DAF 33 in Classic Car Weekly

[benw]

Hi everyone,

I'm pretty new to the DAF world, but I thought I'd put a post up about my new 33.

If you've read Classic Car Weekly recently, you may have spotted a blue 33 appear in the staff running reports section - that's mine! It was johnjenks' car (the one that tried to take his leg off - dafcars.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1722) and I part exchanged it with him the other week, for my old Allegro estate

I've been fascinated by these Variomatic machines since writing a 55 & 66 buyer's guide in January, so even though I was originally selling the Austin to raise money (for my other classic, a rusty Humber), I couldn't resist. Plus, every DAF club member I encountered has been a thoroughly good egg, so I decided to take the plunge - and here it is!





I took these six days after getting the DAF. They day before I literally jumped into it and drove 200 miles from Peterborough to Poole, Dorset in it without a hitch. The tiny car tackled the A1, M25, M3 and M27 all without fuss, got me around Bournemouth that weekend and then took me home again. 500 miles in three days, being extremely well behaved - hugely impressive, I think you'll agree!

I've got to own up though, and admit that I did mention in the paper that I'd like to sell it. This probably sounds a bit odd to you chaps, having owned the car for less than a month, but the 33 is a bit too slow for me to use. Let me explain; to leave the village where I live, I have to either join the A1 and thrash the little car to get out of everyone's way, or join another busy A-road and get up to speed from rest, to avoid being run-over by trucks. I genuinely love driving the 33 - it's quite wonderful - but I fear that if I continue to use it where I live, some sort of accident is waiting to happen. After chatting with Matt at Essex DAFs, I'm wondering if upgrading to a water-cooled 55 or 66 could be a faster solution? What do you all think - am I doing the right thing trying to sell it on?

After another week of driving the 33 everyday (by which time it had earned the nickname 'Papa Smurf' - don't ask!), things started to go a little wrong. I came to start it one morning and it was having none of it, eventually running with lots of choke, but dying at lower revs, with plenty of backfiring. Previously, it had idled nicely.

The editor of CCW was formerly an MoT tester, so we did a compression test on it and discovered the compression on one cylinder to be monumentally low. He suggested a cracked valve (hence the horrific backfiring?), although I've not had chance to pull that head off and take a look. Any other suggestions? The ancient ignition equipment certainly wasn't helping, regardless.

I've tried to keep my speed down to 50-55mph while cruising, so I can't see how a 'lead right foot' (not something I'm associated with!) could have led to this.

All of this has been made worse by the fact that, in just over two weeks, I'll be driving it with two friends to Holland, to visit the DAF museum (this will be a big feature in the paper in a couple of weeks!).

So, thanks to the kindness of Richard and Steve in the club, not to mention the chaps at Essex DAFs, I've accumulated a spare engine, secondhand carb (might as well swap this) and a load of new ignition parts. The plan is, with time being very limited, to simply swap over the engine and re-fit all ancilliaries with the new plugs, leads, dizzy components etc.

Oh, and the driver's side engine mount had collapsed, meaing the engine is currently much lower on one side than it should be... Luckily, Matt at Essex DAFs had a spare.

Failing all of this working, does anyone mind me borrowing their DAF for a Holland trip?!!!

So, that is the wonderful and bizarre tale of my DAF ownership so far - I'll keep you all posted!

Ben Wanklyn

[benw]

Hmm, pictures don't seem to have worked - I'll try and fix that asap!

[benw]

[spunkymonkey]

Mar 9, 2011 21:38:42 GMT benw said:

Hi everyone,

I'm pretty new to the DAF world, but I thought I'd put a post up about my new 33.

If you've read Classic Car Weekly recently, you may have spotted a blue 33 appear in the staff running reports section - that's mine! It was johnjenks' car (the one that tried to take his leg off - dafcars.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1722) and I part exchanged it with him the other week, for my old Allegro estate

I've been fascinated by these Variomatic machines since writing a 55 & 66 buyer's guide in January, so even though I was originally selling the Austin to raise money (for my other classic, a rusty Humber), I couldn't resist. Plus, every DAF club member I encountered has been a thoroughly good egg, so I decided to take the plunge - and here it is!







I took these six days after getting the DAF. They day before I literally jumped into it and drove 200 miles from Peterborough to Poole, Dorset in it without a hitch. The tiny car tackled the A1, M25, M3 and M27 all without fuss, got me around Bournemouth that weekend and then took me home again. 500 miles in three days, being extremely well behaved - hugely impressive, I think you'll agree!

I've got to own up though, and admit that I did mention in the paper that I'd like to sell it. This probably sounds a bit odd to you chaps, having owned the car for less than a month, but the 33 is a bit too slow for me to use. Let me explain; to leave the village where I live, I have to either join the A1 and thrash the little car to get out of everyone's way, or join another busy A-road and get up to speed from rest, to avoid being run-over by trucks. I genuinely love driving the 33 - it's quite wonderful - but I fear that if I continue to use it where I live, some sort of accident is waiting to happen. After chatting with Matt at Essex DAFs, I'm wondering if upgrading to a water-cooled 55 or 66 could be a faster solution? What do you all think - am I doing the right thing trying to sell it on?

After another week of driving the 33 everyday (by which time it had earned the nickname 'Papa Smurf' - don't ask!), things started to go a little wrong. I came to start it one morning and it was having none of it, eventually running with lots of choke, but dying at lower revs, with plenty of backfiring. Previously, it had idled nicely.

The editor of CCW was formerly an MoT tester, so we did a compression test on it and discovered the compression on one cylinder to be monumentally low. He suggested a cracked valve (hence the horrific backfiring?), although I've not had chance to pull that head off and take a look. Any other suggestions? The ancient ignition equipment certainly wasn't helping, regardless.

I've tried to keep my speed down to 50-55mph while cruising, so I can't see how a 'lead right foot' (not something I'm associated with!) could have led to this.

All of this has been made worse by the fact that, in just over two weeks, I'll be driving it with two friends to Holland, to visit the DAF museum (this will be a big feature in the paper in a couple of weeks!).

So, thanks to the kindness of Richard and Steve in the club, not to mention the chaps at Essex DAFs, I've accumulated a spare engine, secondhand carb (might as well swap this) and a load of new ignition parts. The plan is, with time being very limited, to simply swap over the engine and re-fit all ancilliaries with the new plugs, leads, dizzy components etc.

Oh, and the driver's side engine mount had collapsed, meaing the engine is currently much lower on one side than it should be... Luckily, Matt at Essex DAFs had a spare.

Failing all of this working, does anyone mind me borrowing their DAF for a Holland trip?!!!

So, that is the wonderful and bizarre tale of my DAF ownership so far - I'll keep you all posted!

Ben Wanklyn

Fixed for you

As for thrashing a 33 to joint main roads, don't worry about it. They're made to be thrashed!

If you think about how they work, it's virtually impossible to over-rev them because they'll just shift up slightly and impossible to make them labour cos they'll just shift the other way. That's the two big engine-killers taken care of, even before you consider the light, inherently balanced and (as I discovered rebuilding Matilda) very nicely made* nature of the beasts.



* in case you haven't waded through that thread, big-ends are as big as those on a Triumph OHV but they're coping with lighter pistons & rods, and operating over a shorter stroke. The rods on mine were balanced within 0.2g from the factory and the pistons within 1g, so no nasty out of balance forces on the mains either

[33grinder]

Welcome to the forum Ben!

Glad Essex DAFs could help and fingers crossed that the spare engine's a good'un, otherwise it should yield some good spares.

I'm still disappointed that I wasn't able to make it over to HQ on Sunday and would have gladly lent you my 33, had fate not intervened...

There's a sticky under one of the headings that tells you how to post the photos, or e-mail them to me. I'll be on the PC later uploading the photos of the yellow 66 which looks clean and might be a good alternative to your 33 - the extra urge of the larger engine but still allowing the variomatic experience!

Oh, and ditto what Joe said. Drive her like you stole her! Just bury the throttle to the stop and lift off at the required speed...

Edited to add: Hooray, well done Joe! The jpg was missing wasn't it? Was just in the process of fixing it... ;D

[spunkymonkey]

Incidentally, before condemning the engine (even with low compression readings), disconnect and plug the main vacuum pipe that comes off the manifold and see if that cures the idling problems. Those are exactly the symptoms you'd get if one of the vacuum lines has come adrift (usually one of the ones going to the transmission primaries at the back) and that's far more likely than a suddenly failed valve.

As for low compression, don't forget that they've only got a 7.5:1 compression ratio so the figures will always be lower than you might expect. If one is really bad, you should be able to hear it when cranking over on the starter because you only get one compression per revolution so it'll noticeably speed up (or slow down, depending which way you look at it) every other turn.

[pauldaf44]

If you don't mind a treck you could borrow Gladys.

Also a 44 has a slight edge on power and acceleration over a 33 and still has the 2 pot throb

[paddydaf]

Hi Ben ! Believe me Ben it's worth sticking with they are fascinating cars! I think i would have given up myself only for the club members..! Richard is doing a full stripdown of the vario on my 55 and it's a wonderful learning experience. The guys are a brilliant help all good eggs as you say!! Your 33 looks wonderful and it won't be long till she's back flying again. Donal

[Nick the man with a daf....]

as a humber owner (and once a daf) can I ask what humber you got mate? is it that slightly ropey looking mk1 sceptre they did the paint restorer test on?? if so.. more details please !!!!

[benw]

Thanks for the support with this everyone! In my foolishness, I didn't try the main vacuum pipe before starting to prepare for the engine swap. This does sound like a very plausible cause of the problems - I'm kicking myself now for not looking here before getting stuck in. The cracked valve diagnosis was done my the paper's editor, a former MoT tester, although I'm still not certain what the true problem is. I did renew the ignition system with components from the club, but this made no difference. So, for better or for worse, the engine is nearly out of the car anyway - it would be just as easy to go back as to go forward

Paul - thanks a huge amount for the offer to borrow Gladys, that's extremely kind of you. As the trip is in just over a week now, I think I'll quite probably have to borrow a car - it looks like I may be able to borrow Matt at Essex DAFs' 66 (who admittedly is much closer to me), but I'll drop you a line if anything changes. Thanks very much again - you're further proof that DAF owners are fine, fine people!

And Nick, yes, my Humber is the Sceptre MkI that's been in Practical Classics and Classic Car Weekly over the last year. It's a car that I adore with a passion, although urgent sill and rear quarter replacement is on the cards this summer! Judging from your profile pic, is yours a MK2 Sceptre?

Thanks guys! I'll keep you posted

[Nick the man with a daf....]

hi Ben,

yes Myn is a mk2 sceptre, used daily in all weathers and lives outside (criminal I know) saw the paint feature and thought it was nice to see a rootes motor get a mention as they seem so underated and unknown almost in the classic scene , the superminx seems to be the only one people know...

here she is anyways...







yeah they are a fantastic car though, is yours an early gen mk1 or a late mk1 (has adjustable steering column and a little light underneath the middle two dials of the centre console)