The Joy of Restoration

From Moss Motoring 1984

Some of us have been bitten by the bug of answering an ad for an older foreign car and, upon seeing it, knowing that we must take it home. The owner always claims that the speedometer’s mileage reading is accurate. He will also swear on the Constitution of the United States that the “little beauty” has never been in an accident and has never been filled with bondo to cover the rusted areas.

In the many times I have responded to ads and seen the “little beauty”, there have been extremely few with accurate speedo, mileage. And, living in the salt-laden winter roads of the Northeast, I’ve seen almost none without some advanced stages of rust or rust repair!

However, in 1980 I again took the plunge and purchased a Jaguar XK120 roadster after first sitting down and calculating the restoration costs with myself doing much of the work. Now I’m in my third year of restoration, and have exceeded my calculations in all areas by 50% to 100%!

Once an individual starts to tear the “little beauty” apart, he finds the abuses of previous owners who played “Saturday morning mechanic”. A few of the problems I’ve encountered on the JAG XK120 are the use of an American-made electric fuel pump mounted on the firewall, changing of the exhaust system to XK150 specifications and the cutting away of the rear tonneau panel to make a jump seat. These non-standard items were easily corrected.

I’ve yet to hear the roar of the twin stainless steel exhaust system, to feel the crisp acceleration of the fresh engine and the firm brake pedal pushing the silicone fluid through stainless steel lines to the brass-sleeved wheel cylinders. I think of these things as I write another check for more parts, my wife standing in the doorway with folded arms watching her dreamer. I guess that we’re all dreamers taking a piece of machinery and returning it to a work of art again. Many of us fall prey to boredom, lack of funds or just plain discouragement. But in my mind I can hear the music of that twin overhead cam as I tear through the gears. Well, maybe next spring!

Submitted by John S. Burda Unionville, CT