What a jerk. Unbelievable that he fled, and more so that he tried to deny it. What a tool. They should have charged him with several crimes. I’m not sure at all how your insurance works there, but if someone did that here, their insurance would likely bend over backwards to make it right due to the circumstance.
If I was you, I’d ask that the whole car be painted to match. They’ll probably refuse that, so my fallback would be that they pay to have the bonnet repaired and fully repainted. I wouldn’t settle for less than that. Then I’d work it out with the body shop to paint the whole exterior to match. I’d do all the trim and top removal/replacement to help offset the price. Since the bonnet is about 70% of the car, the other party will be covering most of the cost.
4 Likes
BillJag
(Bill Bilotti 1966 S1 OTS (in boxes))
2130
Today, I spent 2 1/2 hours getting a new top bush and sleeve into the front Koni’s top eye. The first one actually went faster.
It took such mayhem that I probably shouldn’t have changed them, now they are artificially aged so, I didn’t gain anything but experience.
Returned home last night after 15 days out of country, many of those looking forward to a long drive in the E on my return. Today looking at the rain soaked streets and lamenting an itch I can’t scratch. Life is unfair, eh?
Yup. Haven’t had to use them since the mid ‘90s, though. I’m showing the car at Bronte on Sunday (took 1st place in the ‘61-‘68 class last year). Don’t need the extra work cleaning.
After a few months of sitting on the shelf, the S2 / Girling calipers fitted to my S1 many years ago were stripped.
I have no idea how long they’d been in this state. I’ve been flushing fluid through the system every two years for the past 15 years, so I wasn’t expecting this amount of crud and dirt.
The pistons came out without any fuss, seals still sealing, no rust on the pistons or the cylinders. But there is so much crud that the lower transfer port is completely blocked up. Fortunately the upper port is clear as is the linking port between the two outer cylinders.
Clearly the flushing of fluid didn’t move the crud, but it did keep the caliper clear of water and rust.
Next job is to clean the caliper halves and the pistons and bolts, fit new bleed valves seals and rubbers, assemble and apply some heat proof caliper paint.
Everything has come up nicely. But I have a question to those experienced in rebuilding many Jaguars with Girling brakes. None of the seal kits available include the small seals for the brake fluid transfer ports in the calipers. Where in the U.K. can I get these from?
Since our car isn’t a ‘stock’ restoration, I’ve used a number of items from them. They are literally walking distance from me in New Berlin Wisconsin. Maybe of interest even for stock E’s is that they have 1/4" x 28 riv nuts. Hard to find and I think stock E’s have some of these on the firewall. Used their brake fluid resistant hose for the supply lines to the masters - it’s red, however. They have Weber parts, etc. Started as a formula Ford specialty, I think, and since many chassis were English…
That could easily have made a huge shrapnel explosion right through the bell housing. I assume you shut her down right after the strange noise started?
LLoyd
A step backward, after making a wrong turn, is a step in the right direction.
That’s a slightly longer walk from here. Might get my feet wet on the way.
Stripped the other caliper tonight. This one is the near side, or in Britain, the curb and therefore dirty side where all the salt residue is swept each winter. Thus I wasn’t surprised to see more evidence of rust.
The one on the left has had a harder life. However, this caliper was much cleaner internally than the previous. No crud blocking the transfer port. There is a possibility that these calipers weren’t originally a pair.
BillJag
(Bill Bilotti 1966 S1 OTS (in boxes))
2146
Today I removed the immobile front sway bar I just put in last week with polyurethane rubber lube, cleaned off the lube as best I could and put red rubber grease on instead. So far, it’s moving well.
Then I installed the vintage Koni’s with new bushings and a new “Koni Classic” decal.
