Hi E Lovers
Soon I will be resurrecting an E Type with the intention of making it a reliable “driver” without creating a perfect example. If you wouldn’t mind adding a comment to help me decide what more reliable pieces can be added without detracting from its appearance. The car is a Series 1.5 with the 4.2 engine. The car appears to be all original. What suggestions might you have to help with drivetrain, etc. I know this forum has a extensive experience and knowledge that can help a beginner. I welcome your comments and suggestions. Thanks in advance.
Search the archives: there are likely thousands of posts addressing this.
Try the following to stop you being stranded on the side of the road!
rebuild fuel pump
rebuild carbs
recore radiator
new water pump
new coolant hoses
pressure test cooling system
pertronix upgrade inside your distributor
new spark plugs and sprak plug wires
new distributor cap and rotor
new coil
rebuild alternator
new voltage regulator
rebuild starter
Dennis 60 OTS
I got an E-Type 8+ years ago and undertook a programme such as Dennis describes, ultimately including a re-spray and an engine rebuild.
Since that work I have driven 40,000 miles all over the western U.S. I doubt I could have done that, especially the long trips, without that level of preparation.
About 3 months ago I acquired a second E-Type and am taking an alternate approach. I am resolving any problems I find but otherwise will be driving ‘as is’. This car is expected to just see fairly local drives (no more than 200 miles from home) and I will get into the various systems as the need arises. Much too soon to see how satisfactory that plan will be.
Those may be the 2 extremes of creating a ‘driver’.
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A guy from NY in a leopard skin jacket may tell you about a distributor with numbers and a dial. Do not believe him, stick with points and condensor. 
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Hi Again
Thanks so much for all of the suggestions. My bad (as the kids say), I should have been more specific. I’m sure a car can be reliable with rebuilt/refurbished OEM parts but I was thinking of upgrading the parts I can with newer and improved parts designed now. For example, a newer designed alternator that might be more reliable than the “old” stocker. Another example might be the radiator.
Manufacturer names would be greatly appreciated. I know I can search for these items, however I wanted to hear what you think are the better alternatives.
Thanks so much.
Read through various posts on problems on this and also the Etypeuk forum. I think you will be amazed at how often the long drawn out discussions trying to solve a problem with someone’s car are related to an attempt at an “upgrade”. An unmodified car with good quality repairs and maintenance is a very reliable auto. The only 2 times in 25years that my 3.8 fhc has left me walking were due to coil failures (aftermarket not original lucas) and my car is not a particularly great one. Actually a bit of a pos if the truth be known.
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The most important update is to modernize the cooling system. That’s the weakest link on the E-Type. Everything else is almost routine, but you won’t get anywhere if the car overheats.
Charles,
If your car is a Series 1.5, I really don’t think you need to do much in the way of “upgrades” - just make sure each component is working as designed. For example, the Series 1.5 cooling system is a great improvement over the Series 1, and perfectly adequate if in good shape.
-David
The alternators on these cars are quite robust. If you do a complete rebuild, it should last another 100,000 miles.
LLoyd
It’s not what you look at that matters. It’s what you see.
Henry David Thoreau
I would suggest the Coolcat fans as an upgrade. My 1.5 would creep up toward the red on 90F degree type days. The Coolcat fans solved that problem plus draw less current so that fuse does not get hot like it did with the originals. My rule of thumb is to only do mods that can be easily put back to original. This way I am not stuck if the mod does not work out well for the long term or I need to go back to the stock base line for trouble shooting purposes that will match the service manual. I have read thru lots of threads on this forum about guys struggling to figure out problems with cars modified by previous owners. My 2 cents.
David
68 E-type FHC
I did the same thing with Mik, the 64 I purchased a year ago October. I have been re-furbushing things as I go and thus far Mik has not left me stranded but for pure reliability my '68 (which I did a complete restoration 15+ years ago) is the one I trust the most.
Cheers,
LLynn
What David said, I have ‘upgraded’ the alternator on my '68 primarily because I live in the west and I wanted to be able to find a replacement at the nearest FLAPS when I’m going across Nevada 
I also have the XK’s unlimited LED taillights which I think are a vast improvement over stock and thus a safety feature. I have quite a few other up grades such as EDIS etc but I don’t really think that they add that much in terms of safety or reliability. JM2CW
Cheers,
LLynn
My last car ( 64 FHC ) only let me down a couple of times . First was due to a sticking / bent float chamber part , the second was the fuel pump starting to fail . At least with cars of this era , faults are usually easy to diagnose - you dont have to take it to the dealer and have a technician plug it in to a computer .
Pretty much agree with this.
Hi Charles,
My 1.5 is all original. I would say make sure your fuel pump points are new, check and adjust your
valve clearances, and if your clutch cylinder is the hydroscopic one you might want to change it to the one with the spring on the outside, and check your distributor points. Also keep some extra parts in the boot.
The only significant ‘upgrade’ I did was the cooling system… going with an aluminum radiator and more powerful fans from CoolCat. But that was because I live where the high was 100°+ on 103 days last summer (well, sping, summer & fall actually).
Yeah, some:
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My '67 S1.5 is a driver (even though I don’t use it as much as I’d like). I’ve put about 30K miles on it since the restoration was completed in 1996. In decreasing order of importance (to me), the most important changes I’ve made are as follows. The rankings are driven by my own experiences in terms of reliability and performance:
-
Cooling Fan Upgrade - I have a Scott’s fan with relay, because the Coolcat wasn’t yet on the market when I upgraded my car, but I’d probably use Coolcat if I were doing this now. In my experience this upgrade (over the 2-blade original) is simply essential if you drive in traffic or warm weather.
-
Modern Alternator - I have a Delco conversion with integral regulator which has worked well for me, but I know there are other options as well. I went through 3 rebuilt Lucas alternators from 1996 to 1999 (from different vendors) before giving up and going with the inexpensive and easily-sourced Delco conversion which has worked great.
-
EDIS - I have tried virtually every type of ignition system on the market for this car, starting with the original points system, and the EDIS is in a different league than all the others in terms of how smoothly the engine runs throughout the rev range. My car idles smoothly at 650 RPM, which is 100 RPM lower than I could ever get it to run smoothly with any other ignition system (other variables pretty carefully controlled).
-
Wider Wheels & Tires (mine are 205/70 VR15 mounted on MWS 6-1/2’’ wheels) - I know this one is controversial and in large part a personal preference issue, but I simply like the more comfortable ride and high-speed handling better than the original configuration (which I drove on for several years before making the switch).
-
Mechanical Oil Pressure Gauge - I found the electric gauge (even after rebuild) to be too finicky, and just feel more confident with the mechanical gauge.
Since implementing the cooling fan and alternator upgrades in the late '90s, I’ve never had a breakdown, and have taken the car on multiple 1K+ mile multi-day trips far from home.
I’ve made a number of other upgrades that I consider beneficial (e.g., some poly bushings; Wilwood front brakes, with original front calipers moved to the rear; modern radio; improved dash lighting; rebuilt steering wheel with thicker wood to make it more rigid; a few others), but only the 5 highlighted above would I categorize as essential for me.
Dave
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In addition to everything listed previously, I added a third brake light, clip-on mirrors…and air conditioning.
Outside of 6" Daytons and replacing the heater and AC blower motors with better ones I’ve made only four changes:
A Bosch internally regulated alternator to replace the stock alternator.
Aftermarket fan blades on “stock” round motors.
.
A Petronix distributor with vacuum advance.
.
An FM/AM CD player in a home made radio console with aftermarket speakers.
Everything else is stock rebuild, refurbished or replaced.