August 2015 to December 2016 - Chassis Restoration
August 2015
In August 2015, TPX 212 was taken to a Jensen chassis specialist to have a full restoration on the chassis. The original plan was to build a brand new chassis as he has the majority of the chassis structures pre-fabricated. However, after removing the body work to fully expose the chassis, we discovered that the chassis was not a complete write off. Yes, it was bad, but much of it could potentially be saved if we decided to do so. This would cost more as the work needed to cut away the rot and weld in new metal where needed was much more time consuming than simply building a new chassis from new parts.
What swayed the decision for us was the discovery that the chassis was slightly different to the later 541 cars and had various early design elements that would be lost if we simply built a new chassis. For example the cross member behind the rear seats was different (but the same as the early design drawings for the 541 chassis which had recently been discovered). Also different was how the bulkhead was built, it contained holes ready to accept bolts to fix it to the chassis. but had been welded. It was almost as if you could sense how the chassis was developing to make assembly easier as Jensen gained experience as they built the cars.
Therefore the decision was made - keep as much of the 1955 metal as possible. After all, the chassis is effectively the car and if we wanted to put TPX 212 back on the road in as original condition as possible, we had to keep as much of the original factory manufactured car as possible - whatever the additional cost !
What swayed the decision for us was the discovery that the chassis was slightly different to the later 541 cars and had various early design elements that would be lost if we simply built a new chassis. For example the cross member behind the rear seats was different (but the same as the early design drawings for the 541 chassis which had recently been discovered). Also different was how the bulkhead was built, it contained holes ready to accept bolts to fix it to the chassis. but had been welded. It was almost as if you could sense how the chassis was developing to make assembly easier as Jensen gained experience as they built the cars.
Therefore the decision was made - keep as much of the 1955 metal as possible. After all, the chassis is effectively the car and if we wanted to put TPX 212 back on the road in as original condition as possible, we had to keep as much of the original factory manufactured car as possible - whatever the additional cost !
Arriving for chassis restoration
September 2015
With the body off, we found 2 main things .....
1. RUST !
2. WOOD !
We also found some fiberglass at the rear end of the chassis that should not have been there. When we peeled it away, we found several blocks of 4x2 wedged into the chassis holding it up. The fiberglass was to hide the wood from inquisitive eyes! We have no idea when this was done, but is was quite a shock, but did give us a good laugh !
October 2015
The chassis is shot-blasted (and primed) to see what can be saved and what needs to be cut out and replaced.
November 2015 Onward.... The chassis restoration continues.... slowly!
Over the course of the next few months, new parts are fabricated and fitted to the chassis, slowly transforming the chassis from a pile of rust into a solid structure that the Jensen Brothers would have been proud of back in 1955.
New doors were made as the existing frames were beyond repair. This entailed making some new tools to punch the holes in the inner door frames exactly as they were from new.
November 2015 Onward.... Stripping the paint
While the chassis restoration was underway with the body off, it was decided this would be a good time to strip the remaining paint from the body and make some initial repairs to the glass fibre in parallel with the chassis work. The body was then remounted to the primed, repaired chassis to check for fit. The fit was excellent - the screw holes lined up with the chassis exactly !
The bonnet was another storey! It turned out that due to one of the hinges being broken a long time ago and the bonnet being propped up at various angles the entire bonnet had warped and would not fit back on correctly. A new bonnet was out of the question as the mould for this style of bonnet had not survived - and we didn't want to put a 541R bonnet on as many had done in the past. Therefore some ingenuity was called for. The bonnet was placed on a flat garage floor and gently heated and gradually it was possible to tease and straighten the bonnet until it was perfectly straight and fitted well again.
The bonnet was another storey! It turned out that due to one of the hinges being broken a long time ago and the bonnet being propped up at various angles the entire bonnet had warped and would not fit back on correctly. A new bonnet was out of the question as the mould for this style of bonnet had not survived - and we didn't want to put a 541R bonnet on as many had done in the past. Therefore some ingenuity was called for. The bonnet was placed on a flat garage floor and gently heated and gradually it was possible to tease and straighten the bonnet until it was perfectly straight and fitted well again.
September 2016
In September 2016, the body was fully stripped and the chassis work was basically complete. The body was once again removed from the chassis and the chassis was painted in its final black coat - it really looks magnificent !
October/November 2016
The body was now remounted on to the painted chassis and some final parts fabricated, such as new bumper irons. The back axle had also been restored and this too was fitted to the car along with the restored leaf springs. The car could now be moved more easily with a dolly under the front and the rear wheels fitted.
December 2016
After a long and sometimes frustrating year and half the chassis restoration was finished, the body remounted and the car was ready to collect. It was loaded onto the trailer in a cold squall, before disappearing into the night (the M40 anyway) on its way to the next stage in the restoration process.