DAF 46 Estate, Air Cooled

[Matt of the Vivas]

Well i spent a whole day on it yesterday, everything electrical now works perfectly after cleaning earth points, changing bulbs, fuses... I converted the washers to electric as the original hand pump button had failed and they dont seem to be available. The side repeaters now work (new bulb holders) and the loose indicator has been changed for one thats not broken, so thats secure.



Electric washers - Decadent!

I stuck a multimeter over the battery and the alternator is giving out 14.2v so thats ok.
I also stripped out and cleaned the passenger side door latch, it was full of dirt and congealed grease, so it didnt latch very well and needed a hard slam to shut it. Now it shuts and locks with a light touch, the same as the drivers...

All this would have made very dull photos, so i took some of the completed car:













Marks been busy on eBay, and we now have a set of static rear seat belts, distributor cap, and bottom ball joint for the O/S to fit. The exhaust still needs fitting, and I want to strobe time the engine - im not convinced the timing is right.
That should keep us busy for another week or two

I have a strange fault with the main beam warning lamp - it does not work, although the bulb lights up, its not visible through the panel. Even with a torch held directly over the hole where the bulb goes no light is visible through the aperture on the other side. Its as if its been blanked off - but why fit a bulb and wire it up? Can the plastics used for warning light segments go opaque with time?? I think it will need a main beam warning lamp for the MOT so I may have to add one somewhere else on the dash.

Matt.

[Matt of the Vivas]

Another good afternoon... Mark came over, as did my mate Jamie and the two of them got the exhaust back on - a job I hate, so i was quite happy to leave it to them. Mark also fitted the static rear belts he bought off eBay, so he can take his wife and daughter out in the car once its done. The box sections have all been waxoyled now, and the new distributor cap fitted.
While all this was going on, I was rust fixing... I had found a small hole in the floor above the jacking point on the driver's side, and on poking around a fairly weak area where it met the sill. Its the first welding thats ever been done on this car, pretty good going for nearly 40 years old!



Rustyness



Bad area cut out with a dremel. Note the reinforcement on the top of the jacking point - this had trapped moisture and rotted the floor above away, although the jacking point its self was still solid.



Template in cardboard...



... transferred to new steel. The holes are to plug weld through to the jacking point, to replicate the original spot welds.



And welded in. My welding is far from pretty :oops: although I think it should be strong enough. Some seam sealer will tidy it up.

[Matt of the Vivas]

There was a small bit of rot in the bottom edge of the front wing which i also welded yesterday. It was very small, didnt even need to make a plate, just pulse-welded it with the MIG. So today i spent a little time filling and painting it:





Happy with that.

Next saturday we are going to replace the OS bottom ball joint, and I think add an electric fuel pump - it really struggles to start if left for more than a day, takes a minute or more of cranking before it will go, but as soon as it does manage to get fuel to the carb it goes straight away. I think the original mechanical pump is worn out - ive looked at it and it didnt seem to have much suck...
Then we need some tyres still! And it should then be ready for an MOT.

[Matt of the Vivas]

After sealing and painting:



Neat enough - especially with the carpet back over it :lol:

[Matt of the Vivas]

Another DAF Saturday with Mark:



First job was to valet the interior - as you can see, it came up quite well. Theres no wear on the carpets or anywhere else, so its possible the 20,000 miles on the clock is genuine?



Next the driver's side lower joint was changed as the old one had some play. The tracking was also checked with my Trackrite gauge, but it was within limits so i didnt need to adjust it.



Then we fitted an electric fuel pump to improve starting - beginning to wish we had not bothered though as we seem to have a faulty pump - and the fault lay elsewhere anyway!
With the electric pump fitted it was still a reluctant starter, so we went round the engine bay again, and spotted a slightly perished rubber sleeve on the manifold. This was replaced with a piece of suitable rubber hose, and the carb checked again - still no improvement. I pulled the spark plugs to find them flooded with fuel, so i swopped them for another pair from the spares stash in the boot. While the plugs were out I did a compression check just in case we had low compression - not sure what these little engines are meant to be but we got 140psi on one side and 145psi on the other, which seems just fine?
I thought id check the points gap, took the dizzy cap off and then spotted the fault. SOMEONE (me) had bought a new rotor arm and fitted it without checking it properly - and it was too short by about 3mm, meaning the spark had a massive gap to to the gap. With the old rotor arm reinstalled we had perfect starting every time.
Flushed with success we made a quick trip round the block - all good, but the Variomatic transmission is a bit weird - not sure how its meant to be so hard to judge if ours is working properly or not...
Final job was to polish the bodywork, and put it away in the garage, sadly the brand new fuel pump had other ideas and failed. Annoying to say the least.
I will get another under warranty no doubt.
Tomorrow, im off to collect 5x part worn, but basically brand new matching Continental Eco Contacts in the correct size for the DAF that we won on eBay. I dont normally like part worns, but these really good, and are only 2 years old with minimal wear. At £51 for 5, even allowing the same again for fitting and balancing , its half the price of the cheapest imported ditch finder tyres, and much better quality. I will get them fitted to the car after the NEC Classic Motor Show next weekend, and then its ready for an MOT.

[Matt of the Vivas]

Well this week ive sorted out the wheels and tyres, not before time as I came back after the NEC weekend to find two flat tyres. Not punctured, just perished and blown out... At least 3 of the tyres dated from the early 80s!
I bid on 5 "part worn" tyres on eBay. On collection, they turned out to be brand new, all matching tyres that had come off a brand new car that had been upgraded by the selling dealer to alloys. Bit of a result - anyone want 5x brand new bare rims for a 2012 Chevrolet Spark before i scrap them??
My mate Sean lent me his tyre fitting machine for a couple of hours, so with them fitted to the DAF rims we have a car that is pretty much ready to go.
But being me, i had to pretty up the wheels before they went on...






Before, during and after. Much better.

Saturdays job is to fit the carb rebuild kit thats just arrived from Germany, see if we can get it start and run better.

MOT is booked for next Wednesday :shock:

Matt.

[Matt of the Vivas]

The DAF 46 passed its MOT this morning, the first since 1991....
Driving it is...interesting!
Very direct steering, good brakes, despite being drums all round. Excellent heater, and its quite comfortable and refined. The little 850cc engine works hard, but its not unpleasant. But the transmission... weirder than a very weird thing!
From rest, at idle theres no creep like a normal auto. Press the throttle, and the centrifugal clutch engages smoothly and off you go. From then on, the engine revs up straight away to around 3000rpm, and there it sits while the transmission catches up to it. Its deceptive, because it seems like its not accelerating at all, but it is. When you get to your desired speed, you lift off the throttle, and the engine revs die right down as the transmission shifts into a high ratio. The engine is virtually ticking over at 40mph, until you hit a gradient or want to go faster, then the engine revs up again. Theres also an electric engine braking switch that forces the transmission into low ratio, so on a long hill you can switch that on and go down the hill at a sensible speed without touching the brake.
Its completely different to a normal Auto... I like it though.




Wet..... Cold..... But im sure its happy.....

[Matt of the Vivas]

Well, the DAF has been sold. We both enjoyed the rebuild, but neither of us fell in love with the finished car enough to want to keep it after. Its another one back on the road though, and we didnt lose any money - so im happy.
Next project.... Who knows? :lol: