>I need some help from the Jaguar MK II folks.
>This weekend I may be looking at a '66 Daimler that's for sale
>here in Boulder. The ad reads:
>'66 Daimler looks like a Mark II,
>2.5L eng V-8 69K mi. $3300
>The price doesn't sound out of line if it's in good shape. But I'd
>like to find out what to look out for. I assume that body rust is
>a major item, since it's of monocoque (sp?) construction. Brakes?
>Engine? Trans? Parts availability? Any other gotchas?
By a curious coincidence I just picked up a copy of the December,
1991 issue of the British magazine, "Your Classic" which has a
long article on MkII's and Daimlers. The article reads:
"But if the MkII is one of the most charismatic cars Jaguar has
ever made, it is also one of the most rust prone. It was only the
company's second monocoque after the 1955 MkI and they'd learned
little in those five years about how to protect stressed mild
steel and open structural box sections against rust. A tired,
tarted MkII is a welder's nightmare."
...
"Assuming the car looks generally tidy outwardly the first thing
to check on the MkII is the rear seat area. If the vendor is
confident in his charge he won't mind if you remove the rear seat
cushion. Check for corrosion where the rear seat meets the floor
and along the edge of the pan and with the seat removed you can
see any problems within the rear inner wheel arches too.
Remember, this is a crucial area of strength which spring hangers
- and thus the axle itself - rely on for location."
They have a diagram showing other rust problems to watch out for:
1. Protruding wing-top side lights tend to rust.
2. Watch seam at front wheel arch for rot.
3. Rubber window seals collect water with dire results.
4. Inner rear arches are vulnerable.
5. Spats rust through from inside. Little protection.
6. Blocked drain holes rot doors from the inside.
7. Bottom of A-post susceptible.
8. Front floor pan vulnerable to kicked up dirt.
9. Body panels go at edges; never well protected.
Most of the mechanical stuff seems to concentrate on the Jaguars
rather than the Daimlers. However there is a sidebar about the
Daimler. It says "When Jaguar bought Daimler it inherited a duff
range of cars but an excellent pair of engines - the Edward
Turner (no relation - M.T.) designed 2.5 and 4.5 litre V8's. ...
Jaguar saw potential in the 2.5 litre unit and fitted it in an old
MkI that was lying around the factory."
"It was a combination that worked beautifully and Jaguar found
themselves with a car that handled rather better than the MkII
(less weight over the front wheels equals less understeer) and
was faster - considerably - than the MkII 2.4"
Hope this helps. If you want any more tidbits from the article
you may contact me directly by email. It sounds like a neat car.
Let us know what happens.
Mark Turner
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