1970 Baby blue DAF 55 Estate

[renskav]

Hello everyone. I'll share the beauty shot first.



This DAF has had one owner, and has been in the possesion of my wifes family since 1970. It was put in storage in 1988 and I brought it out in 2012, and I have been working on it since with help from my wifes cousin and his mechanic friend. 

This is my first classic car and first restoration project. Details will follow

[andrejuan]

You are a lucky man, thanks for sharing. Is she finished or have you more to do.
Love the colour btw.

[renskav]

So this car belonged to my wifes grandmother. When it was no longer needed, the car was put in storage by my wifes late father back in 1988. He told me that he wouldn't sell it, and that he figured the Italian Giovanni Micelotti design is timeless and that given enough storage time, the price of car would be able to repay the yearly storage costs. Although I agree with his predictions in the long term, unfortunately I don't think the price/value curves have crossed quite yet

She was stored in a barn. 



Where pigeons and other birds made use of her roof as a a toilet.



She wouldn't start, so we rolled her onto a car trailer and brought her back to the driveway for a quick hosedown. The car was a heavy roller and she fought us all the way up and all the way down from the trailer.

Fortunately, the paint job seemed to have been saved from the droppings by a thick layer of dust and a quick wash revealed a beautiful little car in excellent exterior condition.



Being a DAF there would of course be some rust. The foot of the A-pillars of both sides had a rust speck the size of a coin - i'm currently praying that it's not deep - and i've yet to dare poke it. Some scuffs from road debris have given the front of the bonnet some light acne. All in all not bad for a car with a reputation for falling to pieces from rust.

So next up was checking what was under the bonnet.

[renskav]

So under the bonnet everything looked surprisingly good!



Unfortunately further investigation revealed someone had not done their homework on how to store cars, and it turned out neither gas, nor oil or the cooling system had been drained before leaving the car for almost 30 years.

Safe to say the gas tank was quarter filled with a toxic rust slurry. I tried pumping the gas with a siphon to clear the tank but it was of no use - the gas had turned into jelly. So the mechanic friend took the tank out completely and brought it home to be refurbished.

Meanwhile i got to work on the cooling system, exterior examination revealed white deposits, possibly evidence of an archaic coolant leak.



After flushing the system at least 10 times and then resorting to a continuous flow with the hose, and the water still coming out with a bright cheerful rust coloration I decided the cooling system needed to come apart completely. Loosening the lower radiator hose i was greeted by rust deposits not quite unlike mud.



While the coolant system was in pieces i decided to splurge on new hoses, radiator cap and water pump. The radiator cleaned up nicely with a reverse flush from the hose and some WD40.

A couple of weeks later the mechanic friend returned with the refurbished petrol tank. After changing the battery, oil, spark plugs, distributor, air filter, and coaxing her with start gas, she started turning over! Unfortunately i don't have a picture of the sweet sound of the Renault R8 engine clearing its throat after being silent for 30 years, but it was a joyous occasion to say the least.

Unable to contain ourselves, we took her out for a spin, and of course she promptly overheated.

[renskav]

Not loosing hope, I put in an order for a new thermostat. While waiting for that to arrive, I treated myself to a thorough engine wash.



And her to new shoes - four new original Michelin 135 SR 14 ZX tires I found on Italian E-bay (still with the old stickers on them!). Of course I had to have the rims sand blasted and re-painted.



And I enjoyed my evenings buffing the oxide and pigeon poop out of the old paint with Meguiars 3-step and some detailing clay. Here, have some unadultered product placement (i'm not affiliated).



The new thermostat came in the mail, I plopped it in, filled the system up and bled the air, put her idling on the driveway and of course, she promptly overheated.

[joe]

Wonderful stuff! Whereabouts are you based may I ask?

[renskav]

So, getting a bit frustrated at this point, I went online and reading up on how to troubleshoot coolant systems. After some reading I figured out that you could feel the hoses with your hands (don't laugh, it's my first fix-it-yourself car). Feeling the upper radiator hose, it was cool to the touch. bloomin' thermostat.

I gave up. I removed the thermostat, and now she idles and runs just fine. That pretty much brings us up to this weekend.



I'm based in Sweden by the way.

[renskav]

So this weekend I decided to give the children a short tour around the block, which went by uneventfully. Feeling ballsy on the home straight I decided to bring her up to 40 km/h. Hey you've gotta try some time right? I started loosing power and coasted into the driveway in a big white cloud of smoke. Thank god I didn't try that far from the garage.

Scared that I really broke something I let her cool down a bit, and tried to back her into the garage. Now you have to really hit revs to make her move. Did I break the clutch?

Reading up I found out that she has a hill climb switch which I had no idea existed. Apparently it's for more engine breaking going down hill, and you're not supposed to break 40 km/h with it engaged. At first i thought that it had been engaged inadvertantly, but reading up i'm pretty positive it wasn't engaged, as the button glows a bright green when on. The symptoms don't match anyway.

My best guess at the moment is that i'm having an issue with either the centrifugal clutch or the variomatic belts. Both being rather big jobs im currently stalling and considering which one, if any, to tackle first this summer.

On one hand the clutch feels like a more fun job since I won't have to crawl and I want to clean the back of the engine and examine the exhaust-system anyway.

On the other hand I will probably want to change the belts sooner or later - it just seems like such a pain without a lift or a pit.

If anyone has any thoughts on which is the more likely issue/fix (clutch or belts or something else) for my symptom (lots of revving before any movement), i'd be very grateful to hear it.

[renskav]

Anyway so here is a shortlist of the current status and issues in rough order of priority;

Clutch - ? ? ? Lots of revs to make her move at all now (new issue since last weekend).

End transmission - Variomatic belts probably need replacing - they are at least 30 years old. Lots of drag when not giving gas (slows down alot by itself when not giving gas - is it supposed to be like that?). Probably needs new transmission oil.

Cooling system - Engine mysteriously overheating rapidly when thermostat is in. The upper radiator hose is cold. Yes the thermostat is put in the right way. I've tried three different ones. I've test boiled them and they open in the pot. Why won't they open when installed in the engine? Currently ordered a different model to see if it makes any difference.

Electronics - Mouse eaten cables everywhere. Fog light wiring needs replacement. Wipers and wiper spray inoperational. Horn inoperational (I can't find the button for honking the horn?)

Body - Minor rust spot, coin sized, at bottom of A-pillar, both sides. Unknown depth. Rust under battery tray. Light acne on bonnet.

Engine & fuel system - A-OK, starts and purrs like a sowing machine. Oil circulating properly? (overheating easily). 

Rear drum breaks - Probably need work. The parking break works on a 2 degree incline, sort of, so not huge a priority at the moment.

[andrew]

That's a beautiful Daf! The bodywork looks pretty good! The big white cloud of smoke doesn't look like a sign of a broken clutch to me, but more like some sort of engine problem. Did the smoke come from the exhaust pipe or from underneath the car somewhere? Now the car is safely back home you can investigate the problem more easily. I would suggest the following: Put the gear selector into "neutral" and then start the engine. If all goes well and where are no strange noises then the problem is probably in the belts, as they don't turn when the car is in "neutral" and although the clutch DOES spin, it is not under load, as it only turns the prop shaft when in neutral. Make sure you check the oil and coolant levels first, as they might have dropped after your adventure!

Keep everyone informed!

[Richard DAF Webmeister]

Lovely!

It does sound as if the clutch needs attention, as you describe needing high revs to get the car moving.

If the car has been unused for a long time, it is quite probable that the sudden "shock" of being driven may have caused one or more clutch linings on the clutch shoes to come off.

Clutch replacement is an engine-out job. But many many people have done this job over the years.

The white smoke/big bang... Hmmm. As Andrew says, I think that could be engine or exhaust related.

You will sort it!

Oh yes - to hoot the hooter, you pull the indicator stalk towards you (in most other cars that would flash the headlights!)

[renskav]

So I just had a three day weekend and got to put some time into the DAF. First off, the horn is working, thanks for the tip with pulling the indicator stalk - would've probably taken me a long time to figure that out.

At first I couldn't replicate the slipping clutch problem I had last time I gave her a drive. Pulling her in and out of the garage three times and the clutch felt perfectly fine, gripping almost immediatly as I gave throttle. Thinking that I might have had imagined the problem last time, or that it had somehow magically fixed itself, I concentrated on fixing other issues.

I replaced the thermostat for the fourth time, this time with a slightly different design ordered directly from dafhobby.nl, with a longer stalk for the feeler. It worked, ending the enigmatic thermostat problems I have been having for the last year and a half. Mystery finally solved! Such a load off my mind!

Pro tip; don't just blindly try to use any thermostat recommended for DAF 55's online. Go for the ones looking like the one in the picture below.



Next I went to work on the electronics, replacing and/or insulating all mouse-eaten cables with electrical tape.

The windscreen wipers and windscreen spray have been broken since we took the car out of storage, and have to be fixed before the car can get a pass at the DMV.

A quick search found a blown fuse. Replacing the fuse of course didn't help, as it just shorted out again as soon as I turned on the ignition. Some more troubleshooting and I found a broken brush in the washer spray motor was causing the short (wedged in the slot indicated by the red arrow below). I will have to order a new washer spray motor, or maybe a complete windscreen washer spray 12v motor+canister setup as some googling hasn't turned up any spare motors that seem to fit the current setup. Leaving that until I get the parts I need, at least now the windscreen washers are working. For good measure I installed new windscreen washer blades.



Feeling pretty good about myself I turned to cosmetics, cleaning and waxing the entire right side of the car, and cleaning out the boot. Lo and behold at the bottom of the trunk I found a replacement for a missing rear left mudflap that I had completely forgotten about! I have previously been searching high and low on the Internet for a new mudflap - to no avail. 



Some fighting with rusty bolts later she now looks symmetrical from behind! However I would like a word with whoever thought that flat slotted screw-heads are a good idea for free bolts. 

I'm wondering if I should try to have that parking damage in the bumper fixed, or leave it as a battle scar proving that the car has actually been in regular use. I'm currently leaning towards leaving it be.

Laying behind the car to mount the mudflap, I found a very suspicios patch on the garage floor. Uh-oh. That wasn't there before, and it isn't blood spatter from me stabbing myself with the screwdriver trying to undo rusted flat screw bolts.



Further inspection revealed two big rust holes in the the rear muffler. Two steps forward and one step back with these cars Nothing a little metallic cement putty can't patch up. If I find more holes, or if I feel especially spendy, I might replace the entire exhaust system. Some other parts of the exhaust looks pretty rusty as well. Dafhobby.nl carries a complete exhaust replacement kit with like-new parts that's not too pricey.



Again thinking most of the vitals should be working now, I took her for two laps around the block. Pulling into the driveway, and trying to take off again, the clutch issue was back! Needed heavy revs to get it moving again. Darn it. It seems that the clutch only slips when the car is warm. Maybe I will have to do the engine-out operation to check on the clutch after all.

Oh well, an engine-out clutch job will probably keep me occupied for at least a couple more three day weekends.

[mattsdafs]

Well done on getting this lovely 55 to the standard that she is in.

Good luck with pulling the engine,guessing she is still fitted with clutch shoes rather than a later plate,these could be your clutch issues.

[swissdave]

Good progress there.

[triumph66]

Really interesting story about your Aunt's '55. Some very important information I gleaned from your thread which will be useful for my 66 estate. Love that colour too; so of it time.

[starider]

Hi, The car looks good. The white smoke is possibly due to gummed piston rings,these can be released by removing the spark plugs and pouring a small quantity[about an egg cup full] of Upper Cylinder Lubricant[Redex in the UK] into each cylinder and leaving for a couple of days before stating the engine.Be warned it will smoke a lot initially but will soon burn off. as the rear bumper is stainless steel any decent sheet metal work shop should be able to roll out the dent reasonably cheaply.....................starider

[renskav]

So a small update as i got some time to put into the car.

Last week i installed the new windshield spray pump, a brand new off-brand thing from Ukraine. Luckily it was easy to fit the original assembly with just a small drillhole.



Great success - working as intended.



With all the essentials working i figured i might take her to the DMV, to have a cheap appraisal on what was wrong with her and to get a to-do list of issues to work on from the professionals.

Being a 25 minute drive out, up a steep hill, and me still not trusting her 100% for long hauls, I opted to have her towed there and back.



Driving in under own power.



The DMV-guy gave her a thorough look through, and lifted her up to look for rust. The underside looked surprisingly pristine to my amateur eyes, excluding the exhaust pipes.



He gave her a spin around the building, and did some manual break testing - I was really clear that he was not to put her on the rollers under any circumstances.

Expecting to get a full curtainlength of remarks of things needing attention, I was surprised to say the least when he gave me the "all clear - good to go":



So she is now road-legal again - the first time since 1983!

Seeing how I still haven't had time to dismount the engine to have a look at the clutch, i'm still not 100% confident that she'll be able to handle a long drive without clutch-issues or other problems. There might be issues with the variomatic, as i've yet to replace the belts with new ones. Generally i have been avoiding the under-the-car jobs, as i have no good lift and i'm not yet super comfortable being under her while she is on working stands.

The DMV-guy agreed with my assesment that she is a "heavy roller", although neither him nor me could say that we know how variomatics are supposed to roll. I suspect there is some problem with either the variomatic or the rear drum brakes, as it takes the force of two fullsized males to push her manually when she is stationary, even in neutral - is it supposed to be that heavy to push a DAF manually?

In the middle of september there is an antique car roadshow at a nearby castle 20 minutes out, and the yearly theme is 1970's cars, so I think I am more or less obliged to try to get her there, even if I am suspecting issues with the clutch/rear brakes/variomatic. I guess i'll take the trip in multiple short stages.

Anyhow i put in an order for a brand new exhaust pipe from dafhobby.nl, to get me started on getting comfortable with under-the-car jobs.

I will give an update on how she manages the trip to the roadshow in september.

[triumph66]

Congratulations on the road worthiness ticket. I do love that blue colour; it's so of it time.

[starider]

Hi, have you tried the Redex[upper cylinder lubricant]trick yet?this will ensure after such a long storage that all the piston rings are free in their respective pistons. As I said in my previous suggestion, it will smoke quite a lot until the lubricant burns off.At least if it continues to produce smoke you will have eliminated the possibility of gummed rings[using the method described will also decoke the valves and combustion chambers]......................starider

[renskav]

Thanks for your suggestions. I haven't tried the upper cylinder lubricant yet, mostly because i'm not convinced that the white smoke was from the engine. I've run her a couple of times since that incident and she idles and runs without any issues, sounds or smoke (exhaust is perfectly clear when idling). I'm pretty sure that the source of the smoke was something else than the engine, perhaps the clutch housing or the transmission belts, or maybe even moisture in the rusty exhaust pipes. Then again i might be wrong, and if I start suspecting that the engine is the culprit I will definetly try lubricating the pistons!

My main issue at the moment is trying to diagnose why there is so much resistance when she is rolling, and in my mind that should be unrelated to the engine. Please let me know if you think I am mistaken, and again thanks for the tip!

[andrew]

Dafs do not generally roll as easily as other cars. This is because when you push the car you are turning both sets of pulleys and (if the car is in gear) the propshaft and half the clutch, too. To make matters worse the belts will be in the "low" ratio position, where the primary pulley is at its smallest diameter and the secondary at its largest, which makes the effort required to push the car even more, since you're pushing a car as if it's jammed in "high"" ratio. Also remember that Daf 55s (in common with 33s & 44s) have no differential, so pushing the car and trying to steer round a corner is nigh-on impossible!

If you find the car is MUCH easier to push in neutral there might be something amiss with the clutch.

[Richard DAF Webmeister]

Aug 24, 2017 9:28:51 GMT andrew said:

Dafs do not generally roll as easily as other cars. This is because when you push the car you are turning both sets of pulleys and (if the car is in gear) the propshaft and half the clutch, too. To make matters worse the belts will be in the "low" ratio position, where the primary pulley is at its smallest diameter and the secondary at its largest, which makes the effort required to push the car even more, since you're pushing a car as if it's jammed in "high"" ratio. Also remember that Daf 55s (in common with 33s & 44s) have no differential, so pushing the car and trying to steer round a corner is nigh-on impossible!

If you find the car is MUCH easier to push in neutral there might be something amiss with the clutch.

Yes. All DAFs, whether "in or out of gear" are very very hard to push.

[renskav]

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions, a quick update on last months events.

I got wind that there was going to be antique car display at a nearby castle this September, and that the yearly theme was 1970's - so I was more or less obliged to try get her there no matter what. Thanks to all your suggestions and comments i was able to brave the 7km trip there without too many nagging doubts.



As you can see she made it there in one piece, and the whole event was great and the weather was awesome. The car produced a lot of smiles and you could see that it invoked lots of fond memories for everyone. From a dad telling his son "that's the fastest car here backwards!" to the mom prodding her daughter with "that was my first car!", to the middle aged guy coming over and telling me the time he had flipped over in one.

All in all we had blast, and a real treat to see that the work that's gone in to her is paying dividends in smiles and appreciation

I managed the trip there, but found out that she did not like to idle in the traffic queues leading up to the event. When idling and hot she started loosing oil pressure and the oil warning light came on. I had to turn her off as soon as the queue came to a halt, to make sure the engine stayed cool, to not produce the oil warning light. I think i will try to see if she runs better on thicker oil.

A good spin-off from the event was that i managed to score a contact to a nearby mechanic with a hoist, and experience with DAF's. He's says he has replaced 100's of belts, working on the Swedish post offices old DAF's. So today I took her there to have him do some work on her.

On the way I had my mother-in-law drive, and unfortunately she managed to replicate the slipping/smoking clutch problem i've been having previously. We came to an unplanned roadside stop about 5km out. This time I managed to catch some evidence:



(possibly a slow loading gif, so be patient).

As before evidence of clutch slippage when hot is; lots of throttle not giving the equivalent acceleration, and smoke coming of off the clutch housing and flywheel.

We took a 15 minute break and i carefully dripped water on the clutch housing to gradually cool it down. After 15 minutes the clutch housing was not boiling the water any more, so I took over the driving and carefully took her the last 15km of the trip to the mechanic. If you're super careful on the throttle you can drive her on level terrain without the throttle issue. As soon as there is hills or stop-and-go traffic you pretty much need to drive her in 5km stages with cool-down stops in between.

We will see what the mechanic says. Here's the list of issues i've asked him to adress.
- New belts
- New exhaust pipes
- Oil change to thicker oil / oil overheating issue
- If he has any good ideas on the clutch slippage issue.
- Any other concerns he finds.

We'll see how she fares under professional care. I hope to have her back next week with at least fresh belts and a brand new exhaust system.

[triumph66]

A good update and I hope your DAF mechanic will sort out your car once and for all.

[starider]

Hi, been thinking about the clutch problem,my mind is not as clear as it used to be, but if I remember correctly,the 55 had the same type of clutch as the 33 and 44.It seems likely the problem may be that the clutch lining material [they are like little brake shoes] has become detached from their metal shoes.This is often the problem with Dafs which have stood for some time.I wouldn't leave it too long before the clutch is checked, otherwise the clutch drum will be seriously scored by the metal shoes coming into contact with metal drum.
If my memory isn't as good as it was and the clutch is the same as the 66, it is possible the centrifugal rollers which operate the clutch are jamming. Will be interested in what the problem is....................starider

[starider]

PS just had a look at the video you posted and the clutch is the same type as the 33/44...............starider

[renskav]

So today I got her back from the mechanic with a whole truckload of things done.

1. New belts
The old ones turned out to be in perfectly good condition - oh well, now i have spares

2. New exhaust system fitted



Looking good!

4. Left wheel bearing replaced & wheels balanced.
5. Right side blinkers glass replaced.
6. Steering gear slop fixed

But best of all, he might have found the source of the clutch problems that has been haunting me:

7. Electromagnetic micro-switch that controls the vacuum for the variomatic gear switchdown replaced.

He found a broken micro-switch that according to him caused the variomatic not to shift down under revving+load correctly. Hence starting the car from a standstill was like starting a normal car from 3'rd gear, putting a lot of strain on the clutch and causing the overheating issues. Against all odds he had a replacement switch on a shelf where it had been waiting for just this moment for the last 40 years, so he said he "just went to the shelf and got it". As pleased as I was getting the problem diagnosed, he looked twice as pleased having found use for a part that had been on his shelf since he was young.





She managed the 25km trip home without any clutch issues and no apparent overheating, although I have to say I was awfully careful on the throttle and could still sense some slip in the clutch at times. I don't know if I was imagining it or not. I think I'll have to give it some time and see if the clutch issues are totally fixed or not. At least this one issue has been dealt with. The wheel balancing and wheel bearing change made the ride home very smooth, quiet and pleasant compared to the trip out.

I think i've done what I can for now, and that i'll put her to rest for the winter and we'll bring her out come spring time - things on my todo-list for next year;

* Under carriage wash and corrosion protection with oil.
* Find a sheet metal/paint guy to fix corrosion spots and bumper.
* Brakes - new brake shoes & parking brake.
* Evaluate the clutch too see that i'm happy with it being a-ok.
* Cosmetics

It ended up being beautiful autumn day for me to drive her home for the winter.

[starider]

Hi, glad your mechanic found a problem which seems to have solved the clutch trouble. In the spring when you get the car out,let us all know how you feel about the clutch after using it for a while..............starider

[starider]

Hi again, been thinking,the micro-switch is fitted so that when the centrifugal weights reach the limit of their movement[usually around 20kph]the switch operates the electro-magnetic vacuum valve to continue the squeezing together action of the primary unit discs to give the higher ratios.When slowing down the belts slide down towards the centre of the discs to lower ratios.Once the speed is back down to around 20kph the micro switch disengages the vacuum valve, the springs in the secondary units also help by squeezing the belts up the tapered surface of the discs into lower ratio. Therefore unless you do an emergency stop, the belts will always come to rest in the lowest ratio i.e.Belts in the bottom primary unit v's and belts in secondary units in the top of the v's.
So I think the conclusion is that although the micro switch would affect the correct action on the vacuum side,it would not prevent the 55 from being in low ratio at rest,so if the clutch is working/in good condition pulling away from rest would no require lots of revs...starider

[triumph66]

Glad you are getting the car sorted out.

Just a tip but do ensure you fire up the engine from time to time over the winter and move ithe car back and forth to reduce it seizing up. If you can, drive it outside on a dry winter day and leave the windows open to allow air movement in the car.