[xk] Ronald Gaertner's 1953 XK120 FHC

There was a link posted recently on the Jag Lovers to
http://patsjags.smugmug.com/ - a wonderful website with a
very beautiful xk120FHC. I wish my car was in this stage…

I have a few questions though on the car, maybe someone
would care to comment:

  1. Steering wheel - what was actually the finish of the
    steering wheel? Here it seems gloss black - should it be
    painted? Or?
  2. Bonnet lock (Photo 11) - should it be black, body colour,
    or cad plated?
  3. Bottom bonnet shut plate (photo 12) - Body colour or
    black?
  4. Bottom bonnet shut plate bracket to side panels (photo
    • Body colour or black?
  1. Top bonnet shut plate (on bonet) - body colour or black?
  2. Nuts and bolts for above - black oxide or body colour?
  3. Water rail pipes to heater (photo 21) - black or
    unpainted?
  4. Bar linking left & right wing in front of radiator (photo
    • black or body colour?
      9.Carburettor thermoswitch housing , water inlet to manifold
      (photo 13) - polished or natural aluminum?–
      ysmalkie
      –Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–

In reply to a message from ysmalkie sent Tue 21 Jan 2014:

Some of the small details of this XK120 FHC were discussed on Jag-
Lovers XK Forum back in August 2009. Check the entries under ‘‘A
Perfect 120’’.–
Mike Balch
Iowa, United States
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
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In reply to a message from Mike Balch sent Wed 22 Jan 2014:

Many thanks Mike!–
ysmalkie
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
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In reply to a message from ysmalkie sent Tue 21 Jan 2014:

It took me a little while to find this.

Bear in mind that the body painting procedure changed in
mid-'52 from black under the bonnet and in the boot to body
color everywhere. We believe this change was related to the
move from Foleshill to Brown’s Lane and/or the introduction
of rotisserie body trolleys, which enabled the painters to
get the underside easily.

My comments will be based on my Nov '51 car.

  1. Wheel inside looks like powder coating to me. Check the
    archives; I think others more expert have discussed this.

  2. Bonnet lock mechanism BD2951 (or 3951 in the FHC book)
    with coil spring and hook latch is black.

  3. Bottom shut plate BD2952 with cable release pull
    mechanism BD2950, all black.

  4. Bottom cross plate with angle brackets to side panels,
    all black. I looked in all 3 body sections and couldn’t find
    a part number for this. It might be BD5004 Panel Assy Cross
    Beam (1) found only in the DHC section.

  5. Bonnet shut plate BD5106 (separate panel) on which the
    lock mechanism is bolted, is body color, although the side
    panels (welded to the bonnet top) are black. This colored
    cross plate is visible through the grille when the bonnet is
    shut. But for that matter so are the black side panels.

  6. The 5 bolts holding the bonnet panels together (item 5)
    had no finish at all (some Bees and some AutoD) which makes
    sense as these panels were painted before assembly.

The bolts on the bottom cross panel (item 4) are all painted
over with black. It looks to me like they put this area
together first, then painted over all with a brush, though
before the body was on the chassis.

  1. Water pipe C4400 missing on mine, but my Mark V has a
    similar pipe of plain steel, so it makes sense to me to do
    something better here, like copper.

  2. Bar BD4469 (3/8’’ steel round rod with bent threaded ends)
    linking wings is black.

  3. Water elbow C2449 (containing otter switch) natural cast
    aluminum, a good smooth production job but not mirror finish.

I really don’t have any cadmium plating anywhere on mine,
other than perhaps the instrument panel frame?

Folks with later cars having body color under the bonnet may
have different answers.–
XK120 FHC, Mark V saloon, XJ12L Series II, S-Type 3.0
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