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Daimler Dart restoration

by Esmond Tearle

It seems like ages since I actually sat down to write about the progress on my Daimler Dart restoration, and I bet that some of the regular readers were wondering if I had actually given up, expecting to see the car for sale in the small ads as yet another unfinished project. No way!

In truth, a couple of minor hiccups have interfered with progress of late, but hopefully, things will very soon be back on track again.

I desperately needed to make some space at home for when the Dart comes back for the work to start on the bodywork. This meant selling another car to create valuable garage space. After one buyer who decided to change his mind, I soon found another and that’s when the problems really started.

This chap took a whole month to come and pay for the car. I was in regular contact with him, and he seemed very genuine. Various problems kept coming up but eventually money changed hands. He was told from the outset that I needed the car moved very quickly, and he agreed to do this. Anyway, six weeks later, I had the money, I still had the car, and he was refusing to reply to my emails, wouldn’t answer his phone and was generally trying to avoid me.

The final option was to give him written notice to move the car, or I would dispose of it and he would lose out. The result was as usual, absolutely nothing by way of a response.

The summer has been and gone, the workshop has been closed over the summer holiday period, the Dart obviously locked away inside. In a nutshell, a couple of months have been wasted.

Anyway, now for the positive news! Hopefully the Dart will be delivered back to me within the next week or so.

I went over to see Brian last week, and was told that a couple of guys where opening up a body shop just a few doors along from where they are, and these chaps wanted to see me as they were very keen to paint the car for me.

I went along and introduced myself, and we had a chat. Basically, they seemed to know their stuff and agreed to show me pictures of the cars they had painted. Knowing only to well that just about any car can look good in a photo, I wanted to see their work first hand, and then I would decide if I wanted them to take the job on. It seemed that this wouldn’t be a problem, so it all came down to the financial aspect.

I had originally intended to do a lot of the preparation prior to painting myself, largely to keep the cost down to a sensible level, but also for the satisfaction of being able to look back and say to people that I did that.

The front wings on the Dart had in the past been butchered by someone, presumably to flare the arches out to accommodate wider wheels. The natural flowing lines had been lost, and the curve of the actual wheel arch was much less of a curve than it once was.

I have numerous close up photos of other Darts taken for me by friends showing their cars, and in particular the front wheel arches and the correct shape of the panels.

In addition, another friend had actually taken the trouble to produce a number of templates that would be a real help when reshaping the wings.

Anyway, it did occur to me that before embarking on such a time consuming task, maybe I should just check and see if new wings could be sourced and how much they would cost. One phone call was all it took, and I found that they were readily available, and that they were relatively inexpensive. Being as the Darts body is made of fibre glass, any panels are far cheaper than steel ones.

So, that’s the route I have decided to take, new front wings which will obviously need to be fitted, and then I will then also do a lot of the rubbing down and repairing any damaged areas that will need attention before the painting stage is reached.

Anyway, in respect of the cost. I arranged that I would call the body shop guys the following day, and they would provide me with a firm quote, having seen the car.

Now, I don’t think I look like Richard Branson, and I certainly don't have fifty pound notes falling out of my backside, but the figure they gave me was a joke. We are talking telephone numbers!

Needless to say, they won’t be doing the job, and I will eventually find a good painter who is not looking to take his wife and kids to Florida for a couple of months on the profit he makes from me.

So there we are folks. Things are soon to be back on track, and there will be more to tell soon.

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