I love looking at everyone else vehicles so thought I would post up some pics of my Daimler and what I have been doing to it. While I have always maintained my own cars and done minor repairs, this is my first foray into repairing/restoring a vehicle. Never had the patience in the past but am finding the process quite theraputic.

It's a 1970 Daimler Sovereign with the 4.2 six, which was in a fairly good condition to start with. I am the third owner, the first had it for 36 years, the second for 3 years an now me for the last two.

The day I took her home.



The first job was to repair the annoying squeak in the rear end. Turned out to be the one of the handbrake pads had worn through. Oh well out with the rear end to repair.

 

Turns out it wasnt just the handbrake pads but the calipers wore almost completely seized. So calipers out, new kits in and painted.

Didn't seem right to put freshly painted bits in with old grubby bits so I stripped everything down, replaced a heap of parts, (disks, bushes, brake lines etc etc) painted and reassembled. since this photo I have also replaced the springs and new shocks are on the way.

Very happy with the way it turned out, although in hindsight I would have had some parts powder coated instead of painted.

 

Not long after putting it back together I managed to score a nice set of wheels at a pretty good price. I love the look of these.


but I then noticed the car had a bit of a lean to it and didn't sit quite right, and the front drivers side tyre was scrubbing quite badly. So the front end was stripped down, all bushes, springs, bolts, bearings and disks replaced and calipers refurbished. The driver side spring had a real kink in it causing the odd angles.



And fixed.

 

Then came under the bonnet. It was OK to start with but did need some attention.

First I had the carbs professionally rebuilt which was expensive but money very well spent IMO. At the same time I replaced, gaskets, fuel lines and filters, plugs, leads, coil and points, alternator and tidied up some wiring. Horn still doesn't work though. As a precaution, I also replaced the oil pressure switch and sender.

Brake master cylinder was also replaced after it decided to leak on some fresh paint.

 

And I have just completed the exhaust system. Consists of a new set of headers into a sigle collector then back in to a twin system with mufflers. The exhaust place has done a magnificent job and the sound of the motor now is really nice.

Rather than routing the exhaust back through the diff cage and near the brakes, I was talked into having the pipes run under the diff, there is minimal heat transfer, have never hit anything and are very easy to remove if I ever need to take the rear assembly out again. I have seen quite a few exhausts done this way now and none have had any problems.

 

Next is the interior, new seats or retrimming is required and hopefully a full paint job and some chroming in the next 12 or so months.

But for the moment the paint is OK if you don't look too closely.

 

Looks great...nice work too. The color is great and I didnt know series 1's has solid rotors.

 

Very nice - well done! That's a genuinely desirable car you've got there!

And you've done some great work - the rebuild of the rear subframe looks like a classic case of 'it started with just one little thing I wanted to do...'.

Thanks for putting minilites on an XJ6 - now I know they look fantastic! Usually I'm a great fan of this style of wheel but thought they just wouldn't work on one of these. Thank you for proving me wrong! Though now I've got to fork out for some...

Cheers,

Tony.

 

Wow, a fellow Canberran, wasn't expecting that. The subframe did get a little out of control but am well pleased with the result, nobody sees it but I know it's there.

Be happy to catch up one day and talks Jags, I'm still on a steep learning curve and happy to pick people's brains about them. Are you in any of the car clubs here? Been thinking about joining one but not sure which way to go, I.e a Jag only flub or an all car club.

 

Beautiful car; good work ! :-)


Cheers
DD

 

very impressive work, looks like a brand new car!

I see elements of the Jaguar/Daimler model 420/Sovereign in this car, specifically in the front; the "horn grilles" are a carryover from the 420, very similar flashers too.

 

Very nice. Well done, a lot of work but worth it.

 

Looks great man. Good to see there's a few of us in AUS running series 1's. Wish my paint was as fresh as yours. Nice wheels too, are they 16"?

 

Australians are so lucky. In almost any other country where Jaguars are plentiful, a 42 year old car would be brown dust by now.

 

This is where I say "Oh yes, I immediately recognised the gutter and footpath treatment common to Canberra. And the hills from around the southern half (?). And the ACT number plates...". I didn't completely miss all of those things at all...

I am in the local Jag club and my partner and I were certainly made to feel welcome when we joined early-mid last year.
Very happy to catch up and talk Jags! Know my Jags reasonably well but always on a learning curve with the practical stuff. Am making steady progress on the resto though...

 

Paint looks ok in the photos and in low light. Needs a bit of work, bit of light paint showing up on top of some bog AMF both rear guards are in need of attention.

 

I think I will pull my finger out and come to the next meeting with a view to join. Look forward to meeting you there.

 

Thats why I dont paint anything under the car...once you do one you have to do the lot (and anyway once you drive down a dirt road it'll turn to crap !) . But each to their own and it looks great!! Are they lowered or heavy duty springs? Id stear clear of uprated springs.

 

We are spoilt ...and here cars with a little bit of rust are sent for scrap whereas in the UK they would be welded up and back on the road.

 

Std springs. The car doesn't get driven in rain or on dirt roads.