1994 Daimler Six 4.0 £700 shed budget restoration
Discussion
Long story short..
whilst perusing Generic car sales websites in bed, I left the room briefly to deal with our 4 year old. On my return my girlfriend was holding my phone asking if I want a project car..?!
She'd somehow stumbled on an ad for a Daimler Six. So a quick phone call and 2.5 hours later we where in Gateshead!
Here she is waiting for a jump pack as the battery was as flat as a pancake. Once she had a jump pack on she fired up first flick and sat idling nicely.
On first inspection the front wings are rotten, the cills seem solid and the bonnet, boot, petrol filler and doors are mostly all rust free. No nasty smoke or smells, up to temperature nicely.
There's a slight oil leak from somewhere but not enough to drip anywhere.
Whilst I was having a look around it my girlfriend had all but bought it
So.. insurance sorted and off we go.
24.8mpg and 3 hours later we arrived home!
In my excitement I forgot the obligatory first stop petrol station picture. Sorry.
Any way..
Everything works apart from the electric mirrors. The little adjustment knob has been broken off and the mirrors themselves look a bit battered but can't complain. The air con belt has been removed but the heaters blow hot and cold, the heated seats work, the radio works, even all the adjustments on the electric seats work too. Oh, it goes well in kickdown for an old bus too!
It's not used any oil or coolant on its voyage home either. I'm chuffed to bits with it. Going to throw it in for an MOT (hopefully this week) and see what it fails on. I'll work my way through the fail sheet, tarting it up a little on the way.
Now I've got to sort my Dti Vectra that I managed to misfuel on my to collect the Daimler.
£25 of Petrol into a diesel topped up with £40 of diesel. Tbh you would never had known until it refused to start leaving the garage. Got it fired up eventually and it drove home fine. I (in the 23 year old unknown daimler!) followed my girlfriend home incase she broke down!
whilst perusing Generic car sales websites in bed, I left the room briefly to deal with our 4 year old. On my return my girlfriend was holding my phone asking if I want a project car..?!
She'd somehow stumbled on an ad for a Daimler Six. So a quick phone call and 2.5 hours later we where in Gateshead!
Here she is waiting for a jump pack as the battery was as flat as a pancake. Once she had a jump pack on she fired up first flick and sat idling nicely.
On first inspection the front wings are rotten, the cills seem solid and the bonnet, boot, petrol filler and doors are mostly all rust free. No nasty smoke or smells, up to temperature nicely.
There's a slight oil leak from somewhere but not enough to drip anywhere.
Whilst I was having a look around it my girlfriend had all but bought it
So.. insurance sorted and off we go.
24.8mpg and 3 hours later we arrived home!
In my excitement I forgot the obligatory first stop petrol station picture. Sorry.
Any way..
Everything works apart from the electric mirrors. The little adjustment knob has been broken off and the mirrors themselves look a bit battered but can't complain. The air con belt has been removed but the heaters blow hot and cold, the heated seats work, the radio works, even all the adjustments on the electric seats work too. Oh, it goes well in kickdown for an old bus too!
It's not used any oil or coolant on its voyage home either. I'm chuffed to bits with it. Going to throw it in for an MOT (hopefully this week) and see what it fails on. I'll work my way through the fail sheet, tarting it up a little on the way.
Now I've got to sort my Dti Vectra that I managed to misfuel on my to collect the Daimler.
£25 of Petrol into a diesel topped up with £40 of diesel. Tbh you would never had known until it refused to start leaving the garage. Got it fired up eventually and it drove home fine. I (in the 23 year old unknown daimler!) followed my girlfriend home incase she broke down!
Quick weekend update.
I had a spare hour or so yesterday so gave the interior a seeing too with some all purpose cleaner a magic sponge ( a brilliant little invention, a slightly abrasive sponge which are great for getting marks off light coloured inheritors.)
Whilst it wasn't bad to start with, I'm pleased with it so far. Once the weather warms up I'll get the steamer in there.
[url]
Mmm.. picnic tables.
|https://thumbsnap.com/CAWUITGg[/url]
A check of all the fluids shows the cleanest oil I've ever seen on a car I've bought, the brake fluid is clear and clean too. The air filter is a Mann jobby and looks good too. The piece of paper with some service dates written on it for the last two years may actually be true?!
Today I gave it a quick clean and ran around it with a machine polisher.
Before..
And after..
It's just a quick one to give a good first impression come MOT time.
Now some horror pics!
The worst bits of the body work,
The front wings are shot.. they're bolt on so I'll try and get some replacement ones soon.
A few spots of rust on the roof too
And finally..
The rear wings have been painted badly at some point. I'm going to flat them to death and see what happens!
Then rain stopped play
It looks smart now though and will give a good impression when it goes in for its MoT.
A misspelled cheque has put a financial stop to anything further for a week but should be getting it booked in at least this week. I gave the front over mats a quick clean at work earlier in the week too, they looks superb all things considered
I had a spare hour or so yesterday so gave the interior a seeing too with some all purpose cleaner a magic sponge ( a brilliant little invention, a slightly abrasive sponge which are great for getting marks off light coloured inheritors.)
Whilst it wasn't bad to start with, I'm pleased with it so far. Once the weather warms up I'll get the steamer in there.
[url]Mmm.. picnic tables.
|https://thumbsnap.com/CAWUITGg[/url]A check of all the fluids shows the cleanest oil I've ever seen on a car I've bought, the brake fluid is clear and clean too. The air filter is a Mann jobby and looks good too. The piece of paper with some service dates written on it for the last two years may actually be true?!
Today I gave it a quick clean and ran around it with a machine polisher.
Before..
And after..
It's just a quick one to give a good first impression come MOT time.
Now some horror pics!
The worst bits of the body work,
The front wings are shot.. they're bolt on so I'll try and get some replacement ones soon.
A few spots of rust on the roof too
And finally..
The rear wings have been painted badly at some point. I'm going to flat them to death and see what happens!
Then rain stopped play
It looks smart now though and will give a good impression when it goes in for its MoT.
A misspelled cheque has put a financial stop to anything further for a week but should be getting it booked in at least this week. I gave the front over mats a quick clean at work earlier in the week too, they looks superb all things considered
This is epic! I'm looking forward to the updates.
I owned the two models either side of this - a 1994 Daimler Double Six (XJ40 series), and a 1998 Daimler V8 (X308 series).
This is the one in the middle. It was apparently the best one
I may have some spare bits of trim etc. in the attic. Originally for the X308 version, but may fit your car. I'll take a look and see if there's anything of interest.
Those picnic tables and floor rugs...
I owned the two models either side of this - a 1994 Daimler Double Six (XJ40 series), and a 1998 Daimler V8 (X308 series).
This is the one in the middle. It was apparently the best one
I may have some spare bits of trim etc. in the attic. Originally for the X308 version, but may fit your car. I'll take a look and see if there's anything of interest.
Those picnic tables and floor rugs...
Damm this brings back some memories!! Went to an auction to sell a XR3i which we had painted (badly) in my lock up and ended up buying a 1978 XJ6 in Brown with a tan colored leather interior. After driving it the 300 miles home, she was purring like the big cat and I totally fell in love with her.
I had that car for 6 months and then had to clear it to make room for yet another Auction purchase, an XJS V12 which again could have broken the bank (oil leak) but thanks to a cheap seal and a very expensive tool (borrowed) that also drove like a dream.
Bookmarked this page as Id love to get another!!!
Good luck, enjoy!!!!
I had that car for 6 months and then had to clear it to make room for yet another Auction purchase, an XJS V12 which again could have broken the bank (oil leak) but thanks to a cheap seal and a very expensive tool (borrowed) that also drove like a dream.
Bookmarked this page as Id love to get another!!!
Good luck, enjoy!!!!
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