2001 was a very busy year. The first part of the year was spent dismantling everything and finding as much rust as possible. That sounds fairly simple but I kept finding more rust throughout this whole rebuild. .
These pictures are typical of the obvious rusted spots
When I pulled the interior rugs out I could see that I had a big job ahead of me. The floor pans were rusted through in too many places to be repaired so they needed to be replaced along with the cross member. The rust also went up into the back panels behind the seats and as I would find as the project progressed there was rust in just about every sheet metal part on the car. Some of the rusted areas I covered with fiberglass mat after I bought the car 20 years earlier and that probably helped slow the rusting down. It also created a lot more work to remove.
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These pictures will give you some idea what the rust had done to the cockpit area, also at this time I have not removed the engine or really committed to doing a complete restoration. That decision would come as I got further into this project.
When I realized that I had a much bigger job on my hands I had to give up the idea that this was going to be a quick rebuild. The XKE is unique because it has a frame for the engine compartment that is connected to a monocoque body. The shape of the metal gives the body the strength it needs to support the back end of the car without the weight of a frame. The problem is when a XKE body rusts too much it just bends in the middle until it rests on the ground.
At this point I pulled the engine out and set it in the back of the garage.
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I used a friends acetylene torch to cut out the floor but if I could do it again I'd use an angle grinder with a cutoff disk or a reciprocating saw with a metal blade because the cutouts are a lot cleaner. Also if you ever do this make sure to keep the doors bolted shut so everything remains straight.
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Once the rusted floor pans were removed I bought a Hobart MIG welding unit which is perfect for a project like this. A project that has a lot of metal replacement work requires a MIG or a TIG welder. This is not an option. Get a 220 volt quality unit with the gas attachment. Learning how to weld is simple and there are many books and YouTube videos to help you get started. The biggest hurdle is convincing your spouse that you really need to spend the extra money for a better unit.
I bought replacement floor plans from XK's Unlimited (now Moss Motors) and fitted them into the cockpit. I also had to add new metal to the inner sills and the toe boards to replace rusted spots.
The bottom of the tunnel was rusted out so I built it back up and made sure it fit.
The cross member on the original car was a 20 gauge U shaped piece that was totally rusted out. I replaced it with a 2 inch square tube 1/8 inch thick. This is heavier but much stronger.
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The floor panels and the cross member were all tack welded in place and checked to verify that everything was straight and level and then welded solidly in place.
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Next the back contours for the seats were replaced along with the panel over the rear end.
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Both of the inner sills had to have metal added and then they were attached to the floor panels.
The inner sills were in poor shape at the bottoms but OK toward the top of each one. I replaced a larger portion of one on the passenger side of the car and welded strips of metal to the bottom of each sill and connected the strips to the floor pans.
I have not posted all the pictures that I took during 2001, but these are a good sample of the work that needed to be completed. Most of the work took place when time was available during weekends, so some months got a lot of work done and some not so much.
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2001 work was really obvious stuff that often led to other areas that needed attention as you'll see in 2002