This 1967 E-Type Fixed-head coupe shell was finally completed, and ready to go back home to its owner in Detroit, Micgigan – but only temporarily – as the owner and his family are beginning to make arrangements to move to a beautiful antique stone home in France!
We made arrangements to meet “halfway” in Powell, OH – just north of Columbus, on this past Saturday. It was a good spot to access via the highways, etc., and I had another stop to make in Ohio…
Also, Janie’s brother David lives in Powell with his wife and twin boys, and for a change I decided to be somewhat normal and spend some time visiting them instead of the usual Cannonball Run from one stop to the next across the country.
On Monday morning, I headed over and down to Cincinnatti, OH – actually, West Harrison, Indiana to be exact, where I picked up my latest beauty…
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- This is a shot of the completed shell in the cart – which is going home with the shell – AAAGGGHHHH – customers keep buying my carts!!!
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- This shell turned out GREAT considering what we started with!
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- The rear wheel arches will need some filler and finishing at the body shop, but they are LIGHT YEARS ahead of where they were!
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- Here’s a shot of the other side, and based on what we started with, I’d consider this repair to be a ROARING SUCCESS!
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- Another shot of the cockpit – EVERYTHING in this photo is new!
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- And hidden inside the cavities of this shell is our subframe – adding unbelievable strength, rigidity, and safety, with ZERO compromises to the final fit and finish of the shell.
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- The frame rails were blasted bare, repaired, drilled on the ends, and internally coated with red oxide.
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- Saturday AM – up at 5, out of the house by 6… This photo was taken where 896 crosses Route 1 – exactly where I dropped off a hitch-hiking kid when I was in college. He was headed to a college in Lancaster, and I was just out driving around. I offered to take him halfway, and he jumped at it – but the halfway point was kind of in the middle of nowhere… I blasted up 896, giving him the ride of his life! But here’s the CRAZY part – I ran into him at a party about a month later, and he said that he stoof here for about 5 minutes, and was then picked up by a guy in an MGB, who took him to the front door of where he was going!
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- Heading up through Amish country on 896. The road was slick – it has just rained when I came outside, but I had thrown a tarp on the car overnight. Luckily, the rain stopped before I headed out, but the car still got wet some from the spray off the truck. I knew the weather was going to be good from here on out, so we were OK, and the interior of the shell never got wet. The water isn’t the end of the worl, I just don’t want water get down into all the seams and nooks and crannies before the shell is coated with epoxy primer and seam-sealed at the body shop.
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- Stopped at Wawa in Lancaster, PA for breakfast.
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- Pretty sure this is the bridge from PA into West Virginia.
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- A shot of the WV countryside…
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- And this is the bridge from West Virginia into Ohio…
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- My version of a “Selfie” – almost there, and living the dream…
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- This was the back lot of Cracker Barrell in Sunbury, OH. It almost looks like one of those pictures with a split mirror at a fun house!
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- This alignment of the two trailers was REALLY convenient! Right after this, I went inside to use the rest room, and as I walked around front, I saw him drive away. This one has been the absolute bane of my existence all year, and I was ecstatic to get rid of it – until I saw him driving it down the road, and then I started missing it already – it was ALOT of work! THEN – I left – got in my truck and headed out, and was the first guy at the red light right there. And I’m sitting there waiting for the light and all of the sudden I am DOG tired, so at first I tought I was imagining this – but no – a rollback drove right across in front of me with a burned-up AH Bugeye Sprite on it, and stacked RIGHT on top of it, was a burned Porsche 356! I actually hit the blinker and took my foot off the brake – then I realized I had the trailer. My mind is racing – “Ok – where are they going? scrapped? there’s good stuff there! Dude – you’ve got an empty trailer – GO! – and then sanity prevailed, the light turned, and I headed over to Powell for the night. YOu can’t win them all, they probably were not something I could get my hands on, and I need a fire-damage bugeye and Porsche even LESS than I need another E-Type…
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- Headed into Delaware – OHIO!
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- After a fun evening and whole day Sunday with David, Kari, and their boys, I headed out on Monday AM towards Cincinnatti, OH.
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- This is West Harrison, OH – but that hill ahead is in Indiana.
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- Coming up on the light at the street that marks the state line – that building with the green awnings is in Indiana.
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- This was weird – everything on the right is Indiana, everything on the left is Ohio! Just up ahead, I pulled into a body shop that I have been talking to for a few months about a broken-in-half but complete Series 2 E-Type roadster. The owner of the shop finally got his hands on the car from another body shop about a month ago. It is a 1970, only 25 serial numbers away from his, and he wants to use it as a parts car for HIS car. I’m here to pick up – well – as much of it as I can convince him to sell me! I’ve brought some wings to help with his car – bumpers, good seats, etc., and some cash – wish me luck!
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- Well, I didn’t get it all, but I got what I really wanted and what I knew I could at least have over the phone – the roadster tail.
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- Here is a shot of my latest acquisition at a rest stop in Ohio on the way home. I ended up with a VERY tired S2 bonnet, the tail section, and both doors – also very rough.
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- This looks like junk to most people, but it’s gold for us here – I think I will be able to use most if not all of this to build up a roadster shell in the future – probably converting it to Series 1 in the process.
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- I tried to get a photo of this crazy bridge I have seen before coming back into West Virginia, but this was the best I could do…
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- Back home with my goodies!
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- The front pan on the top frame was a rusted mess, and I cut it off and threw it inside the boot for the ride home. I am going to start making those soon – I don’t think they are that tricky, and I can certainly do ALOT better than the current price on them from England – $1200!!!
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- Here’s the bonnet – YIKES! We pulled this apart and put the center section and wings into storage, and kept the inner valances here to be stripped and blasted – they look good.
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- Here we are just having some fun after getting the doors out of the truck. I TRIED to get the rest of her – HARD, but he’s keeping that for now to us ebits and pieces and see how things go together. But after his car is done, maybe I’ll make another trip out and grab some more.
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- This is the rustier angle… sitting outside for so long, the cockpit just became a hot tub of rust…
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- Some people see absolute trash here, but I see LOTS of original E-Type sheetmetal for roadsters – just welded all together currently with a little green paint on it. Everything above the buper line is in real good shape, and so are the chassis legs. And with the doors and window channels, boot lid, top frame, etc. – we’re well on our way to building a roadster back up. I do have a couple of front bulkheads in storage – none of them are very good, but we JUST MIGHT be able to piece this old girl back into something in the future! Keep your eye out – this isn’t the last you’ll see of this little gem!
