Another SC Jupiter rebuild

[jowettgeoff]

Work has now re-commenced. Look out for a resumption of Richard's progress reports. I am now resuming my duties as chief coffee-maker, and "When I nod me head-you hit it" duties...

Geoff.

[Forumadmin]

You have to keep these young uns under control. Apparently they are the next generation.

[RichardMc]

I’m back with some updates, looking at the dates on the forum it was December 2020 when I last posted. Obviously the pandemic put a stop to things for a while, so the first half of 2021 was a bit disrupted. I don’t have the time to work on the car every day, I have a job and customers need projects delivering so I try to reserve Friday for Jowetting (is that a word?) this gives me about 45 days a year after holidays and cold winters. After travel, lunch, collecting bits and all the other things that happen I’m probably putting in 250 hours a year, or six weeks. On the plus side I’m not paying for my labour.

I’ll start where I left off last time. The rear clamshell was test fitted to make sure everything aligned. I didn’t have much to work with so it was a case of measuring the distance to the chassis rails and making sure the centreline agreed with the bulkhead position. With a bit of effort it was as close as it was ever going to be.

The new sills were welded in place and given a quick blast of primer, these are the galvanised ones from JCS so need cutting down before fitting.

The next task was to start on the A pillars at the bottom of the scuttle where they always dissolve, I had already cut them back and given the steel a coat of DEOX to give me something to work to. I don’t know where these replacement parts came from, or I can’t remember, they were in a box of bits in the garage. They might have been an old batch of JCS ones, either way they don’t fit. They are a different width and the folded seam where the door closes is in the wrong place in relation to the outer panel. I think Chris had a similar problem with one of his restorations and made a new set from scratch, in hindsight I should have done the same but I didn’t. I did manage to make then fit in the end but it would have been much easier to scrap them and start again. The seam still doesn’t line up properly but it’s not visible with the door closed.

I had to cut the front section out to reduce the depth do this needs welding back in, the front of the sill is bolted in place while I weld everything up. This worked quite well so I left the bolts in for now. The side panel of the scuttle had been repaired in the past and the metal was in good solid condition, the weld was a bit messy but solid so I left that alone.

With the rear fitted and the doors installed it was time to check that everything still lined up again.

The boot lid still fitted in the opening so we were making progress.

The door gaps were OK too, a bit on the large side at the back but the front was too tight so the hinge spacers were changed to move the door back a bit. The B pillars were rotted out, that nice crunchy powdered aluminium that a Jupiter likes to make. I found some replacement panels in the random bits box that looked almost new but had purple (Comanche metallic) paint on them. This suggests that at some point they had been fitted to NXH, Geoff’s Jupiter during his psychedelic phase, but neither of us could work out why they were removed and changed. Still free bits are free bits even if they need painting.

The rear shelf and back panel were test fitted. These were in a very bad state as they had been folded up before storage, it wasn’t me as they arrived like that many years ago. During the build I have tried to keep every panel original if possible, everything is stamped with the body number 60 and is correct for the car and I wanted to keep it that way. After much bending and hammering I decided these panels were just about serviceable, just! They need patching up in a few places and they won’t win a concourse but they are the ones fitted when it left the factory.

The replacement B pillar was fitted and tacked in place. I had tested an aluminium brazing kit on some scrap plate to see if it was possible to join the new aluminium to the old birmabright aluminium and the results were quite good once I got the gas temperature right. It’s not an easy job though and I’m not 100% convinced it is the easiest way of joining to bits of metal but if it flows properly the joint is remarkably strong. I’ve used this technique a few times on various holes in the wings where mirrors and an aerial had been fitted but that is the same metal all round and is a bit easier.

Rear wings fitted, there is a fair bit of flex in the rear clamshell that bolting the wings up helps but this can distort the boot opening so we did another test fit to make sure it hadn’t moved too far. Vernier callipers on a Jupiter panel gap is probably taking things a bit far.

Boot lock was stripped and restored.

As were the bonnet hinge boxes, new hinges were sourced from JCS because one has gone AWOL. It will probably turn up one day when I’ve finished.

[RichardMc]

The bonnet was test fitted with the hinges, there is a dip in the middle because I’m missing the steel support that fits to the X brace. When I got the car, many years ago, the front end was quite damaged so it got sent off to a chap that worked for Aston Martin in the 60’s making bodywork. He did a fantastic job of taking all the creases out. This is where the paint is missing as he stripped it back to re-roll the aluminium. Unfortunately for me he also removed the steelwork from the bonnet and it looks like it never came back to me, as this was over 30 years ago it’s my fault I didn’t notice earlier. I think he passed away several years ago so I can’t ask him anyway.

The fuel filler pipe turned up so it got a quick clean and a blast of primer.

Locking mechanism fitted to the doors to make sure they still work and the doors shut properly.

Hinges checked again to make sure the front edge clears the scuttle, the doors open on an arc and the gap gets a lot smaller when you first open the door.

The near side was too close so more packing plates were added to the hinge. You can also see the brazed joint on the B pillar bottoms a couple of inches below the swage line, this needs to be ground back and filled.

Checking the lock on the near side.

The bonnet brace was shot blasted and primed.

Bonnet and front wings stripped of old paint and test fitted, things are starting to line up now I’ve made a new steel support for the rear edge where it meets the scuttle.

A quick check underneath to make sure the bonnet is square to the chassis. Ignore the clutch fork, it’s hanging on the end of the clutch arm because I needed to fit the pedals to check the alignment with the scuttle holes.

I’m going to change the colour of the car from Connaught Metallic Green to Lamborghini Silver so did a quick patch test while I was waiting for some primer to dry, I quite like it. I’m building the car as a sort of lemans style replica, aero screens, no windows, no hood and no bumpers. My darling wife won’t let me have a green car for ‘reasons’ so I’m taking the path of least resistance on that one.

Eventually we get all the body fitted and most of the paint removed. I don’t know what Jowett painted these things with but it sticks very well.

[RichardMc]

The front wings needed some work to match the shape of the scuttle. I had a problem with the near side front wing as it just wouldn’t align properly at all, it wasn’t the new bottom A post either it just didn’t look the right size. After several more test fits I noticed a strange number stamped into the top of the wing, 294, but my body number is 60. They didn’t make 294 SC bodies but they did make 294 SA bodies! So I have an almost matching numbers Jupiter except for one wing that belongs to a different car, as you may have guessed by now they are not the same. They look the same but I can assure you they aren’t, to be fair after measuring mine and comparing to NXH even two SC’s aren’t the same but they are a lot closer than an SA and an SC. It took a while but I had to re-roll the bottom of the training edge to shorten the overall depth of the wing, it now matches the off side in shape and profile and fits much better.

The rear shelf was fixed in place and patched up as best as possible then seam sealed, I’ve deleted the opening where the hood went and plated over this to seal the inner wheel arch. Nothing that isn’t reversible should I change my mind one day.

Steel floor braces are back in place and I fitted my old Javelin steering wheel to make manoeuvring it round a bit easier. Yes I did drive a Javelin with a mini sport steering wheel, I had very big shoulder muscles when I was a lad!

That’s my updates done for a while as I’ve run out of pictures. Since the last shots I’ve taken the doors, bonnet and wings off again so I can get a coat of 2K epoxy on all the bulkhead and other steelwork. Once that is finished it’s time to start sanding and getting prepared for a primer coat. I have used some filler where I have had to let new metal in and to help with a couple of obvious dings in the aluminium that won’t knock out but I’m not going to coat the whole car in filler and block back. I’ve seen it done and the results are stunning but my choice is for an old race car that actually looks like it has seen some action in the last 70 years and not one that has just rolled off the production line. I respect that other people may have a differing opinion and that some of the recent Jupiter restorations are fantastic but I’m going to live with a few wrinkles here and there, I’ve got plenty of my own.

Sorry for splitting this over a couple of posts, I think the forum has a picture limit in one go. Catch up soon from the Jowett garage.

[p.p.]

Well done Richard !!!!!
Keep it up!!!

[Chris Spencer]

I'm all for a few wrinkles / patina type finish on cars - personally its my preferred option - That's exactly why my Javelin taxi is presented as it is with my full intention of it looking like it would have when 10 - 15 years old - It looks smart enough but its far from perfect