This Daimler has been parked for the best part of 30+ years. Most of its life has been in my Dad’s garage with a short stay of a few years in my Nanna’s garage and a garage up the road from my parent’s house.
I have a few memories of this car. I remember being asleep with my little brother side by side on the back seat when Dad got stopped for speeding in it. I thought we were at a toll gate as it was dark etc. He got let off! I also remember going up to my Nanna’s house to help Dad fit a new exhaust so he could bring it home (I wasn’t keen to go at the time because I had just got myself a new girlfriend who was 2 years ahead of me at school!). Driving it up the road to the neighbour’s garage was an experience too. I decided to use the kick down and then sailed straight past the house as the brake pedal sank to the floor. I also remember my Dad filling the tank with petrol when it broke the 50p a gallon mark, only to find the fuel tank leaked and so he lost it all over the garage floor. He took the tank out and fibre glassed it up so I know there is some work to be done there.
My Dad passed away a few years ago. Nothing has been done with the car in all those years. My Mum is now keen to free the space in her Garage for her modern mini. I have too many cars and motorbike projects around me already at my place and the wife won’t let me bring it home. My little brother and I are hatching a plan to resolve the problem.
We plan to take a week off work, get the car somewhere convenient to work on and get it MOT’d and on the road. The plan is to leave the interior and what we can of the bodywork as found for now so just concentrate on what’s required to get it running reliably and safely. We have friends who are willing to help and the carrot will be to share the car amongst friends that help us out. Anyone who helps get it on the road will be able to use it. If we decide to sell it at some point the profit (if any) will be shared amongst everyone.
So we need to find somewhere local to us in Derby that has a lift that we can use for a week. My brother and I will buy all the parts we think we will need up front so that we can get stuck in. We think we should be able to get it on the road for less than £2500.
So yesterday we dragged the Daimler out the garage and my mate Rob who is an MOT tester had a look over it for us. He thinks it’s surprisingly solid and so doable and is keen. So we stripped the fuel pump and carbs off to allow us to rebuild them.
Some pictures of what we found:
So what we found. It needs new rear jacking points and rear quarters on the sills. Brakes overhaul (including vacuum tank), fuel system overhaul (including fuel tank) and tyres. Some bits of the bodywork will need to be tidied.
All I need now is access to a lift and we can get cracking.
Rob
