Bob Scrivens
Likes DAFs
Ex owner of the green machine
Posts: 534
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Post by Bob Scrivens on Oct 20, 2011 21:53:35 GMT
Great news Andrew. When I first got my 33 the pipe work was all over the place, I found the one side of the transmission was changing up while the other side was changing down. It made some interesting driving!!
Bob
P.s. its worth putting a jubilee clip on the end of the pipes for what they cost.
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andrew
Likes DAFs
Posts: 1,117
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Post by andrew on Oct 23, 2011 11:26:46 GMT
"Pooh" is standing in on the daily commute to work for a day or so and I've just re-fuelled after doing 240 miles since I fixed the vacuum, to find the MPG has improved from 30.4 to 35.5! That's a 15% improvement! I'm seriously impressed, particularly as all my repair work so far has been vacuum related; I've not actually done any work on the timing, ignition, points, plugs or air filter. Engine-wise all I've done is change and flush the oil. I reckon there's a further improvment to be had to this figure! The 35.5 figure includes a mad dash round the M25 at speeds much in excess of 70, so the figure is all the more impressive!
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mattsdafs
Likes DAFs
Yolanda, 55 estate
Posts: 374
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Post by mattsdafs on Oct 24, 2011 7:23:01 GMT
hi andrew,your doing well with pooh but im sure you can get a few more mpg out of her yet as for your parts order,i have dug out a couple of vacuum valves and brake light switch but left them at the barn ..so next w/end for them..sorry
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andrew
Likes DAFs
Posts: 1,117
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Post by andrew on Oct 31, 2011 20:05:10 GMT
Just a short update on Pooh's latest progress; another 251 (to be precise!) miles covered and after a recent fill up the MPG is now up to 38.2! This really is CHEAP motoring! It now starts on the button and runs more smoothly than it did before, which suggests that regular runs helps it stay in fine fettle!
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mattsdafs
Likes DAFs
Yolanda, 55 estate
Posts: 374
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Post by mattsdafs on Nov 1, 2011 14:12:56 GMT
hi andrew,this is good news about poo and keep using her lets see if you can reach the 40 mpg mark ..good luck ;D
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kenr
Likes DAFs
Vee the 33
Posts: 734
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Post by kenr on Nov 5, 2011 16:14:16 GMT
Pooh runs really well, am very impressed. She stops nicely too compared to poor old Vee.
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andrew
Likes DAFs
Posts: 1,117
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Post by andrew on Nov 13, 2011 21:53:55 GMT
As I've posted here before, "Pooh" has stood in on the daily commute from Barnet to Heathrow. Over the last 500 miles or so I've tried to shake out any niggles there might be. As a result I now have a working horn that you can hear, as opposed to one you need to listen out for! Her mileage has now gone a whisker over 40,000 & so she'll now be treated to a full service, including the brakes being checked out. As Ken said, they work perfectly, but I've not had the hubs off since I bought the car, so that's on the cards soon.
One of my return journeys over this period was a crawlingly slow one, that took almost 4 hours to cover 45 miles (I could have almost walked to & from home more quickly!) And The latest MPG has dropped to 33.9, and I've been wondering why. I reckon Daf economy suffers in city traffic more than other cars, and I think I know why. When driving a manual car, you can move the car slowly in 1st gear by gently releasing the clutch while the engine ticks over & most cars will s-l-o-w-l-y crawl forward in traffic; enough to move in a line of traffic on a level road. Similarly, an ordinary automatic creeps when in gear. In both cases the engine is on tickover & no acceleration is needed. But a Daf has to be revved, even to move the smallest of distances. Although the Daf doesn't creep (or it shouldn't, if the tickover's set correctly) the down side of this is the need to use fuel to engage the clutch to move the car every the the traffic queue moves along. I've also noticed that the engine revs settle down at about 28 m.p.h. on level ground, so speeds less than this cause the engine to rev more highly than a manual car might and most traffic moves more slowly than 28 m.p.h! Has anyone else noticed this and is my M.P.G. comparable with my levels?
Anyhow, I'll report more of "Pooh" and her adventures as and when they happen.
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andrew
Likes DAFs
Posts: 1,117
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Post by andrew on Nov 13, 2011 22:17:26 GMT
I've not posted any pictures here before, so partly to check I can, here are 2 photos of my last Daf 33, registration GLN 374 N... Taken outside my late Grandmother's house in Appledore, north Devon. The headlights on give a good "atmosphere" to the black & white shot. (Then) girlfriend, who is now my wife & Late Grandmother feature! Outside my parent's house in Keynhsam, near Bristol; daughter in the back, girl friend & me, together with my Mum on the right!
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Post by Nick the man with a daf.... on Nov 14, 2011 17:17:10 GMT
yep the pictures came out fine for me !!
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andrew
Likes DAFs
Posts: 1,117
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Post by andrew on Feb 21, 2012 17:36:13 GMT
After 6 months of pretty well trouble-free motoring I decided to have a look at Pooh's brakes. They're stopping perfectly & the pedal travel is right, but I thought I'd have a look at the shoes. This was prompted by an ominous scraping noise whilst braking when the car's just been started.
I started on the front off-side & proceeded as follows; loosened the 22 mm wheel nuts, jacked up the car, took the wheel off, removed the hub dust cover, wound the brake adjuster right off, (wheel spinning like a maniac!) knocked the locking washer back, undid the hub nut (28 mm-strange size and a TIGHT fit!) & tried to pull hub off using a 3 pointed hub puller... No success, as the hub puller was too small and only picked up on 2 of the 3 studs. It had come partly away, but only about half an inch from the hub back-plate (Was this a bad idea???)
At this point I decided to give up, order a bigger hub puller & put everything back together; the "book of works" (A.K.A. The Autobooks Bible) says the hub nut should be tightened to 11-14 Kg/M so I set the torque wrench & started winding the nut onto the stud.... The nut went on fine & the hub moved back on smoothly. All of a sudden the tightening became ominously easy...
Cut a long story short I think I've somehow shredded the hub spline. Can a new one be had or would I be better having a local engineering company (I know a good firm nearby) have a look? Also, my Autobooks has "1 1/8 in" written next to the picture of the hub being tightened; what size should the hub nut be? I'd assumed a 28 mm as 27 mm was too small & I'd never have thought Daf would use Imperial sizes!
Any advice appreciated! I'm not planning to drive the car until I've sorted this out, although I may drive it CAREFULLY to my lock-up (the car's outside the house at the moment) about 1 mile away.
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andrew
Likes DAFs
Posts: 1,117
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Post by andrew on Feb 21, 2012 17:39:53 GMT
Pooh, coping with the snow admirably! She might only have six volts but she's been excellent in the snow. We've a steep drive up to our house from the main road & Pooh coped perfectly with all the snow!
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andrew
Likes DAFs
Posts: 1,117
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Post by andrew on Mar 20, 2012 18:56:59 GMT
I've spent an afternoon repairing Pooh's front off-side front wheel hub, thanks to the help of Essex Dafs! Firstly, a lesson learnt; if you haven't the right tools, DON'T attempt to use the wrong ones! That was what caused me to be in this mess in the first place! My original hub puller was a fixed one, without flexible arms and when I used it to remove the hub one of the points didn't reach, and in an effort to force the hub from the axle I wedged the puller onto the hub nut, with disastrous results! A photo of the nut shows the points where the hub puller dug into the nut. In doing so the nut was forced over the threads of the hub spline, thus damaging the hub beyond repair, as well as making the nut very difficult to remove-28mm is an odd size, too! So, to today, and a more positive feeling about things... Firstly, I bought a new puller from Machinemart-excellent! Here it is in action: Safety first-axle stand in place to support the car: The hub came off perfectly and I bought another Autobook, to avoid making any more gaffs! However, as always with Dafs, things never go QUITE to plan... Undoing the top of the damper, no problem! [/url] Loosen the track rod end after removing the rusty split pin: This was one of the more head scratching moments; what size would the nuts & bolts holding the backplate to the axle be... 12mm? No! 13mm? Too big! Explain how a car built on the continent had been fitted with Imperial size nuts & bolts? Here is my 1/2 inch socket on the backplate nuts... The bolts were Allen keyed ones & were also an Imperial size. I didn't have any Imperial Allen keys, so used a Mole grip to hold it! One part of the removal I was dreading was disconnecting the brakes, which was explained in the book, but I didn't need to! If you're dextrous, you can remove the backplate with the brakes in place without disconnecting them or removing the shoes! The backplate can then be rested to one side, without straining the brake pipe. Re-fitting everything was easy, although the damper didn't want to go back into place without "encouragement". All's now done and we're off for a test drive tomorrow! I'll report back later with more news. I've new (NOS ) headlights to fit and new relays to fit to power them, so there's lots more to come, including the fitting of a new 12 volt radio, powered using a 6-12 volt converter. Happy Daffing all!
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Post by dafdaffer on Mar 20, 2012 23:14:54 GMT
Good demostration Andrew...and well done good to see a daf back on the road ;D
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andrew
Likes DAFs
Posts: 1,117
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Post by andrew on Mar 27, 2012 16:24:01 GMT
A beautifully sunny day in Barnet today-just right for some Daffing! I'd bought a set of headlights (complete; lamps, rims, 6 volt bulbs, side light bulbs) some time ago but had yet to fit them, so decided that after my "success" (ahem!) at fixing the damper cum axle strut I'd fit the new lights. As the 6 volters amongst you know, you need every little bit of light, so the poorly-silvered lights on "Pooh" were not giving of their best, and the bezels looked shabby as well... Removing the near-side was simple, and here's the replacement: The off-side was somewhat recalcitrant, to say the least! The bottom screw would NOT shift, despite copious amounts of WD40 and muscle, but eventually it did give in..... A word of advice to anyone buying light fittings for a 33; off and near side back plates are NOT the same! The off-side has an extra hole, through which goes the bolt to hold the bonnet support bracket. I sorted this perfectly, though and after adjusting the brakes we (the current Mrs. H and myself) went for a spin. The brakes were put to good use when an inconsiderate Mercedes pulled out, thus forcing me to do an emergency stop.... Good test, though! The radio's next on the agenda and I'll be arranging to return the parts I've removed from "Pooh" to Essex Dafs, for anyone else to use at a later date. Hope someone can make use of them.
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Post by Richard DAF Webmeister on Mar 27, 2012 18:40:45 GMT
Looks great. I know I've said it before, but I love the yellow headlight bulbs. So 60's and 70's French - especially in the Cibie units.
I put my yellow bulbs back into my 33 at the weekend - yes, the same ones that you supplied me with a few years ago!
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Post by joe on Apr 8, 2012 9:23:04 GMT
This really is a super little car. I read your problems with the vacuum not working properly and not changing up and down very well in the club magazine. I feel a bit bad really but I genuinely never noticed and I used to drive it every day for some time! I was too busy whistling the Van Der Valk theme tune and taking corners flat out to notice I imagine!
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Post by Richard DAF Webmeister on Apr 8, 2012 12:08:17 GMT
Aaah, that's made me think about digging out my van der Valk dvds. Good bank hol viewing - if I can get the bloomin thing too play the chapters/episodes I want. Well, there's not a lot else on the telly!
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andrew
Likes DAFs
Posts: 1,117
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Post by andrew on May 6, 2012 18:30:20 GMT
Bad news regarding our family Citroen has been good new for "Pooh"! The Citroen blew its head gasket a week ago, although the car was stationary when it did it! My wife was out shopping and returned to the car to find that it wouldn't start. I drove out to her to find that it WOULD start but would not tick over properly & had the same ability to move as an asthmatic ant with heavy shopping (thanks, Black Adder!) I limped it home and a compression test diagnosed a blown head gasket, between cylinders 2 & 3. So "Pooh" has HAD to stand in on my commute to work this week.
Of course, she has done so perfectly and (almost) as smoothly as a 2 litre Citroen with hydro-pneumatic suspension. But I now know I need a second heater hose, as the off-side hose is a good one, which delivers loads of heat to the passenger side of the car; the near-side hose is a long metal flexible hose, which is no good at all & I have very little heat on the driver's side of the car. I also reckon the engine mount on the near-side is shot, as there's a "clunk" when the near-side tyres go over a bump.
I've also managed to solve (but not yet fix!) the stalling. The tick-over is fine, but the car almost always stalls when I come to a halt on the brakes and sometimes when I move off. I think the vacuum change-up is happening too early, and thus as I move off the vacuum is being sent to the pulleys too early, hence the stall on move off. I'll have to adjust the throttle to vacuum change-up linkage later.
Oh, and in spite of the above the MPG has marginally improved to 36.1 mpg. That said, the Citroen delivers 37+mpg, albeit on a long run.
More once I crack the throttle linkage adjuster....
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spunkymonkey
Likes DAFs
Currently waltzing Matilda
Posts: 3,482
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Post by spunkymonkey on May 6, 2012 19:28:11 GMT
Stalling on the brakes / pulling away is very unlikely to be the vac valve adjustment, Andrew. From experience if there's a problem with it not changing down at a stop (or changing up too early) all that happens is that it sort of "bogs down" until you get it moving. Think that's to do with the cenrtifugal clutch that makes it virtually impossible to stall from load - before the engine slows to stalling speed the clutch disengages, which reduces the load, so it tries to speed up again and you end up with the clutch slipping till it eventually gets moving.
If it's doing it almost all the time when you brake to a halt, but not if you coast to one, then it's more likely to be the mixture very slightly out. When you apply the brakes (or press the hill button) the engine should speed up slightly. If set it's even slightly weak then it'll slow or stall every time. By slightly weak, I mean less than 1/8 turn on the adjuster (you won't notice any difference in idle speed but you will get stalling). Timing set to the wrong mark (pre-emission control setting on an emission control engine or v.v.) can also cause it. Took me ages to work that one out on Betty!
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andrew
Likes DAFs
Posts: 1,117
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Post by andrew on May 6, 2012 20:09:00 GMT
Thanks for that, Spunkymonkey! I know the timing's spot b***ock on, set by both the light bulb method & the strobe light, the points are new & set correctly, the air filter & plugs are new. I must admit I've never checked the mixture adjustment, so will investigate! I suppose that would explain the car not being able to QUITE reach 70mph. It's as smooth as silk pottering around town but the M25 demands a little more oomph... I'll check out the emission levels first & see how they match what the book says. The car's a 6 volt one, with emission control solenoid fitted, so I realise the tick over has to be set slightly differently to a non-emission controlled car.
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Post by Nick the man with a daf.... on May 7, 2012 17:57:09 GMT
have t say setting the timing by the book for modern fuels can sometimes be a complete waste of time.. sorry. on the humber I set it by ear in the end, was so peeved off with ti being flat , stalling and unhappy, just cracked it undone a touch and turned the dizzy till it was ticking over lovey but not pinking under load.. not technical I know but on factory settings and modern fuel it was a pig
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Post by andrejuan on May 7, 2012 18:24:25 GMT
have t say setting the timing by the book for modern fuels can sometimes be a complete waste of time.. sorry. on the humber I set it by ear in the end, was so peeved off with ti being flat , stalling and unhappy, just cracked it undone a touch and turned the dizzy till it was ticking over lovey but not pinking under load.. not technical I know but on factory settings and modern fuel it was a pig As a youngster I thought setting by ear was the only way to do it properly. Rotating the dizzy until the best running was achieved always did it for me. Of course back in those days, wide tolerences meant what was correct for one car (according to the book) wouldn't suit the next one off the production line, and there were noticable differences in the drive of identical cars.... I remember my mates Dad had a company Escort, when the new ones arrived (about 10 or 12 of them) all the reps would drive each others car to see who had the fastest ;D
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Post by dafdaffer on May 7, 2012 20:41:13 GMT
i totally agree, i have always set all my cars by ear and never take a look at the book. never had any issues and the cars have always run well.
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Bob Scrivens
Likes DAFs
Ex owner of the green machine
Posts: 534
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Post by Bob Scrivens on May 7, 2012 21:50:31 GMT
Hi Folks, set the points with a fag packet, timing with strobe light to check vacuum and weight operation & rough timing. Finally set the carb with the vacuum pipe from the inlet manifold blocked off with the engine nice and warm, to a nice smoooth tick over with a quick pick up, tick over as low as possible and clutch drum not turning. Connect the vacuum hose to in let manifold, if the engine don't run you have a problem with the vacuum on the transmission. If it runs, set the carb a little rich so that the engine increases the revs when the brake or low ratio switch is operated. If you have got to this stage then you should have a sweet running DAF!!!
Bob
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Post by starider on May 7, 2012 23:19:40 GMT
Hi,forget the fag packet[bad for your health],forget the feeler gauges,buy a cheap dwell meter.Setting with a dwell evens out all the various wear in the distributor and allows extremely accurate setting of a points gap,then use the strobe to get the timing spot on.Then do the business with the carb as suggested.[It's a good idea when using the strobe to pull the Vacuum Advance pipe off the distributor and "bung"up the end of pipe with a bolt or something similar] starider.
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andrew
Likes DAFs
Posts: 1,117
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Post by andrew on May 19, 2012 13:21:26 GMT
Well, "Pooh" has suffered a prang... And it's my fault! We returned from holiday in Cornwall yesterday evening and this morning I had to move her, and I while left it ticking over I noticed a leak from under the car, which, upon tasting it, I surmised was chateau unleaded Shell (Saudi Arabian 2008, I think; full bodied with a flavour of sand...) I switched off the car & took a look. The leak was from the pump, so with the aid of a new Jubilee clip & a screwdriver I fixed it-no problem! Now the bad news... I'd been fixing the car in the road, opposite my home. My neighbour returned while I was checking my handiwork, so I went to move "Pooh" so he could get into his drive more easily... I engaged reverse and, half sitting in the car, "blipped" the throttle with my LEFT foot.... The rest is history... "Pooh" shot backwards, attempting (but failing) to demolish a tree with her driver's door. Somehow I pushed the throttle so hard (presumably thinking it was the brake) that I wedged the pedal under the stop, causing the door to do a 180 degree turn on its hinges. I came equally quickly to my senses & turned off the engine, but it was too late. And now the tree... Ironically the mechanical bits are fine! Can it be fixed? Advice, please! I don't think this is street legal, but with a rubber hammer it might not look too bad. The wing WAS very rusty anyway, so thing could (?) be worse, I suppose! LESSON: Never, never, never move your Daf without sitting PROPERLY in the car!!!
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spunkymonkey
Likes DAFs
Currently waltzing Matilda
Posts: 3,482
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Post by spunkymonkey on May 19, 2012 15:47:53 GMT
I guess from the photos that the door still closes ok? If so then the A pillar and the door itself are good, just needs the wing banging back into shape and some filler (or tape) over the rusty bits until something tidier can be done.
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Post by Patrick on May 19, 2012 16:37:08 GMT
If it makes you feel any better, I did a similar thing with an manual Austin 1300 once. At the back of a flat I had was a large garden - it sloped so all the cars were parked on a flat concrete platform with a 2-3' drop at the end. I was running the car engine and just leaned out to have a look at something - as far as I recall the car wasn't in gear - but it must have been slightly because it decided to move. It "idled" off the end of the parking area - and the open door took me with it. I ended up on the grass with my leg up wedged between the door and a brick barbecue. The car got lifted/driven out a week or so later on a ramp. In disgrace.
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33grinder
Likes DAFs
CHPD* sufferer (*Compulsive Heap Purchasing Disorder)
Posts: 2,905
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Post by 33grinder on May 19, 2012 22:03:39 GMT
So sorry to see that Andrew. You're not the only one. Years ago I had a dodgy handbrake on my Fiat X1/9. It started rolling off my parent's driveway and I dived through the passenger door to give the handbrake a good tug but was too late and it hit the corner wall pillar bending the door back. Matt and I racked out all the panels when we finished shelving out the spares barn and I'm quite sure we have no 33 front wings. If nobody else does then Danny at Dadhobby would be your best bet, you can get a used wing that needs work. Otherwise I think DCN can supply a pattern part which is not even a full wing and not cheap. I think we might have a door though. Alternatively how about an off the road but bodily sound 33 for a reshell, if one were available.
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kenr
Likes DAFs
Vee the 33
Posts: 734
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Post by kenr on May 20, 2012 14:05:08 GMT
Andrew, can you get Pooh over to me at the weekend? I have suitable implements and materials to make it better.
Ken
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