The latest project

[carlos21]

Godspeed brother.
I look forward to the unveiling of your beautiful machine

I agree with you there where those pics.

 

[Lapeno77]

Dont understand the attraction of old cars.

Lovely to look at, but why on Earth would you buy 1 when boffins have spent the last 30 years improving them.

Crumple zones for the win.

E types, DB5s, Ferrari 250s. Flawed yes, but built without a thought for anything other than style and Motoring pleasure. Give me that ahead of your crumple zones, fuel efficiency and NCAP ratings

 

[chrismpw]

Armed with a fair bit of experience with old vars I set off with the missus, tool box and gallon of fuel in hand (don't trust those old gauges). The wife's work is an hour from home, the seller picked me up from there and took me the rest of the way, another hour, to his home. Very kind, very 'trapping' - but I figure a taxi and the train was always an option if I had to walk away from the car. There was a vague ... no hang on ... strong smell of [Poor language removed] in his swanky range rover.

I arrived at a farm house, with the kind of barn garage i could only dream of. I inspected the car while the seller made a cup of cheap nast coffee. All seemed good. It was indeed sound - no bubbles of rust, the paintwork generally polished up well, but unrestored. Plenty of blemishes and patina to suggest it wasn't tarted up for a sale. One rear wing showed signs it had suffered some kind of minor shunt at some point, but it had been repaired well. We went for a test drive, the car went and sounded lovely. I checked the paperwork, I was happy. I paid the man, he gave me a stash of books and manuals easily worth a couple of hundreds and said a few things that later would prove significant, before showing me the contents of his barn.

The doors opened an there were shelf upon shelf of parts taken from (as far as I could see) at least 4 donor cars. Manifolds, consoles, switches, steering columns etc etc.

He was an accountant (do we trust these people after Everton?). Not good with his hands so he had the help of an old fella from the village who did work on the car. That fella, the story goes, kept finding and scrapping xj6s for him. Honestly? At what point do you tell your handyman enough! I was offered the lot - for a very reasonable price. There was no way it would fit in the car, or my workshop, or my shed, no matter how much I wanted it. I'd think about it.

So here comes the 90 mile journey home. Estimate 15mpg 6 gallons, half of one tank. New car, excited, distracted, nervous - will the car be trouble free? Where will I stop fir lunch on the way home? The sum is shining. The fuel gauge is showing an eighth of a tank IF its accurate. A priority to find fuel asap. Set the sat nav - off I go. The car is lively, spritely makes all the right sounds. For a long time in the 70s the XJ6 was widely regarded as the best car ... in the world.

After 20 minutes driving I glance at my sat nav ... I'm 6 minutes from home. What? I look more closely - the phone is taking me to Tamworth ... this is what I'd programmed the night before to look up the journey. Ffs! I'm going the wrong way!

Check the satnav for fuel stations ... head off again, the way I'd come ... 20 minutes away. Get to the asda to find its near a motorway junction and demanding nearly 30p a litre more than the going rate. Feck that, even if I am on fumes. Out comes my pre-prepared gallon ... without a spout, oh gawd. Dribble, dribble in we go trying not to splash or spill it .... of course ... the wind, it hadn't been windy in the slightest, it was a lovely, still early summer's day, but at THIS precise time a stiff breeze appears from nowhere to spray my fuel everywhere.

Fed another gallon I head towards the next station for a proper fill. The xj6 has 2 tanks, one in each rear wing, 12 gallons each.

"Nice motor mate, how long have you had it?"
"About an hour"
One of those nice conversations arise about old cars at a filling station, during which I fill the 2nd tank - which the owner had said "I don't use that one, the fuel gauge isn't reliable."

Ahhh crap .... there's a hole! Sixty quid of fuel went in there while I was distracted, and now brim full its piddling out. What to do? Pathetically I put my gallon can under the slow stream while I weigh up my options. There weren't any.

Tge tank was going to empty anyway and I was still 2 hours and now 100 miles from home. I chose to use that tank and drove it like I stole it! For once, steady driving was not going to give me fuel economy.

I got home with 3 of the 12 gallons left, without stopping for lunch. Around 11mpg ... but not all of that burned!

Issue 1 identified .... need a new tank. 300 notes, remove bumper, silencer and rear valance .... some day.

 

[chrismpw]

You have two cars as projects? the Daimler and the Jaguar? Where are you keeping them? And is the Jag a K reg in dark blue?

My first thought was, is this why she had you bouncing around the house moving the kitchen every other week? Better her projects than another chuffing* car right?

[The interior looks spotless, get yourself a minder and you could be some sort of Arthur Daley?]

Alright Miss Marple!
The Daimler is done ... perfect, no longer a project. Might sell her ... run out of space!

 

[chrismpw]

@chrismpw Is it the Daimler you've purchased or the Jag?

There's a reason why Fleetwood Mac all travelled around privately in their own Daimlers......because they're bloody beautiful!!!

Need so much tlc and a very deep pocket to keep going these days. One of the best cars to travel in.

I have the Daimler and now the Jag. I've also got a MG Midget I bought in 1992. All 3 cost less than a modern average eurobox that will last around 10 years. I am also on the lookout for someone with a garage to hire out!

 

[COYBL25]

Dont understand the attraction of old cars.

Lovely to look at, but why on Earth would you buy 1 when boffins have spent the last 30 years improving them.

Crumple zones for the win.

I`ve got a mint Golf Gti, that`s just turned 34 years old.

Every time I get in it, it makes me smile and it`s just a joy to drive.

If you`re not into cars, it`s hard to explain how an old car makes you feel when you drive it.

The only draw back, is that everywhere you go, queues of fellas form, who want to talk to you about it lol

There also money pits too !

 

[COYBL25]

I have the Daimler and now the Jag. I've also got a MG Midget I bought in 1992. All 3 cost less than a modern average eurobox that will last around 10 years. I am also on the lookout for someone with a garage to hire out!

I`m running three at the mo too.

My classic Golf Gti, my VW Transporter and my run around Golf Tdi.

If I had a proper, safe space to store more cars, I`d have many more and I`d also have a couple of classic Kawasaki bikes too

 

[chrismpw]

I`m running three at the mo too.

My classic Golf Gti, my VW Transporter and my run around Golf Tdi.

If I had a proper, safe space to store more cars, I`d have many more and I`d also have a couple of classic Kawasaki bikes too

I've been looking for and hankering after a xj6 for over a year - but first resolved together sell one if thecobes I had, or find a garage to hire. Then this came along, reason left my head and my heart took its place.... exactly the same as happened in '92 when I saw the MG and '19 when I saw the Daimler. Both have required a lot of work to get thfm to a goid useable standard i like ... which is fine as its a hobby I enjoy, otherwise I'd have been haemorrhaging money I don't have. I never want concourse, I want good useable cars I'm not too afraid to leave in a car park. Given my car ocd rverything must work .... apart from heated rear windows which never work even from new on these old cars!

 

[COYBL25]

Armed with a fair bit of experience with old vars I set off with the missus, tool box and gallon of fuel in hand (don't trust those old gauges). The wife's work is an hour from home, the seller picked me up from there and took me the rest of the way, another hour, to his home. Very kind, very 'trapping' - but I figure a taxi and the train was always an option if I had to walk away from the car. There was a vague ... no hang on ... strong smell of [Poor language removed] in his swanky range rover.

I arrived at a farm house, with the kind of barn garage i could only dream of. I inspected the car while the seller made a cup of cheap nast coffee. All seemed good. It was indeed sound - no bubbles of rust, the paintwork generally polished up well, but unrestored. Plenty of blemishes and patina to suggest it wasn't tarted up for a sale. One rear wing showed signs it had suffered some kind of minor shunt at some point, but it had been repaired well. We went for a test drive, the car went and sounded lovely. I checked the paperwork, I was happy. I paid the man, he gave me a stash of books and manuals easily worth a couple of hundreds and said a few things that later would prove significant, before showing me the contents of his barn.

The doors opened an there were shelf upon shelf of parts taken from (as far as I could see) at least 4 donor cars. Manifolds, consoles, switches, steering columns etc etc.

He was an accountant (do we trust these people after Everton?). Not good with his hands so he had the help of an old fella from the village who did work on the car. That fella, the story goes, kept finding and scrapping xj6s for him. Honestly? At what point do you tell your handyman enough! I was offered the lot - for a very reasonable price. There was no way it would fit in the car, or my workshop, or my shed, no matter how much I wanted it. I'd think about it.

So here comes the 90 mile journey home. Estimate 15mpg 6 gallons, half of one tank. New car, excited, distracted, nervous - will the car be trouble free? Where will I stop fir lunch on the way home? The sum is shining. The fuel gauge is showing an eighth of a tank IF its accurate. A priority to find fuel asap. Set the sat nav - off I go. The car is lively, spritely makes all the right sounds. For a long time in the 70s the XJ6 was widely regarded as the best car ... in the world.

After 20 minutes driving I glance at my sat nav ... I'm 6 minutes from home. What? I look more closely - the phone is taking me to Tamworth ... this is what I'd programmed the night before to look up the journey. Ffs! I'm going the wrong way!

Check the satnav for fuel stations ... head off again, the way I'd come ... 20 minutes away. Get to the asda to find its near a motorway junction and demanding nearly 30p a litre more than the going rate. Feck that, even if I am on fumes. Out comes my pre-prepared gallon ... without a spout, oh gawd. Dribble, dribble in we go trying not to splash or spill it .... of course ... the wind, it hadn't been windy in the slightest, it was a lovely, still early summer's day, but at THIS precise time a stiff breeze appears from nowhere to spray my fuel everywhere.

Fed another gallon I head towards the next station for a proper fill. The xj6 has 2 tanks, one in each rear wing, 12 gallons each.

"Nice motor mate, how long have you had it?"
"About an hour"
One of those nice conversations arise about old cars at a filling station, during which I fill the 2nd tank - which the owner had said "I don't use that one, the fuel gauge isn't reliable."

Ahhh crap .... there's a hole! Sixty quid of fuel went in there while I was distracted, and now brim full its piddling out. What to do? Pathetically I put my gallon can under the slow stream while I weigh up my options. There weren't any.

Tge tank was going to empty anyway and I was still 2 hours and now 100 miles from home. I chose to use that tank and drove it like I stole it! For once, steady driving was not going to give me fuel economy.

I got home with 3 of the 12 gallons left, without stopping for lunch. Around 11mpg ... but not all of that burned!

Issue 1 identified .... need a new tank. 300 notes, remove bumper, silencer and rear valance .... some day.View attachment 255743

Would it not be possible to hire a van and go back for the rest of those bits ?

That stash of parts is an absolute goldmine and the stuff of classic car legends.

Not only would it help you with your resto, but the sale of what you didn`t need, would help ntroduce you to valuable contacts within the old Daimler / Jag world ?

I`ve been running old VW`s now for the best part of thirty years now and through people I`ve bought stuff off, I`ve not only become friends with some of them, but been introduced to pretty much every single person involved in the complete restoration of old VW`s, from engine rebuilders, to upholsters and welders.

 

[COYBL25]

I've been looking for and hankering after a xj6 for over a year - but first resolved together sell one if thecobes I had, or find a garage to hire. Then this came along, reason left my head and my heart took its place.... exactly the same as happened in '92 when I saw the MG and '19 when I saw the Daimler. Both have required a lot of work to get thfm to a goid useable standard i like ... which is fine as its a hobby I enjoy, otherwise I'd have been haemorrhaging money I don't have. I never want concourse, I want good useable cars I'm not too afraid to leave in a car park. Given my car ocd rverything must work .... apart from heated rear windows which never work even from new on these old cars!

I`m the same Chris.

My cars are aren`t showroom, as I want to drive them and enjoy them.

They`re all mechanically perfect, with a few old car gremlins that kind of define the car, but all are unmolested and original.

I don`t understand people, who get a car restored to factory condition and then never use it, choosing instead to lock it away in a garage under a cover.

 

[chrismpw]

Would it not be possible to hire a van and go back for the rest of those bits ?

That stash of parts is an absolute goldmine and the stuff of classic car legends.

Not only would it help you with your resto, but the sale of what you didn`t need, would help ntroduce you to valuable contacts within the old Daimler / Jag world ?

I`ve been running old VW`s now for the best part of thirty years now and through people I`ve bought stuff off, I`ve not only become friends with some of them, but been introduced to pretty much every single person involved in the complete restoration of old VW`s, from engine rebuilders, to upholsters and welders.

I have a big transit camper van - and the current plan is to go up tomorrow and get them.

It hasn't been simple because of the Walter Mitty seller - it started like this...

Buy them or they're going to the tip
I'll bring them in my range rover
I know a man with a van who'll bring them down for you
I'll find the cost of a courier for you.
"I'd like to take the tank!"
Take the lot I'm not interested on selling piecemeal (as if flinging a tank my way would affect his ability to flog off the rest).

None of which transpired. All these points will be revealed in due course!

 

[Rita_Poon]

I have a big transit camper van - and the current plan is to go up tomorrow and get them.

It hasn't been simple because of the Walter Mitty seller - it started like this...

Buy them or they're going to the tip
I'll bring them in my range rover
I know a man with a van who'll bring them down for you
I'll find the cost of a courier for you.
"I'd like to take the tank!"
Take the lot I'm not interested on selling piecemeal (as if flinging a tank my way would affect his ability to flog off the rest).

None of which transpired. All these points will be revealed in due course!

He was pissy cos he wanted more for the car and sought to gouge you over the extras. All salespersons create the illusion of urgency, get you off balance and push for the answer they want.
Just to clarify, a transit camper, an MG midget, the Daimler, and now this big Jag. As well as a canal boat. You've got a helicopter as well haven't you?

 

[chrismpw]

He was pissy cos he wanted more for the car and sought to gouge you over the extras. All salespersons create the illusion of urgency, get you off balance and push for the answer they want.
Just to clarify, a transit camper, an MG midget, the Daimler, and now this big Jag. As well as a canal boat. You've got a helicopter as well haven't you?

Now why would I want to leave the ground? I'm perfectly happy at that level thanks!

 

[Rita_Poon]

Now why would I want to leave the ground? I'm perfectly happy at that level thanks!

Did you pay him cash and cut ebay out? I don't like ebay, they're scum. What does the boss think of the car? I bet that lovely interior has kept that manicured leather smell. 4.2 litre, wasn't made for that oil crisis was it.

 

[chrismpw]

So now on to issues. Remember ... everything works other than the electric aerial and the handbrake.

Well the radio didn't work ... actually an 8 track radio ... with tapes! Mantovani! The reason it didn't work, is that it wasn't wired in ... at all. He must have forgot.

The rear windows went down, not up without help. The centre console illumination and fibre optic illumination (I kid you not) don't work.

One of the two heater fans works, but not the heater.

All of these are trivial and within the scope of a day or so fiddling about, as you do with old cars.

Hang on, Where's the ignition light and oil pressure light* ? None of the warning lights work (consults manusl) - main beam, hazards (it has hazards? Where's the switch), hand brake brake fluid etc. ... all dark. Ahhh geesh to I have to take the dashboard apart to get to bulbs? (An hour of research later and no - a cover pops off ... relief).

The speedo under-reads by 10mph at 30 and 70. Honest officer. For crying out loud! What random fault have we here?

wipers only work if you hold the hand to the stalk. Washers not at all. OK- he may never gave taken the car out in the rain.

I start to inspect the engine bay .... is that a cable tie holding the battery in place, with the positive terminal right next to the overhang of the bulkhead?

Is that a gas tap in the fuel line to the Automatic Enrichment Device (choke) and its turned off? That's why I struggled to start it this morning. I turned it on. It made no dufference other than the tap leaked .... of course it does its built for gas not petrol ...and then the engine stalled. What goes through somebody's head to go to the trouble of fitting a (incorrect) tap, in a cramped place, to isolate a component that doesn't work WHEN YOU'RE THE KIND OF PERSON WHO HAS THE ENTRAILS OF 4 DONOR CARS?

I Like a challenge. I have zero buyers remorse, just an increasing list of labours of love. The car is solid, it's worth every penny and effort to fix it up ... but come on! It has 4 new tyres at least.

Wait ... one front tyre is worn on the inside .... down to the threads! Out comes the jack. The wheel bearing is SO badly adjusted there is around 5mm of free play in the wheel. 5mm! 5 enormous mm where the normal permitted is something less than a tenth! This explains why sometimes there was a lot of travel on the brake pedal, and at other times barely any. I check the other wheel - better - only around 2mm ... only around 20 times out of spec. All now properly adjusted and a new tyre fitted.

Onto the carnage committed to the electrical system under the dashboard. Feet in the air, lying back on the seat squab, a position that took considerable time and groaning to get onto, I discover that all the wiring is far too close for my old eyes to focus on.

I get all the lights working and seek the help of Mrs Chrismpw to tell me what comes on. Everything but the brake fluid warning, despite its new bulb. A look into the reservoir shows the float seized. I whip it apart and clean the contacts when the cork float crumbles in my hand ... bugger! It's Friday night and I HAVE to open a bottle of red wine, to liberate the necessary raw material to affect a repair.

* "Yes!" shouts the missus, "all the lights are on, even the zero one one light, whatever that means."