Here is the car as I was first introduced to it - that paint is slick! Unfortunately, it was hiding a sordid past...
I went to look at this E-Type in it’s current shop to give my opinion and an estimate on the project. The car was well stripped down when I arrived, and I was able to get a good view of what we were looking at here, although, as the shop owner put it, “who knows what’s under that slick red paint job!” The paint WAS slick – the sandblaster who stripped the car guessed it was Imron, as it was very difficult to break through!
At any rate, seeing this car in this state REALLY brought back some memories. My own ’63 roadster was a combination of a bronze car, and we replaced the bonnet with one from a gold car. And when we painted it in my parents garage – at age 16 – in red Imron – it ended up looking just like this one – red on the outside and gold on the inside…
A familiar sight for me - red Imron on the outside, gold on the inside!
The big issue with this car is the bonnet… It has been hit HARD – the point of impact seems to be the RH front over-rider. Whoever hammered it out put alot of work into it, and had some moderate skills, but the end result was a poorly assembled bonnet, with a mis-shaped mouth.
What usually happens with a wrecked E-Type bonnet that’s being repaired by an owner or amateur with basic hand tools is simple exhaustion – I’ve been there… You just hammer and hammer and hammer and it gets better for a while and then starts to stretch and you just get tired of trying to get it right and call it good enough. Then you bolt it all back together and grab the spatula of filler and go to town. In the end, you’re glad it’s back on the road, but it’s always upsetting to look at it and know it’s been wrecked – ESPECIALLY when YOU wrecked it!
The mouth is not quite right - actually, it kind of reminds me of the shape of a long-nose D-Type... It did look alot better with the bumpers on and motif bar in, although the motif bar was cut and bent to make it fit. Look carefully at the seams between the underpanel and top sections on both sides - the RH side is over 1" lower than the left.
After suffering through this several times in my youth, as a result, E-Types with an obviously mis-shaped mouth DRIVE ME INSANE! I will reshape this, using some amazing machines and templates off a perfect original bonnet, until it is right. Decades later, I also have the benefit of air-powered planishing hammers, and a reciprocating machine. Running a planishing hammer over a center section for a few minutes – at 4500 beats per minute – can move about as much metal as a 19-year-old with a hammer and dolly can in an entire weekend!
I don't really have the right to pick on this bonnet - it's actually a pretty good job considering the extent of the damage... Here's me wet-sanding one just like it as a kid - that I wrecked - and hammered out - and filled with alot more bondo than the red one above! Things have come a long way since this photo - I have alot more tools and skills, and alot less hair...
