Building ERA Slabside #3012

[AndrewB]

Hi all! I’ve been meaning to start my build log of ERA #3012 since I ordered it back in 6/2015, but now that it is waiting for Walt’s crew at Connecticut Custom to pick her up I figured I’d better get off my butt and post what I’ve been up to.

I’ve always been drawn to the 289 more than 427 so for years I had been planning to build an ERA FIA, but when they came out with their street car, it just spoke to me. After getting buyoff from the director of accounting (don’t tell her I called her that ), I placed my deposit with Peter.

The inspiration for my build is CSX2242 which I found on Colin’s website


While I have been waiting for the car, I have been collecting various street car specific parts, rebuilding the Jag rear end (that was quite the learning experience), and a few weeks ago we started the engine build. I’ll do separate posts for both the engine and rear end with pics.

ERA options: Yes. I don’t believe there is much I didn’t have them include besides the rear end. We want to build as much of the car as possible so it will not be a roller, but ERA will be doing the bonding.

Here are a few of the pictures that ERA sent me while they were building the car. They are in the order that I received them.

First "birth" picture


Back from the powder-coaters


Making good progress now



And here she is waiting for the painters to pickup


Dash turned out great I think


I’ve been out to ERA twice since I placed my order – once as my wife had business in NYC so I tagged along and took a day trip up, and the other time was the Christmas party in December. Peter and the crew have been an absolute joy to work with. Great people that put out a great product!

Look for more here shortly...

[1795]

Looks like you have a nice start. I always liked the red interiors on a slab side. Looking forward to seeing more pictures. Can't beat those 289's. Good luck with your build.

[dccobra]

I had bought one the early FIA cars from them #2010 and absolutely loved it. Great people to work with! Best of luck with yours.
Dean

[AndrewB]

5 or 6 years ago I was browsing craigslist and found a complete 1973 XJ12 rear assembly that had 74k miles on it and it had the ratio I wanted (3.31). So even though I didn’t have a car on order at the time, I knew it would come in handy some day . After doing tons of research, buying mics, dial gauges, magnetic bases, blah, blah, blah, we set out to rebuild the rear end.

Too late to turn back now


We decided to change out the Jag carrier to a Dana 44 Auburn Gear LSD. Dana 44 uses smaller 3/8” ring gear bolts, and as I already had the ring and pinion ratio I desired, we had the carrier drilled out to use the larger 7/16” Jag bolts – having a friend who works in a machine shop is invaluable! Here it is mounted with new bolts and lock plates.


All new bearings, races, shims, crush sleeve, seals, etc. After days of research, and going back and forth on shim pack size only to assemble and find out we were wrong, we finally got the proper backlash and pinion settings dialed in. After it was all assembled I was happy with both the drive and coast mesh pattern on the three areas we tested.


The stub axle seal surface had a bit more pitting than I was comfortable with so we installed some speedi-sleeves to give it a nice fresh surface. I hear this is the area notorious for leaks so I’d rather be safe than sorry.


As this is an early version of the Jag differential, it uses these crazy double ball stub axle bearings that are shockingly expensive.


New calipers, pads, and rotors being trial fit. Got pretty good at safety wiring too!


Here are the control arms and axles back from ERA and painted. We’re going to be loading them up with the Jaguar Classic bronze bushing kit.


The hubs were another exercise in patience. I don’t have any good pictures of those, but they now have all new guts, and with quite a bit of trial and error on shim sizing, we were able get the proper end float dialed in.

We still have to get the center section mounted in the subframe, control arms and axles fit, and the parking brakes installed, but we’re almost there. Its funny, when I write this up it all seems so easy and I almost forget about all the frustration involved. I knew we were taking on a significant project by rebuilding the rear end ourselves, and it certainly ended up as such, but overall it was a good experience even if it was a big PITA.

[66gtk]

Thanks for sharing your build progress with us. Keep us posted. Love the ERA slab sides!

[ACHiPo]

Great thread! Keep it up--need to live vicariously, as it will be a few more months before Peter starts my 427.

[xb-60]

I love a good build thread Andrew....particularly when it's an ERA! It's one of the things that's essential for a forum like this. Looking forward to the progress reports.

Cheers,
Glen

[desgros@vtlink.]

Andrew,

Outstanding Slabside! You will really enjoy the finished car.

I truly love mine.

John

ERA Slabside #3010 BRG

[RockBit]

Andrew:

Kudos to you for taking on the rear end build. I would not have attempted that. By the time you finish you will know your car inside and out!

[AndrewB]

Originally Posted by RockBit

Andrew:

Kudos to you for taking on the rear end build. I would not have attempted that. By the time you finish you will know your car inside and out!

Thanks -- its been quite the experience! All the measurements came out in spec so I'm really hoping there is no whine once the car is running

[Murky781]

Hi Andrew and congrats on getting the build going. We spoke at the Christmas party while looking at my wife's white slabside at ERA. Don'r forget to have Jack put heaters in the seats and have him make up that second set of floor mats, out of the same dye lot, so they'll match later. Switches for the seats go under the dash and out of sight. Bob or Doug can put you on the right path for wiring. Enjoy your car and if I can help you with anything from here, please let me know.

[1985 CCX]

Awesome thread!
Great job and I can say I look forward to more.
Keep the pics coming.

[*13*]

I did a very similar build with mine. I did have them supply the custom ERA rear, though. Any questions, or if you want to have a look at my FIA, I'm 45min south. Or if you need a hand with anything... Look forward to you're progress

[lakercobra]

Great job with the rear - keep updating!

[fintubi]

Nice thread and build, Andrew! I'll be watching with interest because I'm coming up behind you; Peter is predicting that my slabside chassis/body will get started in May.

What's your engine plan?

Bill

[Moto One]

Great build, makes me feel a bit like a slacker, seeing that we are having it built. I'll keep following and learning.

Mark

[AndrewB]

Originally Posted by Murky781

Hi Andrew and congrats on getting the build going. We spoke at the Christmas party while looking at my wife's white slabside at ERA. Don'r forget to have Jack put heaters in the seats and have him make up that second set of floor mats, out of the same dye lot, so they'll match later. Switches for the seats go under the dash and out of sight. Bob or Doug can put you on the right path for wiring. Enjoy your car and if I can help you with anything from here, please let me know.

It was great to meet you, and thank you again for the chat and letting me sit in the car -- it is gorgeous and absolutely reaffirmed my decision to go with the slab! Unfortunately right before the Christmas party Jack had finished up my seats and could not be persuaded to go back in and add the heaters. I completely understand why, but I do wish I would have thought about adding them earlier!

Originally Posted by *13*

I did a very similar build with mine. I did have them supply the custom ERA rear, though. Any questions, or if you want to have a look at my FIA, I'm 45min south. Or if you need a hand with anything... Look forward to you're progress

I would love to check out your FIA sometime. I have been reading about it for quite some time so it would be fantastic to see it in person some day.

Originally Posted by fintubi

What's your engine plan?

Ah, the engine. Well, it started life as a 351w in my grandfathers LTD that he bought new in 1969, but it has...uh...grown a bit. I'm certain it will be too much engine for this car, but for sentimental reasons that is what is going in. Don't be too surprised if you see me start a 302 build at some point later though . I am getting close to wrapping up the short block and I have been taking pictures along the way. Not sure if I'll post them up here piece by piece or when I wrap the engine up completely.

Thanks everyone for the words of encouragement.

[dacobb]

Originally Posted by AndrewB

Hi all! I’ve been meaning to start my build log of ERA slabside #3012 since I ordered it back in 6/2015, but now that it is waiting for Walt’s crew at Connecticut Custom to pick her up I figured I’d better get off my butt and post what I’ve been up to.

I’ve always been drawn to the 289 more than 427 so for years I had been planning to build an ERA FIA, but when they came out with their slabside, it just spoke to me. After getting buyoff from the director of accounting (don’t tell her I called her that ), I placed my deposit with Peter.

The inspiration for my build is CSX2242 which I found on Colin’s website

While I have been waiting for the car, I have been collecting various slabside specific parts, rebuilding the Jag rear end (that was quite the learning experience), and a few weeks ago we started the engine build. I’ll do separate posts for both the engine and rear end with pics.

ERA options: Yes. I don’t believe there is much I didn’t have them include besides the rear end. We want to build as much of the car as possible so it will not be a roller, but ERA will be doing the bonding.

Here are a few of the pictures that ERA sent me while they were building the car. They are in the order that I received them.



Making good progress now


And here she is waiting for the painters to pickup


Dash turned out great I think

I’ve been out to ERA twice since I placed my order – once as my wife had business in NYC so I tagged along and took a day trip up, and the other time was the Christmas party in December. Peter and the crew have been an absolute joy to work with. Great people that put out a great product!

Look for more here shortly...

looks great

[AndrewB]

Just a quick update on the build progress -- tl;dr unfortunately not much new.

The summer has been packed with kid stuff, vacations, and a kitchen remodel so I have not had much time to make progress on the engine. The car has been painted and returned to ERA though, which I am quite excited about.

At Connecticut Custom


Back at ERA (pic thanks to Gregg who visited ERA recently and posted on the FB page)


Also, I have been using the time to build on my collection of 289 original-style parts. Not show are the washer jets and charge light which are at ERA, and the jack (shh, its a 12dl with the right saddle) that is out for refinishing along with various other small items. The clock will be getting cleaned up and going out to get chromed here soon. I have not decided if I will go to the trouble of refurbing the grease gun though.

[1795]

Looking nice. These builds always seem to take longer than what we predicted. You are moving along. The color looks nice. Soon enough it will be home and you can complete it.