Jensen Interceptor restoration
Discussion
I am starting a thread on my restoration as I really like reading similar threads and think there are not enough of these on here, so hopefully this will inspire other PH's to either start their own story or post on here with mine.
I bought this car in September 2011 as a project, the car was in one piece and just about running, with a flat tyre inflated and a jump start I was able to drive it round the industrial estate where I bought it but it was clearly in need of a lot of work. A deal was done and the car was transported up to me a few weeks later.
As you can see it has been through some hard times with recent owners only spending what was necessary to keep it on the road, the bodywork has lots of bubbling that cannot be seen by the camera and lots of cracks in the thick bog hiding more horrors. The interior was a mess but that didn't concern me too much as I like a nice interior and didn't have to worry about retrimming something that was reasonable.
The duct tape on the photo of the rear bumper was there to bridge the gap where it had rusted away completely.
Anyway thats it for today I will make regular posts over the coming weeks until we are up to date.
I bought this car in September 2011 as a project, the car was in one piece and just about running, with a flat tyre inflated and a jump start I was able to drive it round the industrial estate where I bought it but it was clearly in need of a lot of work. A deal was done and the car was transported up to me a few weeks later.
As you can see it has been through some hard times with recent owners only spending what was necessary to keep it on the road, the bodywork has lots of bubbling that cannot be seen by the camera and lots of cracks in the thick bog hiding more horrors. The interior was a mess but that didn't concern me too much as I like a nice interior and didn't have to worry about retrimming something that was reasonable.
The duct tape on the photo of the rear bumper was there to bridge the gap where it had rusted away completely.
Anyway thats it for today I will make regular posts over the coming weeks until we are up to date.
dpp said:
I am starting a thread on my restoration as I really like reading similar threads and think there are not enough of these on here, so hopefully this will inspire other PH's to either start their own story or post on here with mine.
Top man! I love the Jensen for it's road presence and beautiful proportions. Looking forward to restauration story. Top man (and brave 
).
When I was in my early teens, we stayed for a week at a farm cottage in Gloucestershire. The farmer had a fairly new Jensen (can't remember whether it was an Interceptor or an FF). One evening, he took me and my dad out in it somewhere near Badminton. Now we had a Mk 1 Lotus Cortina at the time that I thought was seriously quick (and I suppose it was at the time). But the Jensen was the first car I'd been in where I was pushed back in the seat when he gave it the beans. The relentless surge of power, guttural V8 and the smell of that leather interior left an indelible impression on a car mad 13-year-old, and the Lotus felt distinctly mundane after that.
Bookmarked, and looking forward to the resto.
). When I was in my early teens, we stayed for a week at a farm cottage in Gloucestershire. The farmer had a fairly new Jensen (can't remember whether it was an Interceptor or an FF). One evening, he took me and my dad out in it somewhere near Badminton. Now we had a Mk 1 Lotus Cortina at the time that I thought was seriously quick (and I suppose it was at the time). But the Jensen was the first car I'd been in where I was pushed back in the seat when he gave it the beans. The relentless surge of power, guttural V8 and the smell of that leather interior left an indelible impression on a car mad 13-year-old, and the Lotus felt distinctly mundane after that.
Bookmarked, and looking forward to the resto.
Im glad you are all ready for another restoration thread as I said I enjoy reading these and I have been following all the threads like Surveyors great Mexico thread for some time and decided I would put my car on, but please post about your own projects on here if you want.
A few of you have guessed where the car came from, it was advertised on EBAY and I made a trip South to see the car at Godin Banks and bought the car from Justin who was nice to deal with.
Anyway lets get started, a couple of months after buying the car it was time to start stripping it so that Geff the Welder (no prizes for guessing what he does) could make a start.
The bottom half of the wing was a mess so Geff cut it off out of the way
Floors don't look too bad
Shame I didn't want to live with patched up floors though
I wasn't interested in how good the sills were as these are a major job to replace I thought I would take the pain now knowing they will last at least my lifetime so out with the first one
Dont worry about the rust round the fuel filler Benjj thats just a minor repair, more to come tomorrow.
A few of you have guessed where the car came from, it was advertised on EBAY and I made a trip South to see the car at Godin Banks and bought the car from Justin who was nice to deal with.
Anyway lets get started, a couple of months after buying the car it was time to start stripping it so that Geff the Welder (no prizes for guessing what he does) could make a start.
The bottom half of the wing was a mess so Geff cut it off out of the way
Floors don't look too bad
Shame I didn't want to live with patched up floors though
I wasn't interested in how good the sills were as these are a major job to replace I thought I would take the pain now knowing they will last at least my lifetime so out with the first one
Dont worry about the rust round the fuel filler Benjj thats just a minor repair, more to come tomorrow.
Good luck with this! It looks like you're doing the job properly at least. Its good to see. I know these cars well and have owned one for 30 years (I really was very young when I bought it ). I have two in my workshop awaiting full rebuilds. Any questions about any aspects of them, just give me a shout.
). I have two in my workshop awaiting full rebuilds. Any questions about any aspects of them, just give me a shout.The car is still being stripped but the welding is underway as I want to get things moving and not wait until the car is stripped before the welding is started.
The sill centre sections go in, this a substantial box section with the jacking points built in.
If you buy a Jensen get them to jack it up on all 4 off these to see if they are ok.
The dash comes out.
This is the engine bay which will get a tidy up later.
The cover sill was fitted and a few repairs to the A post and surrounding areas and I now have a rusty old Jensen with good sills
The sill centre sections go in, this a substantial box section with the jacking points built in.
If you buy a Jensen get them to jack it up on all 4 off these to see if they are ok.
The dash comes out.
This is the engine bay which will get a tidy up later.
The cover sill was fitted and a few repairs to the A post and surrounding areas and I now have a rusty old Jensen with good sills
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff