1952 Jowett Javelin Taxi - Winter Layup + Odds

Pete - In a word its done its time - another job that you just cant rush but has you say it will be so better for it - I don't want to completely restore the car - It's used / lived in look appeals to me - it scrubs up pretty well but I am also aware that some of it will have to be replaced - the front seat has worn through on the base - hence all the seats will have to be done at some stage has I will never get a match for the existing fabric, door cards are warped & the carpet will need all need to be done in the next few years - fortunately I can do the lot myself rather than engage the services of a trimmer

Another day at it - I don't know where the time goes - what I do is that by the time I have finished this fairly long list of work is that I have probably saved myself a £4k + labour invoice had I sent the car elsewhere



I continued to unpick the headlining



And out it came



Note upon how the untreated steel headlining retaining rods had become rusty then marked the wool headlining



Removed them and number stamped front to back has they are all different - these will get prepped and painted before being refitted



All the old tacks & staples removed - leave these in at your peril - even the broken legs of the staples - they all untreated and hence rust - the door seal design is not the best in the world in keeping all the moisture at bay - so if they are left in and rust they stain your new headlining - needless to say all the new staples used are stainless



The furflex door trims are complete toast - these act has more of a draught excluder than anything else but there is a rubber seal fitted to the door - obviously I have new furflex on order



Sharon drafted a pattern off the old headlining and will stitch a new one up to the pattern once the materials arrive early part of next week





There's some surface rust where the windows have been leaking and allowing water ingress - these areas will be prepped & treated - the rear window will be removed and refitted with a new seal and the quarter lights will be resealed at the same time



Heavy factory coating on the underside of the roof to act has noise deadening



I could now access the wiring harness - remove it and feed the new one through



The old one removed



New one connected up under the dashboard - the harness then travels up the offside windscreen pillar and along the roof rail



And at the rear - I had to make some short harnesses up for the rear indicators



Although a 72 year old design there is not much that is not well thought out on the Javelin - like this access cover to the fuel tank sender - otherwise it would have been a fuel tank out job



Everything checked out & worked has it should



Plus it looks a dam sight neater than it ever did in my ownership



Even the interior light works which will be quite novel has it's never worked before - along with the heater & panel lights - I may consider some LED bulbs but I really don't use the car on an evening at all - so that's the electric side of things now sorted - harness replaced it had a rebuilt Dynamo & new regulator box in September last year along with a rebuilt wiper motor + new battery just before it went to Switzerland - there shouldn't be anything else left to go wrong

More progress tomorrow

I’ve said that to myself  more than a few times and then come to rue it 😱  - I daren’t say it any more 😂

that rear screen is in there for keeps !

Was all this work done in one day? If so, can you bend time?
Impressive work as always!

Is there any particular reason why the windows are fitted from the inside rather than from the outside as all other car manufactuers do it?

The sealing compund, is it tough like the glue used to install modern car windows or is it soft and flexible like gasket glue?

So in my quest to get an hour or so on the Javelin at the end of each day in order to maintain the progress - the bonnet got refitted - along with the stay & the cable - adjusted for decent fit and its all operational - so another job off the list



New handbrake cable - actually there are 2 of them - a front section and a rear section which are connected by a rod in the centre of the car - I think that they have both been on the car from new - I wanted to get them replaced on a belt & braces approach - this is the rear one - the front one is still enroute to me



Old one off - it would appear to be somewhat well used



New one on - the handbrake operation is split to either rear wheel via this leaver arm then back to rods - these had to be adjusted out has they had been wound in over the years to take in to account the stretch on the old cables - nice thing is that everything has always been well greased hence everything could be backed off easily - no seized nuts or threads

More tomorrow

Thanks - Its a lot more fun than most people would ever give it credit for - I cant see me ever parting with it in my lifetime

Put the Javelin outside for a good reason



Hardly stopped raining here today



Hence its had a very good water ingress testing today - bone dry on the inside which is exactly the result I required

Arbomast is very soft out of the tube, consistancy like toothpaste. It dries reasonably hard but remains flexible to avoid leaks.

It also bonds well to the glass and the car as long as the joint remains rigid (which windows are) but when the window is removed its fairly easy to scrape off the glass with a razor blade and moderately easy to flake off the window rubber if flexed hard.

The rest can be washed off the rubber & bodywork with panel wipe so it can be re-used.