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1972 Daimler Sovereign 4.2 Series 1
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XL391



Joined: 07 May 2008
Posts: 147
Location: The Red Side of Liverpool

PostPosted: Wed Apr 17, 2013 10:36 pm    Post subject: 1972 Daimler Sovereign 4.2 Series 1 Reply with quote

After wanting a Series 1 XJ since Dad had his, (early 80's), the last 6 years i've been half looking for one, the last 8 months seriously. Lots of overtime working away allowed me to seriously consider getting a decent example.

Well, today, I picked it up!! Pictures here.

First stop was the petrol station (where else?!) 200 yards into my journey where it got its first compliment off a young lad who couldn't take his eyes off it! About a mile into my journey, I switched on the wipers and the horn come on and stayed on! Straight under the bonnet to disconnect them.

Other stuff? The speed selector linkage needs adjustment by the symptoms, lever doesn't line up correctly with the gate, car can stall when held in drive at traffic lights, and there is a bad earth somewhere, i've lost the RH rear tail light, the RH interior light, the LH sidelight and the RH front indicator. The horn staying on also points to this too.

However, the way it drives is unbelievable! 41 years old? The only thing that gives the game away is the wind whistling around the mirrors and quarterlights.

In love already!

There are some other jobs that need doing,minor trim issues and the bottom of the doors need stripping back and refinishing as there is surface rust beginning to break through. I'll post some pics when I get a minute.

In the meantime, i'm gonna search high and low for that dodgy earth...

Any help appreciated! Wink
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Will

1972 Daimler Sovereign 4.2 Series 1
1965 Sunbeam Tiger Mk1
1968 Triumph 1300
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Rick
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Joined: 27 Apr 2005
Posts: 22429
Location: UK

PostPosted: Thu Apr 18, 2013 7:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The light steering in the Rover reminded me very much of the S1 XJs I had years ago, all very restful!! Smile It is a short wheelbase one isn't it?



(what was under the cover in the road?)

RJ
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XL391



Joined: 07 May 2008
Posts: 147
Location: The Red Side of Liverpool

PostPosted: Thu Apr 18, 2013 10:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It is light the steering, but not as light as I was expecting, there is a drop of feel there! Wink It really doesn't feel it's age from first impressions, pleasantly surprised up to now! I took it round to my mate's house last night, he'd said I was mad to buy it and didn't see the appeal, I couldn't get him out of it last night!

There is a 30k from new Nissan 280ZX under the cover, he's after around £6,500 for it.
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Will

1972 Daimler Sovereign 4.2 Series 1
1965 Sunbeam Tiger Mk1
1968 Triumph 1300
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g-mac



Joined: 07 Dec 2009
Posts: 23

PostPosted: Mon Apr 22, 2013 2:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very nice.....all those problems you stated i can remember well on mine, theres an earth halfway down the steering column. That should sort the horn fault. And the wind noise around the mirrors/quarter lights can be a pain so turn the radio up! Lol. I found this and jaguar drivers site to be very useful. Health to drive
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XL391



Joined: 07 May 2008
Posts: 147
Location: The Red Side of Liverpool

PostPosted: Mon Apr 22, 2013 11:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Evening Gents,

Just a quick update for you, all the electrical issues have been sorted for the meantime, it's been a case of bad connections.

Replaced the cracked right hand rear light lens with one off eBay, two mins to replace. The lighting issues were solved by dropping the middle dash panel down to reveal the fuse box and I removed all the connections and reconnected them. That sorted the sidelight and tail light issue out. The front right indicator appears to have sorted itself out somehow! Started working and has continued to work. The right hand B pillar interior light bulb had blown, replaced and working again.

The horn is a damaged horn push, looks like a sealed unit, I'll find a way in! I also replaced the wiper blades with some new rubber refills.

I lost the electric windows on Friday afternoon, eventually found the control box down in the passenger footwell next to the A pillar. It appears the car has been leaking from the window seal as there was surface rust found in here. The control box itself has seen better days so I'll be on the lookout for a decent second hand replacement.

I'm adding the front and rear screen seals onto the list of jobs needing replacement as they are looking very tired. I got caught in the rain taking her to storage yesterday which confirmed the rear screen seal is indeed leaking.

She went into storage yesterday and won't be getting used for a while now but I am going to go to the lock up on Saturday morning (everyone who has a car in there meets up on Saturday morning) with some contact cleaner and clean all the electrical contacts that I can. Astonishingly, she has never seen a drop of Waxoyl either so that will be getting done with one of my spare weekends.

Anyway, a few photos, one of her outside my place the first night I got her, the others I took of her on Friday evening, after I'd fixed the windows!








_________________
Regards,

Will

1972 Daimler Sovereign 4.2 Series 1
1965 Sunbeam Tiger Mk1
1968 Triumph 1300
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Rick
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 23, 2013 12:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The dash lamp over the centre bank of gauges creates a nice glow, while out on evening drives if I remember right. All very soothing Smile

RJ
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XL391



Joined: 07 May 2008
Posts: 147
Location: The Red Side of Liverpool

PostPosted: Tue May 21, 2013 2:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just a quick update for you, she spat her dummy, not to mention lots of fuel out of the AED overflow pipe on Sunday, a strip down, thorough clean and rebuild of the unit nipped that right in the bud! Running great now as well! I'm going to change the oil and coolant this weekend before heading to Bruntingthorpe for this fantastic event on Sunday, weather permitting of course!
_________________
Regards,

Will

1972 Daimler Sovereign 4.2 Series 1
1965 Sunbeam Tiger Mk1
1968 Triumph 1300
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XL391



Joined: 07 May 2008
Posts: 147
Location: The Red Side of Liverpool

PostPosted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 9:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not much to report really, some initial problems with the AED (auto choke) have been resolved and she's running great! I also found the carbs were hissing to a great extent. Found it was a tap from the inlet manifold drawing air in. I couldn't see any pipes in the vicinity that had come adrift so I went to the Internet for help. A very basic diagram drawn on Microsoft Paint saved the day. It showed a pipe that ran from the back of the engine bay into the AC system (now long gone). Plugged the hose on the inlet and the car has improved immeasurably! Done nearly 1600 miles since I got her, long and short trips, and she has behaved superbly. Don't ask about the fuel bills though! Some areas have been found that will require attention, front and rear screen seals, near side inner rear arch, small section of the floor pan and a rebuild of the handbrake mechanism. Anyway, some pointless photos from a trip to Wales, taken in the middle of nowhere...









Oh, and a pic with XH558, the last flying Vulcan bomber!



Thanks for reading!
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Regards,

Will

1972 Daimler Sovereign 4.2 Series 1
1965 Sunbeam Tiger Mk1
1968 Triumph 1300
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XL391



Joined: 07 May 2008
Posts: 147
Location: The Red Side of Liverpool

PostPosted: Fri Dec 06, 2013 10:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Been away for some time from here so I thought I'd update you on what's been happening with the old girl.



The first 8 months of ownership have so far been very good, just a few minor issues to be expected of any 40 year old!

I had an issue with the off side front indicator unit back in July, behaving as if the bulb had blown. Bulb changed and the problem remained. Earth checked which was fine. Wiring connections checked and, again, all good.





So, multimeter into the socket which indicated it was getting power. I didn't know how much it should be getting however. Long story short, the wiring in the light unit corroded to a pile of green dust when I checked it.



Not wanting to shell out for a new light cluster I soldered a new wire into the back of the connector and we were up and running again. Also cleaned the earths and soldered the wires in as opposed to them being held in by a copper sleeve.





The AED was cleaned out not long after I got the car but soon began its party trick of trying to remove as much fuel from the car via its overflow pipe as it could. In the end, I removed the bi-metallic strip from the top of the unit and its been fine since. You just have to warm the engine for a minute before moving off. Normally, once the temp needle is off its stop, she'll idle. As she won't be leaving her cosy lock up over Winter, I've no real need for a choke anyway.

Anyway, this Winter I plan on removing the front wings and rear lower panels and fuel tanks to give her a bloody good hiding with the Waxoyl stick. It was with great trepidation that I took the inner wheel arch closing panels off expecting it to have a few patches of the dreaded tin cancer. To my eternal surprise, not to mention joy, all seemed good both sides! We'll see if it is the
Same story at the rear...








_________________
Regards,

Will

1972 Daimler Sovereign 4.2 Series 1
1965 Sunbeam Tiger Mk1
1968 Triumph 1300
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Rick
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Posts: 22429
Location: UK

PostPosted: Fri Dec 06, 2013 10:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great, thanks for the update and photos. I remember the AED on my pale blue 4.2 was a tricky little thing to set up, despite what it said in the book it could be adjusted with the cover removed, but only in tiny tiny movements at a time, before re-testing again once everything had fully cooled down.

A few gratuitous photos of the old girl in 2002, hope you don't mind Smile





Is it still around? A check of DVLA shows a date of liability = December 2003, so either RGN 750L is sitting in a shed somewhere, or has been broken up but DVLA not advised? Hmm. It wasn't immaculate when I had it by any means, but it scrubbed up nicely and drove well iirc.

RJ
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XL391



Joined: 07 May 2008
Posts: 147
Location: The Red Side of Liverpool

PostPosted: Sun Dec 08, 2013 8:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I don't mind at all Rick, I adore the things! Mine is also far from perfect but it never fails to make me smile when I'm out in it. She used to be Sable (brown) and she came with a stack of history and bills, restored in the late 80s and she has stood up brilliantly. She was owned by a Commander Steddon in the 80s, he had a lot of work done on her.



It'd be a shame to think your old one in a bad way, she looks very clean in the pics. Did you sell it on as a taxed and MOT'd car or did it need work? It'd be a shame to think its been broken up or bangered if it was a decent example.

The inspiration for me to have one was my Dad's BRG one back in the late 70s/early 80s. He hadn't had it long when he holed the sump after hitting something in the road, losing all the oil. It languished on our driveway for a bit before my mum sold it for £100! That was around 1983. Sadly, NVT 713K is now long gone. Please disregard my girly locks in the photos!








_________________
Regards,

Will

1972 Daimler Sovereign 4.2 Series 1
1965 Sunbeam Tiger Mk1
1968 Triumph 1300
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gresham flyer



Joined: 06 Sep 2008
Posts: 1435

PostPosted: Sun Dec 22, 2013 9:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have some indicator units stored away , I wish I had known you wanted one.

Do I spy a slightly bent offside front bumper.?

If so do you need another bumper.?


G.F
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XL391



Joined: 07 May 2008
Posts: 147
Location: The Red Side of Liverpool

PostPosted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 1:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

gresham flyer wrote:
Do I spy a slightly bent offside front bumper.?

If so do you need another bumper.?


G.F


Yes you do! Annoys the life out of me too! I took the bumper off and had a look over it because at first I thought just the brackets were bent out of alignment, which they are as you can see below. But the bumper itself also has a slight twist in it. I'm gonna straighten the brackets to see if I can get it looking better. If not, another bumper it will be!

What condition is the bumper you have and how much would you be looking for GF?

Do you have any more Series 1 bits you don't need?

This is the LH side mount...


...and this is the RH side.

_________________
Regards,

Will

1972 Daimler Sovereign 4.2 Series 1
1965 Sunbeam Tiger Mk1
1968 Triumph 1300
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XL391



Joined: 07 May 2008
Posts: 147
Location: The Red Side of Liverpool

PostPosted: Wed May 07, 2014 8:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Evening gents, thought I'd go for another six monthly update. I had a massive schedule of work I wanted to do to get it to how I want it. Needless to say I couldn't complete everything without not being able to use it do I've done what I can.

First off, I lagged the AED hot air pipe that draws hot air from the exhaust manifold. The AED was also removed and stripped right down for a thorough cleaning.



While it was apart I replaced the gaskets, filter and the float, the diaphragm was in good shape so I left it. I also fitted electronic ignition in place of the points and now it's running great.



With the body, I knew the inner rear arch panel would be needing work or replacement. So I removed the tank panel and tank and went digging...



After tearing off all the old under seal I found a couple of holes and a poor previous repair.





Instead of just patching it I decided to make a template and just cut the lot out.



After clamping it all into place using Frost's brilliant panel clamps...



...It was all welded up.



While digging I found this just behind the panel I was replacing...



...so that was relieved of its duties as well.









I also found a rust scab in the nearside outer headlight which was ground out, treated, primed and painted.





After all the bodywork was finished it was back to dealing with the details.



I changed my centre console from my black one which was looking tired to an aluminium one I got from a car being broken not far from me.





I also sourced a period Radiomobile 1095 with iPod capability to replace the woeful 80's tape deck fitted.



The car had a period Moto Lita 3 spoke wheel fitted which I replaced with a standard wheel, again given up by the Jaguar being broken.





There are still a few jobs to do, since being laid up she has started getting warm in traffic. The rad is getting re-cored and there'll be a Kenlowe fan getting fitted. Also, doing a mod to minimise thermal shocks to the engine block to lessen the risk of cracking the block, which they're famous for!



Changed the exhausts from curved to straight too, I think it looks much better...


_________________
Regards,

Will

1972 Daimler Sovereign 4.2 Series 1
1965 Sunbeam Tiger Mk1
1968 Triumph 1300
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kevin2306



Joined: 01 Jul 2013
Posts: 1359
Location: nr Llangollen, north wales

PostPosted: Wed May 07, 2014 9:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

gorgeous

Kev
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