So, once all this stuff is ordered and on it's way, it's time to turn back to the car. All the de-greasing, blasting, stripping, painting, etc... is finally over, and FINALLY it's time to start assembling the beast. The first thing that gets completed is the passengers front suspension. I find an article in a Jaguar XKE forum about an inexpensive upgrade from the archaic Series 1 XKE Dunlop calipers to modern Wilwood 4 piston units. This upgrade requires the fabrication of a milled billet caliper bracket. I send the specs off to Nick Acton, and a week later, like magic, these two works of art come to me in a brown truck.
I don't have a good picture of just how horrible the suspension looked before, but here is the passengers front side now, not yet complete but close:
Obviously I have not documented the teardown and preparation of the car adequately with photos, but from here forward I'll certainly do better, as I have plenty of time on my hands now.
In summary going forward, here's where I'm at now. The body gets delivered from paint tomorrow afternoon. The engine has been promised to me within two weeks. The sidepipes went out to Nick today for new Classic Chambered 3" core glasspacks to be installed and the whole assembly ceramic coated. The right front suspension is almost complete, and the left front is very close behind. I'm waiting on the rear sway bar setup, engineered by Speedway Engineering. Once that comes I can finish the rear suspension. I'm close enough on the suspension that once all the parts are on hand I can finish it all in one days work. From that point on I have to bend up the stainless steel brake lines, the 1/2" fuel lines, and move forward from there. Pictures of the body tomorrow. Hopefully if nothing else you Contemporary guys may find some of this interesting.