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Daimler Dart restoration

by Esmond Tearle

Last month I told you how I came to become the owner of a Daimler Dart. It was the second one I had owned, having sold the previous one and regretted it ever since.

Well work has started, and the engine was top of the list. When I first drove the car it was very obvious that all was not well beneath the bonnet, but I suppose I bought the car with my eyes open, so to an extent I knew what I was letting myself in for.

The story behind this Dart was that at some point the engine had been overhauled by the owner of the car prior to the man I purchased it from.

About a year ago, the car was offered for sale, and a classic car dealer from somewhere up north had been to see the car, and subsequently had taken it for a test drive. He basically thrashed it to hell and back and then returned it to the owner stating that there appeared to be an engine problem as it had started to knock. Needless to say he didn't want to buy it. The problem seems to have been that the car stood idle for a number of months, and then it was given an almighty thrashing from stone cold.

So when I acquired it, I had a decent basis for a restoration, but with a severely knocking engine.

I have known a man named Brian Jones for a number of years; Brian is what I would call a mechanic of the old school. He does everything meticulously and takes his time doing it. In fact Brian rebuilt the gearbox on my first Dart, and I knew that he had in the past rebuilt several Daimler V8 engines. In a nutshell, Brian was the only man for the job. He lived local, and I trusted him. I found his number and within a very short time, Brian was outside and was sizing up the job in hand. He explained that he had moved on since we last met. He had left the firm he was with, and after a spell lecturing at an engineering college; he was involved with a trust named the Wheelwright Motor Project based in Milton Keynes.

Basically the Wheelwright Motor Project is a charity. They teach mechanical and engineering skills to lads who, for what ever reason, need to get themselves involved in something that will not only give them a purpose, but will allow them to learn and hopefully give them a more stable future to look forward to.

Brian explained to me that they would love to take on the engine as a project. I was to buy the parts needed and they would do the work, but it would be done to Brian's exacting standards. I would then make a donation to the trust. It all sounded ideal, and I was more than happy entrusting the job to them.

I started up the engine and as soon as I gave the accelerator pedal a press and the revs rose, I was told to turn it off. Brian confirmed that the big ends were shot.

Now at this point, I should add that a sticker on the heater box gave the name of a company in London who had supposedly re-bored the block and rebuilt the engine. I had no invoice to support this but by all accounts it was done some five thousand miles ago. I have written to the owner prior to the chap I bought the car from, but for whatever reason, the man never replied to my letter.

Luckily I just happened to have a spare crank that had sat in the garage for a number of years. Brian thought the best idea would be to strip the engine, see just what was needed and then make a list of the parts I needed to buy.

A local garage was given the job of disconnecting everything and then removing the engine. I had arranged for a friend to collect the Dart and take it across to their premises on his rather superb ex- Aston Martin' s transporter. That thing is one heck of a bit of kit, purpose built and perfect for the job.

The engine was removed and taken over to Brian at the workshop.

The strip down commenced and I often called in to see how things were progressing. I wanted to keep a photographic record of events, so that when the whole thing is done, I will have something to look back at.

The first thing we found was that the crankshaft was very badly scored, and the shells were shot as it were. Still, not a problem as I had the other crank. Brian knows a company named T&L Engineering who are based in Kempston Hardwick near Bedford. T&L supply all the motor trade around here with engine components, and they used to rebuild units for the club in the days when the stores operation was based at Gamlingay. I was more than happy as I bought one of their reconditioned engines for my first Dart.

Within the week, I had a reground crank, a complete set of bearings and a full gasket set.

I was shocked by the price; it was a lot less than I expected!

One morning I was busy in the garage rubbing down various components that Brian had removed, and I was going to repaint them so that everything under the bonnet looked just as it should. I chose Finnigans Smoothrite as it gives a shiny and very durable finish.

Brian rang to say that I might like to go over and see him. He had found something that I really ought to look at.

I arrived at the workshop, and was presented with a piston. I must say, it had seen better days. Brian then showed me two more that weren't as bad, but they weren't exactly good either.

Now I knew that a set of eight pistons would set me back £360 plus VAT. I asked Brian what we should do, and basically he said it was up to me, but he wasn't at all happy to use them. Well that said it all.

I went home a depressed man. Things were suddenly going a bit pear shaped.

A few days later, another phone call, and Brian told me he had sorted out the pistons and I had to go over to T & L and collect the re-bored block and the new pistons. I remember thinking that maybe I should have told him that I don't exactly have money falling out of my behind.

I rang T & L and asked them how much I had to pay. After the initial shock, I thought for a moment and it did occur they had possibly made a mistake. I knew the price of the pistons, but they had charged me less than a hundred quid on top of the normal price of a set of pistons to re-bore the block.

I casually mentioned to the guys at T & L Engineering that I was pleased with the price they had charged me, and after a good old chat about Daimler engines, they brought the block around on a trolley and loaded it into the boot for me. Then came the new timing chains the new tensioner, the con rods they had checked and the reconditioned oil pump.

All included in the original price. Christmas had come early for me; I had saved a small fortune by dealing direct and with no middleman to take his profit.

I rang Brian and told him I was very impressed. "I told you I'd look after you boy".

The next few weeks were spent painting everything that was removed from the engine.

The hardest part was removing all traces of a previous owner's colour scheme. This guy had obviously been given a Hammerite starter kit for his birthday. I had metallic mint green on the carburettor linkages and the heater box. The heater pipes were dark green. The Block was bright orange, and the pulleys, fan and most other bits were red. The whole lot looked absolutely horrific. I was embarrassed to open the bonnet.

Anyone who has used Finnigans products will probably know that they are rather good. The biggest problem comes when you decide that you want to remove all traces of paint, which it's advisable to do to avoid any chance of a reaction between the old and the new paints. It's not just a case of a light rub down with some coarse wet and dry paper; it takes a bit more than that.

I found that the only way to shift the stuff is a wire brush attachment on an electric drill. This gets the paint off, takes ages, generates more coloured dust than you can imagine; it gets everywhere, in your eyes, up your nose, in your ears, in your hair and over everything. And before anyone tells me I should have worn goggles and a mask, I did! Nasty, filthy evil stuff. Not only that, the constant drone of the drill rings in your ears for hours after you've finished.

I gradually worked my way through all the components, the dynamo, the tappet chest, the inlet manifold, you name it. I painted it. It took me ages and I used absolutely loads of Smoothrite paint. I used the aerosol on the parts that are really visible when you open the bonnet, but things that are out of sight were brush painted. It is cheaper, and you get a thicker coverage. If you can't see it, then it's out of sight and hard to clean, so needs the protection.

I haven't yet mentioned the engine block in any detail. It is a very heavy lump of metal, even when it is just the bare block. I struggled like mad to lift it single-handed onto the bench. How I ever managed to get it out of the car boot beats me. Once on the bench it was fairly easy to move, I just put it on a couple of pieces of wood and it would slide enough to get to all nooks and crannies with relative ease.

I treated it the same as all the parts that were painted. First a thorough degreasing, and after stripping the paint, a thorough clean up and a good wipe over with Hammerite thinners to ensure that everything was spotless and ready for the new paint. The last thing you want is a reaction in the paint, as it's back to square one.

The block was treated a bit differently, as I needed to protect the nice clean bores, and the flat surfaces, which didn't obviously need painting. It took a while, but was well worth the effort.

The only parts that were removed and not repainted were the heater pipes that run along the top of the engine. I wasn't totally happy with those as there were signs of corrosion, and it made sense to replace them. I bought a stainless steel set from David Manners. At the same time I also bought the two gearbox mountings as my originals had certainly seen better days.

I also needed to get three of the spark plug cap extensions as the originals were showing signs of cracking. The bottom pulley didn't look too good around the threaded part. I believe it's known as an "Archimedes screw'' and is designed to stop the engine oil from leaking out as the engine is running, as there is no oil seal between the two metal surfaces.

I went to see Chris Morris at Leighton Buzzard, as Chris actually breaks Daimlers V8's and Jaguar Mk2's and is a brilliant man for spare parts. Chris sorted me out with all the bits I needed at a very sensible price.

It wasn't until later that I realized that my nice freshly painted bottom pulley and timing cover were not suitable. The pulley for a Dart is slightly different to the V8 saloon. I put a posting on the clubs forum, and was advised to contact Russ Carpenter, the Daimler V8 man. Now Russ does a conversion where he machines the pulley and the timing cover, and fits an oil seal. This had to be the best thing, rather than risk an oil leak at a later stage. I sent the parts off to Russ, and within a week I had them back. I was really impressed with his service, and what a helpful chap to deal with. Little wonder that people speak so highly of him.

I had spoken to Brian and arranged to drop the block over to the workshop along with the pistons and all the other bits. At last we were now getting somewhere.

I had pushed the Dart out of the garage onto the drive, and had the boot of the BMW open ready to put the block straight in onto a clean and very well padded surface. My son knew how I had struggled before, so offered his help with lifting it. I declined the offer as I didn't want him to hurt his back, and also there are not many parts of an engine block that you get really get a good firm grip on. I suggested he should just guide me along as I lugged the block to the car.

With a heave I raised the engine block from the bench, holding it carefully using a pair of those thick padded gloves. I held it at waist height and carefully carried it across the empty garage to the car. Now I never even thought I should have moved the pile of rubber mats on the floor, as they are normally beneath the car I never gave them a thought. I kicked one, lost my footing, and staggered one way, getting dangerously close to the Darts fibreglass bodywork. I realized that a collision was imminent, went the other way towards the BMW, tried to get my balance, failed and the concrete driveway seemed to be coming up to meet me. Isn't it incredible how some things seem to happen in slow motion?

It's at times like this that the brain shuts down and basic instinct takes over. The block was going to hit the deck, so I stuck my right leg out to try and cushion its fall. That will go down as probably the most stupid thing I have ever done. It was very heavy indeed, extremely hard, and I was perhaps lucky that as it hit my shin, it was only about three inches from the ground anyway. I landed on top of it, and this time my left leg was the cushion.

After the initial shock, and the realization that I was likely to have been seen sprawled across the floor on top of the engine, I got up, my son Dale and I picked it up and put it straight into the boot of the BMW. The pain was excruciating, Dale was in shock, but both cars were undamaged, and the only damage to the block was a small chip on the fresh paintwork.

I was so fortunate. "Gosh, that was lucky'' I shouted. Believe that and you'll believe anything. In truth the air turned blue.

I went inside and carefully removed my jeans, by now I was shaking. A mixture of pain and shock. I had a very large horizontal dent on my right shin, with a horizontal cut that was below the skin. My left leg had a perfect imprint of a cylinder and the surrounding water ways. Within a few hours the bruising had come out and I was literally black and blue. I had the mother of all bruises.

I took the block over to Brian later in the day, and told him what had happened. "They are heavy boy" came the reply.

Well that just about covers the preparation stages. The only other jobs that have been done until now are that the engine bay is being treated to a thorough clean up and the chassis has been cleaned and painted using black Smoothrite. I also spent some time polishing the carbs and the rocker covers as they were all off the engine. I found the best way to tackle this was as with a sheepskin polishing wheel on the electric drill. With the parts held firmly in the jaws of my workmate, I used Solvol Autosol metal polishing paste and the results were fantastic.

I made the decision to paint the engine bay with black Stonechip paint. I spoke with a few Dart owners who have opted for this type of finish. It's easy to keep clean, easy to repair if scratched, and it looks good. I had this finish on my first Dart, and it really made the engine stand out as a feature. All the brightwork really sparkled against the dark background. I have never been into the concours scene, so this was a lot easier than spending hours and hours preparing the engine bay for re-spraying in the same colour as the exterior. Not only that, the fibreglass in an engine bay is not likely to be perfect.

That's it for this instalment, more soon as everything goes back into place.

Footnote:

• The Wheelwright Motor Project can possibly undertake rebuild projects such as mine. Owing to the nature of their work and coupled with the amount they have to do, Brian is a very busy man, and doesn't have the time to answer general queries by telephone. They can be contacted at this address: The Wheelwright Motor Project. 8, Hollin Lane, Stacey Bushes, Milton Keynes. MK12 6HT. Address correspondence to David Moss-Norbury, the Project Manager.
• T & L Engineering can be contacted on 01234-352100, and can supply engine parts, machine parts, or rebuild engines.
• David Manners can be contacted on 0121-544-4040. They stock just about everything for Daimlers.
• Chris Morris, the used spares man. Very helpful and he seems to have most things in stock. 01525 381063.
• Russ Carpenter can be reached at C D Services on 01483-233050.

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