Dave Price's Blog (18)

I thought it was time I logged the work to returning my Phaeton to the road

2011 - Car bought.  Not having been laid up for many year the car was going to need some restoration to get it back on the road.

2012 - Spent time wondering about changing from Pinto power.  Bought various V6 engine, Then sold the same many V6 engines.

2012…

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I see my options as 

1,  bike throttle bodies' aftermarket ecu - expensive

 2, keep the Jag in take and use X Type wiring loom and ecu, think this is related to the Ford EEC V ecu - cheap solution but the ugly intake might have to poke out of the bonnet

3,  Fit an ST 24 intake, cable throttle body and aftermarket ecu.  

You thoughts as to the best solution please

The Jag S Type 'box arrived today.  It must be half the weight of the Essex V6 4 speed, I could lift the Jag 'box with one hand (just about).  It is a lot more compact than the Ford Essex 'box.  Also it is 5 speed (hopefully if it works).  Until this arrived I was still unsure which way to jump, stay will the Essex or go Jag AJ V6 (Duratec).  This 'box is so compact and light, it has to be the future.  I know this will be a challenge as I know nothing about engine management, but it is time…

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I am due to collect another Essex V6 block in a couple of weeks and then while building up a decent engine, I plan to use the old worn block to figure out how to work out some engine mountings for my Phaeton S2.  Does anyone have any photos of an Essex in a Phaeton?  Ideally in a S2 and showing the mountings.  Noticed the build manual (PDF from the DOC web site) suggests using Transit 2.0 mounts on Ford V6 engines.  I assume this would be the V4 transit not the pinto.  I found some V4…

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Hopefuly just bought a 3.54 English diff for £113.  I not sure if I need it, but as most 3.54 diffs seem to sell for £200, I just had to buy it.  See what it is like when it arrives.  My Phaeton will be running a 3.0 V6 Essex with MK4 Zodiac 'box, I have a 3.89 diff, but fancied a 3.54 as it is as close to Capri 3.09 that I can get.  My momeries of driving a MK1 3.0 Capri were that the gearing really well suited the engine.  So I have been worried that the 3.89 would be too low geared.  I…

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Post Op recovering has gone well.  Had no news on the lock-up garage front, list must be too long.  So the only way to make space in the garage is to have another shed.  The in-laws have been staying for 3 weeks, so had the father-in-law building an extra shed using scrap timber I had lying around.  8 x 4 shed built for the grand sum of £24.  Shed now being filled up with Dutton parts, at last I can see space appearing in the garage. …

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Don't think from the this title that I am any where near painting the car, far from it.  But I have seen some inspiration today.  I saw a matt black 1970's VW camper van, then 30mins later saw a matt black Morris Minor.  Mmmmm, matt black Phaeton me thinks!  On my budget I would be painting the car at home with aerosols so the the finish may be dodgy, if I go matt black no problem.  The car already has matt black sides, 50% of the bonnet matt black and a matt black panel on the rear, so not…

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This evening after painting the diff casing with Hammerite.  I was looking for a quick little task, I decided to fit the new metric wheel studs that had recently arrived from eBay.  With my wheel nuts being blind nuts rather than open nuts, I thought I would press them in using the vice and a deep socket.  Turning the vice handle, all was going well, the vice got a little stiff to turn, so I grabbed a length of tube to slip over the handle and then continued turning, the stud was progressing… Continue

My wife gave me some Christmas presents for the project.  She did not get me the 4 point harnesses.  She got a new radio for the garage and a new pair of overalls.  She is either supporting the project or just wants me out of the house.

Now that we are in the Festive Season my wife has decided that the empty engine makes a good place to store the Christamas veg.  Currently placed on a plywood sheet in the engine bay is a collection of spuds, carrots and other fesitive veg.  So suppose it is s vesitile car

Spent the morning of my day off sorting the garage. When I had got the hundreds of eBay parts and boxes out of thw ay I had a good look at the rear of the Phaeton. It has always looked a little lower on one side than the other (lower on the drivers side rear). Checked various dimensions under the chassis, axles, bodywork. The final conclusion is that the rear tub is loose and sitting lower on the drivers side rear corner. You can easily see this as the overrider hangs down a lot lower below the… Continue

My garage is starting to overflow with eBay sourced car parts (my wife says more rubbish for the Hunk of Junk). I am now in a position of not really having any working area to carry out any work on the car. Given that my father-in-law is due to arrive in a fortnight to stay for 3 weeks over Christmas and that he is a retired vehicle engineer. I need to have a tidy garage so I can utilise his labour and skills to progress the engine rebuild and the diff rebuild. I have decided to take next… Continue

I have had a further look at my Phaeton master cylinder and can't establish it's origin. No manufacture's name. Anybody able to identify it from my photos?

In an earlier blog I had mentioned that I planned a further strip down of my V6 engine. This evening I remove the nearside bank cylinder head. The observations are as follows -

Bores - look OK, much like the offside bank

Head - water ways look significantly bunged up

Pistons - some lateral rotational play in the pistons, as the was on the other bank. But with these there is a pronouced knock as you twist the piston crown.

Conclusion - given the knocking sound when…

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Following on from the posts about my eBay bargains. I have just learnt an expensive lesson. Always fully read the listing. I had stated that I had bought a pair of NOS cylinder heads for £50.99. Just received a message from the seller today to say my cylinder head was in the post. (Cylinder head singlular). I then re-read the listing, it only says cylinder head, not cylinder heads. Well it is still cheaper than buying a new set of valves for the head on the poor cylinder bank of one of my… Continue

Just had a update of the cost spreadsheet at lunchtime. Current quick update gives a total of £918 including the purchase cost of the car. So if I am not to exceed the £1,000 budget that gives me £72 for the remaining works. So it looks like the budget will be exceed as the following items still need to be purchased -

- Seats (or pads)

- Seat belts

- Radiator hoses

- Wipers

- Rear wheel cylinders

- A real roll bar

- Front dampers

- Full…

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When I bought the project I set a spreadsheet to monitor the cost of the project. Initial thoughts before the car arrive were that the grand project total would only be £500. Several months on and loads of parts bought (not to mention tools - tools don't count as I can use them for other purposes), The last update I did on the spreadsheet had a total around £450. I had been managing the budget by only buying parts that were less than £10 (except the engines). Having said that 10 items is still… Continue

In early January 2010, my Dutton Phaeton final arrived. As I helped to unload the car, I closely looked at my new purchase, it was great in my eyes. However when my wife arrive room and found a car with siezed wheels stuck at the bottom of the drive. I think her words were "It's a hunk of junk". My young daughter said "my car". My wife then said Daddy might just have it finished by the time you eighteen" (at that time she was two years old). Well to date progress has been limited and briefly…

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