fatharris

Check my avatar... oh, and TSW Venom's!

Jaguars  from all eras do tend to have something rather special about them. But fashion-tax isn't one of the more favourable of those things.  No, a genuine Autoshiter  appreciates those car's virtues but doesn't need to prove him or herself with a snarling key fob slung face upright onto the bar.   We prefer the less ostentatious (..a very big word for this time of day !) and are even prepared to sacrifice hours, upon hours of kneeling before said beast cleaning its chromed wire wheels.  Similarly we don't need a motor which is twice the size of the next man's ..we're very happy with something a little more modest, which offers better maintenance access.  
In the good old days, before decent rust proofing and stainless steel exhaust systems, LED lighting and Sat nav's - it was often said that Bank robbers preferred Jaguars  as their get-away cars,  while others suggested a better class of jeweller prefer the somewhat more nimble Daimler.  Whether this was true or not - I'm too young to know ..but there is surely an element of truth in it.  And certainly our finest constabulary did use the Daimler SP250 with its 2.5ltr V8 engine to combat very naughty motorist of the day.  
In truth, during the 1960's there weren't many production cars that could top 125mph, to keep up with a Triumph T120 or Triton cafe-racer motorcycles.   Irony upon irony, is that the  Daimler's 2 1⁄2 ltr short-stroke V8 140bhp hemi, produced between 1959 & 1969, was designed by Edward Turner. This being the very same most capable & talented Edward Turner - who was responsible for the Triumph parallel twin motorcycle engine ..apparently It takes one to catch one.   Oddly, Turner is best remembered as being a Triumph Motorcycle designer, and yet Daimler was owned by Triumph's competitor.. BSA.  as it happens, corporate politics, inflated egos and bad tempers had senior Engineers and even Heads of Division move from one company to another and then back again, as if children on a merry-go-round. 
Sir Bernard Docker, Chairman of the BSA group, who had done so much to build Daimler's post war status, had fallen out-of-favour with the aristocratic classes, and In 1956 BSA's committee voted he be replaced by Jack Sangster. Jack was first & foremost a motorcycle man, and under his leadership the BSA and Ariel motorcycle division grew stronger than ever, but the Daimler brand had shrunk to, in 1959–1960, represent just 15% of BSA group's turnover. Considering the relative values of luxury cars verses everyday motorcycles that quite a starling low percentage. Their management were open to negotiation when Jaguar needed factory space and machine shop facilities to expand their own production. And so Jaguar bought 'Daimler' in May 1960. Amongst other very worthwhile divisions, the package came with the oddly-styled Daimler Sp250 and Edward Turner's potent little V8 engine. 
Where am I going with all this ?   Well, I've just bought an old & rather scruffy Daimler V8.   No, it's not the fibreglass-bodied droop-nosed SP250 (aka Dart ) gentleman's sports car, but it does utilise the very same power plant. The title of this forum topic 'Grace, Pace and Space'  gives a clue.  
Launched late in 1962 - the Daimler 2 1⁄2 saloon car was an up-market but less sporty Mk.II Jaguar. The marketing of Daimler was aimed at the sporting gentleman, whereas Jaguar's racing heritage and popular press was more appealing to many a closet maverick.  Daimler's dealers had called for a new mid-range, more fashionable model to replace the Daimler Conquest, and so Jaguar obliged by dropping the exceptionally smooth V8 2 1⁄2 ltr  into their new Mk.II rolling body-shell.   For Jaguar who were always keen to increase production numbers for sake of reducing unit cost - the Daimler was easy. Aside from the Daimler engine, along with a twin exhaust system and automatic gearbox, the car was simply a MK.2 Jaguar ..badge engineered with the scrolled D.  The quality of wood veneer, leather and carpets was always best for the Daimler and its standard specification included most things that were optional on its cheaper sibling.  Beautifully opalescent paint finishes, for example, were very much more Daimler than Jaguar. The Daimler (automatic) was road tested to 112 mph, whereas the Jaguar 2.4 couldn't quite manage the ton.  Even today, that isn't something Jaguar enthusiasts boast about, but back in the day - very few road tests of the 2.4 were granted.!   Later on, the 2.4 straight-six engine received the straight-port head off the xk150 3.4 litre, which boosted its performance to 133bhp ..just 7bhp less than Turner's Daimler V8.  Aside from revised air filters and an alternator to replace its dynamo - the Daimler engine was never uprated.
Edward Turner's 2 1⁄2 litre V8 (note ; always referred to as the 2 1⁄2 litre, rather than Jaguar's rather vulgar decimalisation of 2-point-4, 3-point-4, or 3-point-8 ) is a short-block engine with 90-deg cylinder banks.  Its block is in cast iron (which is very stable) and the cylinder heads (interchangeable / not handed) are cast aluminium (much lighter than iron).  The two rocker covers and voluminous sump are likewise in aluminium.  The broad V8 layout is both good for balancing vibration and for a lower centre of gravity. The space inbetween the two cylinder heads accommodates a single camshaft, the twin SU carburettors and their twisty inlet manifold (again in aluminium), the distributor and the dynamo (later cars have an alternator). The exhaust manifolds simply drop down either outside of the block. Being a short stroke engine (76mm bore x 70mm stroke) the engine isn't overly wide, and with its short length it is compact and relatively lightweight. Access for maintenance is then easier than with Jaguar's straight six.
The Jaguar straight six, which I personally see as being one of the most beautiful engines ever designed, is long, tall (because it has dohc), and heavy.  It's not as smooth (vibration) as the V8, and capacity-for-capacity is not so powerful nor as torquey.  And the weight distribution of the straight six cars is (detrimentally) further forward. That forwardness also makes removing its sump awkward, as the front suspension subframe has to be dropped first.  Btw the Jaguars, by necessity, have stiffer front suspension springs than the Daimler, and although each have anti-roll-bars the Daimler offers the more compliant ride. The brakes on the Jaguar and Daimler are the same - disc on all four wheels, which are excellent.  The Jaguar 2.4 has the same 83mm bore as the 3.4 but with a 30mm shorter stroke. That makes the engine's block less tall and so slightly lighter than its big brothers (in favour of better balanced handling).  The Jaguar 3.4 and 3.8 share the same 106mm stroke but the bigger engine has a 4mm larger diameter bore.  The Daimler V8 2.5 ltr has the same 155 ft-lb torque as Jaguar's 3.4 ltr.!  ..each at 3000rpm.  The Jaguar 3.4 though creates 210 bhp versus this Daimler's 140 bhp.  The bottom line being that ; the V8 small saloon is a different creature to the macho beast. As an alpha-male I'm attracted to the Jaguar but as an engineer ..despite loving the look of that double-overhead camshaft Jag engine, I prefer the Daimler.  And as a driver I prefer a car which handles better and has a smooth power curve, over a car that offers grunt that comes on cam.  Everyone to their own huh !
By 1967 Jaguar were facing increasingly keen competition, Leyland incorporated Triumph and Rover (each highly regarded brands) and, along with amalgamated production resources, their bean counters were getting good at streamlining and improved value. The P6 and the Triumph 2500 (with PI in the pipeline), along with various other competitors were sleeker looking than Jaguar-Daimler's heavy bumpers cars, and their interiors were fashionable and easier to maintain. To top it all there was a Rover V8 in the pipeline. Jaguar responded by face-lifting its small saloon models in line with their flagship models, the S-type and the Mk.10.   Although usually attributed to cost cutting - this was equally an exercise in revised styling and weight savings. The slim bumpers are a fraction the weight of the old heavy ones, and even the change to Ambla upholstery and less sound deadening offered useful weight savings. Even the tool-box changed from steel to plastic. The XJ6 was under development but until that was ready - Jaguar had a reputation to maintain.  So when the Rover P6 was introduced with the 3.5 litre V8 engine, the face lifted 3.4 Jaguar was still quicker ..and it was advertised at a (15%) lower manufacturer's recommended-retail-price (which corresponded to further savings in purchase tax). 
The new slimmer models under the Jaguar brand were rebadged as the 240 and the 340. The latter is arguably the best of the Mk.II jaguars although many classic car enthusiasts still prefer the look of the heavy bumper cars.  The Daimler was likewise lightened in both looks and bumper weight, and rebadged as the 250. Leather seats however remained standard, as did the two spot lights under the headlamps (replaced by 'horn-grilles' on the Jags). The timber veneer remained a better quality, likewise their carpets and sound insulation. As before, several items which were standard on the Daimler were optional extras on the Jaguar.  Each had the option of wire wheels, but I believe the Daimlers were always chrome plated rather than painted.   With this model change also came the (lower cost) option of a manual gearbox on the Daimler V8.  but for the bell housing, it's the same unit as used on the Jaguar 2.4 , and likewise came with the option of an overdrive (on top gear only).  Just 750 manual cars were built, 700 of those with the overdrive. Final diff ratios were altered to suit. Total production of both the Daimler 2 1⁄2 and the 250 was 17,880.  Production of the latter continued until July 1969 when superceded by the Sovereign.  Btw., even the Triumph Mk.II 2·5 PI produced just 124 bhp(DIN) .. @ 5500rpm ..but being a much lighter build - it was just as quick as the Daimler V8.
On January 11th 1968 .. this car was first registered. . .
....


I'm sure the eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed that this particular 250 is not an automatic.
Even after the Jaguars 240 and 340 were introduced with slim and lighter-weight bumpers and Ambla seat coverings, the Daimler retained leather.

Small but significant, the twin exhaust pipes and badging of the V8.
Although much scruffier than she appears in these photos - that equated to her being affordable.  Otherwise she seems pretty solid including the crows feet. The jacking points were replaced by a Leicestershire Jaguar-specalist just a couple of years ago, sills are solid, tyres are good, exhaust is stainless, odometer mileage is c. 88,700 which is backed up by the last 25 years of MOT's, and she drives well.
I think, because the Lincolnshire registration doesn't inspire anything better, I'll name her 'Midnight'
I got her home today and am looking forward to tinkering.
Pete
 

I have a problem.
Quite a lot of them at last count, but I sold my spare daily last week so it’s time to pick up a new sensible that actually sort of works.
That’s on Thursday, though…today we’re off to collect another random toy…
First mode of transport. The black one, once I’ve shifted two others that are blocking it in.

 

Australian spec?

My better half’s Dad had far better taste in cars than mine ever did. Subsequently, yesterday we left a deposit on this……

Still no rings.
Decided to do some other jobs whilst I waited.
The front brakes were cleaned up and contact points lubricated (forgot the after photo)

And the front arches, subframe and front floorpans were given a dousing with Lanoguard.
The front indicators were given a splash of colour too.

Today, I changed the wipers on the MX5 - this ended up being a bit of a faff as the old ones were properly wedged in place, so they had to be broken up before removal.

A parcel also arrived!

Forgot to get some more photos, but someone on the Honda Beat club helped me out massively with a set of fully-serviceable front calipers.
These were cleaned, fitted and the brakes bled.

A very short scoot back and forth on the drive revealed that for the first time, I have a little bit of pedal travel!
Unfortunately, the check engine light now doesn't illuminate on the ignition during the self-test. Car still starts and runs so I'm not worried about it for now, but will require investigation in the future.
Finally, I did a little bit of work to the engine today, as my angle dial torquing tool thingy arrived.

So 3 out of 4 connecting rods are now torqued up. The Haynes manual said torque straight to 49nm, Autodata said 40, slacken, 20, then 70 degrees.
Remembering the camshaft bolt debacle, I went with Autodata.

Lastly, after plenty of time to settle in position, the No.1 crank bearing hockey stick seals were trimmed.

On the plus side, I think I'll be getting my rings very soon, fingers crossed!

Cheers 😁

Still no rings.
Decided to do some other jobs whilst I waited.
The front brakes were cleaned up and contact points lubricated (forgot the after photo)

And the front arches, subframe and front floorpans were given a dousing with Lanoguard.
The front indicators were given a splash of colour too.

Today, I changed the wipers on the MX5 - this ended up being a bit of a faff as the old ones were properly wedged in place, so they had to be broken up before removal.

A parcel also arrived!

Forgot to get some more photos, but someone on the Honda Beat club helped me out massively with a set of fully-serviceable front calipers.
These were cleaned, fitted and the brakes bled.

A very short scoot back and forth on the drive revealed that for the first time, I have a little bit of pedal travel!
Unfortunately, the check engine light now doesn't illuminate on the ignition during the self-test. Car still starts and runs so I'm not worried about it for now, but will require investigation in the future.
Finally, I did a little bit of work to the engine today, as my angle dial torquing tool thingy arrived.

So 3 out of 4 connecting rods are now torqued up. The Haynes manual said torque straight to 49nm, Autodata said 40, slacken, 20, then 70 degrees.
Remembering the camshaft bolt debacle, I went with Autodata.

Lastly, after plenty of time to settle in position, the No.1 crank bearing hockey stick seals were trimmed.

On the plus side, I think I'll be getting my rings very soon, fingers crossed!

Cheers 😁

Still no rings.
Decided to do some other jobs whilst I waited.
The front brakes were cleaned up and contact points lubricated (forgot the after photo)

And the front arches, subframe and front floorpans were given a dousing with Lanoguard.
The front indicators were given a splash of colour too.

Today, I changed the wipers on the MX5 - this ended up being a bit of a faff as the old ones were properly wedged in place, so they had to be broken up before removal.

A parcel also arrived!

Forgot to get some more photos, but someone on the Honda Beat club helped me out massively with a set of fully-serviceable front calipers.
These were cleaned, fitted and the brakes bled.

A very short scoot back and forth on the drive revealed that for the first time, I have a little bit of pedal travel!
Unfortunately, the check engine light now doesn't illuminate on the ignition during the self-test. Car still starts and runs so I'm not worried about it for now, but will require investigation in the future.
Finally, I did a little bit of work to the engine today, as my angle dial torquing tool thingy arrived.

So 3 out of 4 connecting rods are now torqued up. The Haynes manual said torque straight to 49nm, Autodata said 40, slacken, 20, then 70 degrees.
Remembering the camshaft bolt debacle, I went with Autodata.

Lastly, after plenty of time to settle in position, the No.1 crank bearing hockey stick seals were trimmed.

On the plus side, I think I'll be getting my rings very soon, fingers crossed!

Cheers 😁

Still no rings.
Decided to do some other jobs whilst I waited.
The front brakes were cleaned up and contact points lubricated (forgot the after photo)

And the front arches, subframe and front floorpans were given a dousing with Lanoguard.
The front indicators were given a splash of colour too.

Today, I changed the wipers on the MX5 - this ended up being a bit of a faff as the old ones were properly wedged in place, so they had to be broken up before removal.

A parcel also arrived!

Forgot to get some more photos, but someone on the Honda Beat club helped me out massively with a set of fully-serviceable front calipers.
These were cleaned, fitted and the brakes bled.

A very short scoot back and forth on the drive revealed that for the first time, I have a little bit of pedal travel!
Unfortunately, the check engine light now doesn't illuminate on the ignition during the self-test. Car still starts and runs so I'm not worried about it for now, but will require investigation in the future.
Finally, I did a little bit of work to the engine today, as my angle dial torquing tool thingy arrived.

So 3 out of 4 connecting rods are now torqued up. The Haynes manual said torque straight to 49nm, Autodata said 40, slacken, 20, then 70 degrees.
Remembering the camshaft bolt debacle, I went with Autodata.

Lastly, after plenty of time to settle in position, the No.1 crank bearing hockey stick seals were trimmed.

On the plus side, I think I'll be getting my rings very soon, fingers crossed!

Cheers 😁

Still no rings.
Decided to do some other jobs whilst I waited.
The front brakes were cleaned up and contact points lubricated (forgot the after photo)

And the front arches, subframe and front floorpans were given a dousing with Lanoguard.
The front indicators were given a splash of colour too.

Today, I changed the wipers on the MX5 - this ended up being a bit of a faff as the old ones were properly wedged in place, so they had to be broken up before removal.

A parcel also arrived!

Forgot to get some more photos, but someone on the Honda Beat club helped me out massively with a set of fully-serviceable front calipers.
These were cleaned, fitted and the brakes bled.

A very short scoot back and forth on the drive revealed that for the first time, I have a little bit of pedal travel!
Unfortunately, the check engine light now doesn't illuminate on the ignition during the self-test. Car still starts and runs so I'm not worried about it for now, but will require investigation in the future.
Finally, I did a little bit of work to the engine today, as my angle dial torquing tool thingy arrived.

So 3 out of 4 connecting rods are now torqued up. The Haynes manual said torque straight to 49nm, Autodata said 40, slacken, 20, then 70 degrees.
Remembering the camshaft bolt debacle, I went with Autodata.

Lastly, after plenty of time to settle in position, the No.1 crank bearing hockey stick seals were trimmed.

On the plus side, I think I'll be getting my rings very soon, fingers crossed!

Cheers 😁

Despite greasing up the sliders and pad contact areas, the front brakes are still binding quite a bit. The pedal has always been quite hard with not a lot of travel, and scooting it up and down the drive gave the impression that most of the braking effort was coming from the rears.
Upon unshipping the calipers, I noticed the piston dust seal was absent on one caliper, and there was evidence of corrosion or deposits on the piston.
So, back up in the air:

And began the arseache of removing the pistons from the calipers. With the calipers on the bench, one piston eventually came out with compressed air, but the other one simply wouldn't budge.
Instead, I had to re-connect the caliper, bleed the brakes, clamp the other line and pop it out with the pedal.

The pistons were cleaned up with scotchbrite, but these were clearly a lost cause.

The finish had completely gone from the affected areas and the piston was heavily pitted - these are fit only for the bin.
I contacted Bigg Red to see if they have some caliper rebuild kits, but they didn't have the dimensional data to send a kit out, instead offering to refurb both calipers for £190 all in.
Thankfully, I have sourced a serviceable pair of front calipers and they should be with me by the end of the week. I can then look at the possibility of refurbishing the calipers at a later date, or going straight for the Jazz upgrade in the future.
Hopefully I get some pedal travel back!

Thought it might tickle some people on here that my C6 has been in for repairs for so long (awaiting parts for a month) that I got a call from the garage to say that the MOT expires on my courtesy car, a C5 X7, on Saturday.  Thankfully we have a drive-in place nearby and it passed first time with no prep, which I think keeps the garage happy and me happy as I get to keep driving it until mine is done.   I've replaced a headlight bulb and given it much fuel over about 1000 miles now.
In other news, the C5 X7 2.0 petrol 4-speed automatic is a bloody brilliant drive, but as it only does 29mpg average on my commute I couldn't consider having one when the 3.0 V6 petrol C6 with 6-speed does actually manage 25 mpg.  The C5 X7 is a really nice place to be, handles really well, even on its budget tyres and is really comfy.  Only niggle is that it has one central cup holder inside the bloody arm rest so you can't close it-- stupid really considering the C6 has those fabulous ones that pop out, same as the SAABs had of this era. 
 
Any other courtesy car stories of interest?

Fair comment. Do you know of any online forums for people that are enthused by dreadful cars?

Jim Bell collection threads are my favourite collection threads.

Shall we try something different?
I woke up today and gave the Beat some air - the interior still needs a scrubbing from the winter mildew.

As documented earlier, the Beat failed the MOT in November for high emissions and leaking exhaust gases. I took it to a local fabricator who made a link pipe for it at the cost of £270, took it back to the MOT centre and it still wasn't passing. 
During the exhaust work, it was noted that the rear of the catalytic converter had melted. Luckily, I had finally sourced a second hand unit from someone in the Beat club, and I've been waiting for an opportunity to do something with it.
I never actually had the chance to check over the work that the exhaust people did, and I'm pretty disappointed with the work I saw.
The exhaust was blowing and holding no pressure when I covered it when I picked it up. Saw this extra nut haphazardly screwed onto one of the cat securing posts - it's not even the same fucking thread pitch!
It was also given a slathering of exhaust paste at both ends of the link pipe in a failed attempt to stop it blowing.

The other end of the cat had been chopped off and replaced with a generic flange, so I took the cat and link pipe off and went off to the exhaust place to source a new flange....
....and once again, I came back empty handed, with nobody in the area supplying bits for making exhausts.
That being said, I /did/ have a suitable flange, it just happened to be welded to the broken cat!
I took a couple of reference photos to the rough position and angles of the flange:

You can see from the comparison photos that the old cat had been shortened, they would have just chopped the end off just behind the weld of the old flange.

First things first, the donor flange was chopped off. Had to be careful not to damage it 😅

Marked up the cut on the new cat. Added a slight angle on it to match the previous one. Just had to cut between the lines 😅

Once that was cut, everything was refitted to the car, and the rear exhaust was supported, to give the correct angle. The loose flange was reattached to the link pipe.

Took a bit of time to get it supported in a manner that didn't allow contact with the subframe, but once I was happy, I applied a couple of tacks to the flange, and removed the cat to go back on the bench.

It was quite a gap, but this is never an exact science 😅
Anyway, it doesn't have to be pretty, but it's welded up and survived the hammer test.

And bolted in. Thankfully, this bolted in nicely and I even managed to close up the flange gaps that the previous people failed to close, without resorting to paste!

Firing up the engine revealed that there's no blowing now, and there's pressure when I put my hand over the backbox, and nothing touches the subframe so that's a proper result!
However, I did notice a couple of rust scabs underneath, so now is as good a time as any!
Raised the car up on all four stands.

And gave it a thorough pressure wash on the underside, ready for some more work tomorrow.

Either way, this is ready for another MOT, so this is just some extra-curricular activity now 😅
Cheers!

Who's a dickhead?
I'm a dickhead.
The piston rings arrived today, and wouldn't you know it? The parts seller was correct, they weren't the right ones I needed - I needed 1.75mm thick rings, these were 1.5mm. 
At this point, I've ordered another set from Autodoc and thrown in the towel - this isn't going to NL any more. I can't get it rebuilt, MOTd and tested in a suitable timeframe. Disappointing, but it's entirely my own bloody fault
To cheer myself up, I made a lunchtime trip to a random address in the next village over armed with some cash and came away with this:

A brand new Hella remanufactured alternator for the MX5, for just £50. Bloody stoked with that result! Had to drill one of the bolt holes out to remove the thread in there (I had to do it on the old one too) but that was it.
I'm getting good at fitting these now!

Took the battery off charge and went for a test start:

And all is working once again.
To celebrate, I moved the MX5 and uncovered an old friend.

Going to look at the exhaust this weekend to see if the replacement exhaust section I've got will bolt straight in, or if I have to get a new flange welded on.
Whilst the Beat aired out, I cracked on with the bits I had received yesterday, starting with the No.1 crank bearing hockey stick seals. These had a dab of hylomar applied to hold them in place.
In order to get them fitted in place without rolling or puckering, the Haynes manual recommends using thin strips of metal to allow the bearing cap to be fitted.
Step forward, the glorious Tennents can.

This was suitably chopped up and the cap manoeuvred into place.

Once in position, the crank bearing caps were torqued up. Following advice from Phill, he recommended turning the crank after every cap is torqued to check for free movement. This all felt fine so I'm happy.
The tails of the seal need to be trimmed to 2mm but it's advised to wait 24 hours for the seals to settle, so that's what I'll be doing. A smearing of hylomar was applied to the corners of the cap to ensure a oiltight seal.

After that, the exhaust manifold studs were fitted.

And the clutch lever arm bush was fitted. This ended up being a bit of a faff, as the new one had slightly thinner lugs than the original, and wouldn't hold in place.
I tried hammering the lugs to expand them, but they weren't playing ball, so I melted the lugs flush to the arm with a soldering iron, drilled a couple of holes and attached it with screws and washers. The bush was filled with rubber grease and the contact points of the release bearing got a thin smear of moly grease.

With that, I'll down tools on it until the rings get here. There's still a tiny chance I can get it all together and tested in time, but it seems unlikely now.
Cheers.

I love these Pandas. There's one round the corner from me in that bright blue that I ogle enviously.
I've noticed Sainsbury's sell the perfect colour matched paint for yours, handy for touch ups:

I also fixed this smoll hole. 

 


 
Perfect* fit*. 

You're some kind of bloody wizard, you! Thank you!

Sent from my VOG-L09 using Tapatalk

Despite greasing up the sliders and pad contact areas, the front brakes are still binding quite a bit. The pedal has always been quite hard with not a lot of travel, and scooting it up and down the drive gave the impression that most of the braking effort was coming from the rears.
Upon unshipping the calipers, I noticed the piston dust seal was absent on one caliper, and there was evidence of corrosion or deposits on the piston.
So, back up in the air:

And began the arseache of removing the pistons from the calipers. With the calipers on the bench, one piston eventually came out with compressed air, but the other one simply wouldn't budge.
Instead, I had to re-connect the caliper, bleed the brakes, clamp the other line and pop it out with the pedal.

The pistons were cleaned up with scotchbrite, but these were clearly a lost cause.

The finish had completely gone from the affected areas and the piston was heavily pitted - these are fit only for the bin.
I contacted Bigg Red to see if they have some caliper rebuild kits, but they didn't have the dimensional data to send a kit out, instead offering to refurb both calipers for £190 all in.
Thankfully, I have sourced a serviceable pair of front calipers and they should be with me by the end of the week. I can then look at the possibility of refurbishing the calipers at a later date, or going straight for the Jazz upgrade in the future.
Hopefully I get some pedal travel back!

Just to add, Amayama is a legit website, I've bought various things for my Sirion from there and while its not cheap, it is available and ships quite fast. Some stuff comes from Japan and some stuff from the UAE (bizarrely?) but expect it to be with you ~1 week after ordering. Its excellent for JDM stuff, or just Japanese cars generally.
If nothing else, the exploded diagrams give you the part numbers which can sometimes turn up results on ebay or aliexpress if all else fails.

You're some kind of bloody wizard, you! Thank you!

Sent from my VOG-L09 using Tapatalk

Ooof, what about? https://www.amayama.com/en/part/honda/45216sc2003
Not cheap cheap, but £23 each + £9 shipping for pistons and another tenner for the 2x seals (#7 and #5 in the exploded diagram)?