Resurrecting a 1948 Jaguar 1-1/2 liter Saloon

[msabbasi]

get the seat rails galvanized or zinc plated

Osama Sb.,

That is a great idea. Why did I not think of it :mad:

Here is a picture off the net Hard to see but the rails are chrome:

The colour of the car is called SUEDE GREEN, an original shade offred by Jaguar in 1948 with the correct shade of interior as well. A very fine restoration job.

It's "surprising" how important the seats are for conducting a road test......and before u think thats a tongue in cheek remark, I still recall with huge embarrassment what happened during a test drive using an upturned bucket as a seat and an over zealous jab on the throttle...........

To THIS day, I cannot get over how stupid I was

Asim Sb.,

Been there and done that. In my case the seat was straight way up and toppled when I stomped on the brake. NEVER AGAIN!! On hind sight, it might be better to sit on an over square box

[msabbasi]

Work has begun in the seats (again). I have discovered something related to the seat rails. On each seat only one rail is chrome, the other is dull grey (I think it is galvanized). The idea being that the chrome side is towards the door so that the person entering the car sees this while the other side towards the transmission tunnel was just galvanized because no need to spend money on something no one saw (You will never find this type of cost cutting on a Bentley or Rolls).

I remember years ago when we were in Pindi and I was doing O-levels, my father had the seats re-stuffed to compensate for their sagging. I think at the time of refitting, the poshish walla swapped the seats left to right. BTW sagging was caused by the failure of the webbing below the spring box which I repaired earlier and removed the mountain of cotton wool placed on top of the spring box.

Here is a picture of the both rails:

[syncview]

Work has begun in the seats (again). I have discovered something related to the seat rails. On each seat only one rail is chrome, the other is dull grey (I think it is galvanized). The idea being that the chrome side is towards the door so that the person entering the car sees this while the other side towards the transmission tunnel was just galvanized because no need to spend money on something no one saw (You will never find this type of cost cutting on a Bentley or Rolls).

I remember years ago when we were in Pindi and I was doing O-levels, my father had the seats re-stuffed to compensate for their sagging. I think at the time of refitting, the poshish walla swapped the seats left to right. BTW sagging was caused by the failure of the webbing below the spring box which I repaired earlier and removed the mountain of cotton wool placed on top of the spring box.

Here is a picture of the both rails:

Never thought that seats could be "swapped" lol - simple designing for the win!

[syncview]

Osama Sb.,

That is a great idea. Why did I not think of it :mad:

Here is a picture off the net Hard to see but the rails are chrome:

The colour of the car is called SUEDE GREEN, an original shade offred by Jaguar in 1948 with the correct shade of interior as well. A very fine restoration job.

Abbasi sb,
ho janda aye ho janda aye
tbh, the thought only occurred in my mind because I have planned a full disassembly of my car (again) in dec or jan, to treat the underbody for good and was thinking of getting chromed / zinc plated the nuts, bolts and other things specially in the engine bay and interior..

[msabbasi]

Abbasi sb,
ho janda aye ho janda aye
tbh, the thought only occurred in my mind because I have planned a full disassembly of my car (again) in dec or jan, to treat the underbody for good and was thinking of getting chromed / zinc plated the nuts, bolts and other things specially in the engine bay and interior..

Osama Sb. Please keep us updated on your rust protection and interior mod project.

[syncview]

Osama Sb. Please keep us updated on your rust protection and interior mod project.

every time i try to do that, I end up getting my hands dirty and don't bother touching the camera again

[msabbasi]

every time i try to do that, I end up getting my hands dirty and don't bother touching the camera again

Please dont laugh, I use the rubber kitchen gloves while doing my work. Keeps hands clean - ALWAYS!!:). Just throw them away after a few days and go for another pair:)

[syncview]

Please dont laugh, I use the rubber kitchen gloves while doing my work. Keeps hands clean - ALWAYS!!:). Just throw them away after a few days and go for another pair:)

I've tried gloves various times, I just don't get myself to it. the lack of feel irritates me a lot and i end up throwing the glove away during the work..

I usually rub cloth washing detergent powder on slightly wet hands before starting work, makes post work hand washing a charm
i've seen people on us/canada forums prefer mechanix gloves...will try them now

[Teeboyuk]

Good stuff bro ..if it makes to the magazine im buying a copy..your father had good taste in automobiles ..

[msabbasi]

Good stuff bro ..if it makes to the magazine im buying a copy..your father had good taste in automobiles ..

Thanks..

Actually it was my granddad. The magazine is supposed to be the Jaguar Driver Club magazine Dec. '13 issue if it makes it to print that is. You will be a little amused to find who this gent was:)

Link to the online JDC magazine is: Magazine Index 6

Only limited pages can be accessed without the membership.

[Teeboyuk]

Spill the beans bro..who.?

[msabbasi]

Spill the beans bro..who.?

Certain things are best not made public knowledge here on this forum

[Teeboyuk]

Ok I'm cool with that
P.s. Leave me hanging there like fish out of water....

[msabbasi]

It has been a bit quiet from my side. Reason being there is nothing much to report. I have been working on the front seats. The passenger seat has been completed and put away in the store ready to go into the car while I work on the driver's seat.

I have taken upon myself to improve upon my previous effort on the seats. As I am not a poshish walla by profession I learn as I go along. First time around when I did the seats, I didn't foresee that the seat covering will slide down with use and pull away from the seat back. See picture below. The dust on the leather is from lying in the store ever since I removed them for the gearbox job. I have fixed this fault on the passenger seat and now it is the turn of the driver's seat.

The side skirting has shifted away from the seat back exposing the internals. Problem has been solved by providing additional clips along the seat back to hold the material in place

The funny hair you see poking out is coconut husk (hair). Back in 1947 they did not have foam and sponge. This stuff is what is used as a filling:

It works pretty well. No need to carve out the foam to the required shapes. This stuff just takes the required shape and stays bouncy. It has for the last 65 years. I'd like to see our modern day foam filled seats after 64 years :S

Cheers

[madhouse12]

I've tried gloves various times, I just don't get myself to it. the lack of feel irritates me a lot and i end up throwing the glove away during the work..

I usually rub cloth washing detergent powder on slightly wet hands before starting work, makes post work hand washing a charm
i've seen people on us/canada forums prefer mechanix gloves...will try them now

when i am working with fiberglass, i usually rub some car wax or talcum powder on hands. prevents the itchiness that comes with working with fiberglass. should work here as well

[msabbasi]

Today, all the work that I had undertaken got completed and I took the car out for a test drive. The idea being to make sure the gearbox, clutch and differential ha no issues. Plus also to check that all the engine related items i opened were working well. The front seats were fitted right way around. Today the toughest job was trying to convince the petrol station to sell me petrol in a can so that I could drive the car to the station to fill her up:)

Needles to say that she went well. Pictures below wre taken earlier today. Excuse the loads of dust gathered on it from standing neglected since the gearbox came out. The first picture is of the front seat. I tried to capture the chrome seat rails but that did not come through however the seat leather is now properly installed without the earlier gap where the cushion met with the back.

This second picture is specially taken for Asim Sahib's pleasure showing the sun roof open:D

[VEEeight]

My GOODNESS! Am absolutely dumbstruck that a vehicle like this actually is in the same time zone. Am a hopeless petrolhead and it becomes difficult and rather pointless to explain the sheer pleasure of something just so BEAUTIFUL being resurrected with such integrity and honest care to someone who is not.

I am willing to BET that if an honest evaluation is carried out at any of our car shows, this car will walk over everything on display. It's not a cheque book restoration and the winning would be purely on the basis of how the patina has been preserved.

Mr Abbasi, it has been an HONOUR and a privilege to observe, albeit cyberly, this resurrection of a TRUE 20th century art form.

[VEEeight]

As for the sunroof.....it is the perfect icing on an otherwise flawless cake

[msabbasi]

My GOODNESS! Am absolutely dumbstruck that a vehicle like this actually is in the same time zone. Am a hopeless petrolhead and it becomes difficult and rather pointless to explain the sheer pleasure of something just so BEAUTIFUL being resurrected with such integrity and honest care to someone who is not.

I am willing to BET that if an honest evaluation is carried out at any of our car shows, this car will walk over everything on display. It's not a cheque book restoration and the winning would be purely on the basis of how the patina has been preserved.

Mr Abbasi, it has been an HONOUR and a privilege to observe, albeit cyberly, this resurrection of a TRUE 20th century art form.

Thank you. I am humbled by such words of praise. Speaking of well restored cars, you need to check out Karim Chapra's Rolls Silver Ghost. That one and his other one, a Hopmobile are the only cars from Pakistan to have ever been entered in an international Concurs event and won 1st place and 3rd place in their class respectively. The cars were flown to Kuwait last year where they were up against cars from world over. A true honour for Pakistan. His was an open check book restoration and what a fine job!

As for the sunroof.....it is the perfect icing on an otherwise flawless cake

I thought you might like that picture. BTW I had it open while I was doing my test drive :D.

[syncview]

AWESOME!!!
that picture should be black and white without the corolla in the back ground.. everything is so wrronnngg in that pic... :d