1964 Daimler 2.5 V8

The 4.6 was not easy to find even 45 years ago, but like the 2.5, it was as tough as old boots with the bonus of far more torque and bhp.

I'm planning for this to be a cruiser / sunday driver / wedding car type of thing, but it has occurred to me that it might be a little light on horsepower by the time it's got 4 passengers and a picnic basket in the boot.

Looking at discussion on both homersimpson and goldnrust 's threads makes me think that maybe a sniff of boost might be just the thing.

I dug up a couple of old photos circa 2001 of my first turbo conversion - mk2 Escort with 2litre pinto and sierra 5 speed, running 7psi and sucking through an SU carb. 
It was all flailing fists, sideways and axle tramp in the escort, but was also very torquey, drivable and a super simple setup. It could be made to look almost factory in the Daimler!

I need to worry about getting it running as-is first, but interesting to kick these ideas around.

Sorry to hijack the thread a bit, but were they the same basic block? I know very little about these Daimler engines, beyond the fact that they're little jewels.

A turbo on the 2.5 would make a very interesting engine indeed!

A few folks find the performance disappointing. A Jag nut I know does. He always thought the 3.4 is as “small” as you should go in a Mk2. But it’s horses for courses . If they can be blown via a turbo, obviously
That changes things.

I’ve fancied a 250/Mk2 of sorts for a while. Looks like a good project. I’ll keep an eye out on the progress . A A parts car always feels bad to desrrou but they are invaluable

Great question on the state of the current engine.

I've been trying to ignore the mechanicals for the moment as there is so much bodywork to be done and I need to focus on that first, but I can't hurt to have a bit of a look, right?

Original engine is matching numbers and the previous owner had removed the heads for a look.

Turns over nicely and the bores look good, no lip and no corrosion etc. I'm keen to use this block if I can since it's original.




One of the heads is very tidy, but the other (this one) has corroded water jackets. There has also been a foreign object in two of the cylinders which has lightly marked the top of the piston and the chamber, which isn't ideal, so will have to see if it'll tidy up, should be ok.



I've also got the engine from the parts car here and so I thought I'd have a quick look at it.  The car is very corroded and has sat untouched since Adam was a boy, so I've been pretty pessimistic about the condition of the engine. On pulling the dipstick, the oil is as clean as a whistle, as if it hasn't been run. The transmission oil also looks perfect. 
I couldn't get a socket on the crank nut, so put a big shifter on it. I didn't expect it to move, and didn't want to bruise the nut, so just gave it a fairly gently nudge and IT MOVES! 
The generator is seized and so I can't turn it right over, but it feels nice and free and is very encouraging that it's in reasonable shape.

I'd be tempted to get the spares car engine up and running, before you think of parting it out...

Very valid point and it had crossed my mind too.
The photo is of the dipstick of the parts car... pretty clean. It didn't photograph particularly well and looks cleaner in person.  I don't have a photo of the other engine but its got oil in the sump and looks like normal, used engine oil. 
Neither engine has run for 25+ years, and possibly 30+, and the oil looks quite different in each - and both perfectly normal.
I don't know if the dispersants and detergents in engine oil get 'timed out' and drop the soot out of suspension after a while, or if maybe someone changed the oil in the parts car and never had it running again, or what, but it is suspicious that it is so clean.

You could be right and may well be detonation. It wasn't my first thought as I'm used to detonation damage having an overheated, slightly porous, 'sandblasted' look which I don't think this does, but it still could be. Definitely something not quite right!

Here are some better photos of it - one is quite ugly and the other not tooo bad. The other 6 are perfect luckily.
the engine is stashed away in the corner of the garage, but will get it out onto a stand and whip it's pants off for a proper look.
Just in case I can get away with STD size bores, if anyone has an A grade and/or a B grade piston they can spare I would be very grateful to hear from you.

(I've turned it over since the last pic, the damaged piston at TDC in my last post is the one at the BDC in these pics)

With the parts car engine it would be worth taking out the plugs to lower compression, putting a very small quantity of oil down them and then spining the engine over on the starter until you get oil pressue before trying to start it.