Sunday morning was beautiful in Fort Myers, but I was quickly back on the road again for a short drive down to Naples, FL, for the next piece of this adventure!
Last October, one of my customers mentioned that they had a complete, matching numbers 1966 E-Type OTS, but WITHOUT the body – no monocoque, bonnet, doors, decklid, frame rails, or front suspension…
Well let me tell you, if there’s anything that will get my heart rate up on a phone call – that’s it! We discussed this via phone and emails for a few weeks, and I agreed to purchase what was left – promising to re-unite what was left with the missing components, AND to make sure it was properly restored.
But with the holidays and Winter coming, and knowing that this was really something I had to go get myself, my next question was, “How is Naples in say, February?…”
Well, last Sunday, I found out!
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- Here is what awaited me at my new friend, Charles’ house! This was like stumbling upon “the world’s greatest garage sale” – look at it – BEAUTIFUL!
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- It must have taken Charles a couple hours to lay this all out like this! What’s here is everythihng that is left from the original ’66 OTS (actually, it appears to have been a late ’65 build date…) – but also, several components leftover from the restoration of Charles’ ’69 OTS – passed down to him by his father – who purchased it in 1972! So in this photo, we can see the ’66’s close-ratio EJ gearbox, and the ’69’s wide-ratio KE gearbox…
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- I was like a kid in a candy store! I rarely (never…) get to keep these project cars – they always get passed on to new homes, but picking up everyone feels just like picking up the first one when I was 14!
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- The engine is complete and in great condition, with the block and head matching each other, AND the original data plate, which was saved and included!
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- Seats, gauges, dash, center console – all GREAT stuff, and all from this one car – I can’t wait to be a part of bringing this one back to life! But what’s that over on the left?…
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- Don’t even look at it – that baby is MINE! I have wanted one of these for 29 YEARS! And now, I finally have a good, complete original – passed on from one Chuck to another!
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- remember the story about the ’66 FHC head in Part 2? Where I just threw in the extra matching-number head? Well, I guess this is my “good karma” repayment for that – an extra Series 2 E-Type head – complete! This was a “bonus item” that Charles threw in – just making the whole “magical head” affair from this weekend even that much more crazy!
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- Pure GOLD, baby! Can you stand it!?! I couldn’t!
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- Already discussed months earlier, and already paid for too, but seeing it all laid out like this was like Christmas morning for an E-Type nerd like me! OK – let’s stop drooling over it and get to work…
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- The first order of business was to laod the engine. Without an engine crane handy, we scratched our heads for a few minutes, and then Charles’ father came up with this suggestion. Yeah – that will work!
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- This plane flew over multiple times while we were loading the trailer. It is a LARGE, antique Ford plane – it kind of looked like a Ford Tri-motor, but with only one engine, if that makes any sense…
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- Compared to some of the other trips, the trailer was actually quite empty!
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- Most of the “good stuff” went into the back seat of the truck…
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- The hardtop strapping down was a little unorthodox, but effective!
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- These are items in the back of the truck that I figured could get wet if it rained.
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- As is often the case, the back seat was now filled with E-Type parts!
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- The temperature had warmed up to about 85 degrees by the time we finished, and it was HUMID! This was a selfie I took in Charles’ parents bathroom to show Janie (back home in 10 degrees…) how HOT it was – I was SOAKED with sweat! After I changed, I asked Charles and his parents where they suggested going with my truck and trailer so that I could take a walk on the beach? Graham had stayed back in Fort Myers with his parents, and I had the whole day to myself… Imagine my surprise – and excitement – when Charles asked if I wanted to go out on their boat instead! Ummmmm – HELL YEAH!!!
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- So I changed into my bathing suit and a T-shirt, and the next thing you know, we are down the road at a gas station, filling up the boat and buying beverages for an afternoon on the water in Naples! Their boat was a center console fishing boat with a giant 200-HP outboard, and we were soon putting around the back bays in Naples!
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- The day was cloudy and sunny off and on, but plenty warm and I was LOVING it!
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- This is the “inside” of Naples I guess…
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- The Naples Princess.
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- A waterfront bar – frequented by tourists, AND Pelicans!
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- Coming under a bridge and upon these relatively new buildings…
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- Keep in mind that I am coming from ZERO degrees!
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- When I saw this sign, I warned Charles – “Dude – if we see a Manatee, I’m going to go right out of my mind!” – luckily, we did not, and he was spared that spectacle…
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- Picking up speed now, we are headed for the Gulf!
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- The “houses” were absolutely mind-blowing – a little different from our modest little place on the river in upstate New York!
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- The weather was threatening all day, but we managed to avoid the scattered rain showers. This shot shows what the day was like perfectly.
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- Bad lighting on this shot, sorry – but this is rumored to be owned by Steven Spielberg…
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- Here’s Charles manning the helm!
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- More “Summer homes”…
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- …and more…
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- This is the opening to the Gulf of Mexico.
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- And now we’re out in it!
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- What an unexpected, but GREAT afternoon!
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- Pelicans in flight… This is where we stopped the boat and anchored offshore, and it was time for me to follow through on my threat to go swimming!
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- The water was a little cold for locals, at around 70, but when you spend your Summers on the St. Lawrence river, that was HOT!
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- So I jumped in and waded to shore for a quick walk on the beach while Charles “manned the boat” – inside joke…
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- Are you kidding me!?! How did I get here!?! I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone!
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- Another shot – it’s that good! This was a beach off the beaten path, and the shells on it were incredible – there were literally MOUNTAINS of them! It looked like someone had backed up a dump truck of shells every 50 feet!
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- Good shells, too! Certainly not the stuff you see on the Delaware shore like I am used to.
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- This is a Starfish?… or something…
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- A tree stump turned to driftwood, with an old pier in the background. I could have spent hours on this beach, but after about 10 minutes, it was time to head back to the boat.
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- Now HERE’S a good shot showing that day’s weather!
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- More great scenery…
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- Charles at the wheel – getting us back before all hell breaks loose above!
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- And it was a close one – it started pouring just as we got the boat onto the trailer – perfect timing!
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- Headed back up the road to Fort Myers for dinner, I was grinning from ear to ear! Thanks Charles – this project WILL get assembled and restored, and the boat ride was an unexpected treat that I’m sure I’ll never forget!
