Low Horatio gearbox

I don't think the Daimlers were originally sold with wires - it may not even have been an option? The average Homburg-hatted Daimler owner would have considered that too racey.
Likewise the MK2 Jags - fewer were sold on wires...but...
When values of Mk2's moved from the 100's of £'s to the 1000's of £'s - 1980-90 - the trade tarted them up with wires to increase their value - that - some chicken wire, wob and a blow-over in lipstick red. 😂
Owned by bank robbers innit.

If the engine is a goner I have an XUD here that you could fit and become an AS hero.

The drivers door window has detached from the winder mechanism and  is is currently inaccessible inside the door shell.
It appears that the car has been in dry storage for many years previously, as a temporary fix , I have taped a plastic rubble sack over the window aperture to hopefully  keep the interior dry
First job tomorrow is to remove the framework at the front of the car, check if there is any coolant in the radiator and have a look at the engine and chassis number.
Pictures include  the amount of steering lock that was standard on most rear wheel drive cars of the era and the front framework.
 

'paul we've broken down outside of Turin in a Fiat 500. Can you put the trailer on the transit and come and get us? Im in a hotel. Yes I know it's 52 hours each way, I'm eating a cake waiting for you now. No you can't have a room. We need to get on the road.'
 
Etc

Mainstream TV? I bet if you put Mike Brewer or Edd China on The One Show a good 80% of the viewers wouldn't have a clue who they are and would never have heard of Wheeler Dealers. However, the Turkish shopkeeper that sold my wife a nice 'best qualitee' leather jacket in the Grand Bazaar in Marmaris loves WD and records them all!

I love the fact he bought the McLaren with a years warranty and considers it win.........

Apart from every time a model is featured on one of the UK programs, 'values' on eBay go through the roof, everyone that's got one thinks they're worth a fortune, the upshot being that idiots like me can no longer buy them for £400. 
Which frankly is a DISGRACE.

Fuck has it been a month?
Between poverty,  ill health and waiting to borrow tools - tho mostly its been me bening  poorly (play the 🎻) 
2 weeks ago I went under the back end - primarily to start rerouting the main and reserve fuel lines- or to swap them over for now as I can't use the last 2 gallons of reserve. The aim is ro put new lines in and remove the fuel reserve tap etc.  While I was under there  I investigated the  drip/leak which it seems is the diff pinion seal , bugger. 
  Tho the seal is less than 20 quid so I may  do it while I have it on stands for the fuel lines.  Tho that means really I should pull the tank and make  sure its clean as the reserve hasn't been used on the 4 years I've owned it - impossible since i put the electric pump in the rear under the tank instead of  badly on the inner front wing and I doubt in the previous 10 years either and I don't fancy sucking up a load of crud and fouling the carbs. 
 
I did manage to get a rivet gun of the FIL last week finally after 2 weeks  to put the window trim back on, and the bonnet is for tommorrow.
 
 
 
 
 

Finally got around to ordering  the diff seal and gaskets for the Rover as well as new wipers.
The Jag continues to   do its stuff.  Tho with the massive amount  of roadworks I'm loath to use it much atm

Finally got around to ordering  the diff seal and gaskets for the Rover as well as new wipers.
The Jag continues to   do its stuff.  Tho with the massive amount  of roadworks I'm loath to use it much atm

Finally got around to ordering  the diff seal and gaskets for the Rover as well as new wipers.
The Jag continues to   do its stuff.  Tho with the massive amount  of roadworks I'm loath to use it much atm

Finally got around to ordering  the diff seal and gaskets for the Rover as well as new wipers.
The Jag continues to   do its stuff.  Tho with the massive amount  of roadworks I'm loath to use it much atm

Evening all
For some years now I have been looking for a big Fiat from the 80's or 90's but it had to have an Auto box.
Apart from a very ropy Croma in Isleworth last year, nothing has ever come up and I had accepted that I would never own a fantasticaly mediocre Italian car.
Then out of nowhere, a terrible Facebook ad appeared with one blurry picture of a Bravo/Brava/Marea. Knowing that many users cannot understand the term "Automatic Transmission", I didn't get my hopes up but after a quick check not only was it an Automatic, it was a Weekend!!!
So, after much back and forth, trying to find if anything had ever been serviced on this poor car, here she is......my Fiat Marea 1.6 100 ELX Weekend!

The car has been off the road for over a year, has no MOT and I have absolutely no service history.
So new belts, gearbox and engine service are a must but from the outside at least, it looks very tidy and there doesn't appear to be any noticeable rot* plus it has only done 27,000 miles.
What could possibly go wrong? 

Anti grump ....
It appears I can have a freebie new boiler 👍
Survey next week .... 

One new bulb has fubared already .
I see more cuts and blood loss in the near future ..

Christ alive, that was a SHIT day.  Still, there's always tomorrow...
👍

Finally got around to ordering  the diff seal and gaskets for the Rover as well as new wipers.
The Jag continues to   do its stuff.  Tho with the massive amount  of roadworks I'm loath to use it much atm

Finally got around to ordering  the diff seal and gaskets for the Rover as well as new wipers.
The Jag continues to   do its stuff.  Tho with the massive amount  of roadworks I'm loath to use it much atm

From Friday ..   no rain to test the windscreen sealant but I'm sure there will be before too long. . . 
  
^ Norfolk where the land is flat and the blue skies have a particular expanse.                         ^^  In overdrive top, just poodling along behind lorries. 
 
  
^ View down the (un-polished) bonnet as I picked up the pace along the clear roads skirting the ever beautiful Thetford Forest.  I love driving through sunlit woodland, especially as their colours turn autuminal.

^ Back to my enjoying driving through Suffolk countryside.
"since the last MOT in 2017 - the car was only driven a further 200 miles before I bought her."   She's now clocked up another 435miles ..in two weeks.   I've discovered she's not so handy where the roads have roundabouts every half a mile, but for all else -  I like
Pete
 

Not much happening this week, but I had noticed how very insecure these cars are, what with both front and back opening quarter-tlight windows and locks which are of brass and so badly worn that any old car key can be wiggled to open the doors.  So for when the car is being left in a vulnerable location I've just bought one of these. . .

This steering wheel immobiliser is the higher security Pro  model of the Stoplock range, which gets good reviews (NB. the Elite model of the same device has a deep offset for fatter steering wheels). After looking on-line, including for a second-hand one, I bought this new (with 2 keys) from Halfords. They presently have them with a £10 off RRP, and then another 10% off when buying on-line and free postage over certain order value. In total it cost just a few pence under £35 delivered.  
Either or both are of course only a deterrent, especially when steering wheels on classic cars may be wood rimmed with easily snipped through aluminium spokes, but it is quick n' easy to use, and an obvious nuisance to would be joy-riders.
Even though you may otherwise also have an ignition immobiliser, that's not known about until the vehicle is broken / smashed into and tried to be started, and then the dashboatd ripped out to be hot wired. Better to move them onto another, quicker and easier target because of a deterent I think.
  
Because it's universal fitment - it also means that I can use it on other cars. Who knows I might even configure it around the frame and through the spokes of my motorcycle.
I'm sure many of use have cars parked up and left unattended, possibly for weeks on end.
Food for thought perhaps ..and a great price from halfords. 
Pete
p.s. I’m not telling the insurance company because they’ll insist it’s always on the car when parked.
 
 

Nice., Very.
 
My first  car was a 2.5 my auto did about 20 ish mpg
 
A superb sounding and really understressed engine. The manual is a real rarity as well - I think thay barely made it into double digits with them fitted.
From my reading Jag bought Daimler for purely production capacity. Both  the 2.5 and 4.5 engines were better (imho) then the Xk 6 pot. There is the oft told story of a 4.5 being put into an XJ6 and out performing the straight 6 around the mira track, being substantially lighter then the honking big cast iron Jag lump.  And that it woukdnt do for a a non Jag engine  to be used .  

To deny would be a lie..   if i could find a Daimler V8 engine and manual/overdrive gearbox at a sensible price it would very likely happen    ....crowd funding might work ! ?
Anyone know of a Daimler dart (SP250) with a smashed fibreglass body and rotten chassis ?
 

Btw lesapandre
your location says Ukraine, is that 'UK in the rain'  or the other one which the Ruskis want ?     

THANK YOU ALL for your kind interest and support.
 
Reality check ..   I thought it timely to share the following with y'all, so you'll hopefully not judge me as yet another rich git who can just go out and spend a small fortune on fully restored toys like a classic Jaguar-Daimler.
All of the following I knew about, and balanced into the decision whether to buy when I first went to see and test drive the car, before purchase. . .
 
    
^ Crazed and micro-bubbling of the paintwork. The black (including door shuts) is over the original silver-grey.  Of course it's now difficult to judge exactly how much high-build-primer went into achieving this fine finish. The rear half of the roof is in a similar state, and then on the rear Rh wing there's also a blister of paint the size of your hand. Paint has flaked off at the bottom of the A-post (showing white which I'm guessing is either lead-loading or bondo), and of course the bottom edges all around the car are scabby.  The boot lid and bumper are dented, as is the rear under-bumper valance panel which has been bondo'd and painted but is rusty underneath that and flaking off in chunks.  The inner wheel arches, behind the wheels, have sacrificed their bottom three or four inches edges to rust.  The sills I'm not sure about. they seem solid enough but I suspect new panels over old.   Places in the footwells and up the inner sills have definately been patched. The bottom of the doors and boot lid are rusty, but I cannot really tell how badly because underseal has been slapped over (..or is that under) 'em. 
I'm not complaining here..  All I'm saying is that the purchase cost of this car was 'affordable' - because of these and a host of other issues ..and the cost to rectify each of those, and to take the car's paint back to solid and to give her a half decent respray.  The registration letter didn't conjure up a name for the car but its condition suggested '" No Fkg Way ! "
I went into this with my eyes open because I've had a Daimler 2-1/2 automatic before (22 years ago) and then 15-years later a '66 S-type Jag ..which cost me a small fortune and a lot of hassle until I got her into a state where she would sell. I simply couldn't afford to keep spending money on her.  So, this time I'm starting with an affordable car, knowing full well that there's going to be some big bills and many hours of my own time..  but if I'm not too ambitious in my standards and accept her as a driver - then I shouldn't take too deep a dive into negative equity.   
  
^ Likewise with the interior. This is how I drove it across to the car meet on Sunday ..with the windows half open.   Obvious, even to a guide dog in a manure heap, is the faded carpet over gearbox and along the sills.  Likewise the floor mats being out., all the carpets are shot and that piece seen in the driver's footwell is aftermarket ..with all the luxurious quality of cheap n' itchy nylon underpants.  It's so thin that I don't think it's carpet at all. I think it's more likely to have been intended as side trim panel covering.  I took the other carpets and their underfelt out because they were squidgy with rain water (the windscreen rainwater drips on your throttle foot as you drive along and rear wind rubber also leaks) and the door sealing rubbers and their window seals are all well passed their best-used-before date.  Likewise the spare whjeel is out ..to dry out the boot. As you might'a noticed, from the door trim panels - the car might benefit from a full valet, complete with chewing gum in the astrays, and the dashboard timber has the texture of leather and sort of sticky . The headlining is in good condition but for mould. I'm hoping dry cleaning will restore it to serviceable condition. All in all it looks like, and thankfully drives like, a mechanic's car.  I'm sure you've all seen similar.
Underneath the car has been patch welded and then undersealed to mostly-hide it from the next potential buyer.  I'd like to get the underside  jet washed by a commercial vehicle place ..to blast off as much of the underseal as they can. I loath that stuff.   I'll share the result of that 'procedure' as and when.
 
  
^ underbonnet is not at all bad, aside from being filthy and a few rusty bits being obvious ..especially the heater box which has lost its felt insulation (..standard on the Daimler, optional on the Jag ! } but most everything needs attending to.  The throttle linkage, choke, heater control, scuttle vent, and pretty much every other control cable is seized from lack of use.  However the radiator coolant pipes appear to have been replaced. And according to the invoices the clutch was changed, and the engine, gearbox & diff oils were changed just two years ago. She was recomissioned for use but then sold on, perhaps the garage pointed out major cost items which the owner ought to prepare himself for next ?? 
Related to her general condition . . .

^ These are the MOT's  I found in the box file.  Only once failed an MOT in 29 years !   ..but, as you can see from the mileages recorded - the car simply wasn't used for long periods of time.  And even since the last in 2017 - the car was only driven a further 200 miles before I bought her. 
This past week she's driven up from Brighton and then on Sunday went to a car meet in Essex, altogether another 200 miles. The point I'm making is that in the past 35 years she's driven just 2,099 miles, to date according to the odometer.  And although that bodes well for lesser wear in all moving parts ..as well as a lack of home tinkering - it also means that everything will need to be checked and recomissioned.  The list will be endless and so I shall not compile one !!
but.,  Watch this space.  
 
Btw., I've subsequently named her 'midnight' in respect of her being pitch black in colour with a slight tinge of blue.  The blood covered coloured carpets had nothing to do with it
 
 

Wot No Rain ! ?


I was late arriving at 'Classic Vehicles @ Chappel' so missed many of the visitors and their cars. but for a first run out in the Daimler - I thoroughly enjoyed the across countryside drive. Playing with this Daimler's (rather nice but perhaps too closely spaced) gearbox and overdrive, feeling the car's ride and its handling, the sounds of its twin exhaust V8 (she sounds like an American muscle car of three times her cubes !), and taking in the feel and aroma of the car's interior. That 16" steering wheel is big ! ..but it actually feels really nice and solid, and on the open road the steering is precise.
In part, this run was (with windows half open) to dry her out, becasuse the windscreen seal leaks and she had puddles inside.  I've taken all the floor carpets out and their thick layer of underfelt too - so I was pleasantly surprised that there was not more noise through the bare floors (..an exhaust pipe runs under each side).

^  She certainly doesn't look too bad in these photos, but in truth the car was covered in road spray and muddy splashes after driving up from Brighton in the rain on Friday and then flooded roads. Looking back to the first photo, driver's view over the bonnet, you can see the paintwork is in need of wax polish !  Still I think she looks great as a daily driver in the sunshine and a wonderful compliment to the MG Saloon.  I'd previously imagined the Jaguar-Daimler was a very much bigger car than the MG.

A beauitiful Ford estate close-by a very neat Viva.
  
  
The cafe wasn't cheap but I used them in hoping of supporting the museum.  I sat down in this carriage with my coffee and then a modern train came into the station. It was quite a weird reality in a nice sort of Harry Potter way.  I hadn't realised this station was still in everyday service, I thought it to be a museum.  

 
  
Then back to Fox's marina where my old boat is ..and a bucket and sponge

just a wash and not yet polished, but looking quite respectable already. I had been considering a colour change, another dark colour, but to be honest the black is growing on me.   It's just a sod to keep looking clean.
Did you know.. Daimler's fluted radiator grille is styled after the exposed radiator cooling loop tubes of the very first Daimler automobile carriages.  
 

^ just one of the photos I took for the agreed-value insurance.
  
^ while at Earls Colne I took advantage of the open space and the pleasant background sounds of steam locos to adjust the carburettor linkages and to lower the tick-over.  As i suspected the choke cable wasn't slack enough (by 3/8" ! )  and the throttle rods need lubrication. I've dropped the idle speed from 11-1200 rpm to 600rpm, but I need to adjust the rods as their present geometry almost goes over-centre. 
I look forward to tidying this engine bay up.  
BTW the earlier Daimler 2-1/2 (the heavy bumper model) used a single air filter placed centrally over the top of the twin carbs with two trumpets facing forward. The twin air filters of the 250 (seen here) allow easier access to the SU carbettors. The twin air filters appear to give the customer more for his money ..but again the most likely the change was to eliminate (from cost & weight) several cast aluminium air pipes, a number of connecting rubber sleeves and brackets from the twin carburettors to a single air filter. This is a really good example of value enginnering
 
 
The view Rover V8 drivers would see