Is it an Original or Replica?

Once your shiny new Nostalgia XK120 has passed IVA then many owners thoughts turn to "How can I make my car look more like the original?" We have some stunning examples of how this can be achieved . Anyone who has seen Martin Haliday's Nostalgia XK120 will be hard pressed, from a visual perspective ,to tell it from an original XK120. Martin set out from day 1 of the build to be as faithful to the original as it is possible to be, from rear wings and spats, through upholstery and trim, to the dashboard and steering wheel it is almost indistinguishable.

To the uninitiated public and even the odd Jaguar enthusiast, at first glance or even or until told, the question. Is it an original? does not arise. It is more likely to be How old is It?


Apart from the GRP body, there are loads of give away's that its a replica all over the car, but one of the most obvious, that it is a replica , is the back of the car. Two large tail pipes with rolled ends protrude from under the car. I have had many admirers of my car comment on these tail pipes saying that they would replace them for a more traditional and original arrangement. Personally I'm not fussed, but it struck a note of contention with Mike King. Below is his account of modifying the exhaust system to obtain the all important traditional look

D. E. Jan 2012

   
Mike Kings unmodified XK120
In Search of Originality

I suppose my desire to make my 120 look as original under the bonnet as I could, started when I bought my donor car. In fact prior to that when I was asked on my first trip to Nostalgia, what engine was I going to use? My reply was, whatever the donor car comes with and that I was’t that concerned about how authentic it looked under the bonnet. When I found my donor car, it happened to be a 1977 series 2, which came fitted with twin 1¾ SU carbs. As I stripped the car down, I kept looking at the engine and started thinking about what it could look like. The clincher for me was when I was offered a pair of series 1 cam covers that had been modified to fit a series 2. I then decided that I was going to make the car look as close to original both inside and out.
The Original Inspiration

The obvious main difference, when viewed from the rear, on the Nostalgia to the original is the exhaust outlets. If you are building the car as a 140 they are fine but the 120 had 2 pipes offset to the nearside of the car, a very obvious visual difference from an original to a replica. I also hated, the rolled ends, I know a necessity for IVA but I’m not sure why, even Mr. Ford doesn’t have to comply, when he builds a Mondeo! So I made the decision to build with Nostalgias exhaust system because I knew they would pass IVA (recorded 93 decibels on the noise test – 98 new limit). But I made the decision that as soon as I got the car home, I would have a new exhaust system made.
   
I originally was going to take the car to Simpsons Exhausts in Langley, partly because they are quite close to where I live and secondly they have quite a good reputation in the racing world. But by chance I happened to call into a company called Winspeed, near Guildford, where they happened to have a replica Aston Martin race car they were working on, this had been built with a Jaguar engine and running gear. Winspeed is a company specialising in Jaguars, particularly older models, 120’s 140’s e-types etc. Their website is well worth a look. Anyway back to the Aston replica, Chris the workshop manager was keen to tell me all about it, finishing off by how fantastic it sounded, giving me a quick demo by firing it up, he added that he was very proud of the exhaust system as he had made it. My attention was grabbed. The decision was easily made, not only do they have 3 or 4 120s on site but Chris not only understood the look I was trying to achieve but was very keen to reproduce the sound of an original, something I hadn’t really thought about.
    Under the bonnet
We started off at the head, I considered two 3 three branch manifolds in polished stainless, which look really good but decided to stick with my “original look” desire and use cast manifolds. The XJ6 manifolds don’t look particularly good, so we found a pair off a MkII Jag. I had these refurbished and coated with Zircotec liquid black, not a cheap process but looks very similar to the original gloss black enamelling and should be a lot more durable, time will tell. From here we used 2 MkII stainless down pipes which had to be modified to pass between the Nostalgia chassis and the engine. Just to point out at this point, the original sounds like it does because it has in effect 2 separate systems, one feeding from the front 3 cylinders and one from the rear three. These feed into the silencer box, which is now fitted up into the space under the passenger seat. We tried to fit an original 120 after market replacement box but it was a little too big. So I had to have a custom silencer made, I was very surprised that the cost wasn’t bad at all. I’ve called it a silencer but really it’s an expansion box, completely straight through, like an original, if you pick it up it’s like a big pair of binoculars.
New Exhaust Manofild    
From this, 2 pipes wiggle under the lower diff plate and exit at the back. I’ve painted the tail pipes black like an original , I didn’t really know what to do, most originals you see nowadays have just plain untreated stainless replacement pipes, they would also have looked good polished but I can always alter them easily if I change my mind.
From my point of view, it has in couple of ways transformed the car, firstly the look, if you look at the photograph of the car that inspired me and mine, I’d like to think I haven’t done a bad job, because I no longer have boxes under the boot floor I’ve been able to lower the rear of the car without a problem and make it “sit right”, in my view. I should have no problems getting over those nasty little speed humps that you can’t see, that lead up to the Nostalgia factory. In fact the lowest part of the underside of the car now is the sump. Secondly the sound, I can’t really describe it, I can drive with the revs at 1200-1500 and it just has a lovely, quite subdued burble. If you want to push it though, get above 3000rpm and I’m sure they can hear me in Somerset. Winspeed have told me that they can fit a couple of venturi in the back of the box, which should knock about 10 decibels off  if needs be. I’ve got a feeling that PC Plod might let me know in the fullness of time, although Winspeed has a replica C type that measures 118 decibels, which actually bans it from a couple of race tracks and they have run it on the road for over 6 years without a problem. I think, just don’t upset the neighbours and should be OK.
New Tail pipes
I now have a new favourite place. Between Christmas and New Year I was happy to have to visit my sister in law. This is something I would normally try and avoid but she lives just outside Hindehead. This meant having to go through the new tunnel. I assured my wife it was necessary to change down a couple of gears and “give it some” but on the 2nd trip backwards and forwards through, after she had called me a child, I thought we should go and see her sister. Still there was the trip back.
My new exhaust wasn’t cheap but from my point of view, worth every penny, I must stress I have no commercial connection with Winspeed. Whilst mine, I realise, was a one off bespoke system, they have offered, that if any other Nostalgia owners wanted the same system and I was willing to take my car back and be used as a pattern, which I am quite happy to do, another one would be a lot cheaper and quicker to produce, the design work having been done on mine.
Finally the new look.

Mike King - Jan 2012

Addendum,

I'm sure you will agree with me that Mikes new exhaust system looks brilliant. In the interest of fairness and by way of explanation, I must go back to Mike's comments re Mr Ford and the Mondeo. Ford's Mondeo like all production vehicles don't have to go through IVA but a sample is submitted for European Type Approval. The regulations governing IVA and Type Approval are broadly the same but differ in detail. As far as IVA is concerned the Nostalgia exhaust system is about projections, The Nostalgia exhaust projects beyond the body work and as such must have radiused ends like any other projection from the vehicle. With respect to noise, IVA reduced the noise level down from 103dB for SVA to 98dB. Mikes car at 93db was well within the limit and vindicated his decision to use the Nostalgia exhaust. So, back to the Mondeo like most modern production cars the exhaust it tucked up under the rear bumper and doesn't project beyond it, consequently it does not need to be radiused, The type approval regulation on exhaust noise is between 82db and 89db. Much less than IVA. Noise measurement in dB is a logarithmic scale, reducing the noise level by 6dB, doesn't sound a , but in fact is a noise reduction by 50%. There are reports of police forces buying noise meters to check car exhausts and unfortunates are faced with a £30 on the spot fine for a first offence. The law appears questionable, in that there is no maximun set for exhaust noise in the UK.

I think Mike's assertion that sensible driving and not annoying the neibours means you are unlikely to attract the attenion of the local gendarmerie other than to admire your beaautiful car

DE Jan 2012

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