HMC WBOD news

[Surface Rust]

2 hours ago, HMC said:

Ill have a read of my book and find out.

A strange consequence of driving the 12 about is that the 1954 daimler conquest century feels oh so modern and slick with its preselector gearbox. 

A modern, among moderns, relatively speaking?

Is the bonnet slightly open or just in need of some adjustment?

I love the slightly awkward styling, a little too dumpy to carry off the sweeping wing lines!

[HMC]

15 hours ago, Surface Rust said:

Is the bonnet slightly open or just in need of some adjustment?

I love the slightly awkward styling, a little too dumpy to carry off the sweeping wing lines!

Agreed- its so 50s - usually the brochure artwork shows the ambition, and the reality is a bit different! 

[lesapandre]

The body design and build of these are by 'Carbodies' a subsidiary at the time of BSA who had the overall control of Daimler.  

Daimler made the chassis and engine etc. The pre-select gearboxes were made by 'Wilson'.

The factory has only recently been demolished. They designed and made the bodies for the FX4 taxi for a bit.

I don't think the panel fit was particularly great even when new - and being chassis built the tolerances require some opportunity for flex anyway.

Very conservative styling for the era - charming but these must have seemed dated even when new. Ford for example had gone for a curved screen and ponton styling as early as 1951 on their Zephyr range - which at two-thirds the price took a chunk of Daimler sales. Jaguars at the time were more curved but more elegantly styled and again cheaper.

Would Daimler have done better with less dumpy styling - maybe - but the problem was they could not make their cars cheap enough however good they were. 

Once the Post-War car market was saturated by the mid-50's their sales dried up. Having no manual g/b option as well was a poor decision.

But hey-ho they have left us some great cars.

[Six-cylinder]

19 hours ago, HMC said:

i began to suspect the headgasket was going, and more recently also it became very difficult to start when cold. so much so if you touched the accelerator within 2 mins of starting it it would die and then be impossible to start. occasionally the car would refuse to crank despite the fuel system priming up. apparently the valves are actuated by oil pressure and is a sensor that if isnt happy will deem the oil level incorrect then it wont fire. the sensor is buried and needs much dismantling. Anyway i decided to bail out; which makes me sad as i loved the concept of the engine but it was throwing up more problems and was basically unreliable.

I had been considering another Fiat 500, they do look good. Last time I had a very young diesel Lounge but it had been fitted with 17 inch wheels and the ride was jarring. The engine had a very narrow power band and the promised 68mpg turned out to be 45 mpg.  This time I thought about a  £30 road tax petrol, but I keep hearing how easily they break. Maybe I should just stick to my Seicento.

[LightBulbFun]

12 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

I had been considering another Fiat 500, they do look good. Last time I had a very young diesel Lounge but it had been fitted with 17 inch wheels and the ride was jarring. The engine had a very narrow power band and the promised 68mpg turned out to be 45 mpg.  This time I thought about a  £30 road tax petrol, but I keep hearing how easily they break. Maybe I should just stick to my Seicento.

in your case I would not be worried about the engine going pop, but @Mrs6C pinching the little 2 cylinder engine for her 2ft narrow gauge locomotive chassis! forget locking wheel-nuts, you need locking engine mount bolts

[wuvvum]

57 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

The engine had a very narrow power band and the promised 68mpg turned out to be 45 mpg.

That sounds exactly like the Twin Air petrol...

[HMC]

An odd occurrence with the 75- i locked it the other day and the car beeped (a sign it believed a door or bonnet or boot wasnt closed- they were) i went back to it the following  day and the battery was flat. It hasnt done any of the above since. Would the ecu thinking a door was not shut cause the various systems not to power down and cause a current drain?

Yours pondering over a twilight pint in Tavistock

[Heidel_Kakao]

If it still thinks a door is open I believe it will leave the interior lights on and that includes the light inside the spare wheel well so that could well drain a battery.

[Split_Pin]

Take the rubber cover off the alarm sensor on the nearside.of the slam panel. After all the bad weather I'll bet it's full of water and shorting out. No idea how it gets in there but it does!

If the car thinks a doors open it won't lock and the alarm will beep loudly once. As said above, the interior lights will stay on. Just manually switch them to stay off until you can sort it.

Good choice on the diesel auto as well. As long as its not rusty and/or falling to bits then you really can't go wrong with that. Tourer has superb load space too, a proper estate car.

[lesapandre]

31 minutes ago, Heidel_Kakao said:

If it still thinks a door is open I believe it will leave the interior lights on and that includes the light inside the spare wheel well so that could well drain a battery.

Worth checking the glove box light is not sticking on if it has one. Ditto illuminated vanity mirror if it has them.

[High Jetter]

Mine occasionally beeps, but still locks, if the tailgate isn't 100% closed - just something slightly in the way. I've aways sorted it straight away so no idea on battery drain though.

[HMC]

3 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

Take the rubber cover off the alarm sensor on the nearside.of the slam panel. After all the bad weather I'll bet it's full of water and shorting out. No idea how it gets in there but it does!

If the car thinks a doors open it won't lock and the alarm will beep loudly once. As said above, the interior lights will stay on. Just manually switch them to stay off until you can sort it.

Good choice on the diesel auto as well. As long as its not rusty and/or falling to bits then you really can't go wrong with that. Tourer has superb load space too, a proper estate car.

Is that the slam panel for the bonnet?

[Split_Pin]

1 minute ago, HMC said:

Is that the slam panel for the bonnet?

Yes sorry that's the one.

[HMC]

On 31/12/2024 at 12:24, HMC said:

Agreed- its so 50s - usually the brochure artwork shows the ambition, and the reality is a bit different! 

Daimler seem to have been particularly guilty of this it seems…..

Shameless!

[HMC]

But I do like how “dignity “ is cited as a sales feature. Very different times 😂

[adw1977]

Different times indeed, when a man had very different suits (and hats) for town and country.

[lesapandre]

People wore a hat in the car - and driving gloves. That's why they had 'headroom'.

[barefoot]

I still do.

[DSdriver]

Automatic chassis lubrication:  something certain Citroens are rather good at 🤣

[HMC]

I had great success earlier, in the midst of a cold snap, in freeing off carefully and successfully, the heater  valve on the daimler. 

Ive now got very  slight wisps of tepid air coming through. Maybe the matrix is clogged? Any recommendations on how to improve the performance?

[somewhatfoolish]

If it is wisps I'd look at the air flow path of the heater; is there a filter or wire mesh that's encrusted with 70 years of grot obstructing the flow? Is there grot in the matrix? Is the fan motor putting all of its dobbins out in synchronisation? Are all the phlappy phlaps phlapping as intended? 

[lesapandre]

16 minutes ago, HMC said:

I had great success earlier, in the midst of a cold snap, in freeing off carefully and successfully, the heater  valve on the daimler. 

Ive now got very  slight wisps of tepid air coming through. Maybe the matrix is clogged? Any recommendations on how to improve the performance?

The nuclear option is to put a couple of dishwasher tablets or dishwasher cleaner in the radiator and take it for a  long run. 

Then drain the coolant out - it will have a drain plug on the rad and probably one on the block the heater may have one too.

Then disconnect the heater in and out under the bonnet and connect a hose to the in - and extend the out with some plastic pipe so it drains away from the car.

Gradually increase the water pressure and let it run through for 10 mins.

At the end you will either get it back together and find:

Nothing has changed.

You have the flu.

It leaks everywhere.

You have heat.

Daimler and Lanchester owners club may have a spare matrix - who knows.

I'd give the block a flush through too.

❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

 

[Weird Car]

14 minutes ago, HMC said:

Ive now got very  slight wisps of tepid air coming through. Maybe the matrix is clogged? Any recommendations on how to improve the performance?

The only true answer is to swap it for a newer Daimler😉🤣 

 

On a more serious note I’d be pretty surprised if it was a particularly good heater even when it was new to be honest, I’ve never had much more than a “mildly warm mist” from any 50s car heaters 

[wuvvum]

Re the Rover 75 door closing issue - it could also be the microswitch in one of the door lock mechanisms that has got stuck - that can happen in cold weather, mine did it a few years back.

[lesapandre]

The heater box - ie the heat exchanger may be a generic one from the 50's ie a 'Smiths Industries' or some such so there may be a replacement about to fit for when the original gets recored. 

Try muffing the radiator grille - the car may be running cool. What does temp gauge say...or is it accurate...

Silver foil should do it.

[lesapandre]

On 01/01/2025 at 19:14, HMC said:

Daimler seem to have been particularly guilty of this it seems…..

Shameless!

[Matty]

30 minutes ago, lesapandre said:

Try muffing the radiator

Phnnarr 🤣 

[lesapandre]

8 minutes ago, Matty said:

Phnnarr 🤣 

[HMC]

1955

 

2025 (different car, same spirit of ownership)

[captain_70s]

Funny to think it was considered a vintage car in 1955, when my Cresta was brand new, which was considered a classic in 1977 when my Dolomite was brand new, and has been a classic itself for 20 years...