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1962 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Coupe

More Transport And Storage

July 5, 2024

Tony has been out and about again. This time, he made a trip to Devon to collect our 1962 Jaguar E-Type. He then transported it back to our secure storage facility for safekeeping.

Ready for the Road – Our 1962 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Coupe heads off for storage

June 13, 2024

Our 1962 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Coupe is ready to head off to our safe and secure storage facility, The Hangar, in preparation for its excited new owner to meet it for the first time in the metal.

Before then, our transport driver Tony spent the morning cleaning the classic E-Type to get it ready to be put into its protective carcoon. But, before it leaves the workshops we had to take one last look at this stunning automotive icon.

Nearly Ready – Fixing the speedo on our 1962 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Coupe

June 13, 2024

The workshop team have been continuing on getting our 1962 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Coupe back on the road after its decades long slumber. The final piece of the puzzle was for Jon to diagnose and repair a fault with the speedo in the car.

Jon discovered that the drive from the gearbox (which goes through a 90 degree converter) was not spinning the cable. So Jon found another one we keep in stock and modified it to fit the car and tested the cable operation by hand, which began to work the clock inside of the speedometer. With that, he could get everything connected back up and test thoroughly before signing the car off.

Pre Mot Work On Our E-Type

June 10, 2024

Jonn has been looking after our 1962 Jaguar E-Type as it was prepared for an MOT. Here are his notes:

Investigate charging issue and order new regulator. Remove auxiliary belt sprung tensioner and fit smaller belt from stock. Run up. Drain coolant and replenish with anti freeze.

Bleed brakes with pressure bleeder. Carry out pre mot check over. Nearside number plate light not working and stripped and traced fault to poor earth. Clean contacts and refit, ok. Fit new grommet to throttle shaft. Remove throttle rod, clean and free off and refit and secure.

Fit new washer pump and test. Blow out offside jet. Clean out washer bottle. Test, ok. Remove steering wheel and align steering and refit wheel loosely until road tested.

Remove old voltage regulator. Clean all connections. Fit new regulator but slightly bigger than original and touches body. Remove and grind down for clearance and remount. Connect and test. Ignition light now goes out and charging at 13.1v. Carry out 1st proper roadvtst. Stop and tune carbs roughly by ear. Return to workshop. Adjust steering wheel to straight ahead position and secure. Lube throttle linkages. Adjust nearside binnetvcatch. Adjust handbrake. Tighten fuel connections to carbs.

Steering Repairs, Final Checks and First Run Up of the 1962 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Coupe

June 5, 2024

The workshop team at Bridge Classic Cars have been flat out this week working on various cars in our Suffolk HQ, one of those being the 1962 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Coupe which is being cared for under the watchful and skillful hands of our technician Jon.

Jon has continued with his project of repairing the steering of the classic Jaguar. After he rebuilt the column on the bench, Jon secured the steering rack back onto the frame of the car and then fitted up the lower universal joint for the column along with fitting a new pinch bolt. When fitting the indicator cancel bracket, Jon had to modify it slightly to get it to sit higher up on the column to increase usability but also to help remove any play from the shaft once fitted into the car. The column was then aligned with the lower shaft and slipped into place, with the opening for the pinch bolt drilled in situ to allow for the best engagement. Once all together, Jon could then test the steering column and was happy to report that all play had been worked out of the system. He could then fit up all the various trims, wiring and brackets before moving on.

The next detail was to get the radiator and fans back into the car and connected up before getting the air filters fitted back on the car in preparation for the cars first drive under its own power for many years. Before that, Jon made sure to knock down and tighten each wheel in series, added more fuel to the brand new tank before checking the timing and firing order were all corrected and adjusting before turning the key.

At this point, Jon was ready to pull the classic sports car outside to let it run up to temperature for the first time and check each system individually for function and engagement such as the cooling system, but to also allow the ceramic coatings on several parts cure following the manufacturers process.

After repeating the run up and cool down procedure several times, Jon checked and topped off all fluids in the car and checked for any visible leaks and secured all the dash wiring before putting the car away.

Progress on the 1962 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Coupe

May 30, 2024

Our technician Jon has been making progress on the resurrection of the 1962 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Coupe.

The next stage of the cars journey back onto the open road begins with Jon fitting a new rear brake master cylinder. Having the old unit and new unit next to each other, the positions are slightly different from the original to the new unit, so Jon had to make up new brake lines from the master cylinder to the the join in the offside front floor area. Then, he could fit the new flexi hoses to the front and rear of the car before bleeding the entire system. However, the front of the system bled without issue but the rear we were unable to bleed at this point.

Carrying on with recommissioning the hydraulic system in the car, Jon began work on the clutch. This involved removing the old clutch slave cylinder from the classic Jaguar and the pipework. After fitting up the new system and pipes, he could fill up the circuit and begin to bleed them after securing down the new brake pipes at the same time and then cleaning down/tidying up the work area.

Next up, Jon blew out all of the fuel lines and pipework to make sure that any dust or debris from the workshop wasn’t sat in the lines while the car has been on the ramp before securing them all down to the car.

This is when he could turn his attention to the steering of the car. The steering column support in the lower part of the bulkhead was excessively moving (see video) even after Jon had drilled out the lower universal joint and replacement the worn bolt which connects the two pieces with a new nyloc piece, which improved the movement but was still not clamping fully on the piece. So, he removed the upper part of the steering column first to upgrade the component with new elastin bushes and then begin to refit the piece, however the column still moved excessively in Jon’s professional opinion. The bulkhead column support was then put on order to be refitted into the car.

Whilst the steering column was out of the car, Jon could drain the coolant and remove the radiator from the car after the cars initial fire up and testing, to remove the offside steering rack mount and the lower steering column mount from the engine bay, and fully drill out the universal joint better to clean down all the surfaces and refinish it in a new hard wearing coat of black paint.

With the new bulkhead support on order, Jon turned his attention back to the hydraulics of the car. After topping off all the fluid reservoirs, Jon along with the help of our workshop manager John managed to complete bleed each individual system.

After that, Jon began to put petrol in the new fuel tank for the first time in order to check for leaks in the tank – all was ok. He also swapped over the fuse for the fuel pump to a more suitable and durable unit for the needs of the system. After that, he connected up the battery in order to get fuel pressure from the engine on turn over to prime the system all the way to the pre-filter sight bowl. Then, he disconnected the battery.

Finally, Jon moved onwards to getting the carburettors ready to accept the fresh fuel now in the new fuel tank. He carefully tightened down and inspected all connections from the filter to the carburettors before connecting the battery back up again and the turning on the ignition to prime the fuel system and test. Jon found there was a slight leak from the sight glass under the higher pressure and from the number 1 carburettor. This was found to be an issue with the washers used in the connection to carburettor 1 and fitted a new rubber seal to the sight glass sediment bowl. After that, all of the leaks were sorted and he could the refit and secure the boot floor and all necessary trims.

Work on the 1962 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Coupe

May 17, 2024

Jon has been continuing his work on waking the stunning 1962 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Coupe up from its sleep.

After getting the car fired up the other day, he then moved onto getting the cooling system sorted on the iconic GT car. The first step was to carry out a vacuum test to make sure that all of the system was able to build and hold vacuum/pressure as intended. Unfortunately, the system failed the test. So from that Jon then did the opposite of this system, and worked to pressurise the entire system to check for leaks, it was discovered that the header tank had a leak and had ‘holed’ so was removed from the car and stripped down. Then, with this out the way Jon could remove the fuel filter and and lines in order to carry out a filter element change, and thoroughly clean out the sight glass. Alongside this as an added layer of protecting to the carburettors, Jon fitted a small, discrete in line filter to catch any sediment which may have made its way through.

Jon then moved onto getting the rest of the fuel system sorted which involved the fitting of the new fuel tank. The new tanks was set up with its new pump and sender unit and a complete set of new gaskets, previously we showed the state of the original tank which was removed from the car.

Before the new tank was dropped into the boot of the car, Jon thoroughly cleaned out the area before laying down the isolation foam to protect the tank and the car, and then could safely install and secure the new tank into the car. Once in place, Jon could fit up the new sediment catch can and begin getting the fuel system plumbed and wired in.

Once the fuel tank was in, Jon moved on to working on the exhaust system of the car. He removed the entire system front to back including the manifolds, which were replaced due to several broken studs and corrosion.

Jon that removed the radiator from the car to take it away to be thoroughly flushed out due to years of sediment building up inside the unit. Then it could be put back in the car and Jon could route the new hoses.

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Jonn then removed the rear axle assembly and stripped it on the floor. He removed the drive shaft, calipers, and old pads before cleaning and prepping the caliper for refitting.

After removing the hub and trailing arm, Jonn removed the old small bush and fitted a new one.

Preflight Checks – Getting our 1962 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Coupe Started

May 10, 2024

Jon has been working on getting our stunning 1962 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Coupe fired up for the first time in nearly 20 years!

Working through each of the systems, Jon has meticulously checked and double checked each part of the classic Jaguar. To begin with, Jon fit the new oil filter to the straight-six and topped off all fluids in the car before turning his attention back to he carburetors.

Jon has finished cleaning up the carburettors, freeing up any sticking points to make sure they operate as they should. Then removing the old spark plugs, Jon installed a fresh set after gapping them correctly and then adding a new battery which meant the team had to modify the original battery hold down bracket to fit.

After getting the new battery installed into the car, Jon could then begin the process of waking up the straight-six. The first step was to crank the engine over for around 20 seconds to build oil pressure and make sure it had worked its way all through the block and into the heads, reaching around 20psi.

After making sure the oil pressure was ok and that every surface had been lubricated, Jon could move on to compression tests. All 6-cylinders were ok, with readings between 150-180psi and well within spec. Jon then set the base timing for the distributor and then could work on filling up the carburettor float bowls with fresh petrol (as the tank is not yet plumbed in) and with a bump of the starter motor, the straight six burst into life and ran perfectly, in Jon’s report ”Attempt to start. Started and ran ok. Sounded ok.”

Diving Deeper Into our 1962 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Coupe

May 8, 2024

Our technician Jon has been diving deeper into the 1962 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Coupe currently in our care for its new owner.

As part of the appraisal process, he has drained the engine of oil and all fluids along with removing the oil filter to inspect. As part of removing the fluids, the team remove drain the fuel tank to inspect the fueling side of the car.

Because of the car being sat for an extended period of time (multiple decades it would appear by the paperwork) the corrosive nature of the fuel left in the tank has wreaked havoc. When Jon removed the sediment filter, which also allows the fuel tank to drive, it became apparent that the fuel had spoiled whilst in there. In Jon’s own words ”Fuel more like paraffin”. With the tank drained, it could then be removed and allow Jon to strip down the tank of its sender unit and pump. After inspecting these components, his opinion is that these components will need complete replacement and cannot be recommissioned, as he reports ”All fuel system items require replacement”.

Then, Jon could go under the bonnet to remove the fuel sight glass and blow through the fuel lines with compressed air to clean through any sediment or debris which could be lurking inside the fuel system.

Jon then began work on tearing down the carburettors on the Jaguar’s straight-six. Beginning with cleaning out the float bowls and then could clean out all of the jets and bridges to make sure that again, no sediment or debris had found their way into the carburettors.

Jon then went through his check lists of resealing the engine with all its various sumps and bungs before cleaning down and continuing on with the carburettor rebuilds.

Once completely stripped down and cleaned, Jon then used vernier gauges to set the static depths of the carbs to their base specifications, and reusing components where possible, in preparation for the team to begin testing ignition and compression once the fueling system has been resolved.

Inspecting Our 1962 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Coupe

May 8, 2024

Since arriving at the Bridge Classic Cars Suffolk HQ, this stunning 1962 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Coupe has been waiting its turn on the ramps in the workshop.

Well, over the last couple of days the classic Jaguar has been under the careful eye of our restoration technician Jon.

Jon will be carrying out a full and detailed inspection of the car, which according to paperwork has been stood for the better part of 2 decades, and reporting back with his findings for the cars new owner.

New Arrival – 1962 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Coupe

May 1, 2024

We’ve just had several new arrivals at the Bridge Classic Cars Suffolk HQ, one of them is this truly stunning 1962 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Coupe.

This one has a funny connection to us! We recently were at H & H Auctions for there most recent auction and actually saw this car. As it went across the block, it had been bought by an enthusiast overseas. Well, the very next day when the team got in the office – the owner had contacted us to recommission the car ready for road use.

It’s always a pleasure to work on these automotive icons, and we’ve recently been doing a lot of them but thankfully with our world class restoration teams – we’ll have this early back on the road in no time!

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