2023-06-22 00:23:37 | Geoffrey Rogers writes:

We just bought this amazingly original, unrestored XK140FHC from its owner of 64 years in Babylon, NY. The car has not left her garage since 1971.
The car was painted black at some time in the long distant past, although it was originally light grey. The paint is flaking on the front wings and there are numerous scratches and peely bits but it does shine up nicely when buffed.
The interior is simply unbelievable, supple red leather, original carpets in good condition, superb original finish on the woodwork, all totally unspoiled with all fasteners, screws, hardware, the whole picture intact and correct. The boot area is the same; all the panels are clean and original, even the leather strap to hold the spare wheel lid up. The original grease gun, jack and ratchet are still in their clips under that lid and the leather strap still holds the jack in place.
The body is clean as a whistle, with no rust-through anywhere that we can find.
The engine is the correct C-type unit. It turns by hand but we will not try to start it until we have cleaned out the sump, as the oil on the dipstick is very scary.
The chrome is complete but mostly in poor condition.
Watch this space as the preservation work unfolds.

2023-06-23 14:15:25 | pauls writes:

Geoffrey, congratulations, looking forward to seeing the progress.

2023-12-22 16:24:40 | Geoff Rogers writes:

News on the coupe. First, she has a name: Clemmie. Short for Clementine, of course, same as Sir Winston's beloved wife.

Second, we had her on the lift for a selfish week of shop time, my Christmas present to myself, instead of the paying customers. The result is that she now runs, pretty well, and moves forward and back, at least for a foot or two, under her own power!

We dropped the sump and cleaned out lots of nasty grey gunge, but no signs of metal pieces, snapped-off disptick tips or plastic chain guides, etc., so we checked the big-ends, which looked fine at standard size, and popped in a set of NOS Vandervell bearings just to be sure.

I had an ancient Abarth exhaust system in the loft, so we put that on with some headpipes we scrounged and modified so they would fit, sort of, and it makes a cheerful sound indeed. Not sure how cheerful I will be after a long drive with that, but we'll have to see, as that's a long way off. It looks cool, with four little tiny chrome exhaust tips.

I took the suction chambers off the carbs and cleaned those up, cleaned out the float chambers, installed new float needles and got the throttle linkage un-stuck and working smoothly.

We installed fresh oil and filter, primed the oil pump, poured oil into the oil pressure gauge adapter hole and cranked her over until we got pressure showing on the gauge. We then cleaned up the dizzy, checked the vacuum advance, which works (!), installed new plugs, points, cap, rotor and condenser, wires and a new bottom hose, and we lit the old gal off, using our portable fuel bowser (small gas can and a cheap fuel pump mounted in a milk crate (PENALTY FOR UNAUTHORIZED USE)). She needed a snort of ether, but not much, blew out the Mystery Oil we had put in the cylinders, and settled down to a smooth idle with 60 psi oil pressure cold. Not bad.

My in-depth investigation into the condition of this car has been very satisfactory indeed. She really is a survivor. All the bolts come out without a struggle, and, although there is a lot of peely paint underneath (and some above, for that matter), there is also a fair amount of intact original paint on the chassis, and the underbody sheetmetal looks generally excellent. She needs a little work at the tail end of the sills, but nothing major. Even the plywood floors looks excellent.

In short, I am over the moon about this lovely old machine!

Now she can go for a winter's slumber, or until there is a lull in the customer work, which is unlikely before May.

Geoff Rogers

12/22/23

2026-07-25 19:23:29 | Geoff Rogers writes:

July, 2026

Clemmie is back on the road! After many hours spent rebuilding and refurbishing, we got her registered and we took her for the first drive in 55 years last Tuesday, just a mile or so to assess what still needs to be done. The good news is that she runs great with good oil pressure and lots of power, her gearbox shifts sweetly and most of the electrics seem to be working well.

The bad news is that the Punch List is long. Overdrive didn't work but fixed that by changing the relay. Toe-out was horrific, caused by aftermarket inner tie rods that were too long; the simple fix was to cut off half an inch from each. And she was nearly out of gas. Fixed that one, easy enough! But the brakes are terrible, despite the new front disc brake conversion. I suspect the ancient rear linings are no good (we replaced the wheel cylinders but tried to re-use the original shoes, as they looked new). There is a loud CLUNK from the rear end someplace. The bonnet cable is broken, and the front and rear windscreen rubbers are original, and you can guess how bad those are. Then there are many frayed or unglued interior bits to attend to; we want to preserve that original stuff! The turn flasher switch has a mind of its own. And the speedo and rev counter don't work, so that means out with the instrument panel. Not looking forward to that, so maybe this fall.

I did some polishing and the 1960 black lacquer paint shines great, but there are a lot of areas where is has chipped of flaked off. I plan to just cover those areas with clear lacquer and enjoy the patina.