Another nice day in the country
A few weekends ago we joined the monthly DLCV Sunday run and headed off with a strong contingent of cars (nine Daimlers, including Keith Ashworth's rare Regency Sportsman, in the centre of the lower pic) into central Victoria to visit experienced restorer Roy Shelton, who's currently working on a 1930s Daimler 15.
It looks like a massive job, but Roy's well on the way and is confident he'll have the 15 back on the road before to long - to join his nice blue Daimler V8 saloon, Ford Model T, Delahaye (or was it a Darracq?) and 1931 Chev ...
It looks like a massive job, but Roy's well on the way and is confident he'll have the 15 back on the road before to long - to join his nice blue Daimler V8 saloon, Ford Model T, Delahaye (or was it a Darracq?) and 1931 Chev ...
Dizzy spells
It's well and truly winter now, and I'd been noticing that Dame Zara was a bit reluctant to start from cold, needed the choke on for longer and had a tendency to miss, hesitate and 'chug' a bit under load until she was warmed up.
Poking around under the bonnet, I thought to check the distributor and found that the central brush of the dizzy cap was completely worn down and had no spring left whatsoever. Whether or not that's the cause of the problems (and I suspect it might be), it needed sorting out and I thought I might as well track down a spare cap, even if mine is repairable.
The distributor used on the Daimler V8s (Lucas 20D8) is shared only with the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow and its Bentley equivalents, so spares are rare and expensive. Luckily, a bit of ringing around found me a complete spare distributor for the price some places are asking for a repro cap! 
So I pootled out to darkest Ringwood this morning and picked it up from Jag Prestige Spares. A quick clean-up of the contacts and I put the 'new' cap on, and even though all I've done is a quick test-blast around the park, she seems to start more easily, idle smoother and pull better.
So I pootled out to darkest Ringwood this morning and picked it up from Jag Prestige Spares. A quick clean-up of the contacts and I put the 'new' cap on, and even though all I've done is a quick test-blast around the park, she seems to start more easily, idle smoother and pull better. I'm not sure what I'll do with the spare distributor - perhaps I should get it set up with an electronic ignition system, and keep the original one with points for 'best'? Anyways, I've got it now and it can be raided for bits if needed - the vacuum advance widget on mine is very dodgy (it's held in place - poorly - with a short woodscrew!), and the one of the spare is perfect, so that's one thing I might swap over when I get the chance.
Keeping the green goo in
Ever since I bought Dame Zara she's lost coolant. I've tried both 4lb and 7lb radiator caps, fitted all new hoses, and had some weepy core plugs replaced, but still I have to top up the radiator on a regular basis. I've long thought of fitting an overflow container, but never got around to it. Then, a clever SP250 owner posting on the Daimler Forum said that he uses a cyclist's water bottle - cheap (mine was $8 at Big W) and easy. For the moment it's just held on with cable ties around the radiator drain lever, but if it proves successful, it came with a bracket that will be easy enough to fit.
