Hi, new guy here looking at a 'garage find'

I did a few 32/36 DGC carb installs on early FJs–and my '50 Willys flathead–and the improvement was quite noticeable.

No doubt. I have the 38 DGES on it and it runs great. It had better, being newly rebuilt!

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This book has two chapters on Strengths and Weaknesses and another on Common Problems. I found it useful for my education when shopping for an E 20 years ago. They are common for not much $$. You might be able to find one for less than this ad if you are interested…

https://www.ebay.com/itm/114155718770?hash=item1a94360872:g:WGwAAOSwHVFedkSt

David
68 E-type FHC

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I used the same Weber 38/38 on my Lotus Europa and it has made quite a difference in the performance…

That’s the book that took the E-Type from a used car in 1985 to a vintage classic two years later. Great read!

Thanks David, I used the link you provided and ordered that book. Awesome folks here! :kissing_heart:

End of an Era actually came out in 1977. I bought a copy then. But it’s been reprinted numerous times and the later editions have many updates and extra photos.

It is the first ever book I remember to be about a particular model of a car. Well worth having a copy.

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Thanks for the help thus far. I’m going to look at the car again in about an hour.
Where does one find the engine serial number and frame number on a '68?
I saw the tag below the car ID plate.
It would be good to verify that they match the car’s ID plate numbers. Thanks.

Good advice, although most of us on here rarely heed our own advice. We see any old Jag, and our pulse goes up a few beats, and then the imagination kicks in and we see ourselves acquiring this treasure and making it into a driver or a show car. Hard to understand this flaw in our makeup, but it is there, and we exercise it. I have had Jags since the age of twenty, and they are never out of my life for more than a few years. I just go back because I miss the suffering in an ordinarily comfortable life.

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You will find the cars Data Plate/Commission Plate under the fuel filter on the right hand side of the engine bay:


You will find the Car Number (VIN) stamped on the top of the “picture frame” (the lateral cross member in front of the engine) just above the right hand shock absorber:

You will find the Engine Number stamped into the top surface of the projection on the right hand side of the engine block that the oil filter housing mounts to. It is under the carbs, so not too easy to see (and may be obscured by grime). Sticking your cell-phine camera under the carbs and flashing away will usually find it:


You will find the Body Number on a stamped tag beneath the rear license plate (if the owner allows you to remove it).
The Gearbox Number is difficult to access (for obvious reasons) unless you get the car on a lift, and even then it’s not that easy.

Hope this helps. (PS: photos courtesy of a randomly chosen '68 in the BaT archives).

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Thanks David, very helpful!

It looks like I’ll have more time than I originally thought to get up to speed on used E-types.
The executors don’t plan to get around to selling the Jaguars (one is a late 60’s sedan) for
at least a year. I did get to look under the car as best as I could with the tires being flat.
It looks rust free.





I’ll see how interested I am when they get around to selling it.
It would be fun to bring it back to decent shape. That’s what interests me.
Thanks for the helpful suggestions.

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I got a laugh from this still in the boot:

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If that car is as you think ….that pot of old paint NEEDS to be kept ……even though it is old and not useful any more it adds to the originality and is part of the story.

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like this one?
all numbers matching except diff





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Is that one for sale?

well everything is available for the right price.

I’m assuming it was traded out for a different ratio?

Question: Is the Thornton PowrLok differential # for these cars stated somewhere? It’s not on the data plate or Heritage Certificate, so how would one know if it’s original or not, without a prior owner stating it was swapped?

BTW, what a find!

rear of the diff has the ratio stamped. i found a 3.31 posi diff to eventually go in.
orig ratio was 3.54

Reminds me of the video from @Chuck-MM and the half pint of touch up paint he found in the boot of one of his cars. Around the 12:15 mark is when he talks about the paint -

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