I received your letter yesterday, forwarded by Mike Cook of Jaguar Journal.
You have an interesting story on the XK 120 SE, stored away after the owner's
death. Two similar XK 120 stories I know of in this area, one new member
of our Classic Jaguar Association, bought a car from the widow of the 2nd
owner who had purchased it from a U.S. serviceman who bought it new in
German in 1954. The 2nd owner bought it in 1956, enjoyed it until he died
in 1962. His widow could not bear to part with her late husbands favorite
car, so stored it away. Our member knew of the car for ten years, finally
convinced the widow to sell to him as he would restore it and keep it for
himself. And she would get the first ride in it! That car is nearly completed,
and only had 46,000 miles on it. The other story is even more interesting,
seems a young man and his father traveled to Los Angeles from Carmel, 350
miles north, to pickup his new aluminum XK 120 in 1950. Returning to Carmel,
the car had only about 900 miles on it when the young man went on a flying
trip - possibly with the Air Force Reserve, and never returned. His family
stored the car in a barn on blocks, and covered up, hoping their son would
some day return. This story first surfaced in early 1970's when some acquaintances
of mine heard about the car and saw it. Finally when the mother passed
on after the fathers earlier death, the car was purchased by some one in
the San Francisco area. I have not seen it, but it was at a concours in
1991, Paul Skilleter wrote about it in his Jaguar Quarterly.
It is unfortunate that the car was vandalized while in storage, I will
NEVER understand the mentality of vandals and would certainly shoot one
if I caught him. Hopefully the grill bars were not bent, they are held
into the oval surround with lead solder, so can be replaced after chroming
the bars, just rough up the ends that solder into place. Some good books
on the XK 120 are Paul Skilleter's The Jaguar XK's Chris Harvey's THE JAGUAR
XK'S, (notice the difference in tiles) Skilleter's being an excellent choice,
though rather small. It is rather small but has list of changes over the
five years of production. I just bought a new one, Practical Classics &
Car Restorer On XK Jaguar Restoration, but have not had the time to go
through it care fully. The original Jaguar XK that you refer to, I also
have it, is full of errors but has some good photos. You are right on the
vent pipe in the gas filler area and Phil Porter is wrong. Talking with
Paul Skilleter at a Jaguar Meet in Oregon a few years ago, and he said
he could not understand why Porter did not come to the U.S. and see some
original XK's before doing that book. Skilleter says most XK 120's in Great
Britain arrive from the States in deplorable condition of as basket cases,
so the restorers don't really have much to go on regarding originality.
Example in Porter's book, page 25, this is an often photographed example
of an XK 120 OTS. Note the way the carpet behind the pedals is done. Totally
incorrect, the original merely had two holes for the pedal rods to go through.
What you see is a copy of the J.C. Whitney Parts House aftermarket carpet
set where they made it easy for the owner to replace without unbolting
the pedal rods from the engine compartment. Also, on my July, 1954 XK 120
SE OTS, the hood release bracket merely had a slot in the underdash cover,
not a large oval as shown.
Now is the time to make note that during these five years of XK 120
production, there were many small changes, Skilleter thinks about 1,300,
so a 1953 might have small differences from a 1954, and many from a 1952
and still more from a 1951 or 1950 model. Unfortunately, not many JCNA
judges are aware of that. Example, page 27, Porter's book, note the rubber
seal around the boot opening. This was correct on early car into 1952,
later cars have it glued to the lip of the boot lid, leaving the body channel
as a trough for rainwater to run off in. While in this book, note back-up
& License plate light on page 11, this should be pointed straight back,
not at the "moon". These are often bumped into so that the mounting
flange is straight, instead of bent at the upper edge of the license plate
plinth. You will often see the rear bumper irons bent back from previous
"bumps" and the person restoring the car never saw an undamaged
example. Also on page 27, the carpet in the boot never covered the sidewalls,
just the deck, and early cars had the gas filler neck shield covered with
the carpet material, moquet, later cars just painted gloss black. While
on page 25, note the folded top does not have the chromed metal tack on
strip across the leading edge. Unfortunately, many top replacers preferred
to use the soft material tack strip as it was easier to apply, so they
threw away the metal piece. This of course, was before anyone thought of
making an XK into a Concours Car. Take a look at page 79, the position
of the small red plastic sidelight tell tale, in my opinion, checking on
more than a dozen original XK 120's including one nearby with only 12,000
miles on it, the sloping back should face the driver, not the way shown
here. Now, it is not to say that a car never left the factory with them
reversed. Suppose some poor befuddled worker was just put on that final
assemble, and stuck them in wrong before a more experienced worker showed
how they should go. See the problem a judge at a concours will have? I
never mark points off on that, just point out the way they should be. Like
I said before, the "experts" in England are the ones that have
visited the States, Canada, or Australia as these were the destinations
of almost all XK 120's. Now, as to answering some of your specific questions;
beginning in 1952, the bodies were assembled, except the rear fenders were
not bolted down tight, and painted. So every thing is body color. The bolt-on
engine compartment side plates were painted gloss black. My car, and many
other I have seen, has undercoating inside the fenders and on the underside
of the hood-bonnet. Others without the undercoat, were body color. The
early cars, were flat black in these areas. The Radiomobile radio control
unit was generally mounted under the center of the dash so as not to interfere
with the shifter. On coupes and DHC's, usually where the ash tray went.
The cables were fed under the carpet. My Oct. 1954 XK 140MC (so early,
- #19LHD- it does not have the "C-Type badge on valve covers, which
were NEVER on an XK 120) has that two piece radio and the original owner
had it mounted above his left knee but the 140 has more room. The felt
body packing was about 1/4th inch thick, I have never removed the body
on my car, bought in 1957 from original owner - he purchased it in Nov.
1954. The car is fairly original, just maimed with new paint & upholstery
in 1969. I have seen similar packing at my local hardware store, but I
think a body shop could supply it. The best way to fit the two major body
assembles is to make some steel bars or a jig to hold them. Do not use
the aluminum doors as holding correct distances. They are too soft. I have
enclosed some measurements taken from my car that you can use to make a
jig, then use your doors to see if they align correctly. I saw what one
person used for locating jig, hollow tubes with bolt-down flats on one
end, and threaded rod with bolt-down flat at one end. a large nut on the
threaded portion against a big washer with the threaded rod in the hollow
tube, allowed him to make final adjustments. He bought all material at
a hardware store. On the battery covers, I have two pair, they both have
the design in the center. Many years ago, I moved the batteries from behind
the seat to one 12 volt in a plastic box inside the right front fender
as I had some corrosion in the original spot. Also thought I was getting
run-down from the long cables being worn - not so, was a oil /temp gauge
hooked up live all the time instead of to ignition side. Regarding the
bolts, "BEES" and "AUTO" are correct. I once got a
letter from an Englishman who imported a low mileage XK 120 from Texas.
He found "BEES" bolts all through the car and wondered if the
original owner had replaced them. He had inquired from Jaguar Cars and
was told they "never" used "BEES" bolts, which were
red headed. I had just rebuilt a set of S.U. Carbs with aircleaners for
a friend, the aircleaner bolts were red-headed "BEES", so I checked
with two friends that have restored several XK 120's, they both confirmed
finding many "BEES" bolts. So I wrote the Englishman not to worry,
no one at the factory is still around when his 1952 was built, and those
bolts were ok. Again, Jaguar was a very small company, trying to survive
after 5 war years, they bought parts and hardware from anyone that had
them. I have found original small heater hose clamps on both my 1954 and
my 1964 E-Type that were made in the USA! Where did they come from? Think
of the millions of surplus U.S. Air Force clamps used on the many small
hoses on the radial engine. I have researched this with Club members of
such cars as the Jowett Jupiter, Austin-A90 Atlantic, Riley, and Hillman,
that have also run into the small US made clamps. These small companies
bought what they could find to do the job. Try explaining that to a JCNA
judge sometime. On my 1954 XK 120 I find almost every nut or bolt will
fit my U.S. wrenches and sockets, exceptions are the oil-filter bolt must
use a Whitworth socket, and my open-end wrenches will fit as I have some
odd sizes like 19/32nds, but SAE bolts will not fit the air cleaners, lose
those and go to a British M/C shop for replacements. My original tire pump
has brass screw-on cap at the top of the pump, with a brass knurled knob
under the black wooden handle. The fold-up foot hold down pedals are painted
black. On some nice after-market reproductions, that part is brass color,
I just tell the owners to paint that part black. Like I said, Jaguar bought
from suppliers that had what they needed at the time, just keep what you
have and explain it came with the car which you think was all original.
An intelligent judge will realize the tire pumps as well as the grease
gun as well as the battery covers could have differences. Example, a short
time ago I was contacted by a fellow that wanted to borrow asset of original
Jaguar wrenches that had a bumble bee on them. I checked with may XK 120
owners as well as my set and that of my XK 140, the wrenches were all mixed
make, some with the bumble bee some another brand. As these were all original
tool kits, it just points to what I said above. Those small 1/8" holes
are as you guessed, for a "Made In England" brass plate. Think
either Moss Motors in Goleta, Calif. or XK's Unlimited in San Luis Obispo,
CA have them. Or Bill Tracy in Florida may also. They all have ads in Hemmings
Motor News, a good source for locating parts. I have only seen the round
heater core for the XK 120, a hard to find item. Moss Motors has a taller
one for MG'S and Triumphs that a good radiator shop should be able to remove
a row or two so it will fit the Jaguar. Incidentally, the shut-off valve
should never be turned off on these heaters, water should always circulate
through them. They will rust out if left full on non-circulating water,
also turn on the fan in summer and it helps to cool the engine. The bumper
irons on the very early cars were painted body color, your car should be
gloss black. Note that Porter said light color cars often had body color,
but my light blue car has always had gloss black, and I have only found
cars earlier than 1952 with body color bumper irons. The steering wheel
was fairly close to a gloss black, more so than a semi-gloss. Early cars
had painted grab handles, but some later cars, particularly during 1952
also had them due to a shortage of material in the chroming process. About
600 cars left the factory with painted tail-light housings instead of the
normal chrome ones. The installer may have grabbed a painted one for the
bin for your Dec. 1953 car, I have seen this on another 1953 car. So both
are right. For mild steel exhaust, most any good muffler shop that makes
custom systems for motorhomes or racecars or hot-rods can supply you. I
use two long glass packs welded together on my original pipes (how does
that song go? "It Don't Rust in So. Calif.") You might want the
stainless steel system in your more rainy country, just do not polish them,
some owners have roughed the surface with steel wool. I never knock off
points for a stainless steel system, they last a long time and may be the
only kind available.
I have enclosed some sheets on originality
for the XK 120 restorer which may help you, also a copy of the 1950
Jaguar color list for the new XK 120 and the Mark V's. Note the statement
at the bottom regarding special orders. Also I am writing Mike Cook about
my comments on the fender & license plate mount welting, the latter
is as a guide to the restorer, I have seen factory original with black
around the license plate mount, it is smaller than that used in the fender
which is always body color, and if the installer did not have the body
color material, he probably used the same black welting as used in the
door opening between the fender and the face plate. If you have any questions
not answered in my notes, let me know and I will try to get the answer.
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Bruce Carnachan
XK 120 Registrar & Membership
Classic Jaguar Association
1754 Hillcrest Ave.
Glendale, Calif. 91202
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