1 – Drive the Car

First step was to get it registered so I can drive it.  I’ve now put about 100 miles on the Daimler.  It hadn’t been registered for around 20 years (although it was used on a trade plate for a few years after that) and It’s only done less than 6,000 miles since the year 2000.   A bit of use already has it driving better and better.

This is also helping me identify future improvements.  It runs well when warmed up, but not so well when cold.  The suspension work so far was the minimum required to get the car registered.  It will need some more to bring back the great ride these cars are known for.

2 – Clean and feed the leather

Preserving the special Vanden Plas interior is critical, and so one of my first steps was to clean and feed the leather.  The leather is not perfect but its really very good for its age.   I’ll want to do this a few more times.  I used the Auto-Glym leather conditioner.

3 – Clean the carpets

The carpets were pretty dirty.  I removed the ones I could easily and used my little carpet cleaner.   The ones in the car I did as I could.   It made a pretty big difference and the water out of the carpet cleaning machine was pretty dirty by the time I had finished.  I also noticed that the underlay material was missing on the passengers front, which led me to my next job.

4 – Replace the underlay on the passengers front

I had some carpet underlay on hand I bought for a previous project.  It was thinner than the material used on the rest of the car, but two sheets together was about the same thickness.  I used the front carpet as a template and cut two sheets to size and installed them.   These cars had pretty extensive sound deadening compared to a regular XJ.

5 – Installed a battery monitor and charge port

I use the BM2 Bluetooth Battery monitor in all my cars.  While the Daimler is fitted with a voltage gauge, I am not sure how accurate it is.  The bluetooth monitor allows me to quickly see the voltage of the battery even when the car is not running.  The gauge is particularly useful on the Mercedes and Citroens that don’t give you a voltage gauge, but I was able to verify that the alternator was working well, and the gauge in the car reads a little low.     In addition, I installed a port for my ctek bettery chargers so I don’t have to worry about alligator clips.

6 – Installed a second hand lower grille

The lower grille on my car was totally missing.  Its not immediately obvious on the series 1, but having a gaping hole under the front bumper is not ideal.   I was first given a grille which turned out to be for a series 3.  I then found one on uk ebay that was for a series 1 and fitted it.  A small improvement that makes quite a difference once fitted.

7 – Fixed rattling hubcap

On my first couple of drives, I noticed quite a rattle from the front drivers wheel.  At first I wasn’t sure what was causing.   I couldn’t see anything hitting the wheel when the car was jacked up.  I couldn’t see the trim ring touching anything either.   Turns out the Daimler badge on the hubcap was loose.  I’ve removed the hubcap and added some glue, and will refit and test.

8 – Owners manual and keyring

I purchased an owners manual and keyring.  I couldn’t find a Vanden Plas owners manual, but owners manuals for the regular Series 1 Double-Six are easy to find on uk Ebay.  At the all British day, I also purchased a Daimler keyring, which has sadly already broken.

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I had assumed I would just put up with it, as the grille inserts available from the usual parts suppliers in America are of horrific quality.   However, a friend who had recently purchased a 280CE mentioned that he got a very good insert from Niemoller in Germany.   I decided to order one, as well as a new auxiliary fan.

When the replacement W123 grille insert arrived, I agreed with him.   Its not perfect but is quite good quality.   The only fault I could find in it is there is some slight evidence of where the plastic has flowed before it hardened.  You have to look quite close to see this.

Changing the W123 grille insert is not particularly difficult.  It is just one of those fiddly jobs that takes a bit longer than you expect it will.   To replace the insert, the entire grille must be removed.  This is quite easy as its held on by six 8mm screws.

Four of the screws are quite obvious, but two require an extension and cannot be seen.  Once the grille is off the car, then the W123 grille insert is removed from the rear.  It is held on quite securely.  The two outer screws holding the grille shell to the car are also holding in the insert, so that leaves another six fasteners to remove.   The easiest one is the Philips head screw at the bottom.  Then the Mercedes emblem below the star also holds on the top centre of the insert and is removed with an 8mm nut.   That is also quite straightforward.

The sides are more fiddly.  There are four clips that hold the insert flush against the grille shell.  The bottom ones hare hidden behind plastic spacers.  These are held on with phillips head screws.   Then, I removed the four clips by rocking them side to side with a flat head screwdriver until they came off.

With the insert removed, the metal strips can be simply slid off.   The horizontal ones slide outwards and the vertical one slides down.  Other than the one held on by hot glue, they were simple to remove and re-install on the new insert.   On closer inspection, my strips are not as good as I thought, and I regretted not getting new ones.  I’ll try and polish them up with metal polish.   While I was there I also transferred over my grille badge.

Re-assembly is the opposite of removal.  While I was at it, I noticed that the blue surround of the Mercedes emblem was a bit faded.  I had a much better emblem on one of my spare W126 grilles, so I swapped it over.  Its not perfect, as some of the white paint on the star has come off, but its in quite good shape. There are also a couple of metal clips to accept the mounting screws in the top left and right corners of the insert that I swapped over to the new one.

The main thing I discovered while re-assembling the grille is that the Philips head screw at the bottom of the grille should be re-installed last. I tried putting it first.  However, there are some plastic tabs that sort of tuck into the grille shell inner rim.  If the bottom of the insert is secured first, they are not property tucked in and the insert doesn’t sit correctly.   I found it better to install the Mercedes emblem first to locate the top part of the insert, and then the sides, then the bottom last.  The metal clips on the sides are the most fiddly, but eventually went on with a flat head screwdriver.

Re-installing the grille was also a bit fiddly.   After a few attempts to line it up, I found it easier to use the two inner screws to locate the grille on the bonnet.  I inserted these with the bonnet in the normal position.

From there, I installed the two outer screws.   For the middle ones, the bonnet needed to be in the service position.  Otherwise I couldn’t put the screw on the end of the socket and then guide it into place.

I’m pretty happy with this improvement.   There are two other future improvements.  I will try and polish up the metal strips, and the star can be a bit limp at times.  On my trip to Queensland it would sometimes fall over at speeds over 100km/h.

Observant readers will notice I made a mistake.   I noticed it when writing up this article.   The tongue for the latching mechanism is not in the right spot.  While I had put it in place when first fitting the grille, when moving it around to fit, it must have fallen out.

I went back the next day to check.  It took a few minutes, but I eventually got the bonnet open.  I was able to use a hook to pull the latch open without damaging the grille.  Since the grille is now screwed into place, It wasn’t just a simple matter of putting the tongue in the slot.  At first, I thought I would have to remove the grille again, but then I noticed that the tongue is easily removable.

In about thirty seconds I had the circlip and pin off.  That then allowed me to re-install the tongue from the front and then re-attach it.

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