Dafpney and Celeste - DAF SOLD!

[HillmanImp]

No not those.

 

 

This:

 

 

 

Took Friday off with with my mate (205Gti on here. Not the most prolific poster so you probably wont know him) who I have gone in on the car with along with his wife, to go and pick up Scooters other DAF.

 

Having never driven a DAF before I really did not know what to expect. Scooters kindly talked us through the do's and don't and had even written down a list of all the possible pitfalls the you need to be aware of when owning one of these quirky machines.

 

I tentatively set off and within a few miles I was thinking 'what have we done? This is awful. Its painfully slow, the brakes don't work and it sounds like a load of spanners in a washing machine thats about to blow up'.

 

However its a long journey from Edinburgh to Leeds (and we went back via Brampton near Carlisle to pop in and see some of my family and have a pint) and it gave me a lot of time to get used to it.

 

We came down the A702 (I think) I think which is a great windy 'A' road with lots of hills and my opinion of the car changed immediately. What fun. Once you have got the hang of how to build speed and keep momentum its fine. The engine does a lot of braking for you and it handles great. Left a couple of cars that had caught me up on the straights when the road got bendy.

 

The car managed the journey with no problems at all. There are a few odd noises that need to be tracked down it pulls a bit to the right under heavy braking. It can get to 70 on the flat which is great as you are faster than lorries which you can see in this action shot.

 

 

Someone who had the car before us has also managed to break the Sound Barrier in it!

Unfortunately, the sound barrier is the stereo so it just meant we had no choons. Is probably just a fuse.

 

It has to be said, when we swapped over and 205GTi drove it and I drove his Merc CLK I honestly prefer the DAF. I was bored in the CLK in comparison. Driving the DAF at 40mph was one of the most exciting things I have done in ages as you were on the limit, whereas you can drive the Merc at 90 with your eyes closed. After being in the DAF it was a completely underwhelming experience. I would probably have loved it if i had not had the 1st shift in the DAF. It did manage to get itself up hills slightly better than the DAF though.

 

My mates wife has now driven it too and seems to approve of it. We were worried that she would not be able to but she seemed fine apparently so it gets the thumbs up all round.

 

205GTi took it to the car wash yesterday and bumped into Graham from the Imp Club who has a lovely Stiletto and he told him of a classic car show today in Burley and Wharfedale, so we took the DAF along. Lots of nice cars there but by chance we seemed to get put in shite corner with a Fiat 126 and a mk2 Cavalier.

 

 

The owner of the 126 was not parking theirs in the show originally, but we convinced them it was a good idea. Its a classic after all. Apparently it was a good one too until their brother rolled it. They have pretty much got it back together now. I have got other photos and will bob them on another thread. Everyone loved the DAF. Most people had forgotten they existed as it was so long since they had last seen one. Everytime we came back to it someone was explaining how a variomatic worked to someone else.

 

All in all there is a lot of love for the DAF. Its stolen the GT6's garage for the time being although its living outside my house tonight as I am using it for work tomorrow so that I can upset the boss. He was horrified by my Scirocco being parked outside so will love this......

[Timewaster]

For balance:

 

Excellent story

[boobydoo]

I would rather enjoy an afternoon driving a Daf and listening to Daphne And Celeste. Quality car , quality music!

 

ooh, stick you!

[Volksy]

Fantastic!

 

I look forward to having a go!

[dollywobbler]

There's some quality shite acquisitions going on at the moment. I love this place! Nice DAF.

[scooters]

glad you like it

 

remember

 

"Shift to Daf and you'll never shift again!"

[HillmanImp]

Ta for the comments everyone. I do like the car loads more than i thought i would. Needs a bit of tarting up and a bit of rust sorted round the headlights etc but nothing i cant handle.

 

This car is a kind of experiment on how shared classic ownership works. So far its all good. We share the insurance (£91 a year between 3 of us), the cost of the garage (£13 a month) and if anything goes wrong it wont just sit there languishing whilst I sulk at it, we will be gee'd on by the other owners and costs will be split 3 ways.

 

As its not a car we would use everyday and we all have other cars even if we get a time we all want it we can easily just take one of our other cars so it will hopefully work quite well. If this works we might get some more. Really still want a 4x4 for offroading and a camper van.

 

Do any other Autoshiters do this?

 

Fantastic!

 

I look forward to having a go!

You can have a go whenever mate, just bob on over. It normally lives in a garage at Eor and Linda's but could be at mine so just let us know in advance and I can meet you or you can go and see them.

 

"Shift to Daf and you'll never shift again!"

When we were at the car show today, just before we set off we were talking to a couple about how having a car with only forward and reverse dramatically reduces the risk of being in the wrong gear.

 

However we had forgotten that the car had been reversed into the space so we suddenly set off backwards right in front of them, nearly backing into a Roller behind us. I was pissing myself laughing as were the couple watching us.

[pogweasel]

EXCELSIOR REPORTAGE.

Please allow me to apologise for luzzing stuff at Daphne & Celeste during the famous 'incident'...

[Guest]

EXCELSIOR REPORTAGE.

Please allow me to apologise for luzzing stuff at Daphne & Celeste during the famous 'incident'...

I'll confess to throwing a bottle of piss. The cap was on though. A bit of a redundant statement.

 

I hit a monitor. Waste of a KBK.......

[trigger]

I'd like to do Daphine on the back seat of your DAF.

[HillmanImp]

I'd like to do Daphine on the back seat of your DAF.

Really? I much prefer Celeste. I was quite looking forward to her doing porn when the career waned a bit but alas its not happened yet.

[trigger]

Wait until she starts to hit the hard drugs due to the lack of fame, She'll be in Playboy quicker then you can say Lindsay Lohan.

[HillmanImp]

The DAF is now in its new home.

 

 

I dont mean to rub anyones nose in it but the garage costs a whopping £13 a month which is split 3 ways (sorry bol). Not exactly breaking the bank.

 

Its about 4 miles away from my house but its not like I need the car every day.

 

In celebration of this fact please have some more DAFness which i have robbed from my mates photobucket account:

 

Before being cleaned

Another overtaking shot, to prove the first one was not a fluke:

Cleaned and polished DAF (it has made a bit of a difference, its just not as obvious as it could be in the photos).

Enjoying driving DAF

Elderly people and DAF

Bentley and DAF.

 

Could not believe it when they parked the largest car at the show right behind us. Were left even more shocked as the driver then tried running over his elderly wife after she got out of the car.

 

Will be organising getting some work done on it soon to bring it up to scratch.

[Vin]

Lookin good

[HillmanImp]

Lookin good

Are you referring to the car or the hansome chap driving it.

[Lord Sterling]

Lovely DAF there.

 

How did you manage to bag a £13 P.M Garage? Is it council, private or mates rates?

[boobydoo]

Bentley and DAF.

 

 

Hee,hee! There's more people looking at your DAF than his skanky Bentley!!

[eddyramrod]

Bentley and DAF.

 

 

Hee,hee! There's more people looking at your DAF than his skanky Bentley!!

Happened to me too, here's a shot from last year's British Forces Fete at Episkopi:

Spot the Capri behind the Jensen; beyond the Capri is a rather lovely Morgan. Which owner never got a minute to sit down? "My dad had one of those!" time after time after time..... I'm not complaining, that's exactly the reaction I wanted it to provoke, so it was money well spent. It'll be going to this year's event in a few weeks, there will of course be pictures.

 

I think people like to see the cars they remember, preserved. Yer Jensens and Bentleys are all very well, and they are lovely cars, but who knew anyone who had one? Who knew anyone who had a Capri, or even a Daf? I rest my case.

[HillmanImp]

Lovely DAF there.

 

How did you manage to bag a £13 P.M Garage? Is it council, private or mates rates?

They are privately (company) owned garages, but under some sort of control of the residents association, hence why so cheap.

 

I might be moving to the area at some point but am scared in case they do pull down the garages to build flats and I am left without any garage space at all. Ideally I would want a good lease on it rather than a year at a time.

 

And Boobydoo, I have to say, the DAF got LOADS of attention. A hell of a lot of people had owned them in the past which I was surprised about and everyone else had not seen one for so long they had forgotten about them. Its like EddyR says, people cant relate to a Bentley but all have experiences of cars like these.

 

I get more people talking to me about my Scirocco than my GT6, 'I used to have one of them', or 'My old man had one of them'.

 

Apparently GT6's were owned by Chelsea Girls back in 'nam.

[205 gti]

Hello from 1/3 DAF owner Ian!

 

Scotty is right that I don't get on here often, but I do like the attitude to keeping overlooked metal on the road on this forum and as you can see I have done my bit!

 

Am amazed how overlooked the DAF is. Fair enough, its not as iconic as a Fiat 500 or a Mini but its probably a damn sight rarer now, just as quirky and quite a looker too.

 

Took it out last night and had a spin round some dales roads, great fun, noisy, slow, bouncy, unpredictable and not at all like my daily CLK as Scotty mentioned

 

The wife loves it too, and shared ownership has so far been so good. I put a tenner of fuel in it last night Scotty! :)

 

Now all we need is a plan and some time to sort out a few niggles - like the broken Sound Barrier!

[HillmanImp]

Been a whilse since I updated on the DAF. I am trying to encourage people to do the same with their cars as instead of doing an update on the news 24 thread. Lets get a thread going on you shite. We have a few for Dollywobblers, Mcoli, DS Driver to name a few but we all own shite, lets see it. If its on the news 24 thread you need to keep a constant eye on it and people will not be able to see your progress amongst everyone elses. TBH there is not a lot to update on this but it's something.

 

Since the DAF was put in the lock up I have moved from my old place:

 

The Imp went in the lock up

The GT6 went in the garage:

And the DAF went on the drive.

 

Since it has been on the drive I have gone right round the car and sorted out all the actual rot (I am not looking too hard as dont need another full resto on the go) and put in the new metal:

 

 

and just treated all the paint where it was bubbling up. It still needs a bit of spray paint on it here and but it will suffice for the time being. The car has been repaired a fair bit before so its more of a keeping it going situation than anything else.

 

As you will know when I was replacing an oil seal, when I was putting on the cooler I found this (and made it a lot worse):

 

With the help of Volksy and some chemical metal the thread was reinstated but unfortunately the metal was slightly wider and the bolt that held the cooler on was only catching at the bottom of the thread. This was fine without the oil cooler, but with it on the bolt was not long enough.

 

 

Because of the set up it was not as easy as tapping it as the bolt needs the oil to flow through it and the bolt needs to fit through the hole in the cooler the only option was a new, slightly longer bolt that will reach the thread. I tried several places but to no avail. Could not even get a bolt with the same thread. Cue the rather wonderful SpunkeyMonkey on the DAFcars Forum. He went to the trouble of making a bolt from scratch:

 

And the finished item

 

Amazing I am sure you would agree.

 

Unfortunately, it was still about 2mm too short. It was fine without the washers but could not grip with them. Different washers and still no avail.

 

So rather sheepishly I went back and asked him to do it again. Happy as larry he went away and another bolt ever so slightly longer arrived in the post and it fitted. YAY! Have turned the car over slightly and it seems to be working.

 

Now all I need to get the car running is an oil filter (as there may have been bits of the thread going ito the engine) and an oil change. Then all will be good. If anyone knows where I can get an oil filter I would appreciate a heads up.

 

The cost that SpunkyMonkey wanted for this work was nil, nada, nothing. I have just (a few weeks later, I have had no internet) sent him a gift for doing it which I am sure is no where near what the retail price would have been. An absolute lifesaver. I had been spitting out my dummy on the forum wanting to scrap the car but he came to the rescue. At worst Volksy offered to fit a new block but this will hopefully have worked (hope I am not tempting fate with this).

 

So the idea is to get it running, a lick of paint here and there and then get it back in the lock up, the Imp in the garage and the GT6 on the drive to get tarted up.

[M'coli]

Spiffing update - impressive altruism there from Spunkeymonkey, too.

[dollywobbler]

Oh yes. Autoshite CAN still do that fuzzy warm feeling! Great work with the bolt creation. Perhaps keep the short bolt on your mantelpiece as a work of art?

 

I would love a DAF 44 at some point.

[HillmanImp]

I would love a DAF 44 at some point.

 

This one might be up for sale soon. I have too many cars and not enough time or money so I think this is going to have to move on. I might change my mind once I have started driving it again though.

[scooters]

I badly need another Daf in my life!

 

thing is about these Scotty is that when they are on the road they are brilliant - then when you have to fix them you swear a LOT and they piss you around and the bits you have to order from holland are always more expenisve than you think they should be - but then when it is fixed you drive it and you think - this is such a laugh!

[maxpower]

nice little motor, my mates mum had a light blue one way back in the day .... i saw a mitsubishi estate car yesterday with the reg: DAF 55 was driving at the time so no pic

[DSdriver]

Lovely car... and a great thread

The Daf looks a bit lost in that garage, it must be great to be able to work on it without having to drag it out to give yourself room.

Every shiter needs to know someone with a lathe if they haven't got one themselves. Its like having a get out of jail free card. There used to be lots of little engineering firms around here who could do the odd cash job but they are all gone now. As is the workshop full of lathes and mills at my old school. I can see this being a big problem in the future.

[HillmanImp]

The DAF is relegated to the drive DS. Its the Imp living the warm life in the lock up. I am moving the GT6 out of the garage soon though to work on it as the new garage is a bit small. The lock up the Imp is currently in is about 3 miles away and has no electric so its limited on the work I can do on the car.

 

I had been to a few places to try and get it done but to no avail. The chap off the forum then said that he would do it. A superstar. I spoke to some people on the forum and apparently he loves doing that sort of thing. We need more people like that.

 

There is NOTHING like driving a DAF. The first time I drove it I spent the first 20 minutes petrified as it felt like a wobbly dutch death trap but once you get the hang of it it a cracking laugh. We drove it down from Edinburgh and its a fucking right hoot.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Fantastic work!!!! Loving that 13 quid garage as well, what a barg!!!!

 

I fancy having a shot in one of these DAFs, I bet it gets quite addictive when you get the hang of it.

[HillmanImp]

Well, that was not what I was expecting.

 

DAF has been up for sale since Saturday. My mate has had several phone calls about it and some chap turns up tonight. Guy is about 50yrs old in a new Land Rover Discovery. Has a look round the car, it obviously looks solid enough even with the awful paint job. We start it up and it rattles into life and he looks shocked at what sounds like a tool box in a cement mixer but I explain it just sounds like that, we rev it up and it starts running smoothly and then drive it round the block and he looks a bit happier.

 

Now this is the bit I was not expecting. We asked if he had ever had a DAF before. He said no (this was quite obvious as he had no idea what was going on with the pedal and the gears.....sorry gear) but he then explained that he was wanting a DAF as a race car.......

 

Sorry, this is a DAF you cave come to see mate..........but apparently they are very good for ice racing.They are wanting a DAF to take over to Chamonix or somewhere in the winter and blezz around a track. His friend is world champion or something in a Porsche 911. Hmmmm, well a DAF is almost the same I suppose. He did explain that in ice racing the more add ons you have, i.e. 4WD, studded tyres etc you get time penalties but a bog standard DAF (except for a slightly pimped out engine) will have none.

 

He did not buy it tonight and said he would be in touch. I am obviously in two minds as to whether we should sell it to him if he does come back. However, despite its rareness I am as happy to sell it to someone who is going to do it up for racing and do a proper job restoring it, okay not to an original spec, but keeping it going even if it is for motorsport. Its better than selling it to someone to strip it start a resto and then bin it for parts when they have got out of their depth.

 

What's the opinion here?

 

Incidentally, (I did not mean this to suddenly turn into a sales pitch but thought what the hell as this bottle of wine started depleting) its up for £700 but I am sure I can convince the other 2 owners that Autoshite discount will apply to keep it in the family.

 

Here is the ad. It does not have electronic ignition like it says in the ad though. It probably needs a tune up/carb rebuild or maybe a new fuel pump as it does sometime dip on revs on idle. The idle screw on the solex carbs is notoriously crap for coming undone but I am too scared to fuck with it and stop it running completely when we are selling it as its easy to drive like it is when you are used to it. We had it running fine not long after we got it but its back to how it was when we got it again.

 

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C285209

 

Oh yeah, and when we put 4 new tyres on for the MOT we did not check what wheels were which and accidentally put a new tyre on the spare which is different so they need switching over if all the wheels are to match and you want to put the hubcap on the N/S rear.