1974 Daimler Double-Six VDP (higher axle stands)

Yip. The studs were something else. Thanks for your comment

Usually things seem easier after you've succeeded but I'll never forget the months/years of trying to overcome that hurdle. I give myself a large pat on the back for the winters night where I went to buy the hotplate I saw in a Gumtree advert.

In years to come all Jag V12 restorers will be doing it that way and I will know I was the pioneer

Ok so a bit of a balls-up with the rope-seals....

Due to being a weirdo I felt sorry for a single one I saw on Ebay and then found one at a good price on the normal web. I always prefer Ebay as the P&P is visible but when you go onto a normal dealer for one tiny part they (understandably) have sort of 'standard' charges for shipping that aren't always appropriate for the size of the part.

So I had two en route from different sellers and thought might actually be ok in case one took ages to deliver.

So the next day I get an email from the Ebay ppl saying 'sorry, out of stock and can't give date for more'

So am thinking 'jfw! the other one will prob takes weeks to arrive cos it's not Ebay and the tool has to go back in a day or two!!'

Next day a seal arrives so I email Ebay ppl (wh have already refunded me) to say the thing arrived and need to pay you. They reply to explain otherwise. Basically I bought the 2 off same ppl, via different routes, when they only ever had 1

By this time it was Thursday and I got the tools on a Thursday 2 weeks prior so I had to do something that night with the one seal I had as there definitely wasn't another coming.

So after a hard day's work I forced myself back out at night to the barn with the seal and realised the tools were back at flat boxed-up ready to return to hirer. I tried to stay calm and worked on putting the seal into the bearing-cap. The logic here was that it sits under the other seal and is more likely to leak down low.

I was amazed at how much easier the grey seal went into its groove than the white ones had. I just rolled it flatter with a socket extension (used like a rolling-pin) the used same to knead it into the groove and it seemed to be much firmer and hold its shape.

Perhaps buoyed by this small 'success' I flew back home for the tools and back down again (16 miles so far) to finish the job off.

If you remember last time I batted the tool into the seals (with cap bolted to block) then did a bit of twisting to polish it but was told this was not the right way to do it.

S000, this time, I figured it would be quite easy to do it properly as I was only really fighting with one seal as one was already done (badly?). So I bolted the cap back on and then started trying to push/rock the tool through the seals, with some graphite paste as a lube.

All I can say is that it was very very hard to do. It took hundreds of twist and a lot of forward force to get the taper past the seals onto the large OD of the tool. I'd say nearly an hour. I was listening to Hearts getting beat by Zurich on the Radio and decided if it wasn't thru by full time the wooden block was coming back out.

I got it thru just before the end of the game.

Anyway I'm quite pleased with the job. The new seal seems to be supplied the correct length so I didn't need to cut the ends and they may have actually filled some of the mess in the groove for the seal in the block.



I ordered this seal from same place twice via different routes


seal pushed into groove on bearing cap easily



it took a lot of time and effort to get tool all the way home between seals



white seal in block after 2nd session


grey seal in cap


finished job (LHS)


finished job RHS


seal in cap (to)0 probably done better than seal in block



Next bit of progress was getting a very good used liner for £30 (posted) off Ebay. I've been looking for a while for something like this and suddenly there's a guy selling nearly a full set (11?) for £30 - £40 each. He must be pricing them according to condition altho they all look reasonable in the pics.

The one I got (£35 with offer of £30) arrived today and I'm very pleased with it. So this will be used to replace the one I cracked on disassembly and the others I'll need to start honing/glazebusting again.

Then there will be a lot of measuring which is a bit pointless as I'm going to use them anyway


used liner £30 inc P&P



seller sent exactly the one I picked out of multiple



bore looks good

Did you try the crank in the block before the rope seals were fitted? I was taught to do that first, then you know any resistance in turning after the seal is fitted is the seal dragging, which is normal, but can mask other issues.

So an unexpected day off today gave me some time to work on the VDP project....

I made up the 2nd leg then put a couple of plates on the bottom of each leg to make feet. I'm also puzzled as to why the threads on the bolts I welded on are fine. Could run a nut up and down them fine with no distortion like I've experienced before. Maybe it's something to do with the metal the component is made from. These two bolts were not matching so just luck perhaps.

Anyway with the feet welded on and the legs bolted to the brackets they are sitting pretty equal which is good I reckon

I have decided to paint them in blue Smoothrite to match the stand so they are in electrolysis just now and will hopefully paint them tomorrow.

I then cut some metal to do legs for when it's the right way up. I could've used same square-section tube as i did have bits long enough but in the stash spotted some pretty heavy angle-iron that was about the right length to yield two pieces and so cut that instead. One advantage of this stuff is that I won't need to have a captive stud welded in as it's 'open' but will prob end up doing it anyway.




1st pair of legs now finished and getting ready for paint



legs bolt to brackets on block




angle-iron to be used for next pair of legs

Well I got the other legs made least night and am quite pleased with them.

I'll de-rust and paint them later as I can no actually get on with putting the crank in but will need them soon when I turn the engine over to put the pistons/liners etc in. After that it'll be the oil-strainer etc and the sump. I'll prob be able to do that from underneath without turning the engine upside-down again

Anyway I'm getting ahead of myself so back to the legs. It was pretty similar to how I did the first ones except I splashed-out on new nuts c/w bolts and went for 10mm instead of 8mm. Should have really did that with the first legs but at the time don't think I could find a 10mm drill-bit. Actually last night I found a sharp 9mm bit then widened the hole out with a 10mm masonry-bit. It worked really well (yes I did say masonry (

So basically I offered the angle-iron up to the brackets on the block at what looked like a good angle to hit the floor; scratched a line on them to match the angle of the bracket; cut the excess off; used the off-cuts to make plates for the top of the legs; drilled the plates; welded the new bolts into the plates; welded the plates to the legs; bolted them on to the brackets; went home

I still don't know why the threads aren't distorting. I'm positive every time I MIGd nuts or bolts before the threads distorted and I'm sure I read that they get work-hardened or something and to fix it you need to heat the item and quench it. Some sort of alchemy anyway. Have to say it's great that they aren't distorting.

It was a bit tricky getting the plates to sit on the legs initially as they are only supported on 2 sides. Didn't have a problem with the other legs as they were box-section but after much propping and balancing I found stacking some weight on top held them long enough to get some tacks on. I've still to do the feet but that will be easy enough.

Once these are done I guess the next challenge will be turning it with the extra weight of the crank & main-bearing caps and the fact that it'll be unsupported by the new legs as soon as I start turning. At this rate I'll end up making some sort of Star-Wars shaped octagon thing that I can roll it round on



angle-iron cut to match angle of brackets on block



offcuts cut again and drilled to take 10mm bolts



£3.20 splashed-out on 2 bolts c/w nuts



bolt in offcut of offcut



bolts welded to underside of plates




balancing-act to keep plates on legs till first welds made



plates fully welded on




leg bolted to bracket on block




should be strong enough to support weight of block with crank/liners/pistons installed

Thanks homersimpson

Believe it or not the body is all sorted. I did the sills etc years ago and am 100% sure it would pass MOT (on that aspect). The front wings and doors still need some metal-repairs but that's cosmetic imo.

For such a popular car the XJs seem to be quite rarely restored. I've never seen one at a local car show for example when you see lots of MkIIs and E-Types, The XJ did have banger-status I guess but still a bit of an iconic car.

That's good to know about the welding. Now I'm going to get over-enthusiastic and start trying to tap welded parts