americanjohn wrote:Interesting, never realized the water pump pulley was aluminum - I'll have to check on that.
When I pulled the motor, I found the square engine tag above lodged down low on the inner apron near the steering linkage. Must have fallen off and was luckily still trapped there. Anyone know where it is normally located? Also, the red, oval tag was in the glove box. Not sure what it is for - number doesn't match the engine serial and it is hard to read. There is undercoating on the left side, need to figure out how to get that off without ruining the red paint.
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The red oval tag is not Jensen,, it looks like a gearbox tag from a borg warner model 12 or 8,. or from a ford fmx etc ,,
WATTS RACING TRANSMISSIONS, 07974 088375,
CLOBBER THE COMPETITION
Thanks a lot Cannonball. I think you’re right - was able to remove a little of the undercoating and believe the tag reads:
mfg. for JAGUAR CARS LIMITED
by WARNER GEAR DIV. MUNCIE, IND
BORG-WARNER CORP.
A quick search revealed the second picture so it looks like a tag off a Jaguar C22700 automatic.
I had a FMX in a 70 Mach 1, but don’t remember the tag. I sure do remember having to heave the beast into a pickup and wondering why on earth Ford went with a cast iron housing when earlier C4 and C6 already had aluminum.
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OK Guys, here comes the age-old dilemma: what color to paint the Zombie. I know there are lots of posts and opinions on exactly this subject, but I’ll put this out here anyway. I am definitely a fan of staying original and had planned on going with the factory Oatmeal, but after hearing comments like „a color only a mother could love“, „Marmite!“, „Gerber pea green“ and „Maschinengrün“ I am reconsidering. I really like California Sage. Maybe the answer is to throw a little metallic flake in the Oatmeal.
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Through a connection I was able to get Oatmeal codes from PPG, who bought I.C.I.
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Oatmeal paint chip in middle on California Sage front wing
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California Sage showcase at Rejen
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CA Sage, my favorite color!
Go for it. I couldnt repaint 9272 its original Havana Brown due to its somewhat ugly nature. My wife picked a custom dark green color... Wish We'd gone with CA Sage.
Bruce
It’s been a while since my last update, but there is some progress (although slow) and we‘re close to the halfway point, which I see as the start of reassembly. Shell went to paint in October and is now wearing a coat of epoxy primer!
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Perhaps not the coolest part of the restoration, but a mandatory element. I wanted to keep the original brown color to match the new leather and also the receivers as they are integrated into the rear console. I searched the web and contacted 3 places. One didn’t have any new brown webbing available and one didn’t give me an overwhelming impression of interest in the job. However, the third provided a great experience from start to finish. I sent the original inquiry after 11 PM and was surprised to receive an answer around 20 minutes later which explained the major options and promising more information the next day. This came along with a handful of precise questions and the offer to send samples of webbing. Answered those and the samples showed up a few days later so I picked the color and gave a go via email, thinking they would start. In response I received a 6 page custom quotation with my pictures of belts, explanations of what needed to be done and the various options available, pricing, etc. Just an amazing level of professionalism considering the total estimated cost involved. Off everything went.
The results are more of a recreation as the webbing, retractors and anchor points needed to be renewed. Only the buckles and aluminum trip pieces remain original. Extremely pleased with the results.
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Hi John,
really an impressive restauration effort with nice results. Regarding your engine i was surprised to see a waterpump housing with an outlet to the driver side of an LHD car. Maybe this is a feature of these early 440s as your car seems pretty unmolested ? I thought Jensen typically used Chrysler 440 with passenger side waterpump outlet.
Any news on potential 8HP90 conversion kits - very tempting idea ?
rgds
Thomas
Thanks a lot, my goal is to finish before the project crosses the decade mark! I never really thought about the water pump outlet being on the LHD driver’s side. The engine was all original, same with the radiator so I’m sure it was built that way. I did replace the clunky cast iron water pump housing with an aluminum version from Mopar performance to save weight. Also installed a Edelbrock high volume pump.
On the tranny swap I was researching in the Fall and saw a couple of companies who are working on it, but not yet available for big block Mopars. Just re-checked and found links https://getawaycarz.com/products" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and http://www.soundgermanautomotive.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Stopped into the paint shop to check on progress yesterday. They are close to spraying the California Sage, but are having troubles matching the original code I.C.I. M031 2629 to a modern equivalent. I have found the generic Autocolor code 2629M, unfortunately this doesn’t help them either.
Can any of you guys provide further information on a modern equivalent?
Thanks, John
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There are a few people on the forum who have painted cars Californian Sage so should be able to tell you what they used, but my understanding is that Californian Sage as used by Jensen is the same colour as Californian Sage used by Aston Martin and that is a much easier paint to find.
Thanks a lot, Guys. It was a difficult decision not to go with the original color, but I just couldn’t warm up to looking at oatmeal for the next 20 years. I had always liked California sage on the Astons and when I saw them here in the forum it sealed the deal for me. At least it’s an original color.
Once I passed along the Aston information they were able to get the paint quickly. The paint suppliers must work the same way the auto parts chains do nowadays. You have to tell them the make and model and then they look in a database. If Jensen is not there no one knows what to do.
@Jörg, I have a lot of reference materials, but no doubt will have to ask questions. I’m sure all you guys who have been down this road before will have solid advice!