There are some excellent web sites showing how E-Type enthusiasts have made rotisseries and restored the bodywork themselves. I thought I would try this but having had the car for so long I want to get on the road so I have entrusted this part of the work to a company which specializes in Jaguar restorations. As they already have a purpose made jig the work is proceeding at quite a pace. Despite the accident damage to the rear end the car fitted the jig, indicating that it is not out of line. Next they will remove the IRS so that I can replace the bushes, bearings and seals.
With this bracing in place the floor panels can be removed safely.
My first close look at the underside, in this case the IRS mounting points. No sign of rust here.
There are around 250 spot welds to be drilled out prior to removing the floors. Using a special drill bit only the old panel is drilled completely through. The radius arm mounting at the top of the picture will be carefully removed and reused on the new floor. This is not to save on cost it's just that as with so many of the replacement components the originals are a better fit.
The sill braces look good with only surface rust so the whole area will be cleaned up and repainted. Who is that guy pretending to get his hands dirty?
The foot wells were in very bad condition but fortunately the replacement floors come with foot wells installed so some work saved here. I will keep this as a LHD car so the lower view is of the drivers side floor, now installed and the plug welds ground flat. The passenger side welds are now being ground down and they look similar to the original spot welds.
Just about all the replacement panels available for the E-Type require some fettling to get them to fit correctly so it is better to keep as much of the original metal as possible. Here the new floors are out by a few mm and have been cut to fit the car. Sill area has been treated with zinc primer.
The drivers side bulkhead was fixed by letting in a strip of new metal where it meets the floor. Almost through with the floors but still a lot of bodywork to do. Closer inspection of the rear quarter panels shows that a combination of rust, accident damage and filler makes replacing them the best option.