The Upper Krust - a Jaguar custom

This looks like the most recent update on her FB page

 

I have seen pictures of that, although I didn't know whose car it was. A beautiful profile, although I'm sure I couldn't fold myself into it. It blows me away that when these were new, some people considered them too large to be a true sports car, they were considered a GT. They're so tiny compared to nearly anything made today.

 

Not really different from a Corvette in size, but vettes keep getting bigger. Don't forget that roads, thus cars, are a lot smaller in Europe. My Mk2 was considered a "big" car, but it's really about the size of a Corvair, so tiny compared to the average US car in the 1960s.

 

All set to replace the rocker and part of the front fender this weekend.
and the reason for the surgery. Next will be the 2-door conversion part of the build.

 

Yikes...that is some nice metal work there. Good candidate for the 2 door conversion!

 

I have a set of slightly rusty doors. The originals are surprisingly rust-free. I'm guessing this botched up job was an attempt at rust repair in the fenders and rockers. The other side isn't quite as bad. Only that fender was bad. The Bondo sculpting was impressive though.

 

I got (most of) the rocker out and found some creative repairs, but it worked. I need to fabricate new support brackets for the A and B pillars, do some careful modification to the new rocker and weld it in. Then I can move on to the fender, or move the B pillar, or both.

Under the A-pillar


The rest

 

Somebody spent a lot of time on those previous repairs. Maybe not the cleanest work, but not the worst I've seen by any stretch. I could live with that, at least on the inners.

My Jag has some pretty ferocious welding and bodywork done to it as well. I painted over the areas where the body filler fell off just to keep it from getting rustier, but you can see what I mean. It's hard for me to think of a time when this era Jag was just a cheapie used car that someone would do a quick and sloppy body job on, but I guess there's an era for most cars when that's true.

 

Someone spent a lot of time on mine, but also filled in bad work with 1/2" of Bondo. I had to get rid of it to see what I was working with. Mine came to the US when it was 13-14 years old and was never titled here, so I'm guessing the work was done in TX. From what I've heard, Americans were always a little bad at European coachwork and engines, which is why you often see Jags with bad body work and engine swaps. It should be easy enough to fix and I have most of the exterior replacement panels. What I'm missing I can fabricate. At least the car seems pretty solid and I only have some minor repairs to make. I found 2 small holes in the frame, but those should be easy to patch

 

Just found this thread. Excellent to see it coming along. Bad luck with the rust, but if it only needs new rockers, you're doing pretty well.

I'd forgotten about Marcy's Jag. I was following along when new pictures popped up. Amazing build. Billet "spoke" wheels. Easy to overlook how they extended the bonnet so there's no cowl between the it and the totally reshaped door now.

The fastback short wheelbase version really wouldn't need an XKE donor. Just a hatch. I did a couple of rear views just to see. The angle makes it look a bit stubby. I don't think it would look so much like a Porsche 356 in real life.

 

The fastback version would be really cool, but perhaps a bit beyond my skill set, even with the rear half of an E-type! Yeah, the rust in my car is pretty minimal and easy to fix. Hopefully I'll be on to custom work soon.

 

I do think that XKE style rolled pan and raised bumper might really work, even without the roof. Give the car a true teardrop profile.

 

I love Marcy's jag'! Where can we find more photos and follow the project?
Bravo for your drawings. The integration of XKE parts is very attractive.

 

Rob Ida/Ida Automotive have various pictures from the build on their Facebook page, but no updates for a long time.

 

Slight amend to the rear valance. Left the exhaust off to show it better. Lifted the bumper slightly too. Just a thought.

 

It back-dates the car a bit, but it really flows. I'm not sure about the bumpers at different heights though. I've been debating making a full skirt or creating an opening like in the red fastback version, a little like the Mk2 S-type rear wheel. I definitely do not like the Coombs style or stock skirts. They make the wheel look small.

 

The bumpers are already at a different height to each other originally. I only bumped it up a shade more. an inch or so.
I covered the back wheels originally to hide the fact that they're so oddly far back on the car. It's why I shortened the wheelbase on the fast back, as it was the only way I could make it work. It would be horrific to do though!

 

Another quick idea.

 

Oooh, I'm digging that!

 

Hey James, any idea how much you lengthened the doors on that image? It's looking like 8-10" to me.

 

No idea. You could scale off the overlay photo on page one though.

 

8" door extension, 2" chop in front, 4" in the rear. Approximately.
It's still a long way off, but I'm thinking about the tail lights. I've always disliked the originals. They don't really flow with the car. I was thinking about making bumper-mounted lights, but they're kind of small and low, so I was planning on recessing the license plate and lighting the whole area as a big 3rd brake light. Thoughts? Suggestions for other, better body-mounted lights?

 

59 vette?
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/ideas-for-tail-lights.1209725/

 

That early Corvette plate cover would look good i think.
How about 1940(?) Studebaker taillights? They'd at least fit where the stock units do. There's not a whole lot of space elsewhere.

 

Finally getting some more work done. Fixed a rust spot in the "frame" (and found another), and mocked up the pillar in its new location. This would be a 7.5" door extension for a total door length of 43". My best measuring suggests that James' Photoshop doors are 7-8". What do you think? The primer car has 7" extensions and has not been chopped.

 

I like those proportions, based on the current pillar placement. Too little and it looks like a 4 door with the back doors welded up, too much and it looks comically disproportionate. I think you're right in the zone. The back end of the rear quarter window could be pulled forward too, making a thicker C pillar and a smaller quarter window opening if need be. Looks like that was done in the photoshop examples, if not just a shortened roof.

 

Thanks. Part of the C-pillar differences in the Photoshop vs. my Mk2 (other than the chop) is that James used a Mk1 rear window, which is smaller and doesn't wrap around. I was able to acquire one, with surrounding metal and trim, but I haven't decided which version to use yet. The Mk1 trim is wider, so will look out of place, and I like the wrap around rear. Plus my rear has factory defrost. I keep going back and forth.

 

Nice to at least have that option, should be easy enough to mock up or photoshop the rear of the roof further once you have a door in place and the rear quarter skinned back on. Might not have to do anything really, hard to say at this point. I do like the door length though.

 

This one has a slight rear chop, but unchanged front. I don't know how far they extended the door.

 

That looks incredible. I honestly wouldn't have even known what it was if I saw that picture without context.