How many Dollars did you spend??

Hello Steve

Thanks for your explanation. Be shure I'm familiar with that car. Perhaps my englisg was not the best, sorry about that.

And I do not have such a "restoration project". My E-Type ist still running :-)

It was only a question of cost's. Several years ago (10) a start to restore an Austin Healey 3000 MKIII. The bad thing was, that a payd to much for the wreck and all the people told me "no problem". So I started the project and half way I stopped it, because the cost are getting higher and higher. So I asked several (more) professional companys about the "worst case cost" and the answer was very simple: = 1000 hours x $80.- (amount per hours) = $ 80'000.- And that is very realistic. And it is the same work to restore an Jaguar or an Austin Healey. So I'm wondering, what the cost are in the USA.

Again, I do not have a project running.

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see you on the road again

Daniel

Daniel,

If half to 3/4 of the car is rusty, you've got a big problem. Taking liberty with the old real estate advise about the three most important things in buying property is "location, location, location," with old Jaguars (especially E-types) the three most important things are "no rust, no rust, no rust."

Apparently, you're not too familiar with these cars. They do not have "frames" or "chassis" in the traditional sense. The rocker panels (sills) and floors on the car ARE the frame and chassis. It's called monocoque construction, and was the first real production car with what we now call "unibody" construction. In other words, if the rocker panels are badly rusted, the structural integrity of the car is compromised. And on these cars, a little bit of rust on the outside means a LOT of rust on the inside. You can't simply paint over it and expect to have a safe car. Badly rusted E-types have actually been known to collapse in the middle, especially roadsters.

The first and most important thing you need to check out is whether the car is structurally sound. DO NOT allow anyone to fill body rust with Bondo or fiberglass. Rusted through body panels, especially the sills and floors, require cutting out the damaged metal and welding in new pieces. Most body panels are available, but the job gets expensive and must be done by someone who really knows what they are doing and really knows these cars. And some things, like the engine frame rails, cannot be welded or repaired if they are badly rusted, bent or otherwise damaged. They MUST be replace with new or good quality used parts.

Cost? As others have said, it all depends. If the car is really rusty and requires a lot of replacement panels and repairs, you could easily be looking at spending $30K to $50K for a basic restoration to end up with an okay "driver" level car. The more work that's need, the more you want it to be done right, and the more you need to buy replacement parts, the higher the cost is going to get. The good news is, almost all of the parts to restore these cars are availabe. The bad news is, they can be expensive. And it adds up quickly.

Post a couple of pictures of the car and we can give you some idea of what's needed.

Steve Weinstein
'70 XKE FHC, '69 XKE OTS

Edited on 2005-08-05 7:34:21

Edited on 2005-08-05 7:30:20

Ok guys. I will do it more clear:

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The car is a serie 1, 4.2, normal or 2+2 or serie 1 OTS.

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1. I wrote "fully restoration". That mean's:

-> half or 3/4 of all is rusty:

- You bought a wreck (for how many $ ??)
- you dismantle the whole car
- rebuild the frame
- rebuild the chassis
- rebuild the interieur
- overhaul the engine
- overhaul the axe (front + rear)
- overhaul the clutch
- Overhaul the transmission
- new paint
- overhaul the suspension
- etc

Standard is average or good condition or between. Definition:

ò Good Condition
This is where you would expect a car to be in excelent order throughout, needing no work, with matching numbers and some history.

ò Average Condition
A car that is in good overall condition with a full MOT, prehaps needing a little cosmetic work.

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2. How many Dollars did/do you spend (or you are willing to spend) every month/year into your E-Type?

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see you on the road again

Daniel

it can be anywhere between 10k and 150k .... depends who does the restoration and what you start with...

same with annual budget... depends on the condition of the car and how it is driven. Mine was mechanically restored and upgraded and is very reliable with few annual expenses. Even on years where i put a lot of miles (10 to 15k) costs are reasonable. I get a little more wear n tear than average when i do a lot of track time but overall it is not more expensive than a modern car like the XKR. but again, it depends so much on the condition of the car and the type of driving. I've heard some guys say that their E-type spends more time on the shop than the road...

Pascal Gademer
72 E-type 2+2
00 XKR Coupe

Question is too vague. How bad was the car to begin with? A rust bucket? how high a standard do you want at the end? Concours perfect?

"Restoration" can mean $15,000 to $150,000. You get what you pay for.

How much do you think it cost to restore 9600HP?

Daniel Thompson
XK Club representative
Jaguar Enthusiasts Club
Jaguar Owners Association - Montreal