Blimey, You have certainly got stuck in on the Daimler! I really need to get my @rse in gear and sort my MK2 out!

 

Hey Blot, yeah I have done quite a bit in a short space of time I guess. It's the first flush of enthusiasm I think! This is a car I've waited many years for, it's my first project car, I'm still enjoying learning how to weld/fabricate and there's not a lot else to do, so I'm still pretty keen to work on it. Progress will slow down at some point I'm sure.

I made a schoolboy error this week though, I used salary from next month to buy parts this month. It's a slippery slope!

 

Right, I wasn't able to make the wing/arch section from the remains of the rear spat as I'd hoped. I bought the repair panel in the hope that I'd be able to copy it, but I sat for ages trying to figure out how to do it, but in the end I thought 'why struggle'. It's an expensive piece, especially when I only used 25% of it, but I don't want it to spoil the looks of the car. I'm happy to fabricate things that are unseen, but this is in a prominent position. Anyhow, it's on now, but before I could weld it in, I made that box thing inside the front of the sill and completed the lower section of the baffle. I'm pleased with how it all fits, but annoyed with myself that I made the previous sill section too short to reach the new arch/sill panel. Ah well, it's a simple piece to make and fit and I'll make sure I don't make the same mistake when I do the passenger side. The baffle still needs to be welded to the wing, but I'll wait until I flip the car over for that. I hate welding upside-down. Oh, and I found out today that lead tends to have a hissy-fit when you try to weld it. Oh, and another thing, I had a laugh to myself today when I found out that those are inspection hatches in the footwell, and not factory speaker holes as I previously thought...LOL....

 

HI Steve,
Another interesting post., loved the photos and the words. I envy you your can do attitude. We are getting some restrictions lifted this weekend so can go a drive of not more than 50 km have a picnic get a take away coffee etc..

 

WOW, you guys are really restricted, here on Vancouver Island Canada, we can still do what we pretty much want as long as we keep a 2 meter distance with each other.
We can even go to any park too, but no kids play grounds.

We are discouraged from going to often and going too far, but there is no one from stopping us.

 

Having owned a V8 Daimlerjag back in the 80’s this brings back memories, my brother also had one and his sounded much better than mine, he fitted straight though Mini Cooper mufflers just a hint
and going back to one of the earlier posts, just because we are in Aus or in my case NZ rust can still be a problem as a few of the cars are imports;

 

My car was an Australian delivered by Brysons in Melbourne. It has rust in d/s rear door that I am waiting for a quote to repair.
David Bruce.

 

[QUOTE=Robman25;2227975]Having owned a V8 Daimlerjag back in the 80’s this brings back memories, my brother also had one and his sounded much better than mine, he fitted straight though Mini Cooper mufflers just a hint
and going back to one of the earlier posts, just because we are in Aus or in my case NZ rust can still be a problem as a few of the cars are imports;













QUOTE]
I Spy an S Type not a Daimler here. lol
Are you aware of the THE INTERNATIONAL JAGUAR "S"-TYPE REGISTER FORUM - FORUM INDEX and Jaguar 'S'-type Register. We might be able to help a little if this is your rebuild.

 

Just referencing the rust yes I am aware of the register, may even have logged on a few years ago, theres a ‘66 ‘S’ next to this one that I have had since 1983, its now being sacrificed for a few parts, like the r/h wing from the rad to the mid point of the wheel arch.

 

OK, some more progress. Filled in the missing section of the sill (pre-fully welded image shown), welded on the jacking point tube (waiting for some 3mm sheet to make the triangle bit to finish it off), scraped off the underseal on the boot tunnel and wheel well. I have welded the holes with two patches and some fill welding on the smaller ones, also hammered out some of the dents (no 'after' photo). I removed the old N/S spring hanger, which after close inspection was never going to be good enough to keep. Really pleased that the floor is 100 times better than the O/S (well, 10 times better at least). Ordered the new hanger from Manners, should be here Wednesday. Before removing, I made a template to ensure correct re-positioning. Also been doing some woodwork for a change. I re-veneered the speedo/rev counter binnacle with some new walnut, also the side sections which were worse for wear. I book-matched as best I could in-between the clocks. It needs a few more coats of varnish, but I'm pleased with the result.

 

Hi Steve,
What a multi skilled person you are. Some questions about the wood work.
What does book end mean?
What was involved in preparing the the panels to receive the new veneer and how did you do it and what glue did you use ?
Will you finish the wood in a semi gloss or full gloss product.
Regards,
David Bruce.

 

Hey David, Thanks for the compliment, but not entirely sure it's deserved!

Book matching is where you have a join in the veneer and you use two pieces of (ideally) identical veneer and arrange them in a symmetrical pattern about a centre-line. For example, the back of a guitar would have this for aesthetic reasons, it's more visually appealing for some reason. Mine does not have true symmetry, but it's close enough for me. On the side sections, I completely removed the old veneer, it was loose and flaky, so it didn't put up much of a fight. The binnacle however, I simply sanded the existing veneer down to remove all of the varnish (I think I would have damaged the surface by attempting to remove the old veneer as well), and then used normal wood glue to attach the new pieces. I weighted it down with my hefty old toolbox overnight to ensure a good tight fit. I intend to use a gloss yacht varnish for the finish. I've put on a coupe of layers with a brush and it's looking good. I thinned it down a little with white spirit for the most recent coat, but I think to get a mirror finish, I need to thin it down even further. I'll see how that goes, but may need to buy an aerosol if it doesn't work as well as I hope.

I did email you a couple of weeks ago, I do hope your hand is recovering after your accident. Take care mate....

UPDATE: Here's an image after the final thinned down varnish. It's hard to capture, and it looks far, far better in 'real life', it's so annoying not to be able to capture it. Anyhow, it's as good as I need, so this is how it will remain ready to fit in the car.

 

Wow what a great thread, you have really cracked on and your welding skills have got much better as you’ve progressed
ive just bought a mk1 which I need to restore, which although solid it’s far from an easy task as it’s pretty much a bare shell apart from doors and suspension are on it

you have really inspired me I hope to have some pics by next weekend for you all

 

Thanks notenoughtime. I've posted on your MK1 thread, interested in your progress (of BOTH cars. Glutton for punishment?)

I've had a bit of mixed fortune over the last week or so. Fortunately the seat area above the spring hanger only needed a small square patch before welding on the upper hanger box. I bought from Manners this time, instead of Robey due to the price (£150 vs £250) but it's clear to see why they are cheaper. The upper box eventually fitted with a fair bit of fettling, but the lower box simply doesn't fit. It's about an inch too long, just where the captive nut needs to attach in front of the forward spring clamp. I 'could' cut it up and re-weld to make it fit, but that kind of defeats the object. Manners do have good customer service however, and tried their best to help, but due to limited staff etc, they said a refund would be the best option. So, I've ordered the lower box from Robeys and will fit when it arrives. Not sure why this part wasn't the best, the rear Jacking Point I had from Manners was perfect.




Choosing not to replace the N/S chassis rail saved a whole load of work, but it did need two repairs.The first one was where the front jacking point attaches to it and also the floor above.All of this had rusted and what appeared to be a small rust hole in the chassis was actually a big rust hole in the chassis. The floor needed a big section cut out too but I already knew about this and have a repair panel in readiness.Obviously I needed to make a sound repair to the chassis, and I cut out a large section to ensure every bit of rust was removed. The chassis is made from 2mm steel, so double the thickness of body panels, which is both a blessing and a curse.It’s easier to weld because it doesn’t blow though so easily, but it’s far harder to work with and also I don’t have a sheet steel brake/bender, so the fabrication of the repair sections takes a lot more effort. Whilst there was a gaping hole, I took this opportunity to remove any debris inside and to treat any surface rust with ‘rust converter’ to prevent any further problems.



The 3mm sheet also arrived over the weekend, so I was able to complete the O/S Front jacking point. I needed to make and weld on the triangular piece to complete it, but it took one and a half cutting disks just to cut this out.Glad there’s not too much metal this thick on the car. With a bit of luck, soon the N/S will also look like this.

 

Great work, it’s amazing how different aftermarket panels are, I need to replace the floor pans on the mk1 robeys floor pans are 17in x 10.5 in do you know what they are like?

 

I have both LH and RH floor repair panels from Robeys. I've only fitted the RH but it was as good as I expected. As long as its big enough to cover the rusted area for your car, you should be fine.

 

@Voucher Boy Any updates

 

Hey notenoughtime, ironically, I've not done much the last couple of weeks due to not having enough time! I've been working on my younger son's Mini (Almost MOT ready after 17 months), and now my older son has bought a second car (an MX-5) to play with. So unfortunately the Daimler has been on the back burner for a bit. I have done 'some' work however, and the rear of the inner sill has been replaced and the main center section of the outer sill has been fabricated ready to weld on. I sent the lower spring box back to Manners for a swap for a rear jacking point, and ordered the box from Robey's (arriving tomorrow). So, hopefully this weekend I will make some further progress.

It's a difficult balance making updates on my progress. I don't want to skip over things, because it's that level of detail that I've enjoyed reading about with other members restoration blogs, and these have given me ideas for my build, but then I'm cautious about boring everyone with trivial work I've completed. Please, tell me if it's getting boring guys.

Anyhow, enough hassling me for updates, I've not seen many pictures of that MK2 yet (although I did like the one you posted in your MK1 thread), so come on, we want a new thread on that one please!

 

Out of interest, with the bar across the spring hanger boxes, how do you know that they are in the right place? All this seems to do is set the distance between them but presumably there will be some slop in the bolts and also some movement up and down when you take one box out? Just wondered how you have ensured that the boxes are in the right place and also the right height, did you do this by measuredment?






[/QUOTE]

When I did mine I did something similar but welded the bars to the outer sills first to ensure that they back in exactly the same place at the same height.

 

Hey Homer, yes, the bar only ensures that the hanger is laterally correct. I only did one hanger at a time, so I always had a reference from the other. Regarding the ride height, I measured as best I could with parts of the car that were not rusted. Unfortunately, that ruled out the sills, and pretty much everything else! So I used measurements from my bar to the box section between rear shock mounts (not sure what it's called) and anything else 'solid' I could find. As you know, the hangers fit up to the seat base, and after temporarily fitting them there, they were pretty much bob-on as they were. I've since measured where I can against various points, and I'm confident that it's as good as I can get it.