Next evolution for a 60 Ragtop

[61ragtop]

Looking sweet

ill have your berg pulley and shifter handle with button on monday for you, ill drop you a pm

cheers james

[stait9]

Hi Chris

Great to hear from you and thank you for your comments re the car.  If it's okay I'll drop you a PM with questions but thanks for the background!

James

Brilliant, will settle up as soon as you let me know how much.

Cheers

Stuart

[c,davis419]

Hi James,
Sorry its been so long in responding to your PM. My home computer crashed and I got a new phone so I lost a lot of info and time. The bug is painted with US spec 2002 Jaguar Brithish Racing paint. It is considerably darker than traditional British Racing Green. I had painted a 61 ragtop back in '92 with a British Raciing Green with 2 shades of black mixed in and when I saw this paint on a new Jag I knew it was exactly what I wanted. I sent a CD along with the car to England with Pete that showed the car in the body shop in bare metal along with all the body work shots as it happened. Hopefully he still has it and can send it to you as I lost a ton of pics when my computer died. Lesson to everyone, BACK UP your computer. I lost half of my kids childhood with that one. Google Volksarama.com and look for the show in Vista in 2004 to see more pics of what it looked like when I was rolling around SoCal when it was freshly built. While I agree with bumpers instead of T-bars (I was sourcing NOS bumpers at the time of sale), I can't agree with your desicion for low back seats from a saftey standard. Whiplash sucks. Notice how I had capture nuts welded into the B pillars for 3 point seat belts (they are welded in with 3mm thick steel plates seam welded for strength). I love the pics of your boy as it brings me back to the exact same time with my girls when I finished it back in 03-04.  Have fun and continue the good work! By the way, I finished mechanically restoring an original paint 73 trekker that had been rotting in the desert of New Mexico for 20+ years but sold that too. After that I built a 59 ragtop baja bug that would be grossly illegal in the UK but a bunch of fun here in CA  . Now all I have left is a 70 squareback that I have to finish a few drivetrain bits to sell. I'm now dedicated to building a 50 year old vintage 16ft camp trailer that is fully functional but is getting a slow piece by piece restoration as I camp in it with my daughters and wife every chance I get. I will build another street bug when my kids are older and my time less restricted. Please keep in touch!
Chris

[stait9]

Cheers for the note Chris - I'm speaking the painter I know to see if he can mix up the colour you mention.  It should hopefully be the darker colour you describe.  Thanks for the update too, the Baja Ragtop sounds like a whole heap of fun!

Tiny update on car.

CSP Python exhaust has been removed and has been replaced with this......



Sounds great and the build quality is 10 times better than the CSP one it replaces.  CSP are 2 for 2 with build issues at the moment with me, not impressed at all and shall not be buying an exhaust from them again.

Speaking of quality issues, also am having issues with bumper blades.  The ones picture are the supposed high quality stainless steel repro ones.   If you look closely you'll see that the right hand holes are actually lower than the left hand ones.  It's only 5 mm and we can get the blade horizontal with playing around but it does sit quite right and it looks off, aaarrgh.

Does anyone know where to get decent bumpers?   I'm trying to find original ones and get them re-chromed but again really hard to get hold of decent ones.  The search continues..

[early-air]

hi stu, the closest colour match we could get over here was jaguar brooklands green,  phil from HRC bodyshop got the mix done for me and i had the 4 wings re'done to touch up stone chips match is nearly perfect and i am a proper fussy bugger as you know

cheers

pete

[stait9]

It's a been a while since I updated my post but life has been busy; work, new family members arriving and the usual delays. 

It all started as a result of going drag racing last year for the first time. After being beaten by a mark II Fiesta (with a huge turbo in my defence) I made a decision to upgrade the engine.  My friend took my engine and gearbox and I managed to get hold of a much bigger engine as well as an intrim gearbox - am currently trying to get a new Berg 5 speed organised and it seems like it might happen, very excited.  Have been waiting for my friends car to be finished and after quite a few delays, it's now on the road. So now it's my turn.  Here's a couple of pics.....







Car's a bit dusty



And here's the new heart



Once everything's in, just need to fix the carb issues, hit the dyno and then it's time to smile.........

Hope you like the pics.

Cheers

Stuart

[stait9]

Progress



Fingers crossed for Christmas!

[dth]

Looking good chief:)

[stait9]

Hi Dth
Thanks for the help earlier, makes complete sense now
Also means engine only comes out once more, thank goodness
Cheers
S

[stait9]

Back on the ground now.  Some plumbing issues to sort and then it's rolling road.   Patience.

[dth]

Good to see you making progress mate , must be something in the air:)

[stait9]

I reckon so, saw your pics too the other day, looking good Donald, looking good. 
Only problem I see is that the car will get finished but this pissing rain will continue!  Not sure the UK is the best country for Cal lookers in terms of climate  

[stait9]

Engine finally in,lots of snags which continue (including leaking Jaycee sprung push rod tubes which meant the whole thing was a smokey affair),however managed to get on rolling road today.  BIG thank you to Donald (DTH) for help over the phone regarding incorrect float height - you are a legend, thank you again.

So here are the current figures,175 bhp at flywheel- slightly down for the stated 200 bhp in car of the original set up as per the article but as everyone agreed, pretty damn good none the less.

Been a real mission to get this running, including whole new MSD set-up, carbs having need to be stripped and cleaned twice, and an adventure into the world of jetting.

That all said I had the biggest grin ear to ear during the first test drive after fixing the carb issue, even before it was on the rolling road.  Been a long time coming!



Right, next its MOT time followed by fixing the push rods, anyone got any suggestions, original versus the spring loaded?  Remove the now oil stained wrap and figure out a better way of insulating the exhaust under the push rods; then new K&N oil fliter as the Fram is having some issues and leaking.

Next it's a berg traction bar, fix the mis-matched fuel lines, new cover for interior and finally some practise before racing!

Hope you like.

Cheers

Stuart

[FatKid]

Here are a few shots of it back in '04




And my fat ass with the camera...

[dth]

Nice to see you made progress Stuart ,catch you at the track later in the year:)

[kev d]

Now that's a nice car!
Cheers
Kev

[stait9]

By way of a small update.  So the engine turned out to be in a worse state than thought.  Thanks to Donald who pointed me in the direction of Daz Chandler, this is now being fixed.  The initial verdict is that all the pieces are there but it needs to be freshened up with a bit more care.  So new pistons rings and various other bits.  Fingers crossed for next week and perhaps a revised graph

[stait9]

A couple of shots locally before I dropped the car off the North North Yorkshire.....









My friend has my 1776 now in the back of his '58.  We reckon he's starting a new genre Hot Cal Rat Looker!  Beats having 30hp in the back.  

[stait9]

2 years ago, almost to the day, I fulfilled my boyhood dream of going drag racing.  It was a local event, in November, very relaxed affair.  The place is an old airfield and as you'll see it is conrete with a hint of tarmac and cow pooh

The problem is I wanted to go a bit faster as a result so this set about a series of events that has resulted in a new bigger engine.  Well today saw my return to Smeartharpe, and it was great fun again.   Best time was 14.15 in damp conditions.

Here's some clips...

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxDF1aQQJBMoVWtpSHI3bjBPWG8/view

A guy called Simon turned up with his bus running a turbo with intercooler and Nitros but had issues with a slipping clutch.....



A big thank you to Daz @ Aircooled Performance taking the engine and making run again as it should!  Transpires there was a lot of things wrong with it.  Will get it rolling road'd again in the Spring.

I think it might be time to visit a proper track and see what the car can do on tarmac.

Cheers

S

[dth]

Good to see you on the road/track Stuart ,hopefully catch up next year at the track:)

[stait9]

Thanks Donald.  My driving still needs a lot of improvement but the car is getting better.

Actually quick question for you, as it was so damp and greasy I was getting wheel spin in first and second.  Due to over excitment I was flooring it all the time, should I have been more controlled and a little less eager?  The majority of times where below 15 secs but a few went above based on the amount (or lack of) traction I was getting.  It was still running the 185 street tyres too   

[stait9]

Not sure if this will work but here's a clip from the Van's go pro

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152531165675749&set=o.87531493142&type=2&theater

I think I was lucky, the Van is going to be amazing when the clutch can handle the power.

[dth]

Hi mate ,yer never gonna get consistant times on a track like that ,much like Crail up our way ,lots to think about ,tyres ,launch technique(pre loading ,revs etc) ,not sure if you have a shift light or not? Keeps it consistant ,and stops you hitting the rev limiter .Best thing to do is get along to something like Dragday ,and speak to the drivers ,watch what they are doing . Not entirely sure on your full spec ,on a good track ,with a good launch you will be doing at least low 13,s to high 12,s ,as i said lots to think about

[dth]

Not sure if this will work but here's a clip from the Van's go pro

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152531165675749&set=o.87531493142&type=2&theater

I think I was lucky, the Van is going to be amazing when the clutch can handle the power.

Cool video ,not much to see really apart from how bad the track is ,and i think i made an oil pan for that splitty:)

[stait9]

Thanks Donald, appreciate the advice.
Right I'll see you at the next Drag Day then

Yeah the splitty was really cool and will be amazing when he gets the clutch sorted!

And what's wrong with my local track?  The thin layer of cow pooh adds a certain element of excitment  (as well as smell) 
Its kinda fun but I definitely want to go to a real track now.

I'll drop a full spec on here after the next trip in the spring to rolling road.

I see you're still keeping really busy.  Some awesome looking projects mate.  Looks like a busy winter for you and Jerry.  Hope its not to cold for you guys as I believe you've got snow already.

Cheers

S