Post by Richard DAF Webmeister on Mar 15, 2014 22:49:43 GMT
Those of you who have known me for a while will know that I have long had a policy of owning just one DAF at a time. This has been due mainly to lack of storage space, time, money and the fact that my mechanical dexterity is not ideal when it comes to fixing them. I have also been only too well aware of the pitfalls of buying old cars with the best of intentions of "saving them" only to find that they often lead a very inactive life, which is not ideal.
But, every now and again, policies are changed. It happened to me a few years ago when I saved a lovely red Volvo 340 Variomatic.
So guess what?... I've gone and done it again. For the best of intentions, plus the fact that it brings back some childhood DAF memories for me. And I am at a funny nostalgic age now.
You may remember that last year, an advert appeared on here for a Volvo 66 in a sensational shade of 70s yellow. It was going to go to a classic car auction in Wiltshire. It didn't sell.
There was then a bit of comment and interest but again, no takers. The future was looking uncertain for this even rarer than many DAFs car.
So to cut a long story short, I did a deal with the sellers. This was actually just before Christmas. The sellers pointed out that there were one or two mechanical queries but on the whole, it wasn't too bad.
I arranged for it to be collected and delivered to a local DAF-understanding garage, who would check it over when they could, in between working on modern cars, and all sorts of old cars including Jags, Lotus, et al. The owner and staff are mechanics of the old school, and just know stuff.
As a result, they had it for a long time and I got my hands on it a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, in its past, "work" had been done on the transmission which has not done it any favours. There was a bad vibration issue which has now been reduced although it's still not quite right - I suspect weights etc have been messed around with. Also the adjusting lugs have been broken off at some point. But we have treated it to brand new belts. The carburettor also had bits missing, but a new one has been found.
It's remarkably clean and rust free underneath, no welding. There are cosmetic rust issues on door and window edges etc, and the interior is clean and unfaded.
So there we are. How long I'll keep it, I don't know. But I have even rented a lock-up for it!
Here are a couple of(hand held shaky phone)videos.
Oh heck what have I done?!
But, every now and again, policies are changed. It happened to me a few years ago when I saved a lovely red Volvo 340 Variomatic.
So guess what?... I've gone and done it again. For the best of intentions, plus the fact that it brings back some childhood DAF memories for me. And I am at a funny nostalgic age now.
You may remember that last year, an advert appeared on here for a Volvo 66 in a sensational shade of 70s yellow. It was going to go to a classic car auction in Wiltshire. It didn't sell.
There was then a bit of comment and interest but again, no takers. The future was looking uncertain for this even rarer than many DAFs car.
So to cut a long story short, I did a deal with the sellers. This was actually just before Christmas. The sellers pointed out that there were one or two mechanical queries but on the whole, it wasn't too bad.
I arranged for it to be collected and delivered to a local DAF-understanding garage, who would check it over when they could, in between working on modern cars, and all sorts of old cars including Jags, Lotus, et al. The owner and staff are mechanics of the old school, and just know stuff.
As a result, they had it for a long time and I got my hands on it a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, in its past, "work" had been done on the transmission which has not done it any favours. There was a bad vibration issue which has now been reduced although it's still not quite right - I suspect weights etc have been messed around with. Also the adjusting lugs have been broken off at some point. But we have treated it to brand new belts. The carburettor also had bits missing, but a new one has been found.
It's remarkably clean and rust free underneath, no welding. There are cosmetic rust issues on door and window edges etc, and the interior is clean and unfaded.
So there we are. How long I'll keep it, I don't know. But I have even rented a lock-up for it!
Here are a couple of(hand held shaky phone)videos.
Oh heck what have I done?!