Greetings enthusiasts:
I am advising a friend on a purchase of a well restored
XK150 roadster. After almost 2 years getting my own
roadster in perfect nic I feel qualified!
The car he's looking at runs and tracks wonderfully.

However one front fender seems to be about an inch higher
than the other - it is subtle but measurable with a ruler.
The bumper is 'even' to the eye with the headlamps, turn
signal lamps, and with the lower line of the front body
panels but when measured from the ground it is higher by
almost an inch on one side - so it's rather curious.

Also When measuring the chassis frame height and suspension parts from
under the car, all is even side to side - hence it does
not seem to be a torsion bar adjustment issue but rather a
fender panel mounting issue? I have suggested he hold off
on the purchase til we sort this out.

I have no experience with body work.

Is it easy to shim or adjust mounting points for front
fenders on an XK150? Or are they welded to the chassis?

Where are those mounting points found on a roadster?

Any advice from the forum would be most helpful. Perhaps
it's an easy adjustment - the seller is a fanatic
collector and never noticed the issue but acknowledges the
need to suss it out.
Kind regards
Greg Arnold NYC

Submitted by greg@nofatmusic.com on Tue, 11/12/2013 - 12:08

hi Otto:
That's a great resource thank you. I'm not sure we would be able to take the car from the seller to the shop for obvious reasons but I will see if we can take comprehensive pics and get them evaluated by your guys. 'I've spoken with a few body shop people who do muscle cars - and they do not have the knowledge necessary to assess, or adjust a vintage jag. Luckily they have the integrity to tell me so. It is not easy finding good resources. Thanks again
Greg

Submitted by greg@nofatmusic.com on Tue, 11/12/2013 - 12:07

hi Otto:
That's a great resource thank you. I'm not sure we would be able to take the car from the seller to the shop for obvious reasons but I will see if we can take comprehensive pics and get them evaluated by your guys. 'I've spoken with a few body shop people who do muscle cars - and they do not have the knowledge necessary to assess, or adjust a vintage jag. Luckily they have the integrity to tell me so. It is not easy finding good resources. Thanks again
Greg

Submitted by NE08-63766 on Tue, 11/12/2013 - 04:56

Greg,
The shop that's doing my bodywork is located in Stratford, CT., both Mark & Steve did their apprenticeship under Rolls-Royce & Aston-Martin. They do their own sheet metal panel work & have taken in botched up body work & performed magic. If your friend wants to check into what's involved with this 150OTS, have him contact Mark or Steve @: http://www.thepanelshop.net/blog/ it may not be as bad as it looks.

Regards, Otto M.

Submitted by greg@nofatmusic.com on Mon, 11/11/2013 - 23:14

hi Otto - that is really helpful. Sadly it sounds like there is no adjustment possible if the car has been finished completely as this one has. The price for the roadster - a 1960 3.8 two carb version - is reasonable and the car is relatively rare but given your info I think I will suggest passing on this one.
I assume any adjustment would require quite a bit of invasive body work, yes?

He has suggested he would paint the car if he purchased it - would making this body adjustment do more than require new paint?
Thanks for your help and advice Otto - you clearly have serious amounts of experience with these cars.
Kind regards
Greg Arnold NYC

Submitted by NE08-63766 on Mon, 11/11/2013 - 18:49

I reduced the image to fit the requirements. These are the only places where adjustments would be but that has to be done before any other panels are welded to that part. It's possible that if the bottom of the wing was replaced, it was fitted to the upper piece 1" too short & by the time it was noticed, it would have been too expensive to correct. If you saw ads for replacement panels, there are sections that can be cut off & replaced.

Regards, Otto M.

Submitted by NE08-63766 on Sun, 11/10/2013 - 13:26

Edited on 2013-11-10 13:29:16
Hi Greg,
There are 2 places where the height difference could be adjusted. One is at the bottom of the front stanchion & also at the top, under the headlamp pod. There are 2 spacers at both top & bottom which may be missing or doubled up, which could account for the difference. Looks like the photo didn't load because it's a bit over 200K, send me you e-mail address off-line & I'll send it out.

Regards, Otto