I bought this car on Facebook Marketplace in March, and I'm gradually trying to get it running again. This will be a challenging project for me. My prior old car experience is with a 1973 Super Beetle, a model for which parts and advice are plentiful, and that's fairly simple to work on. I've spent the last two months reading everything I can about S Types and preparing myself for the journey. I stumbled on this forum, and it's been a wealth of information. Thank you all for posting your stories. Here is what I know about the car from the documentation that came with it:
1. It is an early 1965 model and seems to have been originally purchased in Los Angeles - the first maintenance records are from Jaguar Service Inc, 1717 North Orange Drive in Hollywood, starting with a 1000 mile service on October 21, 1964.
2. Sometime in the 1990s the car made its way to Atlanta GA, where I am now. I bought the car from a gentleman who bought it at an Estate sale. It doesn't seem to have been running in quite a long time.
The Good:
- The body is very clean and nearly rust free. The only exception is the fender/wing in front of the rear wheels. The right side seems to have been repaired with bondo at some point - I poked at it with a screwdriver and there are a few small holes, but this seems confined to a small area. The left side may be similar.
- The car seems very complete, with few or no missing parts. The trim pieces from around the license plate were in the trunk. I haven't discovered anything else that's entirely missing.
- It also seems very original, never having been restored.
- The engine spins, and the oil looks okay.
The Bad:
- The interior looks like it was baked in the sun for a long time. The leather is torn and held together with packing tape, the foam is crumbly, and the finish on the wood is very rough.
- The paint is original but in very bad shape. I think the original color was Golden Sand, but it's turned to a matte grayish silver except in places like the door sills and trunk, where it actually looks okay, and approximately the original color.
- Brakes don't work at all, and the rotors are very rusty.
Steps forward and back:
Soon after I got it home I put a battery in, put some fresh gas in the carburetor, and gave it a squirt of starting fluid. The starter would spin but the car wouldn't start. Based on that, I installed new points and attempted to gap them properly. Now when I spin it I can create a spark between the coil output wire and the engine block. I have a new rotor and distributor cap that will go on shortly.
Unfortunately, after a few weeks, the starter button would no longer actuate the starter, although I can still bump it by pushing the button on the solenoid. I'm keeping the battery charged with a charger, so it's not that. With a voltmeter I see that the push button on the dash is working. I bought a new solenoid and will see if that helps. My other theory is that the inhibitor switch for the automatic transmission is not working correctly. Even when the starter spins, it seems a little wheezy, and I suspect that an upgrade to new geared starter may be in its future.
My plans:
First, I want to get the engine running. Once I get the starter and spark sorted out I'll move to the carburetors. Then brakes. If/when the car runs and stops I'll drive it around the block to see what else is wrong with it and make an evaluation of next steps. I'm sensitive to the fact that a restoration can be quite expensive, but if the engine and transmission work, then I'm more comfortable moving on to the paint and interior.
I suspect I will be reaching out for advice - thank you all in advance for your help!
Scott
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