Last Thursday, we delivered to completed 1968 Series 1.5 bonnet to Eddie’s Restoration in New jersey, where it will be fitted to the restored shell once it is completed.
Originally, we had planned to restore the shell here, but based on our current shell restoration backlog, the customer elected to have Eddie’s do the work to speed up the timetable of their restoration. And after I saw the shell, that was fine with me – YIKES – this was a ROUGH one!
Eddie and his wife run a small shop that is very similar to ours in size as well as their simple, honest approach to the work. I was happy to deliver the bonnet safely on one of our bonnet racks, and it was a great chance to get out of the shop on a BEAUTIFUL day and meet some new friends – Enjoy!
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- Here she is – this is the same 1968 Series 1.5 E-Type Bonnet converted to covered headlamps in the previous post.
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- It is mounted on one of our bonnet racks, and strapped into the truck for safe transport. That’s me peeking through the mouth…
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- It IS a pretty cool shot, actually!
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- We headed over the Delaware memorail Bridge into southern New Jersey, and the weather was GORGEOUS! We weaved our wau through several small towns, with lots of old but well-kept homes like this one.
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- Here is a shot down the street in Woodstown, NJ.
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- Another great house – there was just one after another beautiful home!
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- Here we’re stopped at a red light and I just couldnot resist this shot out the window. This guy looked up and yelled, “Hey – what’s that front end off of!?!”
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- Around another corner we saw this cute little MGA parked outside a small service center – it sure was a great day for a drive in this!
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- Lots of farm buildings too – I guess this is a large hay barn?…
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- This was a pretty cool building too!
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- Another great Victorian era home!
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- This is a roadside cafe – there were TONS of these in every town – it would seem New Jersey residents love to go out to eat!
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- “Whoa – Dude – did you see that!?!” I yelled to Brent as we drove by this!
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- And so we turned around and went back to look. Two days before this, we had a hellacious thuderstorm with tornado wornings at about 6:45 AM. This must have been a result of that over in New Jersey. This is just a HEARTBREAKER – can you imagine coming out front and seeing this? I think it was a monster Cherry tree too… Only Mother Nature could do this – I told Brent you could spend your life trying to build a machine to tear a tree in half like this and never get it – the weather did this in one second…
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- Finally, Brent spotted this sign for Eddie’s!
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- Yeah – I think we’re in the right place!
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- Eddie wasted no time in showing us around and showing us the projects underway. This is an example of a botched repair he pulled out of this XK-150 drophead.
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- This is an indicator light pod for XK’s that Eddie made himself with a die that he also made – VERY impressive!
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- Now we’re inside an outbuilding behind the shop, where this VERY EARLY XK-120 Fixed-head is being stored temproarily. The restoration work looked excellent and correct.
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- It was pitch black inside this shed, so I could not see much, but the flash captured alot more than I did at the time.
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- One of Eddie’s home-made pods – installed!
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- Lots of work left to do, but it looks like this one is in good hands!
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- An antique Ford “doodlebug” – that is an antique car from the 20’s or 30’s that has been cut down into a poor mans’ tractor…
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- In yet another building, Eddie showed us this Mini Cooper that he built and painted up like the British flag. It’s ALOT of work to tape off and paint a British flag on a car – many people have done it, and I’m sure they all wouldn’t do it again!
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- Custom interior with engine-turned dash panel. I think this was Eddie’s personal car.
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- The bonnet sports a Ford GT hood scoop…
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- And under the bonnet – anything but stock – Wow!
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- I never did get an explanation for this sign – like people who visit my shop, I was in total sensory overload the whole time – there was ALOT to look at!
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- This is an operational Wysong power shear that was tucked under an overhang outside.
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- This foot powered Pexto shear is due to be converted to hydraulic power according to Eddie, but I got the impression that upgrade has been on his mind – AND the back burner – for a LONG time! You can tell this is a Jag restoration shop, though!
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- Eddie’s lathe – cluttered, but well-oiled and obviously used frequently.
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- This is an unavailable XK brake cylinder piston that Eddie machine on the lathe last week.
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- This is the XK-150 drop-head undergoing metalwork currently. Like us, Eddie makes most of the panels and repair pieces himself – he said that you have to for the XK’s – “the parts cost a fortune and they don’t fit worth shit!” – sounds familiar… (and so does the colorful terminology!)
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- This is athe 1968 Series 1.5 roadster shell that belongs to the bonnet we have delivered. We were originally supposed to restore this shell here, but the customer elected to have it done at Eddie’s instead based on our current backlog.
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- Eddie and his apprentice.
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- WHAT!?! I’m confused – this is a Series 1.5…
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- Oh my God… OK, Eddie – you can have her! This shell was actually TWO E-Types – cut in half and welded (half-assed) right in the center of the sills! And the tail is a Series 2!
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- Much of the metalwork was done or mocked up on the RH side.
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- The Series 2 tail section was actually pretty straight and solid.
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- Here’s another shot of this Frankenstein creation… Eddie will restore the shell properly, AND convert the tail to Series 1 specs like we do here – and may even use some of our pieces in the process.
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- Here, they are lining up the rear section with the front – they said that the shell has 1/2″ shorter on one side than they other. Eddie summed it up best himself – “The damn thing must have gone doen the road sideways!”
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- “I did this shell and put it away temporarily. I THOUGHT that was about 10 years ago, but turns out it was 23!”
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- The 1961 roadster in this photo was completely restored to concours level by Eddie years ago. Then it was stolen, and was never seen again…
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- The general manager of Eddie’s restoration – Eddie’s wife!
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- Parallel Universes collide – here is Eddie and his apprentice, and me and my apprentice – all working together to get this E-Type roadster properly restored and back on the road!
