Contents of this page

Introduction
Edward Turner & the marque
Engine specification
The desire
The purchase & the reality
Engine restoration (follow the link)
The learning curve continues
Conclusion

Introduction

Whereas the Jaguar Mark 2 was occasionally described as a police/gangster sporting tourer, I am not sure the Daimler V8 knew exactly what it was supposed to be. It was not a sports car, a limousine or a family car - perhaps it was a bit of all of these, a sporty family limousine, and it is probably these characteristics that were so endearing to me; the throaty burble of the sporty exhaust, plenty of space for the family and the limousine-like comfort of the leather and wooden-clad interior.
Described below is a brief resume of Edward Turner, the V8 engine, my initial reasons for purchase and my experiences with the car including an engine report following the engine 'strip down'.

Edward Turner and the Marque (briefly)

Whatever success was due to the Daimler V8 cars of the late '50s and '60s was, in my opinion, almost entirely due to its powerplant, the wonderfully sublime Edward Turner designed 2548cc V8 engine.

Edward Turner was a motorcycle engineer, born 1901, who started work for Ariel in 1924 and designed the Ariel Square Four. Later, Ariel bought Triumph Motorcycles where Turner designed the Triumph 500cc Speed Twin. This company was then sold to Birmingham Small Arms (BSA) in 1951 which subsequently amalgamated with Daimler and, in 1959, the V8 engine was born. The engine’s home was to be the Daimler Dart, a ‘shark-nosed’, 120mph 2 seater sports car aimed at the American market. A 4.5 litre engine was also produced for the Daimler Majestic Major. The Americans, however, objected to the Dart’s name (Dodge already had dibs on it) and it was, therefore, changed to the Daimler SP250.

In 1960, Jaguar took over Daimler and inherited the V8 engine but the Jaguar ‘boss’, William Lyons, was said to have no feelings for the SP250 and production ceased in 1964, preferring to concentrate on his beloved E Type! Lyons along with Jack Sangster (who, previously, was also at Ariel, Triumph and BSA) obviously liked the engine and in 1962 made the recommendation that it should be put into a Jaguar Mark 2 body shell. This became known as the Daimler 2.5L V8 saloon which enjoyed tremendous success in that it outsold the 2.4 Jaguar Mk2. In 1967 the name was changed to the Daimler V8 250 as other alterations were made at that time such as slimmer front and rear bumpers (similar to the Jaguar 240 and 340 models of the late sixties), a padded lower screen rail instead of the existing wood (a mistake in my view), reclining, ventilated front leather seats, an alternator instead of the dynamo and a

Engine Specification

Of 2548cc capacity (in the Daimler Majestic Major the engine was bored out to 4.561 litres) the engine is configured in a 90 degree V8 with 4 cylinders in each bank and has two valves per cylinder. The bore is 76.2mm and stroke 69.85mm. Compression ratio 8.2:1 and the engine produced 140 bhp at 5,800 rpm. Overhead push rods operate the valves from a single central chain driven camshaft. There are two SU HD6 semi-downdraught carburettors with a dual exhaust system. Cooling is by pump and fan with bypass thermostat control. Forced lubrication is provided throughout by a submerged pump system incorporating a full flow filter. The cylinder block is cast iron and the cylinder heads are made of high tensile aluminium alloy with hemi-spherical combustion chambers. The pistons are aluminium alloy and have steel connecting rods*. Specialists are available to convert the engine to enable the use of unleaded fuel at a price.
Commonly, the engine was coupled to a Borg Warner 35 automatic gearbox. The manual gearbox option on today's market demands a higher price for the vehicle, being a little more rare.
Between 1959 and 1964, 2,648 Daimler 'Darts' were produced and 17,620 Daimler V8s were built between the years 1962 and 1969.
Some time ago, an article in one of the motoring magazines featured the 4.5 litre engine being squeezed into the Jaguar Mark 2 bodyshell. Further modifications were required, but I understand it was successful!
*Source: The Daimler Company Ltd, 1967

The desire

It was sometime during 1995 or 1996 that I read an article in a motoring magazine, probably ‘Practical Classics’, about a ‘Dove Grey’ Daimler 2.5 V8 with a red leather interior. The piece described the car as being a comparatively cheap and affordable option to the Jaguar Mark 2 and it was a vehicle that was generally overlooked as being a comfortable yet equally powerful alternative to the Jaguar 2.4. The interior was described as a gentleman’s sitting room with veneered wood and leather fittings. All that was missing was the port and cigars! The pictures in the article were extremely evocative and soon had me drooling all over the page.

In the following months I endeavoured to look through the pages of the press and eventually noticed an ad in the ‘Auto Trader’ fora 1969 Daimler V8 250 for sale in Leeds. I called my brother, who was a mechanic at the time, and made arrangements to go and view it. Armed with a wad of cash (to negotiate a reduction in price) and rather too much enthusiasm, we set off to see the car and found on first impression a very attractive looking light brown cum beige car with an appealing exhaust note, a cross between a growl and a burble! The colour was in fact Jaguar Ascot Fawn, as I learnt later. The interior was of red leather.

The purchase and the reality

Inspecting the engine bay we found it giving off a hiss from the area of the carburettors, but ignored it as being a rectifiable and simple job to fix. The rest of the innards we found acceptable if a little dirty. Having got underneath and received the thumbs up, off we went for a test drive which was uneventful only noticing excessive wind noise, which I discovered later, was fairly normal for these cars.

Having negotiated a £400 reduction in price with a workshop manual thrown in, we set off for home. I had my brother drive it to discover any problems we may have missed earlier. Arriving in Rotherham, no great problems reared their ugly head and I said my goodbyes and set off for Barnsley with all the confidence in the world. Heading for Junction 38 of the M1, this world was shattered as I was a couple of hundred yards past Junction 37. A great cloud of steam gushed from the engine bay and all the electrics went poof! I managed to pull over to the hard shoulder and parked as safe as one could without lights whereupon I discussed with myself the meaning of life before daring to look under the bonnet. After much blowing out of cheeks I decided to investigate. However it was pitch black and I could only see a little by the lights of other cars as they drove by. The engine bay was wet, but I could not see to find the problem so it was time for the Breakdown Club to do its duty. They found the tension wheel of the water pump belt had cut through the radiator bottom hose jubilee clip as it was situated so close to it. I, consequently, had no water in the engine, so the car had to be transported home. This brought out the neighbours – lots of cooing and billing. I didn’t have the heart to tell them it was bust!

Engine restoration

So four weeks after purchase the engine was removed and stripped down. A report was compiled at the time by my brother and edited by yours truly. To see the report click here

The learning curve continues

The radiator was leaking a little and after it's repair I was looking forward confidently to a bit of carefree motoring. Most of January 1997 was uneventful…
    …except that the brake servo unit appeared to fail - confidence dented! It’s replacement did not appear to have any great effect, so all pipes and brakes were checked. Serviceable items were changed as was a bent retractor pin for the brake piston – confidence renewed!

Next problem. The alternator decides to vibrate excessively causing the mounting bracket to crack around a fastening point. As the bracket is made of aluminium, the search is on to find someone to weld the piece back on. When Daimlers used the dynamo (1962-7), this bracket was made of steel. Why it was changed is a mystery to me as it obviously had a weak spot as proved when the problem occurred again later in the year, at which time I found that replacements were next to impossible to find, although nowadays they are, I believe, re-manufactured and available at a price.

During February and March of 1997 I was using the car as I would like to and sorting out the few niggles that were inevitable in a car of this period. I had joined the Jaguar Enthusiasts Club the previous year and was beginning to have a little understanding about the ‘classic car way of doing things’. Such things as where to get ‘stuff’, who to contact for ‘stuff’, who to contact for knowledge and so on. I had not realised how enormous and how enthusiastic this ‘scene’ was. Having attended my first show in July 1996 at Harewood House, near Leeds, I learnt that there were clubs for a particular make of car and clubs for particular regions of the country. This was something I had never heard of before. My next step was, therefore, to join the Daimler and Lanchester Owners Club in order to find out a little more of my Daimler. This achieved in April 1997, I soon received, as well as my usual monthly copy of the DLOC’s magazine, a pamphlet entitled ‘Exhaust Notes’ from another member in the Yorkshire region. The enthusiasm in this part of the country for Daimler ‘get togethers’ left a little to be desired at the time and my working practices did little to help unfortunately. I did, however, learn of the ‘Traditional Car Club of Doncaster’ and was introduced to the club in late 1998 following a show at Cannon Hall near Barnsley.

                                    
            Cannon Hall, Cawthorne nr Barnsley.         Clotherholme Farm near Ripon 1998.

However, I digress. Back to the saga of my Daimler. It was in April of 1997 when my water problems occurred. Sorry, I’ll rephrase that – the car’s water problems. The first of the ‘T’ hoses decided to split causing another major loss of water. There appeared to be excessive pressure in the cooling system. The thermostat was found to be opening at boiling point so it was replaced, but made no difference to the increased pressure in the system. Over the coming weeks I spent a lot of time and money on; a blocked heater matrix, split hoses, a new radiator core and 3 or 4 new ‘T’ hoses. I did eventually find the problem and, needless to say, it was none of the above. I scarcely dare tell you that it was nothing more than a £2 radiator cap!! I can feel the gloaters breathing down my neck. Apparently, the neck of the cap fitted was too long and the pressure rating too high and, therefore, did not allow the pressure to dissipate via the radiator overflow pipe.

It’s now July and the fuel pump is working overtime due to an air leak in the system. Yes, you guessed it, there’s a hole in the neck of the tank just above the breather outlet. As it looks a bit rusty on the inside, I decide to replace it - which is a two man job. On removing the filter it's abysmal state was revealed (see pic) and, inevitably, it had to be replaced. Having purchased these items, the tank was given a coat of paint as added weather protection and refitted with some difficulty. The fuel pump now is working as it should and stops making a noise after 3 'clicks'. There was also a smell of fuel which has now disappeared.

Around this time I decided to give the interior a thorough clean and to repaint the footwells. No problems here and, after priming and a few coats of Jaguar Ascot Fawn, the newly cleaned carpets were replaced ready to visit Harewood House for the Jaguar Enthusiasts Club Northern Day (see a couple of photos below).
Next it was time to remove the door trims and see what lies beneath. It was evident there was quite a bit of work to do here. On the driver's door, the window frame was loose at the frame joint and had to be fixed by bolting a new piece of metal to form a new joint. There should have been a further layer of trim (or insulation) beneath the leather facing, but this was missing. All door frames were covered in old glue and bits of paint and were badly marked. The door cappings were reasonable but had some screws missing and others were rusty - all to be replaced along with 'concave' washers. There were a few tears on the leather door trim and a few on various parts of the seats. These were minor and I therefore decided to fix them at a later date. The padded door rails were discoloured. The carpets, for the most part, were in fairly reasonable condition only requiring a good brush and vacuum.

New shock absorbers were fitted as the old were found to be leaking.

On returning from Cheshire in August, the alternator mounting bracket decides to give up the ghost and breaks around the previous welding point. As usual with me, it's late and a Friday, so I had no alternative but to call out the breakdown club again. The mechanic suggested I put a couple of plastic ties to stabilise the alternator, it was obvious he had not dealt with classic cars before. I suggested that an alternator thrashing around in the engine bay was not an eventuality I was prepared to consider!

A smell of fuel is isolated to a leak in the fuel pipe above the rear wheel. The old rubber pipe is replaced by a new neoprene pipe from the pump to the glass bowl and filter.

The new year did not bring any great respite in the problems associated with the car. A new alternator and control unit were needed as the existing alternator was found to be giving only 3 volts when it should be 6. There was a hole in the exhaust and so a Falcon stainless steel unit was fitted. At this time I also decided to replace the front brake discs callipers and bought a set from Coopercraft. This increased braking performance no end, so much so that I actually got the brakes to squeal on testing them.

March 1998 brought an MOT failure because of corroded rear brake discs. A number of jobs were done whilst waiting for the replacements. These were;
replacement of sidelight bulb carrier, 3AW ignition warning light unit, HT leads, spark plug caps, seat belts to replace worn belts, centre pins and bushes, ball joints, crossmember sandwich mounts, two front tyres, oil and filter change and when the discs arrived, I replaced the rear callipers with those from an XJ6 which were said to be more effective (larger pads). It was also at this time that I discovered the increase in pressure in the cooling system was due to an ill-fitting radiator cap and a short reach cap with a rating of 7lbs was the correct one to use in place of the 11lb cap already 'in situ'. A cap with a rating of 4lbs may also be used, but there is always the chance that excessive water loss may occur via the overflow pipe.

The MOT was passed a little later, but with advice that the driver's side sill will require attention before the next test.

18 April 1998 - the car passes the 100,000 mile landmark.

The rear wheel spats are looking decidedly tatty and are removed for refurbishment. The carburettor float chambers are relieved of sediment and various electrical items are renewed, such as the points, condenser, distributor cap etc. which cures a slight misfire the engine was having at the time.

Conclusion

In mid '98 the chrome of the bumpers and especially the overriders began to peel allowing some rust to occur on the metal beneath. I also began noticing some bubbles on the wings and door bottoms but, as funds were low, I could not rectify these problems as I would have liked. It became inevitable that these problems would get worse, but I was determined to get as much use out of the car as I could and enjoy what time I had left with it as I realised my financial situation would not improve in the near future. During 1999 I had to let the MOT lapse as the bodywork would not allow the car to get through and eventually I was forced to sell it rather more cheaply than was my plan. It left my driveway under it's own steam to be trailered away to it's new and, hopefully, better home. A regretful farewell because, despite all the work needed as described above, the car was one which made you feel as though you were more than you really were when you got behind the wheel and pressed the starter button. The sound of that V8 engine still rings in my ears even today!!!

During my time with the Daimler I covered quite a lot of miles (possibly around 30,000) going to classic car shows ranging from the Midlands to Cheshire and North Yorkshire from my base in South Yorkshire.

See elsewhere on my site to view photos of the shows I have attended over the years.
Final update 2007

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