Someone once asked my who added the louvers to my 2+2. He wasn’t familiar with the cars; no crime in that. I told him they all came that was from the factory. He was impressed.
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Wow, incredible catch. That is why I love this forum so much. Everyone is so helpful. I’ll build another set. Looks like you are spot on with 21.
Not mine, that’s an original lightweight.
In case it helps here is photo from 1964 showing a row of louvers from a distance. This is from Peter Wilson’s book.
David
68 E-type FHC
Thank you. Great share.
If you’re looking for period photos, the place to go is the Klementaski Collection, the largest repository of motorsport photos in the US. Just be aware that it’s a business, the photos won’t be free, and they DON’T come with reproduction rights, including (especially) posting online:
There is one public photo on the klementaski site that’s of interest:
http://www.klemcoll.com/image/64YD2B-29A.aspx?page=
A bunch of interesting detail. Notice that both cars have bug deflectors clipped to the most forward louvre. I asked Bob Grossman about this when I was building my car. When they raced at LeMans in June, it was worth screwing up the aerodynamics to keep the windshield clean. Here’s some detail from my car, FWIW:
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I finally broke down and bought Philip Porter’s book on 49 FXN. Thanks for the recommendation!
Any interiors you need don’t hesitate to get in touch, currently trimming the low drag as we speak, just popped the headliner on today
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Wow, I would love to see pictures when you are done. I didn’t even know they had headliners.
Thanks to advice and a sharp eye from @Michael_Frank, I remade a set of louvers with 21 vents this week. I really appreciate the groups input. Next I am moving on to the center section of the hood.
The worst part of this was getting my wife to help me cut the pieces from a 10ft sheet of aluminum. She hates having to come out to the garage. I think her dad took her to one too many car shows.
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If you’re not already familiar with them, I often find the Fantasy Junction website to be a great resource for reference photos. If you type “E-type” into the search bar it will show all of them they’ve sold over the years and there are a couple of low-drag replicas in there. Obviously I don’t know how accurate they are, but might be useful, they always have very good photo albums of all of their listings. Congrats on tackling such an ambitious project.
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Wow, awesome site with great photography. Thanks for the share.
When I figure out how to post on here properly il be sure to upload them. Got the fabrication guys doing the cantrails to panel everything in as it’s a custom job so gone away with the piped edge cover ready for the alcantara trims.
Been working on the boot today, all in good time and hope to get your feedback when I upload next.
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Where you based AJ? Looking to follow ur journey pal
Just use the upward facing arrow (eighth icon from the left) to download photos, just wait for the upload to complete before pushing the reply icon.
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I’m impressed, I work with them and I’m like a little kid watching them be built. I love learning the entire process given I’m not from a mechanical background I am seeing the engine etc be built from scratch and machined parts. Maybe you’ve heard of URYK of E TYPE FABS?
Amazing project! Since you are pretty far in already my leads come a bit late.
On CGTrader.com you find people who have or scan 3D models for a reasonable fee. That file can be sent to a body buck builder to make a buck which serves as your template. I did that whole exercise for another coupe.
The metal shaping was done by somebody else. I designed chassis/suspension and sorted the packaging of all components. I used an XJ6 engine, which brought me to this forum.
Does anybody know a sensible location and height for the bug deflector?
My car is done but I didn’t get around to fit window wipers yet. The windshield is split.
Hello All,
Glad to see their is continued interest in my project… A little update… I started to build a new workshop for the build. The garage I was working in just became too small to support building an entirely separate car. This has taken quite a bit of planning, permitting and approvals. The new shop is going to free up a lot of space.
I am glad to hear about the modling. I have also been experimenting with 3D modeling and printing to make accurate body bucks and body panel shapes of the roof. I will include some pictures below of the full car but I can also now print side profile templates as well.
In addition to panel fabrication, I have also been experimenting with new welding equipment and techniques for the structural and non-structural panels. Tig welding thin Aluminum has presented a little of a learning curve for me but with practice comes perfection. More to come.
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More progress on the hood. The first driver side front fender I made was more of a test for shaping and learning how to weld without warping or melting through. The new fender will be my finish fender.
Progress may appear slow but I am putting a lot of time into the new shop as well and ironing out the various issues with it.
I have also been experimenting with a few new metal shaping tools. One is called a slapper that is a flat smooth tapping tool used with a dolley to smooth small surface imperfections. Since most of my progress is made at night, I mainly have to rely on quite tools like bead roller and English wheel. Any hammering I need to do has to wait until the weekends so as to not wakeup the kids.
So far I am really enjoying the project and getting to learn so many new techniques. Every day or night should I say is a new challenge and exciting. More progress on the hood to come.
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