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XKE Bonnet Restoration

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Menderandy

Freshman Member
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I am thinking of disassembling the inner valances (sometimes referred to as air intake ducts) of a 1965 Jaguar XKE FHC. The units appear to be glued together. I do not see any spot weld shadows or any other type of welds. I am assuming they are glued. Does anyone have any experience restoring these. Rust is a minor issue and some patches will be necessary. I would like take the back of the valance off to prep the inside then prime and paint. Iwould glue the back piece back on. Any thoughts suggestions or recommendations ?

Menderandy
 
Welcome to BCF! I'm going to move this post to the Jaguar forum here as this "New Members" forum is more for just introducing yourself to the gang. (Which you can still post in the New Member's forum and tell us about yourself and your car(s).

Basil
 
The air ducts, and most everything else, is bolted or screwed together on the bonnet. The ducts are screwed onto that glued-on strip you saw. When you talk of a back valence, I think you mean the long bracket at the back of the center section and 2 others continue down the wings. Those are spot welded together to the sheet metal and should not be drilled apart unless you have a darned good reason. They follow the contour of the whole firewall.

On some, the glued on strips are spot welded on the ends with heavy welds. If removed, they must be replaced in the exact place they were found so the duct assemblies don't rub against the frames or radiator when they are screwed back on.

Phil.
 
Phil, Thank you for your reply. My apologies for not being very clear with my question. The two air tubes are bolted to flanges glued to the underside of the bonnet. The air tubes are really what I had the question about. The tubes I have are rusted and pitted. Very difficult to see how the three sided duct is attached to the large flat piece which bolts to the glued flanges. After very careful inspection I discovered the three sided duct is spot-welded to the larger flat piece. I have drilled out the spot welds and separated the three sided duct from the larger flat piece. I do have some rust issues on the large flat piece which will require a few patches. I plan to sand blast both pieces and prime with epoxy primer. I will tape off the areas where the three sided duct is to be re-spot-welded back onto the large flat piece before I apply the epoxy primer. After spot-welding I will thin down some epoxy primer and pour it down the inside of the duct so it flows into and around the spot-welds. I realize this is a laborious and messy project. If I do this reasonably well they should outlast me. Once I have all the bonnet pieces repaired and primed I will re-assemble the bonnet and attempt a trial fit. Reading other blogs and articles they all indicate fitting the bonnet to the frames and fire wall will be a time consuming and tedious effort. I had a colonel (a long time ago when I did military service) tell me "all plans are great till they meet the enemy".
Andy
 
Andy,
years ago when I restored my 68 OTS we broke the bonnet all the way down, believe it was 13 pieces total. After sandblasting each piece, I used the old green aircraft etch, forgot the name, you can't buy the stuff now. Then I epoxyed the small pieces to the main center of bonnet and fenders. Its still together and holding after 25 years.
Marv
 
Marv,
the jag I have is a 65 fixed head coupe. Your bonnet is very similar to mine. Reading different blogs on E-Type restoration some have used "Sika-flex" and others have used 3M Marine adhesive 4200 in black to glue the flanges back on. Not sure which one I will use. I have a fair amount of rust patching to do and then get it prepped and covered in epoxy primer. Phil was spot on when he mentioned the position of the flanges and the air ducts are critical to properly fitting the bonnet back on the engine rails and fire wall. Every article I have read all say the refitting is a laborious and some what frustrating process. Thank you for sharing your experiences with your 68 OTS.
Andy
 
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