So, Dame Zara was bought as a 'usable' car, registered, roadworthy and a going concern.
Thus far, only five weeks in, we have covered over 1000 miles (1600 km), so there's not that much fundamentally wrong with her.
However, tonight I sat down and typed up a little 'to-do-list ... it's not so little!
the Dame Zara to-do list, as of late March 2006
Radiator/heater
• empty coolant and flush (use cleaning agent?)
• check all pipes and connections for splits/leaks (where is leak on LH side of engine?)
• chk thermostat (71 degrees?)
• use ‘water wetter’ or similar?
• add overflow bottle? If so need different cap
• remove heater and flush matrix (Coke?); chk heater valve and fix flaps/levers
• fix heater fan
• when re-mounting, chk that heater box is sealed on all surfaces
Electrical
• bulb for ‘ignition’ light
• bulb for boot light
• does rear screen demister work?
• chk self-cancel on indicators (works in one direction but not the other!)
• buy/fit radio suppressor: buy iPod and FM transmitter or get CD player?
Engine
• oil and filter change due
• buy/fit new points (and condenser?)
• chk all spark plugs and leads
• chk static timing
• tune carbies (idle speed about right now but dies on choke – too lean?)
• chk for oil leaks, any serious?
• cosmetics: clean and polish alloy parts; paint air cleaners, electrical box cover etc
Fuel system
• chk fuel pump (points, filter/s etc)
• new ‘doughnut’ mountings for fuel tank
• chk tank for leaks; does it have filter/trap to clean?
• does ‘low fuel’ light work?
Suspension/steering/brakes/underside
• chk front suspension for source of ‘clonks’
• chk all suspension bushes, ball joints, etc and replace where needed (rear should be OK - pretty much all new)
• RH exhaust rattles: new mounting needed?
• generally clean and chk for rust; underseal?
• remove and rust-proof/paint front valance
• chk brake vacuum reservoir for rust
• squeaky brakes: binding?
Body
• fit spat rubbers
• reglue/replace door rubbers
• clean up rear window seal and chk for leaks
• treat rust: spat, boot lid, under grille, RH side front bumper area—other rust?
• cut and polish paint; touch up chips
• buy and fit new window rubbers (incl quarters)
• try to improve front door fit, esp. RH
• lubricate/chk door locks (esp RH rear)
Interior
• try to fix speedo: needle and trip meter
• fit replacement headlight switch surround
• clean headlining, carpets and vinyl
• replace headlining around rear window
• fix rattly dashpad
• strip, polish and revarnish all woodwork
• repair/replace door linings
• seat belts: install rear belts; replace all belts with period/colour-matched?
• interior light lenses (x3?)
• fix/replace glovebox lock
Spares to find/carry
• points
• condenser
• HT leads
• spark plug/s
• oil filter
• alternator and water pump belts
• original jack (c/o Dad)
• other original tools & tool box
Other
• JDHT Heritage certificate
• any other paperwork/photos from previous owners, DLCV
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Monday, March 27, 2006
blatting around the block ...
I went up to Canberra last weekend to visit the Parental Units and the Sibling Unit, which was fun.
Pater Familias let me drive his 1959 'bugeye' Austin-Healey Sprite around the block, which was a hoot. It really is a rollerskate with a Mini engine! He has rebuilt it literally from a few boxes of bits into a great little car - not concours-perfect, but loads of fun.
The experience was made all the more fun by the fact that I haven't tried to drive a manual car - let alone one with no synchro on first - since about 1990.
For the record, I only stalled once, and that was at the top of a steep hill when I didn't quite co-ordinate brake, clutch, gearchange and accelerator ...
Pater Familias let me drive his 1959 'bugeye' Austin-Healey Sprite around the block, which was a hoot. It really is a rollerskate with a Mini engine! He has rebuilt it literally from a few boxes of bits into a great little car - not concours-perfect, but loads of fun.
The experience was made all the more fun by the fact that I haven't tried to drive a manual car - let alone one with no synchro on first - since about 1990.
For the record, I only stalled once, and that was at the top of a steep hill when I didn't quite co-ordinate brake, clutch, gearchange and accelerator ...
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Meet the rest of the family ... part the second
Gussie (below) has been Kathy's pride and joy for the last three years, and she is responsible for making my dormant, genetic old-car mania come into its current florid state.
It's a long story, but in short Kathy found Gussie after a long search (involving a Ford Zepyhr, a 'finnie' Mercedes, a Humber Vogue or two, an Austin 1800 and a few VWs, among others ...). Kathy has spent *a lot* of money on her in the last few years, and I've spent a lot of time fiddling; and we've had some great motoring adventures, including driving around Tassie, and over the Alpine Way to Canberra.
But now that Dame Zara has come along (and Beryl is nominally Kathy's car too), Gussie is very relucantly for sale.
So if you're a true enthusiast who is willing to take on a near-perfect example of a rare (if not spectacularly rarified) British car, get in touch ...
It's a long story, but in short Kathy found Gussie after a long search (involving a Ford Zepyhr, a 'finnie' Mercedes, a Humber Vogue or two, an Austin 1800 and a few VWs, among others ...). Kathy has spent *a lot* of money on her in the last few years, and I've spent a lot of time fiddling; and we've had some great motoring adventures, including driving around Tassie, and over the Alpine Way to Canberra.
But now that Dame Zara has come along (and Beryl is nominally Kathy's car too), Gussie is very relucantly for sale.
So if you're a true enthusiast who is willing to take on a near-perfect example of a rare (if not spectacularly rarified) British car, get in touch ...
Meet the rest of the family ...
Despite the healthy mileage I've totted up in my first month of Daimler-ing, Dame Zara isn't really intended to be everyday transport.
Therefore, meet Beryl. Beryl is a 1975 Chrysler Valiant Galant hardtop coupe (what a mouthful!). She was made in Japan by Mitsubishi and was a limited-edition import in her day (in Japan she would have been known as a Mitsubishi Galant, in the US a Dodge Colt). We bought her for a very reasonable price last year from a dealer who had in turn bought her from the deceased estate of a nice granny called Beryl. Beryl (the granny) had only managed to rack up 52,000 kms in 30 years! So Beryl (the car) is in remarkably fine health for her age. Her body's not 100%, but after a bit of mechanical work (reco carby, new fuel pump, new front shocks, new alternator regulator ...) Beryl is a faithful daily driver ... if only we could get her to be a bit more sprightly on the acceleration ... she's rather sluggish, especially when cold.
Therefore, meet Beryl. Beryl is a 1975 Chrysler Valiant Galant hardtop coupe (what a mouthful!). She was made in Japan by Mitsubishi and was a limited-edition import in her day (in Japan she would have been known as a Mitsubishi Galant, in the US a Dodge Colt). We bought her for a very reasonable price last year from a dealer who had in turn bought her from the deceased estate of a nice granny called Beryl. Beryl (the granny) had only managed to rack up 52,000 kms in 30 years! So Beryl (the car) is in remarkably fine health for her age. Her body's not 100%, but after a bit of mechanical work (reco carby, new fuel pump, new front shocks, new alternator regulator ...) Beryl is a faithful daily driver ... if only we could get her to be a bit more sprightly on the acceleration ... she's rather sluggish, especially when cold.
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Where the bloody hell is Toorourrong Reservoir?
Well, we found out today, as Dame Zara had her boot filled with barbeque picnic supplies and we headed off for the exotic meeting place of Doncaster Shoppingtown carpark - just where you want to be a 9.45 on a sunny late-summer Sunday morning.
A party of close to a dozen Daimlers - mostly V8 saloons, but with one SP250 'Dart' sports car and two pre-Jag takeover 50s Conquest saloons added for variety - set off at 10 am for a gentle run through Melbourne's leafy outer northern suburbs and thence past Eltham, Diamond Creek and Hurstbridge as the houses thinned and we headed into hilly country on the way to Kinglake.
A bracing, upper-arm boosting climb followed, as I wrangled Dame Zara's 1500 or so kilos around many a hairpin bend as we climbed the range.
As we hit the top (the suicidal motorbike riders had gone off to terrorise other motorists) and swooshed through the sleepy little town of Kinglake, we were rewarded with a wonderful view over the thickly wooded hills before we zoomed down the far side - Dame Zara's brakes were well-tested as the convoy hurtled to a stop and took the near 180-degree turn-off to the reservoir.
With an attentive kookuburra looking on, anxious to pounce on any leftovers, we engaged in the great Aussie tradition of burning sausages, falling off camp chairs and, errr, perusing the spare parts catalogue of the NZ Daimler Club. Phwoar, rubbery bits!
Despite Toorourrong being one of Australia's premier platypus conservation sites, none of the mad little critters were to be seen today, despite Daimler Club stalwart Tony Dixon helpfully calling out 'puss, puss!' at every opportunity.
Oh, I must add that an investment of a whole $7.99 on a new 4lb radiator cap seems to have cured Dame Zara's embarrassing little problem with losing coolant (after pouring about $40 worth of the stuff onto the garage floor and various other surfaces over the past month ...).
In other quick fixes, nudging the idle speed up a hair has worked wonders - no stalling at the lights and even the 'clunk' of the auto is less (not gone, but better!). A rather hasty go with the caulking gun on the back window yesterday wasn't so successful - it'll keep the rain out, but it's a rather messy job.
A party of close to a dozen Daimlers - mostly V8 saloons, but with one SP250 'Dart' sports car and two pre-Jag takeover 50s Conquest saloons added for variety - set off at 10 am for a gentle run through Melbourne's leafy outer northern suburbs and thence past Eltham, Diamond Creek and Hurstbridge as the houses thinned and we headed into hilly country on the way to Kinglake.
A bracing, upper-arm boosting climb followed, as I wrangled Dame Zara's 1500 or so kilos around many a hairpin bend as we climbed the range.
As we hit the top (the suicidal motorbike riders had gone off to terrorise other motorists) and swooshed through the sleepy little town of Kinglake, we were rewarded with a wonderful view over the thickly wooded hills before we zoomed down the far side - Dame Zara's brakes were well-tested as the convoy hurtled to a stop and took the near 180-degree turn-off to the reservoir.
With an attentive kookuburra looking on, anxious to pounce on any leftovers, we engaged in the great Aussie tradition of burning sausages, falling off camp chairs and, errr, perusing the spare parts catalogue of the NZ Daimler Club. Phwoar, rubbery bits!
Despite Toorourrong being one of Australia's premier platypus conservation sites, none of the mad little critters were to be seen today, despite Daimler Club stalwart Tony Dixon helpfully calling out 'puss, puss!' at every opportunity.
Oh, I must add that an investment of a whole $7.99 on a new 4lb radiator cap seems to have cured Dame Zara's embarrassing little problem with losing coolant (after pouring about $40 worth of the stuff onto the garage floor and various other surfaces over the past month ...).
In other quick fixes, nudging the idle speed up a hair has worked wonders - no stalling at the lights and even the 'clunk' of the auto is less (not gone, but better!). A rather hasty go with the caulking gun on the back window yesterday wasn't so successful - it'll keep the rain out, but it's a rather messy job.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
First month's report
Well, I've had Dame Zara for just over a month now. In that time, I've racked up 900 miles - so much for 'occasional use only'! The most recent trips were to Lorne on the Great Ocean Road (for a work do) and to Bendigo (to see the Cecil Beaton and Charles Rennie Mackintosh exhibitions).
The only real problems we've identified so far are that she loses quite a bit of coolant on longer runs - which should be fixed with a new radiator cap &/or an overflow bottle - and what we're now calling the 'hesitation waltz'.
The 'hesitation waltz' is an odd one, and something I suspect might take quite a while to sort out. Basically, around town and at speeds up to 50mph/80kmh she runs fine. But on sustained highway runs at 60-70mph (100-110kmh), she will occasionally jerk and surge - the rev counter doesn't budge (it's at 3300-4000 at those sort of speeds) and the road speed hardly drops, but there's definitely something wrong. But whether it's fuel starvation, an electrical quirk or something else, I don't know. What I do know is that she's never come close to conking out during one of these episodes and that if you back off the accelerator for a moment and then floor it, after a bit of a hop and skip she comes good.
Fuel consumption on these longer trips is good, though - I estimate about 23 mpg for sustained 60mph runs (much less around town, of course!)
Speaking of conking out, though, I do need to nudge up the idle speed as she stalled three times over the weekend - once hot and coming to rest at traffic lights, the idle (at about 500rpm cold) drops to under 200 rpm and the oil pressure to pretty much zero. A quick fiddle to get the idle up to 500 rpm in gear when warm should sort her. I also need to replace the little tell-tale 'ignition' light in the corner of the speedo - as she's so quiet, it's hard to tell when she's stalled!
She's also in need of a service to the Borg Warner 35 auto 'box. A trip to Pringle Automotive in North Melbourne should sort out the jerky shift from 1st to 2nd in D1; the 'clunk' from top to 1st in D2; and her reluctance to kick down from the accelerator.
I had my first 'leave well enough alone' episode on Saturday - after cleaning her, I decided to try to tighten up the dash pad, which is a bit loose and rattly. Easy enough to get off, but once I saw how fiddly it would be to get both dash panels off, I decided to leave it for another day. When putting it back together and re-tightening the bolts that hold the pad on, I stupidly gave the left one 'one last hoick' to make sure it was tight - and the stud snapped clean off! At least it's invisible under there, so if my fix is somewhat unsightly, no-one will ever see it.
The only real problems we've identified so far are that she loses quite a bit of coolant on longer runs - which should be fixed with a new radiator cap &/or an overflow bottle - and what we're now calling the 'hesitation waltz'.
The 'hesitation waltz' is an odd one, and something I suspect might take quite a while to sort out. Basically, around town and at speeds up to 50mph/80kmh she runs fine. But on sustained highway runs at 60-70mph (100-110kmh), she will occasionally jerk and surge - the rev counter doesn't budge (it's at 3300-4000 at those sort of speeds) and the road speed hardly drops, but there's definitely something wrong. But whether it's fuel starvation, an electrical quirk or something else, I don't know. What I do know is that she's never come close to conking out during one of these episodes and that if you back off the accelerator for a moment and then floor it, after a bit of a hop and skip she comes good.
Fuel consumption on these longer trips is good, though - I estimate about 23 mpg for sustained 60mph runs (much less around town, of course!)
Speaking of conking out, though, I do need to nudge up the idle speed as she stalled three times over the weekend - once hot and coming to rest at traffic lights, the idle (at about 500rpm cold) drops to under 200 rpm and the oil pressure to pretty much zero. A quick fiddle to get the idle up to 500 rpm in gear when warm should sort her. I also need to replace the little tell-tale 'ignition' light in the corner of the speedo - as she's so quiet, it's hard to tell when she's stalled!
She's also in need of a service to the Borg Warner 35 auto 'box. A trip to Pringle Automotive in North Melbourne should sort out the jerky shift from 1st to 2nd in D1; the 'clunk' from top to 1st in D2; and her reluctance to kick down from the accelerator.
I had my first 'leave well enough alone' episode on Saturday - after cleaning her, I decided to try to tighten up the dash pad, which is a bit loose and rattly. Easy enough to get off, but once I saw how fiddly it would be to get both dash panels off, I decided to leave it for another day. When putting it back together and re-tightening the bolts that hold the pad on, I stupidly gave the left one 'one last hoick' to make sure it was tight - and the stud snapped clean off! At least it's invisible under there, so if my fix is somewhat unsightly, no-one will ever see it.
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