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Daimler Dart restoration

by Esmond Tearle

When I went into this project, I thought it would be a simple rolling restoration, well that is after the engine had been rebuilt.

Here we are, months down the line, but we are getting there, slowly but surely. Initially, it appeared that once the engine had been rebuilt I could at least get the car through an MOT and have some fun, but the summer has all but past me by.

Things changed somewhat when the horrendous crack was found in the car’s chassis, (see the previous article) but that’s all taken care of now and it’s literally as good as new.

The restored chassis sat in my garage for a while before Brian was able to collect it and take it back to the workshop to start fitting everything back together again. He arrived early one morning with his flatbed lorry, and I used a number of flattened cardboard boxes to cover the bed of the lorry before lifting the chassis carefully on so as it didn’t get marked at all. I would have hated to scratch the nice shiny new black paint. Brian securely strapped it down, and off he went.

As this whole project was now very involved, I decided from a very early stage that everything had to be done properly and without cutting any corners that could cause problems at a later stage. It simply didn’t make sense to skimp at this stage and then have to go back and do things all over again which would probably cost more than if the job was done right now.

I had already decided what parts were needed or would eventually be needed and I was soon ready to set to phoning around trying to locate everything.

The job was surprisingly easy. David Manners, the Jaguar and Daimler spares specialist in Oldbury had everything I wanted, all just sitting there on the shelves.

There are some parts for the Dart that aren’t easy to come across, but generally all the mechanical parts don’t seem to be a problem.

I ordered a complete kit ready to re-fit the body onto the chassis, although that stage is still a good way off at present. The kit has everything we would need, new bolts, washers and spacer pads that keep the fibreglass body off the actual chassis.

Also the engine and gearbox mounts had seen better days, so I bought those as well.

Brian had already checked out the gearbox and rear axle, and they both seemed absolutely fine. We decided that rather than completely rebuild them, all they needed was a good clean and paint.

The crazy thing is that my Dart has at some time in the past been the subject of much work and expenditure. When I bought it, I could see that the hood and carpets were virtually new. Why go to that expense when other things desperately needed doing?

All the components including the engine, gearbox and back axle had obviously been removed from the car when some clown had painted them in very odd shades of Hammerite.

Brian decided that it would be much easier for him to doing the painting rather than me have to transport everything home to clean them and then paint them, before taking them all back to him.

I can remember calling in to the workshop and there was my chassis up on trestles with the engine mounts in place. At the rear end the axle was bolted in, and so were the rear springs. One rear brake was back on, and the nice shiny new copper brake pipes were being made up.

New brake pipes

At this point, it hit me that we were slowly but surely getting somewhere. I drove home with a huge grin on my face.

Incidentally, the photos show some areas of the chassis that look a bit white and dusty. That is actually Waxoyl. I went a bit mad with the stuff, but then it’s something well worth doing. I reckon many a good classic car has gone to the big scrap yard in the sky because the dreaded tin worm has done it’s worst. Liberally applied applications of Waxoyl may well have preserved many of them.

The suspension was thoroughly stripped and over hauled with new bushes and everything else that was needed along the way. The trunnions on a Dart can cause problems if they aren’t kept well greased so I am having those replaced as a matter of course.

Some aspects of this whole thing seem incredible. The brake pads were hardly used, as were the discs. The suspension actually seemed okay, but I wanted to have it all checked and any bits that could wear were replaced whether they needed it or not.

So there you go folks. It’s getting there and I am now beginning to see that all the hard work is gradually starting to pay off.

More next month.

[Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 ]

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