Finishing a Restoration

By W.A. Ramoska

This is the story of how a ‘parts car’ became a Jaguar (JCNA) concours winner. All the work with the exception of the chroming and sewing of leather was done by an average guy (myself) in my garage.

I found what was to be my ‘E’ in a garage in Akron, Ohio. The ’63 had some problems. Its monocoque was nearly broken in half. It had been in a fire and the bonnet was warped, the doors were half plastic, the boot floor was rotted out…well you get the picture. They had to wrap it in clothesline and jack up the center just to move it. But it had a great engine. It was the original and had a new rebuild job (I have no idea why).

I bought the car and had it shipped to Kansas.

Two years later that cat would consistently capture 98 to 99-plus scores in JCNA sanctioned shows. What follows is how I did it. The three basic requirements that you must have to pursue such a project are:

1. Channeled enthusiasm
2. A professional plan of attack
3. Lots of spare room in the garage and access to the right tools

Enthusiasm

The title of this story is “Finishing a Restoration”. That’s because it is real easy to start one. Looking through the classified sections in any car magazine, (especially Hemmings) one easily comes across a number of “Basket cases”. A basket case is a disassembled car which is currently literally in baskets around the seller’s garage. The reason a lot of basket cases become basket cases is that the potential restorer ran out of enthusiasm.

You need a goal. A time frame to get it done in so you won’t tire of it. I kept up my enthusiasm two ways: first, I kept reminding myself that the torn apart car was worth less until I finished it. Second, I followed the second basic requirement listed above, namely, I followed a professional plan of attack.

Professional Plan of Attack

Most amateur ground-up restorations start out with a lot of enthusiasm but no organization…That is, they bring the car home and tear it down to the frame in a couple of nights work without thinking about the fact that it may be three, four, or five years before it will be put back together. In those years you forget what a part is, where a part is., and where it goes on the car. This is fatal.

To avoid this, one simply needs to approach the restoration in an analytical fashion. Remember that disassembling a car is the most important step in its restoration. If you fail at this, break out the baskets because you’re not going to finish the job.

I dismantled the ‘E’ in this way: first I purchased a lot of 35 mm film and took literally hundreds of black and white prints of the original complete car. These were detail shots of every nook and cranny in the vehicle. It included pictures of fasteners, of gauge panel wiring, suspension, upholstery…you name it. When you think about it that’s a very small investment that will document exactly how the car was and how parts go on to it. The shop manual is great for a lot of things, but it never seems to have the picture you need so don’t depend on it to help you figure out where something goes.

Next I diagrammed out how everything fit together and as I disassembled components I drew “exploded” diagrams of each assembly and took more pictures. Finally, I tagged everything–even nuts and bolts–describing where each came from and whether it faced in or out, etc.

The actual disassembly of the E-type took a couple of months. I did it by major component system. All electrical, later all suspension, later all interior and so on. Once the major component systems were all off I had nothing but the broken monocoque left. Over the course of the year the individual component systems were disassembled, for example, the heater box or the master cylinder. All components for a particular system were packaged and stored together.

Lots of Room

This is where item three comes in.You have to organize the inventory of parts neatly or you won’t be able to find them two or three years later. Sounds trite but how many times have you been in a typical suburban garage that had enough extra room for all the parts of a disassembled automobile to be neatly stored? Think about that and if you don’t have the room, rent a self-storage garage or use your unfinished basement, but don’t even start the job until you can inventory and store the parts.

Having disassembled and neatly inventoried the major systems the positive work begins. Until now everything you’ve done has been kind of negative. That is, the piece-by-piece destruction of the car doesn’t seem to be improving it. Now everything you do will be improving it and you can see the car will seem to grow right in front of your eyes. This is exciting. Furthermore, since you know where all the parts are and have all the documentation you need to put them back onto the car, you will have a lot of confidence in your being able to finish the project

You should once again temper this excitement with an organized work plan. I would tackle each component system one at a time and completely finish it before moving on to the next one. For example, I examined all the front suspension, ordered the new bushings, shocks, etc., had parts cadmium plated or painted them and reassembled the system onto the car. if you can’t figure out what system to start with, a good rule of thumb is to put the car back together in the opposite chronological order from which you disassembled it.

It is important not to tackle two or three component systems at once because your organization and train of thought will break down and pretty soon you’ll be out looking for baskets for the parts.

One point that I don’t want to overlook is that it is imperative to completely disassemble these component systems. That is the only way to determine if there is something cracked, worn, broken or missing in them. If you’re uncomfortable doing this to a particular system, then take it to a professional to do. But don’t assume it is good and return it to the car without inspection. On my E-type I broke this rule on two things, the starter and the cooling fan. Both went out before I had 200 miles on the restoration.

If you’re going to do the car yourself, you will need to do bodywork, paint, weld and understand general mechanical principles. Most of this you can get down at the local vo-tech. It is a small investment in time and money that will pay off big in the end.

Tools

Here is a list of the major equipment I used in my restoration:

Acetylene equipment
Set of Body Tools Hub pullers
Leading tools
Bench grinder
Heavy duty grinder
Come-along 2-hp(min) compressor
Quality spray gun
Large vise

The reason I have listed these items is that you’ll probably need to have them available during the restoration. If you cannot get most of these tools for a long period of time, then you shouldn’t start the restoration until you have them. Nothing is more aggravating than not having the tool you need when you need it.

The term “amateur restoration” often carries negative connotations, which are the result of enthusiasts failing to tackle a restoration in an organized and rational manner. I believe if an approach such as the one I’ve outlined above is followed, anyone with the desire can restore a car that approaches, if not meets, professional restoration quality.

“Finishing a Restoration” was reprinted by permission from Jaguar International Magazine, November 1985