Hello David
Thanks for letting me know where you are, at least now I have an idea when you might be awake to read the mail, as we are around 5 hours in front of you, so I guess its Good Morning.
My you have had your car a long time, but fully understand how life in its various ways can interrupt projects. We are about the same age and like you I now want to get to drive/ride some of my stuff before they have to lower me in and out of the car. Certainly as we age the old bones start to seize up and some of the creaking you hear is not coming from the car!
I noted that you are looking to replace the top and interior, so there is still a little challenging work to do, however there are some good articles in the E Type Forums as well as books that will help. If you can get a look at the book written by David Barzilay (E Type Jaguar Restoration Book), it is well written in a style that is easy to understand. It documents the strip and rebuild of an early S1, but most of it translates to the S2. The author was the MD at CMC (Classic Motor Cars) who are one of the world’s leading Jaguar restorers. It is worth looking at their website, although having been around their facility I know there is more to see than could ever be shown on a website.
One point I am reminded of if you are doing a roof replacement, the S2 cover is different to the S1 and the S3, so make sure you check that out with your supplier. Also if possible ask to see one of their covers fitted to a car, my own car came with a new cover and whilst it fitted mostly quite well, there was a large gap between the side windows and the cover and amount of stretching can make it fit. So now I am having a new cover installed by BAS International who apparently provided covers to Jaguar themselves. Hence the reason for checking the fit and manufacture of any cover before buying. I will dig out some links for you and post later.
Back to the clock, I had a quick look on the USA version of eBay, but there was not much on there that would be of use to you. So if you can have a look at the UK version, obviously as the clocks were manufactured here and fitted to a number of British cars, they are likely to come up for sale more frequently than in the US. I don’t know what postage costs would be if you sourced here, perhaps something you might like to investigate. Here are a couple of links from the UK site which I hope you might be able to view,
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There is not a single clock with a front face identical to yours advertised right now on the UK site
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New replacement clock with no front controls and a chrome bezel (not black like yours) eBay Item No.333256243626, cost ranges from £46-£66
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A repaired/restored clock but with upgraded quartz movement eBay item 372580818152. Note this clock is one of those where the controls are in the lower half of the glass unlike yours which are in the top. However he is asking a lot of money £160 and the quality of the product is not that great. But as I am sure you will know, anything they can link to an E Type tends to double the money.
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Final alternative is a Kienzle clock from an S3, virtually the same as the Smiths but with no controls on the front.
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There was a guy in the US called Mike Eck who has been repairing E type clocks for quite some time and within the E Type community seems to have a good reputation, he used to trade as Jaguarclocks.com, but I cannot seem to get anything here, perhaps you can try. I did find note that some people had managed to contact him via orders@coolcatcorp.com . He is located in New Jersey, but does come well recommended if you can reach him. If you put a few optional words in the Jag-lovers site, you will come across the numerous comments about him as well as the clocks themselves.
I think that is probably enough reading material for one day so will sign off, if I can be of further help then please shout, I have put a couple of shots of my car on for you (note the airbox not fitted!), so would be nice also to see what you are working on at your end.
Regards for now
Tony
