TV classic cars

[izzi]

Hi,

I watched a TV programme yesterday regarding a "E Type Jaguar" being restored.

I was very disappointed, not only for a bunch of cowboys that also bought scrap junk to make a quick profit.

However my biggest disappointment was they did not show the car with the bonnet removed, because when you see the "E type" the with the bonnet removed it reveals a true feeling what this car actually has.

Roy.

[les]

Agreed,if you expected to see any renovation work being done you'd be disappointed. As they say there's no business like show business. Just a couple of blokes with what appeared to be little idea of renovation just wandering about swearing and shouting. It's a shame as done properly it could be educational if certain resto procedures were shown in detail, instead of a quick flash now and then. One thing stuck in my mind though----they flashed up on the screen with a voice over a few items that had been done to the car, one was--- 'repaired one piston' How do you do that? Glad I recorded it instead of missing Battersea dogs home.

[Matt]

I thought that as well Les

Its the "chop shop" style where they show you one or 2 tiny bits. But to be honest if you have to cram the whole of a "restoration" in to an hour theres not a lot you can do other than summerise!

[wilfred]

Definitely made with more than an eye on the entertainment factor.
The thing that depressed me was that if a restored series 2, left hand drive ,2 plus 2 auto is now worth £30k then there's no glimmer of hope for finding that cheap E-type resto project anymore. And there don't even appear to be any used E-type bits in skips where I live

They will also apparently restore a Rover P5B, so I'll reserve judgement for a bit.

[MarkyB]

I think they got the idea from American chopper or some such cr*p.
Presumably the ridiculous interplay between the "characters" and the artificial deadlines are supposed to add drama and human interest?

The idea of a bare metal respray with added panel beating which is then completely covered in filler wasn't that impressive either.
No idea what the single piston thing was either, maybe the director thought it sounded exciting and technical?

[chickenjohn]

Maybe it was a disc brake calliper piston??

What channel is this program on? I haven't seen it.

[les]

How do you repair a disc caliper piston?

[MarkyB]

Replace it.

[chickenjohn]

How do you repair a disc caliper piston?

Some can be re-rubbered.

[wilfred]

Maybe it was a disc brake calliper piston??

What channel is this program on? I haven't seen it.

It's on Channel 5.

[Dominic]

I remember years ago seeing a programme where a De Havilland Gipsy Moth was "restored" within a very tight timescale to suit the numpty producers of the programme. Having had a fair bit of experience in vintage aircraft restoration (when the violin trade was slack!) I was somewhat dismayed.... I'm not sure if the mandatory airworthiness inspections were passed however... it was a long time ago

[catswhisker]

Absolute rubbish programme, not a patch on Mark Evans ' A car is re-born' E type series.
Always good to watch however many times its been shown.

[Matt]

the problem is mark evans had 12 hours to explain everything... this bunch had an hour to explain everything.

Its still a waste of an hour though - at least he's not working with Leepu anymore!

[chickenjohn]

I thought the Mark Evans programs were awful! The only bit worth seeing was the "bloke from stoke's" improvised tools, If this one is worse it must be really bad!!

[POMMReg]

I'll stick to 'Wildlife SOS'!

I'm sick to death of TV 'Classic Car' progs - this one was a choice between keep viewing or vomiting....as the dog was sat on my lap, I opted to switch the TV off!

The stuff that irritates me are these 'bargain bucket' American docs - all they appear to feature are overweight, heavily tattooed blokes who shout & swear as much as they can!

Brian May fan

[rae80inch]

iam so glad you lot all say what iam thinking total wide boys with know ideaa or class ,rae

[chickenjohn]

Watched the Porsche 911 episode tonight, I didn't think it was quite as bad as you all make out. Possibly because I think the shouting and arguing is obviously put on for the cameras. Totally unnecessary though, why not just have a program about the restoration of the car??

On a technical point, why did they not show the dented roof being panel beaten down properly with hammer and dolly?? (or better still, bumping spoon and dolly) and explain about raising the low spots while tapping down the high spots, then shrinking any stretched metal, etc??? instead of just showing the dented car roof being plastered with filler??

And sanding filler and primer with soapy water?? really??? Are they so amateur they have never heard of the vacuum sanding systems? The danger is some folks will watch these programs and think this is the proper way to repair a dented roof.......

Also, the £22k "vauluation", ridiculous, and then they just give the car away to a viewer, Why not try and sell it and see what it really gets?? My guess, after all the work, £10- 12k.

Oh, and another thing, taking paint off with an angle grinder....

[les]

Seeing your post, It reads like you did find it as bad as the rest of us!

[chickenjohn]

Well now you mention!

more from the point of view of the poor workmanship than the annoying cockney shouty mechanic.

[chickenjohn]

By the way, a far better program was the original "Beetle crisis", they did actually show the paint/ body work chap (Charlie, of Charlie's classics) taking out the dents with hammer/bumping spoon and dolly and made it clear that only a thin skim of filler would be needed after the panel beating.

and no shouty drama in that program.