was able to experience a real milestone for myself and a customer by delivering their restored E-Type shell.
It was actually a couple of years ago when we agreed to work together on this shell – right when this business was really starting to take off. Since then, things have changed ALOT around here, and by building up the business, and re-building this shell, I was able to see both my and the customer’s dreams coming true.
NOTE: This blog posting shows photos of the day I picked up the shell, and the day I dropped it back off, completed – plus a few shots in-between. For extensive blog postings with literally HUNDREDS of photos of this shell’s restoration, choose the blog category “1963 Fixed-Head Coupe – AB” on the right-hand side of the website. Enjoy!
So it was a great day two weeks ago when I dropped off the shell, and the same people were there the day I picked it up. Other projects, budgets, etc. put about 18 months between the two visits, but it seemed like almost no time had passed!
We can do the same for YOUR dreams about YOUR E-Type! And if you don’t have one yet but would like to, give us a call – we have several project E-Types available!
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- This photo was taken 18 months ago, on the day I went and picked up the shell at the customer’s home. Here she is, mounted into the cart, ready to head back to our shop.
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- Loaded up onto the trailer – which was smaller last year.
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- Strapping things down for the trip.
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- Here are the guys who were there on the day we loaded her up – The customer and I are in the middle, and his friends are on the ends. After loading the car, we went inside and had a hearty lunch and talked about British cars and vintage racing – for HOURS!!!
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- Back at the shop – which was still under construction at the time.
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- This was the second shell moved into the new building.
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- But she soon had lots of company!
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- A few months later, it was finally her turn to be loaded into the rotisserie.
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- LOTS of filler!
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- OK – the shell is mounted and braced, and we’re ready to cut! Don’t let the red paint fool you – she’s ROUGH!
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- See what I mean…
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- The rockers were galvanized steel riveted over massive amounts of rusted original metal…
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- In the end, not much was left, but most shells get down this far anyway. On some cars we can utilize the original tunnel, but not this one – it is only in there for alignment at the moment.
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- Several weeks later, and there is a great deal of new metal in the shell – plus a hidden subframe!
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- The project came with extra doors and an extra hatch, but we used the original doors and hatch from this shell.
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- Miraculously, the inner shells did not need new bottoms. These were sandblasted bare and then treated to new skins.
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- Taking this shell home forced me to get this photo taken – I knew it would be a long time before this much stuff was at the shop and “done”. Often, people come to see the shop and there is nothing here but rusted out messes… All of my best work is long gone – we don’t restore the shells so they can just sit here! This shot took alot of moving around of things, and I was going as fast as I could to get it in before dark!
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- The next morning, the car was all saddled up and ready to go home! (Note: The door looks a little out of whack in this photo, and it is. I usually don’t travel with the doors on for safety, but I knew the customer was going to have a big crowd on hand for the delivery, and was looking forward to having the doors on. So the doors are just bolted up temporarily and bungeed shut – tight! The doors, hatch, bonnet, and even subframes should all come back off and be painted seperately – AFTER the body man has adjusted the door to his liking, leaded or filled the seams, and block sanded everything smooth. Trust me, the door fits – perfectly – I spent HOURS on the gaps!!!)
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- These customers live in New Hope, Pennsylvania, which is right on the Delaware river, just up from where George Washington famously crossed on Christmas Eve.
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- Between the road and the river is the “tow path” where barges were towed by mules along a canal system that ran right along the river. These bridges were located up and down the canal and all looked the same.
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- This is always a cool shot on a delivery trip!
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- This is the main drag in New Hope – it’s kind of a touristy strip of eclectic craft shops and little restaurants – it’s a fun place to spend an afternoon.
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- Home Sweet Home! – and the owner was as excited to see the car back as a little kid on Christmas morning!
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- Here are the same 4 guys – almost 18 months later! And yes – I am in fact wearing the same sweatshirt, and actually… I’m wearing it right now – I LOVE that thing and I wear it ALL THE TIME!
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- But there was actually a much bigger crowd on hand for the big day!
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- Untied…
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- Easing her off…
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- …and right back into the little building she came out of – “the jag building” – built just for this car a few years ago, this building is a one-stall replica of the larger garage just to the left of it, and just outside the photo.
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- Everyone present was fascinated with the shell’s like new condition! After going over everything repaired on the car in great detail, we were back into the house for another great lunch and bench racing session! It was a fun day, but also a very rewarding one, in that I was able to stand in this garage with the finished product, and remember the conversation from a few years ago in this same garage, when I assured the owner I could save this shell, despite the fact that no less than 3 other restoration shops had said this was un-restorable, and merely a “parts car”… Here at Monocoque Metalworks, there’s no such thing!
