1974 Daimler Double-Six VDP (higher axle stands)

Hire a Luton van with a tail lift, last time I did it was £85 to hire the van for 24hrs, plus fuel. You won’t regret the tail lift

Wow homersimpson. I tried Shiply last night and have came home to about 23 quotes in my emails!

I've not really had time to look thru them but all between £70 and £200 which seems pretty reasonable to me. Problem is I'm not there to ensure it's all palleted up.

Must be a nightmare for these guys trying to make a living and then turning up to find things aren't ready to just pick and go

Anyway less than a day to go on the auction and I am highest bidder - which means nothing really. Could go into orbit in last 3 minutes. There's no way of telling really

Can you fill the drainage channels in with gravel then they’ll still drain?

ok, so the container is painted, I didn't get the other engine and the Gaffer thinks he's King Canute and has re-done the drainage at my barn door to create a nice low spot.

But they are all distractions from the task in hand so tonight I set about trial-fitting the IRS-cage. The first thing I'll say is that seeing powder-coated parts rust before your eyes before they've even seen rain is truly demoralising but I just need to put on my big-girl pants and get on with things cos I'm not having the thing re-painted again


powder-coated IRS cage c/w some of the mounts amassed over the years



nice and dusty & rusty after not even seeing rain


underside has fared better


I say trial-fit as years ago I came to the conclusion there's no way the new IRS mounts fit but they will have to and it's easier to test this when it weighs less so there was no point assembling it all just now.

Luckily the mounts were still on it but I suddenly thought 'where are the bolts, surely they're not in the annex lock-up 4 miles away, don't tell me I'll need to go there at 10pm' but after rifling thru some storage bins I found them plus all the bearings, bolts etc I bought years ago for the project.


sorting thru tubs yeilded lots of small bits for the VDP



including the nuts & bolts for the IRS mounts


It then hit me that I wasn't sure which way round the cage went so next thing was to offer it up to the diff but it went in either way. I'd hoped the mounting-bolt holes were slightly off-centre to make this impossible but apparently not. I then noticed that the drive-flange from the diff was off centre regardless of which way round it was which lead to checking the propshaft which is indeed about an inch off-centre.

Eventually I realised the brackets for the brake hoses tell you which way round it goes


diff brought out to try to establish which way round IRS cage goes on car



cage fitted to diff both ways (note corner shape of cage) but in top pic output shafts look more central




cage fitted to diff both ways round drive looks off-centre


strangely propshaft is off-centre on car


front of cage is indicated by small brackets for brake hose


As before I found you can get all 8 bolts in past the outside face of each upper mount-bracket and into the chassis rail but they won't go thru the outer faces as the holes don't align.

I figured if you got at least one, of a pair, on each bracket the others would have to follow but as usual when you get to the 4th bolt it's miles out.

After wrestling with this for some time I found that if you took both 'partially in' bolts out the 4th bracket you could wiggle/lever the bracket much bracket more to get one bolt fully thru. After that you could get the 2nd bolt on each bracket thru with some levering on the bush. Sort of using the successful on each bracket as a pivot to align the second one.

Anyway I now know it can be done so next thing will be to assemble the full IRS and put it back in again then stick the wheels on and roll the bad boy back far enough to get my engine lifter in front of the car. Well it's more to roll it back once the engine is lifted but same thing really



all 8 bolts will go in outer faces of brackets ok





but holes on inner faces of brackets are not in line with holes in chassis rails



the bolts will eventually go fully home



good to see all bolts right thru. lever used in middle of mounts to get some movement


cage in place

Glad the test fit has reassured you it will fit to slightly reduce the swearing when you have to fit up the complete heavy assembly.

ok so now I know I can get the cage on the car I set about finding and assembling all the IRS bits. This is just to make the car a rolling shell so am not bothering with some bits like the UJ shrouds but I will need the driveshafts on as the hub-housings would flop around with out them (I think). Also not bothering with locking-wire, torque settings, brakes etc.

Anyway it was great feeling to find and assemble bits I hadn't looked at for several years and made better progress than I expected tonight.

So I knew the hub-housings were in the barn (as I've swept round them and the diff about a hundred times when clearing junk from under the VDP) as were the wishbones and a pair of brackets and there was a box of suspensiony bits in a lock-up and am sure a shaft lived under the N/S/F wheel for ages and the UJs were on the Hillman Imp bonnet for years but no idea where bolts and stuff were

I also know there's a (very expensive) new bolt for the diff living around my PC as there was a snapped one in the diff and I replaced it years ago.

So I picked to box up from lock-up and it had two of the original shocks/springs/collets plus more IRS mounts.

After getting hijacked by the gaffer to spend about 2 hours loading his trailer with wood from an adjoining field (despite having done all this during a day's paid work for him on Thursday!) I got busy.

First things to go on were the brackets that hold the suspension-arms (Haynes calls them wishbones) to the diff. I remembered there were 2 different length bolts on each side but never understood why but do now. Basically the arms aren't handed despite fitting opposite sides of the assy so there are 4 holes in each piece when you only use 2 and the casting isn't of uniform thickness so you need a long and a short. Mb they did this so that you couldn't put it on incorrectly. I don't know but I did remember that when I dismantled it one end of one of them wasn't attached as the bolt had sheared. I bet that was a knocking noise that mechanics were never able to trace. I have the new bolt but for time being just used what's there.

Am not entirely sure what order you are supposed to re-assemble this in as the manuals (Factory & Haynes) detail how to remove/replace parts of it but I figured next thing to do was connect the inner ends of the arms to the brackets I'd just put on.

The shafts c/w their associated parts were in the boot of the VDP where I also found the tie-plate, UJ covers, driveshafts etc. Basically all the stuff I stripped and painted years ago.

Once you examine the bits you can see it's basically just 8 sets of the same stuff as there are 4 pivots, with the same stuff on both sides of each pivot. Cool.

The shafts wouldn't go in straight away as I'd got paint in the bores on the brackets so it took a while to sand that away with a tube of 120 grit.

Once that was done and established the shafts were going in smoothly it was a bit of a juggling act to get the arms on with all the washers and stuff in place then get the shafts in but it wasn't a total nightmare. There should be a tube in between the ears of each arm but I've no idea where I put them and they aren't vital just now so not going to turn everywhere upside down to find them.

Another pint is that the arms are handed. Each one has a small plate near the outer end which the radius-arm bolts on to but more importantly (for now) is that the inner-ends are angled but not 100% if they show point up or down.

I checked the arms for L or R markings and was surprised to find they both had same number cast on them so in the end I just used the plates as a reference point with the threads for the grease-nipples facing downwards

Once the arms were on it was tempting to attach the hub-carriers to the other ends but I thought the half-shafts might need pressed into the housings and that would mean taking them back off so I turned to assembling the driveshafts. I have brand-new UJs but no point putting them on just now and I'd kept the old ones with their needle-rollers etc so after cleaning paint out the machined faces put them together which was very easy. Am not putting the circlips back in either.

Once I had 1st full shaft done I found they slide straight into the hub-carriers no problem so could have done it either way. Was about midnight by this time so I called it a day.

Going back this afternoon and hopefully finish assembling it and mb get the cage attached to it all


some bits dug out of exile


bits I re-furbished a long time ago (various paints used)



first job was to bolt inner-pivot brackets back onto diff


screws were very tight so cleaned threads with die (7/16 x 14TPI)
. note different lengths


screws are different lengths for a reason (depth of casting on bracket). bracket angle looks awkward in relation to diff


screws on other side also different length but one was actually snapped before I got car


inner pivots for suspension arms have bewildering array of seals and plates



shaft and components cleaned and examined. there are 2 sets of these components on each shaft. ie x8 for many of them


the shafts pivot on these bearings/callars. 4 collars and 8 bearings in all



the bearings have gap in middle and there are grease-nipples to fill the void between them


collars sit inside bearing but stand proud at each side



witness marks on plates etc show how they were fitted


metal rings go round outside of seals which sit either side of the bearing assys


1 set of bits that sit outboard of the bearings


shafts would not fit back in pivot brackets due to paint


paint removed from inside bores with sandpaper


shafts nice fit after excess paint removed


'wishbones' are definitely handed but seem to bear same number C20254/F




arms need to be put on correct side as inner 'ears' are at angle and plate (for attaching radius arms) needs to point forwards



wishbones joined to inner-pivot brackets which are bolted to diff. note radius-arm brackets facing front



found the original UJs and outer joints



paint cleaned/sanded from ears of driveshafts to connect to inner UJ brackets



driveshaft and UJs re-united




how I left it for the night


I think I will also need to fit the brake discs as without them the driveshafts will be loose and I have a feeling I may have bolted the inner-pivot mounts on to the diff incorrectly but it'll be easy enough to sort that next visit

Great to see some progress on this. I'm sure it will be a boost to get the IRS back in and the VDP mobile for the first time in many years

So I did a bit more assy on the IRS last night and all that's really let to do is fit the cage to it. This will involve disturbing the inner-pivots as the rods for those actually start and end outside the cage or put another way the cage is bolted on top of the diff and the front and rear face of the cage are connected to the bottom of the diff. Am also not sure if I'll need to turn the cage and diff upside down to make them one. We shall see....

Last night I basically finished assembling/connecting the driveshafts and hub-housings. Only surprise came when I was installing the NOS brake discs (nicely rusted to curse word). You can't get them on their studs unless the main arms are hanging down significantly. This is because the discs actually run behind the wishbone part of the arms. This shouldn't have been a surprise to me as I remember ages ago something about 'you need 17" clearance to change the brake discs' meaning if IRS is on car the car needs to be high enough up in the air to allow the hub to drop 17". Anyway I achieved same thing by lifting the diff on to a jack and raising the diff on the jack. The bolts that the discs go on to can't be renewed without dismantling part of the diff (output) but the worn threads cleaned up fine with a die (7/16" x 20TPI).

Again not an issue just now but noted for future - one of hubs feels rough so prob need to strip it (or both) down. I see the insides are full of grease which means the oil seals have probably failed. Not that hard to deal with but am sure you need to check pre-load or something if you touch them. There are grease-points on the hubs but they sit much further in then the part I see. It could be that someone was trying to keep the UJs lubed but again they have grease-nipples to facilitate that.

Also I didn't have my manual or parts list to hand to check but it seems the washers/spacers/seals differ on the front & rear ends of the hub-housings. I've not lost any bits but they aren't same both sides like the inner-pivots



joining hub-housing to end of arm is simple enough




hubs seem to have a helluvalotta grease outboard of the bearings


one side of housing has felt seal and space for a collar/spacer


other side looks like this (material feel like rubber rather than felt)


so top-hat shape part goes on one side and metal ring on other


top-hat side




driveshafts connect to flange with brake discs and shims in between. square shims go in front of disc and other ones go behind
.


these bolts are not easy to replace. threads cleaned with die



new discs have rusted up a treat indoors


discs won't go on if arms are flat



diff raised to allow arms to drop down enough to get discs on



IRS almost complete. just need cage and shocks/springs now


NB sorry about the photography. I've tried all settings on my camera but almost every picture (with flash) comes out too bright. It must be to do with the strip-lighting in the barn

ok. So I got the IRS back on last night, without any drama

First thing I had to do was put the cage on after taking it back off the car. This was interesting as the outer bolts on each mount pushed out with no pressure at all. These were the ones I put in first (during dummy-run) and then used as fulcrums to enter the inner ones. So I was thinking 'well obviously next time the best way to do it is get the inner bolts in then the outers, simples'

Anyway I had it down in no time and was reluctant to pull the inner-pivots rods out completely (for fear of losing all the spacers etc) but couldn't see any other way to do it. I also had the input side of the diff pointing the handle of the trolley-jack so turned the assy to face the other way as you need to hook the cage over the nose of it then drop the other side down.

Forgot to say I also found the tubes (nicely painted) that the rods go thru. They sit inside the cast inner-pivot brackets and are there to give support/stop cracks on the brackets I think.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that withdrawing he rods didn't result in lots of bits dropping on the floor so quickly got the cage over the diff and one rod straight back in and forgot to fit the tubes in my haste. I then found the holes in the top of the cage were a little out of synch with the holes in the diff and thought mb everything was twisted under the weight and stresses but a tiny bit of levering had the 4 bolts in and then after quite a bit of faffing about removing and replacing the rods - to get all the outer sets of washers etc on - all that was left was to tighten the nuts up.

I was surprised at how generous the gap between the cage and the diff was which was good for getting the washers in but I didn't seem able to close it and the nuts were getting worryingly tight on the rods. I naturally thought that was because I'd omitted the tubes and was therefore just bending the ears of the wishbones/cast-brackets but thankfully that wasn't the case...

It was something to do with the outer washers jamming or sitting squint. No idea how that would happen but after loosening the nuts off and levering the big washer with a thin screwdriver (it was jammed solid with everything else loose) I heard a ping and then re-tightened the nuts and it was fine. Other side was similar.

Next thing to do was take it to car. When I removed it (about 8 years ago) I used lots and lots of wood blocks to gently edge it down one side at a time but as this was balancing on the jack and I'd managed to lift it slightly at times by hand I decided to just manoeuvre it in on the jack and it went fine.

Slight problem was that the rear mounts engaged with the chassis-rails ok but the front was very low and jacking it up further was only going to lift the body eventually. I stuck a bolt in each rear mount to keep things fixed there and tried levering the base of the jack with a big bar to jump it forwards which did raise the front but then everything sprung back. In the end I found that with the jack under a little tension I could tap the front mounts into place little by little then put a bit more tension on the jack, tap a bit more then repeat and we soon had the 4 aligned with their holes.

My plan to put the difficult inner bolts in followed by the easy outers didn't go exactly to plan but they all went in without too much fuss.

last thing to say is that it puzzles me how the whole IRS can be expected to hang from the car on four bits of rubber (if it was on a 4-post ramp for example) so I didn't feel confident about leaving it unsupported as my jack drops after a couple of hours so I put some axle stand underneath it.

Next visit will be to put shocks and the wheels back on then get the jacks and wooden-prop out from under the rear floor



inner-pivot tubes found in boot



inner-pivot rods needed to be removed to fit cage. luckily arms & inner spacers/seals stayed put



had some trouble tightening things up due to outer spacers/seals not sitting correctly when re-installed



IRS ready to go back on car




IRS being wheeled in



jacked up into place without much trouble



IRS bolted in and supported on axle-stands awaiting shocks and wheels