See also prior posts about the preliminary rear bumper installation and the original rear bumper mounts. Removing the rear bumper is somewhat tedious, but installing the rear bumper is devilishly difficult. The primary problem involves fastening bolts and nuts related to four rubber mounts: the space available to fit a......
Body shell
No draught ventilator deconstruction
The front door features a comfortably effective triangle-shaped “no draught ventilator” that swivels open for fresh air. Since the ventilators have rubber parts that degrade over time, they need to be taken apart, a job that is delicate and somewhat difficult. The first task is to remove the ventilator from......
Door check arms
Like all car doors, the Mk2 has metal check arms that prevent the door from swinging out too far on its hinge. After CAD plating, the arms look like new. Lin Rose generously sent some extra neoprene stop cushions cut out of 1/2″ rubber sheet with a 1.125″ hole saw.......
Back in the swing of things
The final step in preparation for the first test drive is reassembling everything that swings on the car: namely, the four doors, the front bonnet, and the rear boot lid. Getting everything to fit just right is time consuming and more art than science. Jaguar’s fabrication technology back in the......
Hinges
In preparation for putting the doors, bonnet, and boot lid back on the car, all twelve hinges — two for the rear trunk lid, two for the front hood, and eight for the front and rear doors — were greased, installed, and tested. The boot and bonnet hinges work with......
Rear bumper test fitting
The bumper mounts on four rubber vibration pads (which are identical to the front engine mounts) that attach to eight studs welded to the frame. The stud threads were bruised up over the course of disassembly, blasting, and primer painting, but this condition was quickly remedied by applying a die......
Front grille and bumper
The front grille with its MK2 2.4 badge attaches to the frame with four side clips and a top bolt. Its return marks an appearance turning point; the front of the Jaguar now looks like the classic icon we love. The grille also completes the engine bay, and here is......
Shut face panel door fillers
One of the quaint Jaguar Mark 2 details are four little filler pieces fitted on the “shut face panel” of all four doors. Made of aluminum, each piece has a handmade wood plug fastened to the door panel with #5 wood screws. These fillers could be painted the body color......
Seat runners
See also disassembly of front seats. The front seats operate on glides that fasten to two runner mounts that extend towards the rear seat. Originally, these runner assemblies had some sort of smelly jute-like tonque-shaped padding, and we decided to use an odor-free felt replacement. The exact purpose is obscure,......
The lowly spire nut
Back in the pre-digital manufacturing age, before robotics and computer numerical control (CNC), cars were largely hand-assembled. Tolerances might be 1/8-inch or so on the chassis, and thus trim pieces did not necessarily align exactly over pre-drilled holes. Enter the lowly spire fastener (also called speed fasteners). Spires can easily......