Geoff , He is spot on…remember on a series 2 bonnet they just sliced the front mouth opening and beat the panels back.
When you strip a series 2, the amount of lead load and bondo/scratch filler are huge, they were hand made.
There was little science on those panels.
I just got back from a long day driving 3 1/2 hours to the south to visit the Coventry Foundation in Columbia, SC. George Camp gave me an ample and complete tour. What an amazing collection of stuff, all donated from Jaguar owners. I got a late start so was not able to spend as much time there as I would have liked but I suspect I could spend days there and never reach the bottom of the resources available. All should try and make a visit if possible.
My primary mission was to review some “blueprints” that they have in their possesion. All I can say is that the draftsman certainly was under the impression that the bonnet opening was a symetric flattened oval. I would say the first picture David has posted (the white car under the Vauxhall banner) is the most representative of what I observed on the drawings. I was hoping to strike gold and find section drawings as are used to describe boat hulls but alas, nothing of that sort, although they must exist somewhere? Regardless, I remain convinced that I need to make my bonnet center section “reflect” the shape of my lower nose section in order to get a result that will be authentic.
Again, everyone should make an effort to at least peruse their website and visit there in person if possible.
I don’t know if this one came up on your thread here, but Nick Saltarelli posted it on a thread I started about color change. It is a 100 point car. Here is the front end.
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2013/automobiles-rm-auctions-in-association-with-sothebys-n09045/lot.138.html
If that isn’t symmetrical, I don’t know what is.
Sorry, but I have to disagree. Follow the light line around the edge of the mouth. It is very distinctly different from top to bottom particularly at the outside edges of the lower opening. This seems like the type of thing that needs to be determined by making templates from a certified unmolested bonnet. Perhaps someone who has one would like to do that?
Ours has English “Goodwood” 4 piston front calipers and brand new Dunlop style “front” calipers in the rear. We have the bellows. Brakes are perfectly fine. I can’t understand guys who say they need the ‘torque’ of the 4.2 or the brakes. Maybe stock 3.8 brakes are somehow lacking, but the bellows seems like a non issue. Granted, it was considered for replacement, but perhaps due to complexity or expense. I’ve had to make several very hard stops in the only 350 miles or so since completion, but it stops very well indeed. On short 100 mile trips the seats are similarly just fine (not ideal, now, but fine). The rear calipers are Japanese made original Nissan and may lack the odd pins that the originals had. Hate to say so, but I’d guess the quality is superior to originals.
The Moss box, well that’s another story…
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Geoff, I looked at enough photos now to know that they can be misleading. The opening is inclined forward at the top edge, which adds to the difficulty of getting a good view. That is why I started only looking at photos of light colored cars. You have a better chance of spotting the actual edge of the sheet metal. That said, I would agree the light lines are not symetrical, in that particular photo.
Here is a pretty cool photo I took of a blueprint for the bonnet. It’s a photo of a copy of a copy so bear that in mind. The drawing is noted as Quarter Full Size. The one I was looking at was substantially reduced from that.
You can clearly see the upper and lower rolled edges of the bonnet opening and the horizontal centerline between the upper and lower parts. When I scaled the distance vertically from the centerline to the narrowest point of the top and bottom opening, I got 20 mm up and 21 mm down. This is what I think your eye sees with light colored sheet metal and a much less well lit radiator screen in the background. When I measured from the tangent point of the upper and lower rolled edges I got 25 mm and 30 mm, respectively, the bottom being the larger value! This is what I think you see when looking at light lines. Anyway, I’ve seen enough pictures now to convince me that symetrical, for the actual opening, seems to be common and most visually pleasing.
I just took A 75 miles break in run in the rain past Peter Crespins summer bungalow
I think some are over thinking the opening thing
They all look different and crooked to me!
You realize the average date of birth in 1962 of the line worker was 1910!
Just drive baby!
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Yes, the blueprint is interesting but it is a one dimensional snapshot from the side and does not really show the shape of the mouth, only the vertical dimension at the greatest height. If you were to put faith in that one view of the blueprint then you could argue that the headlight opening is teardrop shaped instead of a wavy egg shape. I am not insisting that I am right and you are wrong, only that to be really sure of the shape an actual template is probably needed.
Geoff, no doubt and I’m not trying to argue a particular point. It is a really complex shape. Somewhere, somehow, they gave instructions to a mold maker and the mold or molds were made. I’ve never had to draw up such a complex shape. Nowdays, they solid model it in CAD and it spits out the xyz coordinates in a format that the 5 axis milling machine can do it’s thing. We are so spoiled.
Anyway, today I spent a 100 dollars on wood at Home Depot and I started building a “buck” for the bonnet. I’m trying to get datum points anyway I can, by hook or crook. I may never return from this rabbit hole!!!
Peter has a very nice summer cottage, BTW 
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My wife, a longtime Beatles and E-type devotee, perceives this picture as a composite. If so a very good one.
Tthough lacking any reflection of George in the superb bonnet paintwork. Maybe just lighting.
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That’s too funny!
Can I buy or rent your buck when done?
It could happen. I’m screwing (versus gluing) everything together so I can pull it apart and make patterns when I’m done.
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Except for the white walls
Yeah
Yeah
Yeah
well, the addition one one more inch of wire in the main engine bay loom at the speedo(?) light would have enabled its removal through the hole under the voltage reg, with almost no cuss words. see recent thread on this issue.
Also, no gaskets under door handle and outside of door.
just two off the top.
Oh, and the original door cards always “screamed cheap” to my eye
Quote from another thread seems to dispute this:
“ One false data point we can lay to rest is this shibboleth about cheap instruments and why Whittaker didn’t spring a cuppla pence more for the RR grade…
Answer? No such thing. I interviewed the boss of Smiths and followed the entire classic instruments production process at their factory, using original tools and techniques. There is only one grade. There were/are different branded dials sometimes, and doubtless different prices (why would Ford pay the same for a 50,000 order as RR for 500?) but there was no penny-pinching by anyone at Jaguar on instruments or anything Smiths. “
The steering wheel wood could have been THICKER, The wheel is a joke today, looks good but way to thin.
Also the trim in the back glass hatch
gtjoey1314
I have posted a blog article updating my saga. I learned a lot but I’m not going to be able to save this one.
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