Whilst disconnecting the bonnet from the pivot points (clearly visible in the picture opposite), we found x6 shims on the off side. That’s a lot of packing by the Jaguar engineers to make the bonnet fit, and shows how hand built these cars were in the 1960’s. The bonnet was then placed, upside down, on a trestle we had cobbled together, making the work required to remove large amounts of underseal that had been applied to the inside, more accessible. 

The most hartening aspect of this restoration so far, is the apparent lack of significant body corrosion. We have found surface rust in panel cavities and where the car has sustained bump damage on the nose, but little to cause us any real concern. The only problem place, so far, has been the base of the ‘A’ post, on the drivers side, where there is a rusty hole big enough to put your finger through and some perforation of the inner wheel arch around a striker plate fixing. I had expected to find the tubular frame supporting the bonnet pivots to be badly corroded due to their exposed position, however, even these appear solid on first inspection.