Bodywork Repair Panels

[paddyx350]

Dear Forum Members,

New to the Register and the S type.
Have a 1966 3.4 that I've sort of committed myself to buying, but haven't completed the deal.
Took a closer look at it today and it appears that there's quite a bit of rust and filler below the spotlights at the front of the car and at the lower front section of the wings.
I can't seem to find any repair panels on the web apart from complete wings which are very expensive..more than I'm paying for the car!
Question is can you get repair panels for the front lower sections and wings (and other parts of the car) or is it a construct from scratch job?

Regards

Chris

[cass3958]

Hi Chris and welcome to the forum.
A lot of the panels on the S Type are the same as the Mk2 Jaguar the main differences being the eye brows over the top of the front wings, the front side light and indicator positions and the tail which is obviously different but the same as the Jaguar 420. The lower front sections of the wings below the spotlights and around the lower front corners are similar to the Mk2. The section that rots away under the front corner known as the crows feet are the same as the Mk2. I am sure that these panels are available from SNG Barrett or Martin Robey. Even if they are not an exact fit specifically around the spot light as the spotlight on the S Type was slightly larger they will be close enough to be able to alter them to fit. Also the side lights and indicators are in different places but these can be cut to fit from the Mk2 panel to S type spec.
Can you add your location to your details so we know your location and country as we are from all over the place and one of us might be around the corner from you.

[Glyn Ruck]

Martin Robey does a nose panel left & right for the S Type. They aren't cheap but much cheaper than buying complete left & right fenders which include the nose.

Robey S Type Nose panels.JPG (23.81 KiB) Viewed 1421 times

[cass3958]

Wow the combined price of those two panels is more then I paid for my car. I was lucky that before I bought the car the left wing was a new replacement paid for by the previous owner who had started the restoration. No idea how much was spent on that wing but the right wing had been repaired by my notorious Jaguar Specialists in Royston Herts. (Monkeys). This is what I inherited on the front right wing after it came out of the blasters booth and all their filler had been removed.

DSCF7119 (2).jpg (456.03 KiB) Viewed 1415 times

I am ashamed to say that some filler had to be used in this area to get the correct shape once more.
The left wing being new required no filler.

DSCF7119 (3).jpg (466.35 KiB) Viewed 1415 times

[paddyx350]

Thank you for all your replies, they're very helpful.
Cass, I think that the front of this S type is going to need a similar area of repair to your 'not new' wing.
I have a 1992 xjs and am in the middle of repairing windscreen scuttle rot which I considered a big challenge..until I looked at the front of this S type and thought about repairing that.

Thanks for the link to the repair panels, I had only got as far as the whole wings on the Martin Robey website.. but even the prices for these nose sections make my eyes water. maybe this car is too rich for me. But it's very beautiful even in its current state, I just love it.

My heart is beating my head on this one. I haven't been able to give it a poke underneath either..there's bound to be more horrors there.
What is a car like this worth?
It's running, its complete, the rear cages needs rebuilding (but I've done that on my xjs), front and rear brakes need refurbing, needs rear hubs , it comes with wire wheels and a very tatty interior.
Needs painting
The price is 4k Euro. Is it worth it?

Regards

Chris
Wexford, Ireland

[Glyn Ruck]

Values: 4K Euro is about the max I would pay for it. Try & knock the seller down a little.

Hagerty S Type Values.PNG (89.88 KiB) Viewed 1403 times

Condition ratings.JPG (240.57 KiB) Viewed 1403 times

Rob ~ Even pressed steel used variable amounts of lead wiping to clean up the nose finish. My car also had some lead wiping on the eyebrows.

Jaguar_S_Type_1965_01.jpg (74.26 KiB) Viewed 1403 times

[Glyn Ruck]

Places to check:

Classic & Sports Car – Buyer's Guide Jaguar S-type – 14classic_and_sports_car_buyers_guide_BMW_E21_3_series_trouble_spots_TB.png (963.41 KiB) Viewed 1400 times

Classic & Sports Car Buyers Guide:

Jaguar S Type CLassic & Sports Car Buyers Guide..docx

(19.6 MiB) Downloaded 77 times

This buyers guide is pretty pathetic but gives you some of the basics.

[paddyx350]

Again

Thank you for the replies.
I'll see if I can get for nearer 3K and take a punt

Regards

Chris
Wexford, Ireland

[cass3958]

The thing with a classic car restoration is how much work you can do yourself, how much of the car is in good enough condition to just clean up and reuse, how much money you are prepared to spend on it, to which condition do you want to restore it to (Running and driving or conconcorse) and how much time can you spend on it.

Start with a budget then double it and add £500. Time, never set an end date but have one which is flexible in mind. Save as much of the car as you can and do as much of the work yourself but if you need a specialist then find a good one who is worth the money spent.

We could make a list of costs for you but they might not mean a lot if you were to do all the welding yourself and then get someone to paint the car for you. All we would succeed in doing is scaring you and put you off. If your heart says yes go for it and be damned with the cost.

The car is definitely worth £3000 and even if you bought it and decided to break it for parts you would get your money back three fold.

Spares are readily available, we have plenty of second hand spares we can lay our hands on and we are always here to lend advice via the forum.

[paddyx350]

The other factor when living here in Eire is that these cars are pretty thin on the ground.
You don't come across many in good or other condition.
The UK is near but to buy there and transport back would add another 500 to the cost of the car.
The guy selling me the car is my local Jag specialist who I've know for a few years now and has always been pretty straight with me.
The car is one of a few he has had in a lock up for a few years that he's clearing out. I'm sure he's out to make a buck or two and he's completely entitled to do that.
I'll see if I can get it for a bit less and we'll go from there.