P66 Progress Update

[MikeWilliams]

Very nice Derek. Very nice.

I've been thinking about this terrible workmanship from JP&S.

First the taped repairs. The only time that JP&S worked on the car was when I first bought it and my brief to them was to get the car through an MOT with minimum work, but all work to be done properly. Being a prototype which at that time had not been driven by anyone I knew, it might have been awful to drive, so I wanted to get it on the road and attend to other things later. Now, if they discovered damage behind the rear seats they would not have repaired it as that was not what I had asked them to do. Since then I conserved the car and especially the interior, so never looked there! I was keen to keep as much original material as possible and conserve rather than restore.

Secondly the rusty metal behind the front wings has me stumped. The first two owners of the car did few miles and had no major work done. The next two owners in the USA also did few miles and had no major work done save for a poor respray. The next owner shipped it to the UK, delivered it to JP&S and then sold it to me before they started work on it. After I bought it, JP&S repaired the floors but did not remove the front wings, and nor did Rob Ransley who repainted it. So if this rusty metal was only visible when the wing was removed, could it have been there since the car was built? Or was it the remains of the old floor? Or could it have resulted in some accident before it was sold by Jensens? In short, are you sure that JP&S left the rusty metal there and if so was there good reason - like maybe not wanting to take the wing off at that stage?

So far as I can see, your other examples of poor work - like the clutch operating rod were also Jensen Motors (not JP&S), whose poor welding is well known. On my H type (and others I've seen) the difference between Ford welding on the rear half of the chassis, and Jensen welding on the front half, is most marked!

Keep up the good work.

Mike

[Joerg]

I have the same experience with INT 363464. The Hemi was more nailed into the car than proper engineered. JM cut a triangle into the frame for the oil filter and that weakened the whole front end. One chassis leg is now bend upwards by an inch and we are thinking about a solution now before putting engine and gearbox ( another interesting piece of JM engineering ) back into position.

Joerg

[MikeWilliams]

Joerg,

It is interested isn't it that on the one hand Jensen were at the very leading edge of technology and ahead of many rivals, and yet some of their more basic engineering was, err, less than one might expect. I guess your hemi and the P66 were not standard production cars and might be allowed a few quirks?

Mike

[DerekCV8]

The poor work on the footwells/inner wings was undoubtedly done at a later stage in the life of the car and was not "original" workmanship when the car was built. The lines of the original metal were clearly evident, but the rusty areas had just been folded in and a new plate welded over the top. It was my understanding that this was all part of the work that had been carried out by JP & S in order to get the car through it's MOT? Also, this work COULD be done without removing the front wings.

Regarding the "taped" interior repairs..... these would only have been taped AFTER the material had deteriorated through age, so again, I take this to be a repair conducted by JP & S....... it is their tape isn't it?

Finally, I'd find it hard to believe that Jensen Motors would make a clutch operating rod so poorly..... even if they were not known for their welding abilities? This MUST be an aftermarket bodge by somebody during the life of the car? Maybe I was wrong to assume it was again JP & S, but after evidence of their other work, I couldn't help but make this assumption!!

However, despite all what I have found, I would like to make it clear that I am VERY proud to be the owner of this incredible car and all these problems have not detracted one iota from these thoughts. A great deal of thought clearly went into the design and manufacture of this prototype and it really has been built like production car....not a prototype. It's only when doing work to the level that I have, that you start to find little things which had not quite been "ironed out". I am managing to rectify these so far and, though I still have many months of work to do, it will be great to get it back out on the Jensen scene in 2015..... with everything working well and reliably!

[Joerg]

I think we are all proud owners of these old cars - and yes I love to have one of the ultra rare cars. The only thing for me is that I would like to preserve as much as possible, but a chassis repair means a deep impact into that.
To repair the weak frame will mean to relocate the oil filter to make room for the original (standard) frame design, and here the headache starts.
It will definitely alter the status of originality - but I'm sure JM would have done something similar if the customer would have returned the car to the factory.

Joerg

[DerekCV8]

Joerg, is it not possible to add strengthening to the chassis below the 'V' that had been cut to clear the oil filter (after straightening the chassis of course!)… maybe in the form of a box section? If not, then I am sure a remote oil canister set up would not detract too far from originality. After all, this was common practice for Jensen with other cars such as the early Interceptor with the straight six engine…. and the C-V8?

[Chris C]

Here is the engine install - only took 2 minutes!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdvY149 ... e=youtu.be" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Joerg]

That was the idea we had when you helped us to pull the engine out. But you know from personal experience how bl..... difficult it is to remove the screwed on filter, not to talk about finding the right cartridge for these old Hemis.

Joerg

[DerekCV8]

Great video from the time lapse pictures Chris! I wish it had really been as easy as it looks there!!

[VFK44]

What were you doing in the dark for the last 21 seconds?!

[Arcnewal]

Absolutely fantastic!

[colin7673]

What were you doing in the dark for the last 21 seconds?!

Thats for Derek to know and everybody else to wonder.......

[DerekCV8]

Sorting out the mass of new wires for the new engine bay harness on the P66……. nearly ready to be sent away for braiding now…..

[DerekCV8]

Spent all day yesterday rebuilding the Carter AFB Carburettor for the P66……. so today was going to be the easy job, bolting it in place on the manifold…….. Funny how things never quite work out like that though. When I placed it in position…. with the original auto choke mechanism, I found that the linkage that opens the secondary venturi's fouls the auto choke mechanism plate. Even with the auto choke removed, it still fouls the casting of the inlet manifold! In fact, the original Auto choke mechanism plate was bent where the linkages had been hitting it (fortunately I have a brand new one) One cure would be to fit a spacer, but I don't want to raise the height of the carburettor as I think there is limited clearance under the bonnet. Of course, it came OFF the car, so it would seem that the Secondaries have NEVER been working. Next option was to look at a new Edelbrock 1405 Manual carburettor. Initial thoughts were that this may give me exactly the same problem. However, after looking at the old pictures of the Edelbrock 1406 on my C-V8, it seems that Edelbrock extended the linkages (and casting) further out so that it clears the auto choke plate and casting. So…. the Edelbrock 1405 has been ordered and my wallet is over £300 lighter!!

That's not going to be the end of the problems though as the air filter drop base for the original AFB Carb has a smaller diameter central hole than the new Edelbrock, so need to look for a new drop base now.

[Joerg]

Are you at the 541 60th?
I could bring the drop base plate from my CV8 with me, so you can modify it to fit your car?

Best Regards

Joerg