Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Rick]

Hi all,

Generally speaking, are pre-selector boxes, as fitted to Daimler Conquests and the like, reliable things or a box of trouble? I've heard about a Daimler thats been in store since '65, but I'm not sure how good or bad, from a reliability point of view, their gearboxes are?????

Rick
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[Rusty]

Rick,
I arn't an expert on pre selector gearboxs, but when I was doing my aprenticeship back in the early 70s there were three 50s Daimlers with pre selector gearboxs in them that used to come in for service now and then and we never had to do anything to the gearboxes ever !

I always remember those cars very fondley but they would all have been less than 20 years old at the time, how they held up in later years I will have to let someone else say, but "I" still love the concept and the models they were put in.

Goodluck,
Graham

[Comrade-Paul]

My friend Nigel has a DB17/1 Daimler with pre select gearbox.
Its been great. Its no concours contender, but a reliable old thing.
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Picture taken in 1960??

[Castellated nut]

I've no personal experience of pre-selector gearboxes, but they should be pretty reliable, being based on epicyclics, so all the gears are in constant mesh. The most likely fault would be wear on the friction-bands, which according to this description http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preselector_gearbox are normally arranged to be fairly easy to deal with.

[Phil - Nottingham]

I would agree but also have actual experience other than driving one once it had a soft whine in intermediate gears which was rather pleasant.

However contemorary technical stuff says the problems lie with the fluild flywheel seal failing which was leather and whether or not a current replacement is available.

Same would also apply to new barke band material I suppose

The fluid flywheel is a far more basic version of the torque converter and has far fewer moving parts to fail.

Gears do wear in auto boxes mainly through neglect rather than high mileage so same would apply so if its is noisy it will be worn
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Rover P2
Rover P4
Rover P5 & P5B
Land Rover S2 & S3
Morris Mini Traveller Mk2

[Scotty]

We Have a Daimler Conquest Century at the museum and from what I can gather the box has been faultless.



I can add however is there is a very set procedure as to MoT'ing these types of boxes when using the rolling road brake tester, if the examiner doesn't follow the procedure correctly there is a strong possiblity of damaging the gear-box.

Scotty.

[john-saab]

This may be avaliable for parts if you need any...it may yield a few spares..

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Rust Junky & oil addict.

[Rusty]

Rick,I just went on a car club jaunt to a neighbouring shire to view a collection on a local fellows farm and a member was there from another club. He is a bloke I have met a couple of times but not someone I know well, but he "IS" one of our local 50s Daimler experts. He own's eight Daimler Pre selector cars and drove up in an imaculate 50s conquest sport drophead. I remembered your querie about the reliability of the pre selector cars, and had quite a lengthy conversation with him. He recons that the pre selector gearbox and fluid flywheel are almost bullet proof ! Aparently the leather seal can go and cause a bit of grief but he recons its a nuesance rather than a tragedy. It can be repaired without a lot of trouble. He also recons that the main reason the pre selector gearbox's will give trouble is people trying to "slip" the clutch. Aparently when you operate a pre selector it is important to operate the clutch and let it go through the motion of changing. If you hit the pedal and then hold the clutch and slip it until you want to let it go it will damage the gearbox, and he recons that is the mnain reason for repairs being done on pre selector box's. I enjoyed talking to him, and he recons you should grab that car with both hands because there most likely nothing wrong with it !This is the car he drove up in.
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg295/veitchy-photo/IMG_2466.jpg

[john-saab]

The car I pictured above appeared on eBay this week..
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DAIMLER-CONQUEST-1954-BLACK-2433CC-SALOON-/280621417117?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item415657029d
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Rust Junky & oil addict.

[Rick]

[Classic_Dave]

ooops - it also states its MOT until April 2011 under the description

[Roger-hatchy]

[Minty]

Hi Rick,

As mentioned - the pre-select box fitted to Daimler/Lanchester/BSA vehicles is an excellent box, which is also surprisingly easy to work on once you get into them...

I have one fitted to my Lanchester LA14-2 and they are very easy to use.

Two important things to look for are (A) that the brake-bands are in good condition and that (B) the oil is regularly changed with the correct grade oil.

The brake-bands need checking, as some 'un-informed' users try to use the left-hand 'selector' pedal as a standard clutch - which it is not supposed to be...

For the un-initiated reading this, the left-hand 'clutch pedal' in a Daimler etc, should be pressed down fully, then completely released - it is there simply to select the gear you wish to use, it's not feathered out as per an ordinary clutch (hence the use of brake-bands) any 'feathering' needed to pull away smoothly etc, is taken care of by the cars fluid-flywheel - much like an automatic cars torque-converter does.

The oil needs checking & changing on a regular basis, as it is used quite heavilly - being used for transmitting drive, lubricating the gearbox itself and for cooling the box too, so its under a fair bit of stress!

Parts are readily available through the DLOC specialist - why not take a look at our club forum?...that should answer all your questions!

Any more advice needed mate, feel free to ask away!

Kind Regards - Guy.
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'38 Lanchester LA14-2 'Roadrider' DeLuxe and lover of all things 'WW2 - Jeep'!!!

[poodge]

Although not related to the Daimler box per se,I used to drive AEC buses with a Wilson pre-selector box.
They were pretty sturdy,but required frequent servicing,because lazy drivers would take off in 2nd gear.This would cause severe wear on 2nd gear band,and was a mortal sin,as far as inspectors were concerned.
An oddity with the selector lever was that if 4th gear wasn't pulled in hard,the box could actually grab 2nd!Very exciting.
Whilst for changing up,a pause of 3-4 seconds was required to allow the gear band to select,to change down you quickly stamped the pedal,and let go immediately.
If driven (and maintained!) correctly,these were very smooth buses.But if you got a dog that had been abused,it could ruin your day!

[Farmer John]

Maybe familiarity with these gearboxes has clouded my judgement, but to be perfectly honest, and this is just my opinion, they are at least the equal of any contemporary box. What price range would the Conquest have fitted into? Would they have been competitive with Snipes or Rovers? No car that sold for less had a more reliable or quiet transmission anyway.
The only major repair that we ever undertook was to replace the brake bands for what we guessed was a DB18. The dismantled gearbox arrived in a cardboard box, it was a simple thing to reassemble anyway, although the spring for the buzz-bar was worthy of respect, it is a powerful little thing.
As others have stated, the oil levels need minding, but that is quite normal for the time of manufacture.
Now then, the single most important check!
A little background first, the band selected is actuated by the spring and buzz-bar which pushes up on a link having a sort of lever arrangement which wraps the band around the drum. The leverage exerted is maintained by an automatic adjuster at an adjusted pre-set.
The automatic adjuster is actuated by a coil spring gripping the pushrod adjuster nut when necessary.
The check? Simply ensure that the adjusting nut turns absolutely freely on the pushrod. Take off the spring, remove the nut, and dress up the threads with a tap and die nut. Add coppercoat. Reassemble. Select the appropriate gear, pedal the pedal and watch the adjuster work.
( If a person has been at the adjusters they may be wrong, the engaged pedal height in each gear will tell you that)
Dave, a very clever mechanic, taught me this in the sixties.
My Leda has a pre-selector, just cannot wait to get it on the road.
Point of interest, the motor needs to behave from idle, if it coughs or sneezes the flywheel can lose its drive and the car coast to a halt while trying to restart.

John