Holiday Quiz 1948 3.5 MKIV

Okay, Here is a very expensive 1948 MKIV. See how many non-original features you can find? Unfortunately the engine bay isn’t shown as I’m sure there would be more. I found eighteen in the photo’s and the description together.

Tim

It certainly has some oddities. A previous owner has clearly preferred some aspects of the SS Jaguar to those of the MkIV. The chrome side strips are SS as are the positions of the minor instruments. The door hinges in the SS are chromed but painted in the MkIV but this car has neither chrome nor paint, they are naked brass. Also missing is the petrol reserve tap. The modern fog lamps on funny brackets also look out of place. I don’t remember the front seat slider handles sticking out as they do in this car and the tool tray lid appears to have some sort of plastic stuff on it and tools were not originally all painted black and the grease gun looks wrong and the oil gun nozzle has been replaced with something different as has the Thor hammer. The starting handle front support has been sacrificed for a JEC oval badge and the front number plate is the wrong style and possibly not fitted to the original bracket.The wooden window surrounds are the wrong colour.

Peter

Excellent work, Peter! There is a lot more which is incorrect on this very, very expensive car. It will be interesting to see what others find. I’ll give my list tomorrow but it’s now time for bed.

Stay well,

Tim

It also has a Jaguar five speed gearbox, alternator, electronic ignition, modern wiring harness, electric cooling fan, hazard warning lights, customer built stainless steel exhaust system, modern seat rails and modified rear engine oil seal. (I cheated on these as they are on the specification write up!!)

The brass door hinges are the same brass finish as on my late 1948 MK IV, so did the Jaguar factory stop painting them towards the end of the production run?

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I’ll be interested in that: every thing I now know about MkIV’s, I’ve pretty much learned from you and others, here.

Here’s a photo of an unrestored August 1948 car whose original colour was black.

image

Front bumper starting handle guide
Wasteline chrome
Fog lights
Front bumper reflectors
Side view mirrors
Door hinges not painted
Wheel covers
Painted license plate surround
Rear bumper reflectors
Steering wheel mante in wrong position
Finish on interior wood
No transmission cover access cover
Thor Hammer
Painted black not red jack
Painted black starter crank, long Tommy Bar, Box spanners etc.
Wrong pump hose
Grease nozzel
Plastic lid material
Seat guide rails

I’d still drive it…:joy:

Agreed, though, as to value with that much incorrect.

Gearshift knob should be the mushroom shape?
Carpet should be red?
What about carpet on the backs of the front seats?
Looks like the seats have a raising/lowering crank handle, like Mark V, but that might be correct for a '48 car. But I don’t recognize the fore/aft slider release handle.
Tire pump handle should be black? My Mark V pump is.
Starter crank handle should be chrome.
The padded material on the tool tray lid looks funny. But the presumed original material on my '38 looks funny too.

Agree on painted door hinges, there can be no doubt the doors should be hung and aligned and never removed before the body was painted.

MkIV gear knob is flower pot shaped.
MkIV front seats have crank handle height adjustment.

Peter

I thought maybe a '48 should have this knob?
shiftknob
rather than the one shaped like a hamburger on my '38.

Maybe my “flowerpot” description was not a good choice.

Peter

image

As a few have noted - the Tool Kit although very well, and undoubtedly very expensively restored as per photo …

… is extremely ‘ordinary’ if correct authentic tools, and correct authentic finishing treatment is important to you…

But this is fairly typical if you use a general ‘Vintage Car’ restoration shop, rather than a business or a private ‘marque and model’ specialist. Time is money, so a Vintage Car shop can take 8 hours to do a straight forward trade-skill job, and charge the customer accordingly, but if he adds a amount for many hours of research needed to know what a correct colour is, or correct seat pattern, or indeed what are the correct tools and how they should be painted/plated/blackened they have trouble justifying their bill - not that at GBP100,000 there wasnt already a considerable amount of ‘fat’.

Pointless commenting on this tool kit - the list of errors is extensive - but if you don’t know what is correct and what is not, it looks very presentable to the casual observer…, but dont enter car in a Concours or show it to someone - like this forum - who knows more than the casual observer…

Having said that the displayed Hammer is indeed a modern THOR Hammer, and indeed the currently made/available THOR Lead Hammers (Mallets) are very very similar to those they made in the 1930s as supplied to certain SS Jaguars. The pictured one however looks like a SIZE 3, whereas that supplied in the 1930s was a smaller SIZE 2, but identical looking scaled down. Indeed during my resercah project into Mark IV tool kits - booklet has been published/available - I did conclude that the occasional post-war 1-1/2 litre Mark IV, theoretically always supplied with a SIZE 1 THOR Copper&Rawhide Hammer sometimes received an old stock THOR Lead Mallet, as per following photo of an exceptionally original and unrestored 1947 1-1/2 litre tool kit - and there are no errors with this tool kit, albeit its current original finish is not exactly ‘Concours’ but ‘originality’ was my priority… (note - apart from Hammer, there are a couple other differences with the 2-1/2 & 3-1/2 litre tool kits)

Note the screw-heads! Yes, they should be brush dabbed with green paint, and not left bright as per the subject restored tool kit, and indeed a common mistake with many Mark IV restorations…
And also note, the Starting Handle swivel grip IS in fact originally painted black, its just a case of poor paint adhesion on the bright-steel swivel grip, that many mistake as having been plated - they were not plated, nor was the steel polished bright… And note the Jack - definately not black painted, but note the Red paint extends a small amount only onto the lifting arm thus the bolt head/nuts securing the arm are also painted red. This is the detail you need to get right if authenticity actually matters to you…

Or, if you prefer BLING and not authenticity, a good example to covet follows …

My belief is that “truncated raindrop” came along during the Mark V era, replacing the mushroom.

How about this one?

I remember Ed Nantes complaining about the “Burr Walnut” treatment when woodwork was re-veneered.

The mushroom gear knob is associated with the double helix gearbox which were fitted to MKIVs, ‘according to the workshop manual’ up to 3 1/2 litre chassis number 612040 (2 1/2 litre 510859/ but shows all 1 1/2 litre cars have D/H gearboxes). I can’t lay hands on the registration document just now so I can’t put a date to these numbers

The manual ignition advance which my green car has a ‘change’ point at engine number S1502 yet mine has it fitted to Engine No. S1515

Art

Is that the same knob as on early E Types?

Your guys are good. Here is my list with some additions;
Fog lights. Lucas FT58 are the correct ones.
Incorrect fog light brackets.
Top fender side lamps should have smoke white lens. Unable to confirm looking at photo.
Side view mirrors were an option, such as Desmos mirrors.
License plate surround is correct, however, the far side or right taillight (looking from the rear) should have a split red/clear lens for the back-up light.
Body/Fender welting should be body paint color…Not black.
Wrong grease nozzle.
Tool cover material should be green felt on the '48, just like the MK V.
Tool tray screws should be painted green to match tray color.
Incorrect seat slide handle. Raise/lower crank handle is correct. Just like the MK V.
Wrong Jack color.
Pump hose color.
Pump handle should be black.
Crank handle should be nickel plate on the the '48.
Missing front crank guide.
Missing valve feeler gauge.
Missing gear box access cover under dash.
Missing gaiters on brake and clutch pedals.
Walnut dash should be grained. Not burled walnut.
Ripples on interior left door material.
Wrong Knock-off hammer.
Wrong position of Trafficator directional control on steering manette.
23 items so far.
Aside from those minor details, its a beautiful car.
Popop

Tough crowd. … :grimacing: