XK 120 Body alignment and centering on chassis

Have the body placed on the chassis of my 1954 XK 120 OTS. Now trying to get it perfectly aligned.
All bolts are in place and everything went fine until I noticed that at the front of the body the plate that connects the inner wings, didn’t align with the 3 holes in the chassis (just in front of the Radiator).

Cannot find the part number for this plate (see pics below) and I don’t think that Viart is correct when he named this part C.5838 “Channel for Bonnet Lock Mounting Plate”, which is more likely the Channel that is used at the front chassis cross member to raise the FHC and DHC bodies by 1 inch.

My plate apparently had a tough life with some accidents and the front shows the results of that. It won’t fit the C.3831 Bumper Support member (a.k.a. the “cow horn”) and it needs straightening but in which direction?
Is there a Forum member that has a good picture of this part? Is the front of this plate straight as it should fit the hole pattern in the “cow horn”?

Some other related questions:
I can move the front of the body a little bit upward (with the door opening still braced at both sides), but when is the vertical position correct and can I tighten the two bolts for mounting the two Front Wing Valences to the Chassis brackets? Would it be correct if the aforementioned (unknown) panel is fitted to the chassis front member (3 set screws 1/4" UNF) and the lower section of the Valences fit exactly on top of this panel?

Finally: is there a specific tolerance for the “center” position of the body in relation to the chassis? I now have all dimensions within ± 1/16 of an inch (± 1.5 mm). This includes any tolerances in the production of the chassis (although the chassis is probably made om a jig).

Bob K.






Cow horn is straight between the bumper mounts, holes in later mounting plate on right were elongated probably to ease installation. With the body in place, I found if you start with the 2 long bolts through the chassis uprights and cow horn then loosely assemble the complete bumper mounting assembly including the bumper irons. You can then tighten everything systematically.

Exactly the pics I needed!!! Thanks for that.

Looking at your first photo, I see a different hole pattern, missing the holes at the side for fitting the inner wings, correct? Is that a reproduction?
Photos 2 and 3 show these holes, this time from underneath.and from above. I will use these photos as an example for mine, but I’ll have to do a lot of straightening. Will need the torch to get the steel hot enough to get it in the correct shape.
Your method of installing the bumper mounts/brackets will also help me to get an impression whether the body is at the correct height at the front, so another “data point”. I will also fit the locking mechanism for the bonnet while there’s still good access.
The part number (both the early as well as the later version) will remain a secret I’m afraid

Bob K.

NEW INFORMATION

I just found the following input from Terry McGrath including the correct Jaguar part number C.3834. See Terry’s pic below.
Sorry Terry, I missed that one completely (on pg 295) but unfortunately on pg 292 of the Revised edition, there is an arrow pointing at the same Plate but now referred to as C.5838. I assume that the arrow should point at the Channel (for FHC and DHC only) which is located underneath this Plate (but then Bernard could have shown the “dashed” Channel underneath).

Bob K.

The first photo is of an original (C.3834?) on my alloy car 670088. Aluminum cars originally have no bracket and only have one fastener each side on the inner wing panel.

Looks like there where 3 versions.

Here is a FHC.
Rear raised by that angle cross bracket in front of the tie rod.

Front 2 bolts into cow horn.
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