Jon Faine lets got of an old friend and the E-Type heads for a Phoenix-like resto
It has been a busy month. I have broken the patterns of a lifetime and paid someone to do something for me – and to do it properly. I have also sold a car – and not immediately replaced it. Also, to firm up the weirdness, I have finished fixing another car and not hurt myself or broken anything in the process.
And just to take all this upheaval in my life to another level, I am in the throes of disposing of a basket case restoration project because I now reluctantly accept that it is never going to get done. Besides, I have more cars than garage space, so the choices were to move house, build a bigger garage or just sell a few cars.
Definite evidence of a crisis. To explain one by one. My E-type Jaguar that suffered an electrical fire that damaged the dash, destroyed the instrument binnacle, blistered paint on the scuttle and exposed the cabin to a powder fire extinguisher is being restored professionally. Yes, you read that correctly.
Instead of just replacing the damaged dash and gauges, cleaning up the extinguisher powder and re-trimming what was damaged, the car is being totally dismantled, engine out, glass and chrome off and being treated to a complete body repaint.
At first, it seems OTT – over the top as the young ones say. Why spend so much more than the minimum that would see it back on the road? The answer is deep within the technical specifications of a typical powder fire extinguisher. The chemicals used to stop the flames inevitably trigger corrosion – they are highly aggressive and if not completely eradicated would in not much time eat the Jaguar wherever the powder accumulates. Every crevice, every cavity hosting even slight residue would start to rust, every electrical terminal, every bolt and every nut. The only sustainable solution to preserve the car is to dismantle anything that might be harbouring powder – in this car, that means the entire cabin.
So out comes all the interior including the entire trim, the dash, all chrome and glass, and even the wiper mechanism within the scuttle. Since the scuttle needed painting and there was some rust in one door before the fire and to avoid the car looking like a patchwork quilt, I decided to do what I have never done with any of the dozens of cars I have owned over the years – a strip down and repaint instead of a corner-cutting patch-up.
Some of the E-type gets a lift on the hoist
Meanwhile, I have parted with my dream car, the 1975 Citroen SM with the Maserati V6. I owned it for almost 10 years, twice as long as my usual tenure. When I bought it I replaced the USA round headlights with six original European-style rectangular lights tucked behind svelte glass covers, improving the car’s visual appeal enormously. With right-hand drive, 5-speed manual, carburettor instead of the ageing EFI and Euro lights it was the bee’s knees and I loved looking at it, driving it and playing with it. I had to choose between keeping the E type or the SM [I know, I know, readers everywhere are reaching for a bucket…] and although it has gone to a fellow club member and enthusiast, I miss it already.
After a few years of sitting idle, the 1949 Citroen Light 15 is ready for the road again, if it ever stops raining. The brakes work, the new Pilote wheels [see Unique Cars #467] are splendid with the ultra-pricey new Michelins gleaming and it makes me smile just to look at it in the shed. I had an almost identical specification car when I was a student, sunroof and all, and even a drive around the block takes me back to 1975 – although there are large chunks of the ’70s I don’t remember.
Alfa clean body gets a lift on the tray
And my final character aberration sees me reluctantly accept that I am unable to manage multiple simultaneous restoration projects, neither financially nor logistically. Hence the 1967 Alfa Romeo Duetto that I bought six years ago, full of good intent, will never get the attention it deserves. My hands – and the garage – are full and I must accept that if I am not going to get to restore the Duetto within the next few years I will not get to do it at all. Someone else should take it on.
Over the years, since finding it as an abandoned project, I have acquired a pile of scarce NOS replacement panels for just about all the rotten sections – guards, doors, sills and the delicate nose cone. Now the jigsaw puzzle just needs knitting together and then painting the compulsory cliche red.
Now, how long do you reckon before I succumb and fall for something? A mate has alerted me to a one-owner MG in a shed across town…
From Unique Cars #469, Aug/Sep 2022