Forum Replies Created
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Hi Peter & Colin,
V12/LG6 petrol filler caps! These were talked about some time ago, but seem to have gone on the back burner. I did buy some machined bronze castings many years ago, but they are for the LG45, so are fairly flat, whereas the V12/LG6 ones are more heavily curved to match the wing profile.
The originals are mazak, always bad news. Mine are actually still surprisingly good, even as far as the plating, but there is a crack in one hinge pivot which I suspect wouldn’t withstand rechroming, & is probably also a common problem.
Strangely the radiator cap, a very similar casting, is brass!
Also the aluminium radiator trunnion mountings…specifically the front half….both have crumbled on my LG6, so again I suspect others may have experienced trouble with these.
Also brushes for the V12 axial starter. These surely can’t last forever, & Bosch advised me that they threw all spares for these in the 1970’s. Incidentally they did email me a very helpful exploded diagram of the starter, which I’d be happy to email on if anyone would like a copy.
Laurenceduplicate deleted
Hi Jeremy,
Yes, sounds that’s a factory ID plate which therefore blows that theory. At least you know your engine isn’t the one first fitted to the car, I thought that number sounded very low! That doesn’t mean it wasn’t fitted by the factory though, as stated previously. Of course it’s possible…likely even, that Ellard swapped engines around. If 14020 (the car) still survives, it would be interesting to see which engine number is fitted, especially if it’s a late number & stamped 14022! Catalogue perhaps will show if 14020 was an Ellard car.
Yes, DB similarity is noticeable. Alan Good decided (wrongly as it turned out) that there wouldn’t be a market for the V12 once the war ended, so it’s unlikely yours was a show car to test market interest. Magazines at the time seemed to be keen to feature one-off cars, so it might be worth looking at Motor, Autocar & Motor Sport for the period around first registration of yours. I did this for my V12 & found it advertised for ?3000 in 1946…..not a bad mark-up on a car originally costing ?1575 (think that was the price for the dhc in 1939)….back to what I said about he error in misreading the post-war market for the V12…apparently V12 Lagondas were in fact the most desired & therefore highly priced cars immediately after the war.
Lagonda (built up) sounds almost evasive! Perhaps that’s how coachbuilt cars were described. On the other hand I think yours and (14121?) were “built up” from spares as chassis (at least?!) by the factory after the war. So it could be that that is all that was intended. That line could therefore mean it was first registered as a rolling chassis only…might be worth pursuing if that was feasible, as that will mean your body post-dates first registration. Might be worth checking the car’s electrical equipment then, as Lucas items are generally stamped with month & year eg 5 46 means May 1946.
Devil’s advocate here….I’ve yet to find any electrics on my V12 dated earlier than 1949….which is even stranger in that it was totally rebuilt in 1945!Best
Laurence
Hi Jeremy,
The factory ID plate should show Chassis 14122 & engine 14122. If yours shows the engine as V12/8, then that indicates the body wasn’t built by the factory. Unless of course Ellard lost/replaced the original plate. Is it still fitted with V12/8? That’s very early, almost prototype…presumably Sanction 1 with oil filler through the n/s exhaust manifold? Lagonda were great ones for swapping engines around, which probably explains why their ID plates never showed the real engine number. Take my V12…first reg December 1940, & taken off the road April 1945 for complete rebuild (yes, really!) in which time it covered 13500 miles, & had had 3 different engines fitted! Your engine number should be something in the low 200s, but of course anything possible at the factory. Is the chassis number 14122 stamped on the timing cover fan boss? That would at least prove that is your original engine. If it shows another number, then it’s likely Ellard swapped it for another…which would then indicate the ID plate is Ellard fabrication.
LaurenceHi Peter,
Interesting. I have no interest in the value of my V12 dhc as it is my most loved possession and will never sell it. I would have paid whatever I had to to buy it. In fact I did, thinking about it….I bought it in 1976 when I was 21, borrowing the balance from my mother. Despite paying her everything I earned other than frugal living expenses, I only paid her off completely in 1981, & only that soon because someone “kindly” broke my leg in a motorcycle accident, & the compensation from that paid the balance. The post-war cars I find interesting technically, and reasonably attractive, but no more than that. Personal opinion of course.
Regading value of the V12, it is a negative for me due to the concerns it brings.Laurence
Perhaps more worryingly than the carbs, is, where’s the radiator & shell, and bonnet?
The carbs are probably there..or at least 2, as that looks like a pair of 4-carb manifolds.Laurence
Hi Jeremy,
I remember seeing your car at the Ellard sale. In the absence of any other replies, does it have a Lagonda chassis & engine number plate (brass, should be nailed/riveted to the bulkhead facing the engine), and what information does that give (apart from which oils are recommended)?Laurence
Thanks Alastair & Colin for the replies. Think that was one of the email addresses I used, will check. Just concerned not to have had any response whatsoever, so wondered if the service had gone into meltdown or whatever. Unfortunately no phone out here, probably not returning to the UK till August. I do appreciate & respect Robin’s position, but it is annoying to receive no response, & not as if the questions asked are involved or otherwise time consuming. Will try again!
LaurenceHi Alastair.
When I first saw my V12, I asked the seller about wheel discs, and he said he hadn’t fitted them as they rattled. So I expected to get a set when I bought the car. Annoyed to find they weren’t included amongst the spares when I bought it, & even more annoyed to see Ace discs being sold a year or so later, with other V12 spares I might have expected, by him. So…they may rattle. The discs were actually bought by another member local to me, & turned out to be green, so actually from another V12 the guy had turned into a Le Mans rep. I did get the wings with wheelcases, & tucked in the tool-holder, I found a little tool. It has two prongs & fits over the valve, so I guess you’ll find a small circular nut with 2 holes in it that this would engage in, to unscrew it & therefore release the valve extension from the disc.
Hope that helps!
LaurenceHad a look at their website & they seem pretty confident about overhauling anything. So much so it almost sounds as if they won’t touch them unless they’re very rare!
LaurenceHi David,
Many thanks…I think Stevsons are Birmingham, which is a bit far north for me, but not so far as to be out of the question. Will call on VCSA on my return from Germany & see what sense I get. Also will be wanting front shock absorbers done now, so will have to extract promise of urgent treatment!
The shock absorbers are for my V12 (dhc).Hi David,
Sadly, yes, delay or indeed no reply at all seems “normal” in my experience. Suggest polite reminder!
Regards
Laurence
Hi Julian,
Many thanks…but have found a gear cutter who says he can shave the gears (I have one & a spare) to the correct profile.
Wouldn’t exactly call the fibre gear a weak link….the original in my car lasted 36 years, & even then probably only failed through oil starvation…my engine was missing the vibration damper, which throws oil up to these gears.
CheersLaurence
Presume by counter balance weight you refer to the vibration damper. I have an LG6…didn’t need to remove front crossmember on that to do this job, but certainly radiator needed to be out of the way.
Sounds like Lagonda were on a learning curve…you should get a V12 for this sort of fun…every “minor” job entails doing something major first…best I’ve discovered so far is bolts for master cylinder put in so that you need to remove torsion bar first… inserted the other way. you’d just undo the nuts & withdraw the bolts..job done. But the way they are, you have to remove the torsion bar….that “just” means removing bumper, headlamps & bar, front apron, radiator, front wing….then you can start removing the torsion bar. For some reason, I made up a tool to clean the master cylinder barrel in situ…Laurence
Hi Bru,
I should have added that “Newnes” set is 4 or 5 volumes, plus a separate folder enclosing “data sheets”…if you decide to buy them, make sure you’re getting a complete set. The chapters/articles are strangely random, ie 1 volume doesn’t relate to solely transmissions, for example. Earlier sets might not have had the data sheets, but these are often sold separately on ebay. The books are fairly large (but a little smaller than the Arnold & May History of Lagonda)….so they’re quite heavy. The data sheets (unbelievably) do cover Lagonda, certainly my ones include V12 & LG6 & probably older models as well. I can certainly recommend that set in particular, especially as there’s so much information for still so little money. There are of course other books, I also have a single volume one by Odhams from the late fifties which was very helpful for focussing my lamps.
Laurence