Hi Guys, I'm new to this forum and thought I'd introduce myself with a quick question. I've recently bought a Daimler 250 V8 for restoration, and whilst I would dearly love to restore it to a factory finish, with the current condition of the car and the eye-watering prices of original, genuine or even second-hand parts, realistically this is never going to happen. I'm not looking to ever sell the car, so the impact of using non-genuine parts will have on the resale value is not important to me. I do want to end up with a sympathetic restoration, but inevitably it's not going to be 100%. I'll be happy with a reliable and sturdy runner. So, because I'm not going for a 100% restoration, I was wondering if there are any modern parts that can easily be utilised on the 250? I know many people have replaced the powerplant with a newer Jaguar unit, but I'm thinking more along the lines of the suspension, the brakes and maybe power steering - or anything else really that would help ease the financial burden and improve the performance of the chassis. Or, replacement hubs for wire wheels, the originals are out of my reach, but I would love to have wire wheels fitted as I think they really finish the car off, do any other hubs fit?. I have searched the forums and the FAQ's, but it's difficult to track down specific upgrades (just thought I'd say that I've read most of your huge post HomerSimpson - If I had a fraction of your skill I'd well pleased!) Thanks in advance guys, I intend to be a regular here, I would imagine that with my available free time and the work required on my car, it'll be 2 to 3 years resto. So look out for more stupid/beginner questions....

 

I'm afraid I don't know of any particularlly cheap ways to improve the suspension as most alternative parts cost a lot more than standard.

For brakes I understand that some of the Volvo 240 callipers fit the front but you need to drill out the bold holes from 12mm to 1/2 inch and have the disks turned down. There is some information on the internet about it. I've never done it but people who have seem to say it works well.

There is also a guy on retro rides who is fitting a pair of early XJ6 rear callipers to his Daimler V8, i'm watching it with intrest to see how well it works.

For the steering you can fit an XJ6 power assisted rack but some people say that it causes handling issues as the geometry is not quite right. I had one on an old S-Type and it seemed ok to me.

When I fitted the rack to the S-Type I bought the brackets from M&C Wilkinson and a few other bits and sourced the rack myself, this was around 15 years ago so i'm not sure this is still an option.

Otherwise E-bay is a great place to find bargains and the Jaguar Spares day at Stoneleigh near Coventry in March and October is also a good place to find bargains.

My skills have been gathered over 22 years but even so i'm still learning, I make mistakes and get things wrong. The most important thing is to try and if its not right be prepared to do it again. Best of luck, I would love to see some pictures of your car.

 

I've got an old Jag myself and have been trying to figure out some way of affordably getting it back on the road. There used to be a very popular practice in American hot rod building called "clipping" The builder would take the entire front suspension clip and install it on their old chassis. Usually by cutting and welding. This would replace brakes suspension and steering with more modern components. Jaguars were designed to use bolt on subframes. I've wondered if an XJ6 or XJS front subframe could be adapted to my Mark VII. I think that front subframes have been used on all Jags until the current models. There are also many brand new subframes available for American cars such as early Mustangs and Camaros and even universal types ( think Mustang II) could be used on old hot rods.Maybe this is a way to go?

 

That's definitely some useful info guys, thank you for that. I will follow up with some research and see if these are viable.

Homer - If you'd like to see pictures, keep an eye out on my blog. Not yet started properly, but then neither has my restoration! My page is here if you'd like to see my progress - lootintheboot.uk

Cheers

Steve

 

Very nice, will be good to see whats its like when you get started, does it need much welding?

 

It does unfortunately, mostly on the underside. The door skins, boot and bonnet are all quite good. The wings need a little attention, and the sills need to be replaced, but by far the majority of the welding will mean I spend most of my time on my back, on a trolley, with rust and rubbish falling in my face - happy days! Remind me again why we do this!

 

If your doing a full strip and rebuild I can highly recommend getting a rotisserie, they make everything so much easier.

I've done the major structural work with it on the floor so you can put the load into the shell in the same way as when its on its wheels, then once this is done put it up on the rotisserie and all the other bits are just so much nicer to do.

Also I found that when welding in the jacking points at the front it was much easier to drill holes in the floor pan and plug weld from above (especially as the jacking point is much thicker steel) than to try doing it from the bottom.

Sometimes thinking about it brings up a much better way of doing something that might not be immediatly obvious.

I've spent far too much time on my back beign showered by sparks and I try and avoid it all time now :-)

Also if your budget can stretch to it a spot welder is really useful for some jobs and saves a lot of hassle.

 

Dragging this thread back as I'm now in a position to actually fit the brakes and get a rolling chassis. Well, technically I suppose it is already rolling, but not stopping! I had previously thought of upgrading to use Volvo calipers, but they aren't easy to source and after buying some crap from eBay, I decided to refurbish the calipers/pistons on the original ones I had, choosing the best from a large selection I've accumulated during the last year or so. They are OK, but the bores are not 100% perfect. I'd say acceptable.



So I fitted them onto the uprights and they look fine.



But, as they are not 100% like new, I know I will not sleep soundly until I get them right. New pistons would set me back almost £400 just for the fronts, so I revisited the Volvo brakes. I did a lot of research and I am pretty certain I have found the correct ones. CA286L and CA286R

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CA286R-Br...t/393096589581

They are only £70 /side, and are considered an upgrade to the standard calipers. So with improved braking and with them being new, I ordered a pair (one Left and one Right, although I'm not sure they are actually 'handed') along with hardware and pads. So that lot is now in the post. I'll add some further notes when I get them and attempt to fit. I know there is some drilling to be done, along with disc grinding and fettling, so I'll let you guys know how I get on. Then, although I wasn't confident using the pistons on the front, I'd be happy to try them on the rear, so they'll be transferred over to the rear calipers shortly. This will also save me restoring the rear pistons which were worse than the front anyway!

Along with this I've fitted a newer Jaguar dual circuit servo and master cylinder and done away with the booster/reservoir (hence the patch in the inner wing, and yes I know I should have welded it in to be neater, I may well still do that). Oh, and for the eagle eyed amongst you, the battery will now be in the boot, but I've not yet figured out where the wiper motor will be located. Inside maybe? Any ideas?

 

I see you have dual circuited the brake pipes but you have split them with both front brakes on one line and both back brakes on the second line. I thought and please correct me if I am wrong that a dual circuit system should be front left and rear right joined then front right and rear left joined.
This way any failure on one line gives both front and rear braking on opposite sides which is less dangerous than just having front or rear brakes alone. Front brakes alone means lock up and under steer. Rear brakes alone would be the same as puling the hand brake on and the rear would overtake the front especially on a bend.

 

Hey Cass, yes you are right, diagonally split systems are one configuration. But front/rear systems are also an option. There are advantages to both, but with the unknown braking balance between front and rear, I thought a more simple front/rear split would work best. Also the 'positive scrub angle' of the Jaguar works best with this layout I believe.

EDIT: Also, the vast majority of MK2's still have a single circuit system. If the brake circuit fails, then you lose all brakes. This was intended to be a safety net and whilst partial braking is never going to be ideal, it's infinitely superior to 'no braking'.

 

Quite agree some is better than none.
My S Type has a single circuit where as the 420 was fitted with a dual circuit system and is fitted the same way you have to fronts alone and rears alone. If I was retro fitting a dual system to a Jaguar I was rebuilding though I would go along the one front and one rear inline configuration. Means more brake pipes but worth it.

 

The 420 has a real half **** arrangement for its brakes. It runs a single circuit master cylinder to the booster/servo and is only dual circuit after that.

You still have the issue of potential failure of the single circuit master cylinder & it's feed to the booster.

It is not a true dual circuit braking system. Poor design. All is not what it seems.

This was corrected with the XJ6. Early E Types had twin separate master cylinders.

 

If I were completely honest Cass, I wanted a secondary system in case of a failure, but I didn't investigate thoroughly the merits of both systems. This is obviously the simplest option and I had this in mind from the start. I wanted this purely because brake failure combined with an auto gearbox doesn't leave you many options at the wheel. Nightmare scenario. .

Glyn, yes I have also seen some people adopt this as an upgrade for the MK2, but I never really saw it as a valid option because as you point out, there is still the single point of failure. I'm thinking that perhaps it's very difficult to replace the single (pedal) master cylinder due to the lack of space. I know some SPOF components will always remain (brake pedal, servo, driver!) but you have to draw the line somewhere I guess.

 

Well VB. You did it the right way!

 

OK, so moving on from the merits of the pipework, today saw the arrival of my Volvo calipers. I have to say that I am so glad I decided to use these instead of the standard ones. They weren't expensive in comparison the cost of replacement Dunlop pistons, they will provide superior braking and they will be easier to service in the future because the seals are on the calipers and not the pistons. So here they are in a side-by-side comparison.



I've not measured, but the pad contact surface area looks to be almost twice as big as standard. Everything looks to be easy enough to fit them. The center line of the mounting holes is identical (but slightly smaller), there is an slight offset which will require a couple of shims and the disc needs shaving by a few millimetres. So, safety police and hardcore enthusiasts please look away now. This is how I reduced the size of the disc to fit.



As luck would have it, I had only just bought a new grinder (Lidl's Special) so the stones are nice and square. It took a while, probably the best part of an hour to complete, but saved the hassle of removing them and taking to my local engineering shop, then picking them back up. etc.. etc.. So, I don't have the shims yet, but I'll get some made and get them fitted. But I am super pleased with them, and anyone thinking of this upgrade, don't bother with second-hand, I bought these for £70 each. You will pay almost that for someone else's cast offs.