An E Type Jaguar for Evan and Earl Herrera
| 1966
E Type roadster
An E Type Jaguar for Evan and Earl Herrera |
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Update report - September 23, 2005
I am very happy to report that this E Type has been sold for the sum of $125,000. As you all know, every penny of that $125,000 is going to the benefit of Evan and Earl. The first $25,000 of the purchase price is being made available to the Herrera family immediately. As the balance is collected (in four further installments of $25,000) throughout the build process, it will likewise go straight into the special account we have set up for the boys.Many thanks to those of you who have already contributed to this project. Donations and assistance will be gratefully accepted until we have the car completed, so thanks in advance if you are planning on helping us in the future.
In a perfect world, I would have hoped to have this car just about finished by now. Unfortunately, however, this isn't a perfect world. The fact of the matter is that this project had to be put on hold for a while as we dealt with various (typical) small business issues, not least of which was an expensive lawsuit relating to a car (which we had never even seen) that someone else sold through a free classified advertisement on the Classic Jaguar website.Anyway, I am pleased to report that we are now in a position to slowly start putting some time into Evan and Earl's E Type once again. Mechanically, we already have the car pretty much rebuilt. The interior kit and all the new replacement body panels have already been purchased and we hope to complete the bodywork in the next few months.
At the time of writing, the grand total of all the contributions from our fantastic customers and friends within the Jaguar industry amounts to $16,644.50. Some of this money went towards emergency cancer treatment required by Evan and Earl's mother, Gini. Thankfully, Gini's cancer is now in remission and she is doing well. Some of the donated money was spent on major items for Evan and Earl's car, such as the interior kit, engine frames and a new bonnet. There is also still some money left in the special account, and that will obviously be put to good use as we move ahead with this very important project.
As we get the project back underway, my heartfelt thanks to those of you who have already contributed towards this worthy cause. Rest assured that this car will be completed one day - and one day in the not too distant future, at that. When it is, I will sell it and make every penny of the proceeds available to the Herrera boys. I don't have a magic wand or a bottomless pit of money, so the project is taking a little longer than I would have liked. That said, I remain as committed today to its completion as I was the day I first heard about the challenges facing these two special kids.
Dan
Mooney
Team
CJ
A letter from Sam Herrera
Evan and Earl are a joy to watch grow. There are difficulties since raising them is different than most any children, and of course they require more attention. They spend nearly all of their time together and are often mistaken for twins, although there is 15 months difference between them. They may not even understand that Earl is older than Evan since they have no concept of time.Neither of them know how old they are or when their birthday is. This does get a little difficult, especially around the holiday season since they do not understand what Halloween, Thanksgiving or Christmas is about. Every Christmas they need to be reminded that the presents are contained within the gift wrapping rather than being the gift wrapping itself. Communicating this can be difficult, as neither of them talk.
Evan has a few short words that he uses consistently, such as "no", "mine", "ouch", "water" and "eat". Earl uses hand signs to express himself. We try to encourage this use by giving him what he wants when he signs for it. In this way he has learned that he can get a cookie or a cracker at any time of the day or night!
Earl loves to climb and has a great time at any play scape, although since he has no fear of heights you have to keep a very close eye on him! He also loves to take off running whenever he sees an opening and you have to chase him down pretty quickly because he is fast! The nursing staff at their hospital have nicknamed him "The Runner" and his school has had to put up a gate on the front porch of his classroom! Unfortunately, Earl has been falling down more often lately and he now does physical therapy twice a week at his school. The rest of the kids call this "Earl's PE". Unfortunately, he can barely make it around the block for trick or treats before he is too tired to continue.
Evan is a different personality to Earl. Evan is not a climber, nor does he run off. He would rather have attention and be among a group. He is very affectionate and has a huge appetite! He eats anything and everything. The only time he is not eating is when he is watching cartoons or movies. He enjoys suspense movies starring children. The Simpsons is his favorite cartoon, which has led to his latest word, "D'oh!".
We recently took the boys to a Jaguar car show here in Austin. We couldn't let Earl anywhere near the exhibits as he thought they were all highly polished climbing frames. Evan, on the other hand, really loved the cars. There was was one funny moment at the show when I thought he was dragging me towards a particularly nice Jaguar. As we approached the car and its proud owner, Evan started screaming "No, no, no, no!" and pulled me sideways to a tiny little 3 wheeled Morgan! I felt a little embarrassed for the snubbed Jaguar owner, although Evan sure did enjoy the Morgan!
On behalf of our entire family, we would like to thank everyone who has contributed towards Evan and Earl's E Type project in any form. It would be so much more difficult for us without the support of those who have shown an interest and some who have even written to us with a few shared experiences that really help us make it through.
Sam Herrera
A little more IRS work and some rather beautifully rebuilt gauges....
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Over the last couple of months we have been putting together a huge stockpile of new parts for the project, as well as gradually rebuilding all the major drivetrain components. We have also purchased a brand new bonnet from Martin Robey in England (ouch!) and are aiming at having every mechanical component either replaced or rebuilt before we begin the sheet metal replacement.
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naturally! |
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been beautifully Nickel plated |
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for restoration/rebuild |
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the (larger) rear brakes |
at all 4 corners |
We now have the engine competely assembled, lacking only a waterpump and a new pair of valve covers....
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Pro Race dampner |
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timing chain cover |
set it aside for later! |
I am delighted to report that it is now time to start putting the engine together. Needless to say, a very special car deserves a very special engine! The general specification is as follows:
- 9.25:1 compression
- Entire assembly balanced to perfection
- Stage One cyl head (polished and ported, gas flowed, big valve, HP cams, etc)
- Custom made Venolia pistons
- Total Seal rings
- Uprated (Rob Beere) oil pump
- Uprated ARP rod bolts and nuts
- Uprated Cometic gaskets throughout
- Uprated Teflon front seal
- Team CJ aluminium flywheel
- Pro Race HP crankshaft dampner
- Billet aluminium crank and waterpump pulleys
- Spin on oil filter
Evan and Earl's engine rebuild is being carried out jointly by myself and Ray Silkwood. We have checked and double checked tolerances and done everything in our power to ensure that this is the best engine we have ever built. Because this is such a special car, I am taking the unprecedented step of issuing a 5 year unlimited mileage warranty on this particular engine. Just one more incentive for someone to step up and reserve this magnificent E Type.
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clean |
oil feed holes in the crank |
holes can damage bearings |
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pistons to rods |
meticulously balanced rods |
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receive the crank |
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the 5 year warranty! |
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oil pump |
line |
With the bodyshell now back from the bead blasters, we invited Evan and Earl to the CJ workshop and asked them to assist Lawrence and Mike in getting the sheet metal work underway. I'm not sure how much progress we made, but as you can see from the following photographs, the impromptu panel beating session was lots of fun!If some of the photographs are a bit blurred, that is because the Herrera boys don't stand still very often! In fact, it took a great deal of patience and perseverance to get them both in the same shot at one time!
The bodyshell is actually much better than many we have done, although it will of course need new sills, floors, etc, etc.
Special thanks to Larry Norton of Austin's Commercial Services who did us a fantastic deal on all the plastic media blasting and powder coating for Evan and Earl's E Type. Commercial Services do all CJ's powder coating and bead blasting and provide us with first class products and services. Call Larry on (512) 836 9322 or send him an email at lsnorton@juno.com for your media blasting and powder coating needs.
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orange |
beating! |
Lawrence appears wanting to know who is making all the noise! |
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bodyworking hints.. |
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confiscated just in the nick of time.... |
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nicer than mine.... |
his dad's work! |
two together! |
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Uncle Rick's car didn't have a steering wheel..... |
Rolls Royce and gets a driving lesson from Mrs M (a scary thought) |
seating arrangements.... |
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and bolts.... |
packet doing in with the 3/8 Grade 8 bolts?? |
We finally have the car totally stripped out and on the rotisserie ready for plastic media blasting. I have also included some pictures of the rebuilt Stage One cylinder head, although it is very difficult to do justice in the photographs of how much work went into improving the flow and improving the surface texture of the hemispherical domes. (Check out the November 5th update for the actual before and after flow results).The valve installation featured a four angled cut and a great deal of attention was given to the area in the port where the valve guides are exposed. We are trying to make this the best E Type we have ever built, so it made sense that we should make this the best engine rebuild we have ever done!
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may never see any smoother! |
thanks again to Bill Terrry |
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flow through intake ports with an increase in velocity |
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along with the body and bonnet |
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blaster access to innards |
Special thanks to Team CJ's Ray Silkwood who stayed late into the wee small hours working on the IRS rebuild for Evan and Earl. Such selfless generosity of spirit amongst my employees means that this very important project is already way ahead of schedule. Obviously, the sooner we can hand that cheque for $125,000 over to the Herrara family, the better!
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the next couple of weeks |
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that is already powder coated |
CJ stock |
A number of the Team CJ workshop staff came in before dawn today and finished the disassembly of the bodyshell. In the next couple of days we will be sending the tub off to be plastic media blasted as well as disassembling the IRS and starting that rebuild.
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with the CJ5 five speed |
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synchro trans? |
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We have now finished the Stage One cylinder head and we thought it might be interesting for you to compare the flow characteristics before and after the polishing and porting process. Much more than a 20 cfm increase in flow and we would be looking for more carburation than the triple 45 DCOE Webers (that we have set aside for this engine) can provide. An increase in flow of this magnitude should relate (approximately) to a 20% horsepower increase.
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As you can see, we just about have Evan and Earl's bodyshell ready for plastic media blasting. In the meantime we have started rebuilding some of the major mechanical components including the engine, which is currently in the machine shop. We are building a full Stage One engine incorporating some serious polishing and porting, big valves, heavy duty valve springs and TJP25 camshafts.
Special thanks to my good friend Bill Terry of Terry's Jaguar in Benton, IL who provided all the cylinder head components, including a set of his excellent TJP25 camshafts, completely free of charge.
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interior to biscuit |
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