Has anyone done this mod, having the resemblance of a ser 1…Art…
Jagart,
This S2 has just been converted using Mareks excellent kit.
http://forum.etypeuk.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9990&start=30
Nice
Check out Chuck’s solution at Monocoque Metalworks. Since your Series 1.5 headlamps haven’t been pushed forward like the Series II and III headlights, you can get your 1.5 Bonnet to look EXACTLY like a Series 1.
my 68 2+2 came with the mod. I prefer the covered look to the open series 2 headlights.
Still awaiting Marek’s conversion, which looks better than the original S1 compromise (Sayer, I am absolutely certain, would have much preferred the slim trim covered headlampbut more costly approach taken for the XK-SS) for the Series 1.5. It would be the best looking E-type of all, imho, of course.
Marek has indicated no intention to do it, however. Too limited a potential market, I suppose.
Funny how folks spend a ton of money to keep their cars “original”, and then modify something so obvious.
Different “folks” I guess…
-David
I’m in the final stages of putting in the Monocoque Metal works kit. Going really well.
It goes to aesthetic preference, Eric. Keeping or recreating one’s car’s originality is great fun, and incidentally increases its “value”, but there is also enjoyment and appreciation to be had from customisation and personalisation. I will use my own as a reference. I restored to original specification to a very high quality and have added customised touches to my personal tastes, effecting in the process what I consider aesthetic improvements. Some of the aesthetic/practical changes effected from the earliest cars to the latter ones are, in my estimation, improvements. Others are not, again in my view. If I had a car like yours, for example, I’d stash the original seats in a dry place and install seats from a '68. To me they are more comfortable, being wider like the later S1s with the added benefit of rake adjustability. I also prefer the covered centre console of the 4.2s over the 3.8s aluminum treatment but am not especially enamoured with the cubby hole, preferring the locking glovebox introduced with the S1.5 and continued on with the S2s.
I prefer the look of eared spinners to safety knockoffs but I prefer the smooth wheel hubs to the curly, and I’ve also gone to non-standard 6" Dunlop wheels which look much better than the 5". I don’t like the S1.5/2 plastic breakaway rearview mirror so have replaced it with the S1 rod mounted item. I’ve switched out the rocker switch fold down panel with toggles from a '65, though the look of the rockers is aesthetically cleaner - I had the toggle switch dash sitting on my office desk as a curio for many years before deciding to do the changeover, placing the rocker switch dash in the same box with the original safety knockoffs and plastic rearview. My car is otherwise “correct” for a 1968 MY, though I’d get dinged at a concours. (Ask me if I care). The car can be changed back in a weekend, if the guy who the kids sell the car to after I die decides he prefers complete originality to my personal aesthetic, but in the interim I will have the car I prefer.
The original covered headlight design is a tough one for me. Always has been. The glass covers are drop dead sexy and I definitely covet and prefer them to the open concept of the S1.5. The chrome surrounds I dislike. Full stop. If I had an S1 I would lconsider leaving them off and fitting competition perspex covers with black rubber bead mouldings. But if you’re going to have chrome, the S1.5 surround treatment is closer to the XK-SS treatment and is, again in my estimation, aesthetically superior, hands down. Before I am done with it - and I’ve had this car going on 35 years now - I will do a reversible conversion incorporating perspex covers with thin chrome trim. The car will be exactly what I want but, again, easily and inexpensively returned to its original specification.
At some point, obviously, it becomes more sensible to acquire a series car that most closely matches one’s tastes, but if your tastes exceed your budget you are left with customisation. If I had an S2 - far superior cars in many respects to the S1s and 1.5s - I would buy Marek’s kit and never look back.
that looks very good, any details on how you did it, Art. silver007@telus.net…604 465 7244…Canada BC.
I agree with Nick. Originally I was looking for a Series 1 4.2 FHC but when I first saw my RUST FREE pretty original 68 I said… close enough. Over the years though I have grown to really like the thinner more delicate head light trim. I wouldn’t mind some covers though that would work with the thinner trim. The Series 1 feature I would like to have most now over the 1.5 is the starter button , oh and I guess 3 SU carbs. I do like the looks of the rocker switch dash though and having the 2 fan cooling system.
David
68 E-type FHC
Of course I get the different strokes thing. But I wonder how the vintage Ferrari community would view owner changes to original factory appearance of a 275GTB, for example, especially if it involved mods to underlying sheet metal. Then there’s the question of invalidating the original federal safety certification…the reason for the body changes in the first place. (I know…who cares…different strokes…just sayin’…)
If I had a 275 GTB, produced over a few years and aesthetically almost indistinguishable from one model year to the next I wouldn’t change a thing.
Here is a comparison photograph showing the thinner surrounds used on my kit…
The backplates are available separately. (Obviously this a s3 backplate, but the s2 backplates are similar but different.)
The modification is completely reversible - just unbolt the parts and refit the originals.
I have no plans to make an equivalent to replicate the s1 as the main problem I see is that the s1 headlight opening created is so much smaller that it gives only relatively poor illumination of the road.
kind regards
Marek
1 Like
On my '68 OTS I converted my open headlights to factory specs using factory parts 6 years ago. You cannot tell the difference from an original covered headlight car. There was considerable time, expense and hassle to do it as surgery and subsequent body/paint work involved. The end result however is spectacular. While I was at it I added eared knockoffs and converted to triple SUs and electronic ignition as well. In my opinion my car has the best of all Etype worlds, the better cooling and interior appointments of a S1.5 and the aesthetic sexiness of a S1 car. I have essentially converted my car to a “Euro-spec” '68 car which is identical to mine. Is it worth more with these mods? Who knows. Is it worth less, no way!
Randy
1 Like
Looks very nice…Art…my 68 arrives on Wednesday…
Who can deny this conversion…spectacular for sure…, what does it cost to do a 68 …?..Art.
Although I said it was done 6 years ago, I was wrong. I looked it up and the work was done more than 12 years ago! Where has the time gone?
Anyway, it’s hard to put a number on it because every situation is different and mine was done a long time ago. In Northern California, where I live, this type of classic car resto work is horribly expensive as the really good techs are super busy working on Silicon Valley rich-guys cars worth far more than our Jags. I used a Jag specialist and there are only a couple I would trust in this neck of the woods. They get top dollar and the wait lists are very long. I think I added up the headlight conversion numbers and including $1300 in parts it came in north of $7k - a dozen years ago. Remember there’s sheet metal work that has to be done and then, at a minimum, a bonnet re-paint.
Bob, as Jagart requested, could you provide any details on how you did your change? If I am looking correctly, it appears your headlights have not been moved back as far as original S1. Did you move them back at all? And how much else had to be modified. Thanks, Tom