Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[pauldaf44]

This is my current major project car and the second DAF I have owned. The first was a late mk3 model which I sold in order to make space for this very early mk1 car. That was probably a mistake as my old 44 was reasonably tidy and drove very well. She had also proved herself an economical and reliable daily driver. The mk1 car on the other hand none of these things can be said for

On the other hand she is a mk1 and as such is one of only 2 I can find in the country, and she is also the oldest 44 known to the club both IMHO important reasons to save her. Im in two minds as to where to go with this car, whether I should restore her to as close to new as possible or get her roadworthy and preserve her character and history. The latter would be a lot lot cheaper and more achievable due to parts availability.





This was the car when she first arrived home as you can see definatly a project but thankfully she was also pretty bodily solid.

A day or so's work had her looking a lot better



Not long after this happened.

[youtube]]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=eja-iJlJtN4[/youtube]

followed by getting her running. I bought her as a non runner and was relieved to hear her turning over well and then running reasonably well.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=9vv32nedktI[/youtube]

Having got her running and later driving I started looking at getting other parts of the car up to scratch. First on the list brakes.

Both front backplates were wet with fluid so they were the first port of call. Upon inspection the cylinders were beyond saving. Que a year long search for parts But finally I found what I was looking for the correct 22mm ATE cylinders fitted to the DAF 44 and NSU Prinz and a set of NOS brake shoes.



The drums were ok and just needed a clean up so they were repainted and refitted, and whilst I was there the strut got a lick of paint as well.



The rear brakes weren't leaking but after years of inactivity I treated them to a reseal kit and a general refurb.

There is still plenty to do on her though and the next jobs are a new exhaust, solid brake and fuel lines, engine mountings and a bit of welding to the rear inner sills. I am also on the look out for a speedo cable if anyone has one they are proving very difficult to find as she is right hand drive. Speedo drives from the left hand front wheel hub.

[Rick]

Welcome to the forum.

If it were mine I'd be looking to get it back on the road as-is, to try it out properly, then maybe attend to the main jobs (body) etc over winter(s). Given that the paint has been altered over much of the body, it's probably moved beyond a purely "oily rag" keep-it-original project anyway.

Great to see it

RJ
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[vitesse]

Hi Paul welcome on board.

I haven't seen a Daf for years and years. Didn't they have sort of unique drive system or gearbox?

I agree with what Rick says, especially as it is so rare. Get it mechanically sound then sort out the bodywork.

[pauldaf44]

[petermeachem]

There was a Brabham formula 3 car that used this system. Disturbing going into corners as the Honda (I think) engine was mostly on full revs

[D4B]

Hello Paul,

welcome here and great to see such and early Daf. As said get it all mechanically sorted and on the road, have some fun in it, you might find if it was all poshed up you'd be scared of leaving it anywhere or getting it scratched..... good luck and enjoy!

Steve

[vitesse]

[pauldaf44]

Reliability wise you have to remember its an old car and needs more tlc than a modern but I wouldn't say it was any less reliable than any other car of the era. I trusted my first DAF as my daily driver and used it for an 8 mile commute to my night shift, I was also a student in coventry and used the DAF to drive back to my home in West Wales once a month or so. Ive also used a DAF to drive the width of Britain, Aberystwyth to Ipswich. Ive had a few break downs but nothing serious and only once it the 4 years I owned it did it have to be recovered. AA for some reason don't keep exhaust manifolds for DAF 44s on their vans

Handling wise they are amazing fun the steering is really precise, direct and light, it puts my BMW 323 to shame. The lack of diff an skinny tyres let you get the back end out if you want but the small power output is easily controllable. However if your stupid enough to drive right on the limit the swing axle rear end will bite your backside, but you have to work pretty hard to make it.

Now performance wise you have to bear in mind this car has an 844cc 2 pot under the bonnet and develops a little shy of 40bhp so its never going to be quick, but once you've got it there it will cruise at 70mph all day without complaint not bad as the listed top speed is 76mph. One of the joys of the variomatic is it doesn't lose too much speed on the hills and is able to get it back again allbeit slowly. On those long journeys I was talking about earlier I could get around 40 to 45mpg.

The general driving experience is like nothing else! You put you're foot down the revs shoot up to about 3.5 to 4k and stay there all the time the car is accelerating smoothly once you get to your desired speed you back off the throttle and the vario will go for the highest ratio it can maintain and the revs will drop right down whilst its doing this it can even gain a little speed. The most comparable thing would be a speedboat. The brakes on the other hand leave a lot to be desired.

this video should give an idea of the general driving experience

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khWmkz8c230

[pauldaf44]

Sophie has been having problems running recently and frankly until they are sorted she would be completly undriveable.

Her timing was wandering whilst running so she wasn't running too happily so ive had the dizzy off the car for a good clean and inspection, the distributor shaft play is within limits so the issue had to lay elsewhere. I have found it though, the dizzy clamp was so gunked up with old engine oil and gunk that when tightened the clamp wasn't sufficiently clamping the body allowing it wander. Plenty of cleaning and it now clamps up properly and the timing is staying where its set.

Unfortunatly that has not stopped her running issues she was still hunting and cutting out and then needed a lot of cranking to restart. First part of the mission to discover her issues was to stick a colourtune plug into each cylinder head in turn. The result was intermittent fuel starvation followed by a very rich mixture and was the same on both cylinders which points to problems with the carb. First off I took the airbox off and operated the throttle linkage by hand and noted that the accelerator pump does not deliver any fuel. On removing the top of the carb I discovered the float chamber was full but of a nasty murky mixture quite unlike what was visible in the fuel filter sure enough on removing the fuel the float chamber is coated in a loose brown crud that is flaking off and blocking the fine drillings within the carb. As a result Sophie's carb is now on my desk for a full strip down and rebuild.

Once that is done and her fuel tank has been flushed and sealed I hope she should run nicely but she will be recieving a tappet adjustment and a compression test, both wet and dry as a matter of course in order to pinpoint any issues within the engine itself to be honest I doubt I will find anything.

Paul

[TonyBrooks]

I notice that the hubs on the Daf are 3 stud - do you have any idea what PCD they are? Reason being is that I am on the lookout for some wheels that will fit a Renault 8 hub which have a PCD of 3x150mm and any alternatives would be welcome. Thanks
_________________
Dinalpin Berlinette (Alpine Renault A110)

[pauldaf44]

Sorry but DAF wheels will not fit there PCD is unique 3 x 105

The lack of alternative wheels causes a few headaches due to the tyre size specified for the original wheels being made of pure unobtanium. They take 135 80 14.

[D4B]

[pauldaf44]

Well freeing up the glued up carb was an art form. The jets and a lot of the passage ways within were almost completely blocked with set petrol and the accelerator pump was so blocked up it was completely inoperative. A day and night soaking in carb cleaner loosened up most of the rubbish and I was able to get it out with some elbow grease.

I was still having problems with the accelerator pump, the very fine outlet tube was blocked and was too narrow to rod out even with 0.6mm welding wire. That called for a little bit of lateral thinking. I stripped the insulation of a length of multi strand electrical wire and used a single strand from it to rod out tube and it worked. As a result the carb is now back together and even has a working accelerator pump

The inside of the carb didn't clean up as well as id have liked but it least it shouldn't block up anymore.



I also found getting a rebuild kit for this carb difficult and such I haven't yet sourced one. I don't like the play in the choke and throttle spindles but they turn freely without binding so they will have to do until I can get an overhaul kit rather than just a gasket kit.



The carb is now back together and looking a lot cleaner and will be going back onto the car at the weekend.



The carb body has cleaned up well but unfortunatly the linkages attached to it are pitted and no amount of cleaning will make them look any better but saying that the whole thing looks a million times better than before.

[vitesse]

Good to hear Paul that you have almost certainly found the root cause of the problem. I am sure she will be sweet as a nut once refitted.

Have you sealed the fuel tank yet. I remember having to do it on my little Fiat years ago the amount of crud that had built up inside the tank was amazing. On Fiat 500's, it is really common to have a little in-line filter between the fuel pump and carb, so it is obviously a common problem.

[pauldaf44]

I haven't yet but I do plan to flush and seal it in the near future as the inline fuel filter does clog up a bit quickly.