Julian Messent

18 January 2012 at 07:47 #48714

Hi Bill,
Yes, just pull the hub and half shaft out together and split them on the bench and in a press. You would never get the hub off without a press anyway if it has been fitted properly! you generally need a hell of a lot of presure and often heat as well.

Regards,
Julian

Julian Messent

10 January 2012 at 11:03 #48696

Brass and Chrome,

Regds
Julian

Julian Messent

10 January 2012 at 11:02 #48695

Hi Bill,
Yes, remove complete halfshaft, remove hub with a press and a lot of force usually, then remove the bearing housing and replace the bearing.

Regards,
Julian

Julian Messent

16 December 2011 at 17:17 #48632

PS.
The owner of the above engine has now had it uprated to over 330 and it’s “probably” the fastest pre-war V12 Lagonda in the universe! So Far! :crazy:

Julian

Julian Messent

16 December 2011 at 16:38 #48631

Hi Peter,
Have a look at this test we did on a similar spec engine but with a Steel crank and rods for safety, (The std Ally rods of course would depart company in minutes at this power and revs)
a slightly smaller bore than Hans’s @ 76mm but our own spec cams and 4 carbs.

195KW @ 6280 (although about 160kw @ 4750 for comparrison with Hans’s max)
386NM @ 2800 RPM

If we try we have had engines giving 330+ BHP @ 6000+ but unlike the engine in my graph here, these are rather special engines with very much more time invested!
(one of our customers in Spain drives a 300+ bhp V12 DHC !!!) No over heating and a Rocket ship! :}

Attached files

Julian Messent

16 December 2011 at 15:41 #48630

Cheap as Chips!

Congrats to whoever bought it!

Julian

Julian Messent

7 November 2011 at 08:45 #48542

Yep Collin, totally agree!!

Top of the Cool wall.

Wonder where it is now?

Julian

Julian Messent

7 November 2011 at 08:32 #48541

Hi Barry,
Yes, I am sure Mr. Dobell had more Lags as I have seen references to an M45 also, I will try to find it again for you.
We should get together on this as we (Macko) have a massive amount of info on BPK and Mr. Dobell and am sure that if we look hard enough we will find something about your car!
Would be great to see them both together!

Interestingly Macko’s car has some plaques fixed by Dobell on the car with his name and contact details etc. etc. and also another with the chassis and engine number, I think probably for customs issues on the Monte. The crazy man started from Tallinn in Estonia of all places!!

Best regards,
Julian

PS.
Collin,
It was rather “tired” when we got it, but after some gentle fettling it was running well enough for me to drive it on our LMB Alpine rally about 15 years ago when we met the club for dinner in Molsheim!
Thanks for the kind words.
J

Julian Messent

5 November 2011 at 08:56 #48538

Hi Barry,

Interested to hear more as Mr Laqueur (the “L” from LMB) actually owns the Dobell 1935-36-37 Monte Carlo M45 Rapide!
Reg number, BPK 743
Chassis # Z11134R
The car resides in our workshop. I drove it at the Brooklands celebration earlier this year.

What chassis number and Reg is your car? and is it a Rapide?
Would be very interesting to know more.

Best regards,
Julian

Julian Messent

5 November 2011 at 08:46 #48537

Morning Barry,

I personally have always said, 45 and will carry on doing regardless of others, I think the “Four Five” crew is led by the young fresh faced auction college dropouts trying to be “in the know” 😀 Don’t blame them for not knowing better, just pity them 😉 😆 😆

Generally in other marques and also in the trade, “Four Five” or “Three Four or Four and a Half” refers to a chassis on one, say a 3 litre Bentley with an engine from another, say a 4 or 4,1/2 litre Bentley hence Three Four etc. So as we Lagonda’s don’t have a 4 litre or a 5 litre we should stick with the “45” nomenclature!

julian

Julian Messent

23 August 2011 at 18:15 #48466

Hi Mike,

If you need a sounding board when you are working on it, feel free to phone me on +32 3354 0552, am in at weekends usually too but you will need to let it ring for a while as I’m usually on my own.

Regards,
Julian

p.s.
The following 3 weekends I will not be here unfortunately.

Julian Messent

23 August 2011 at 18:12 #48465

Hi Barry,

Unfortunately September is a crazy month for me so LMB had to stop going to Beaulieu a few years ago or I would not be at work for the entire month!
I do miss it as we used to have a great BBQ and I usually ended up cooking breakfast for about 20 people! Maybe next year!

Hope the rain stays away!!

Regards,
Julian

Julian Messent

22 August 2011 at 11:42 #48460

Hi,
the bearing numbers “should be” N307 ECP x1 at the gear end, an 3307-2RS x 1 at the outer end, however Lagonda added the second bearing for a very good reason and this will fit inside all housings, you just need to reduce the spacers inside to suit! I would strongly advise to fit the double bearing to your pinion and make sure this is at the “flange” end of the shaft. Or it may be easier for you to fit the double bearing # 5307 -EEG15 instead of the 2 bearings.

Personally though I would strip it first as there is no guarantees that it has standard bearings inside, at least 25% of cars through our workshop have something weird and wonderful fitted instead of std.

Regards,
Julian

Julian Messent

11 August 2011 at 11:05 #48439

Hi Collin and Laurence,

We have a very good “Fix” for the original type harmonic damper fitted to Lagondas,
1. Remove it from the engine,
2. Practice Discuss throwing and see how far you can get it.
3. Leave it there! 😆

The reason for this.
M45s and LG45s and especially the early M45s all have a “harmonic period” at about 2500 rpm, this is where you really feel the engine being quite “harsh” and if kept here can damage the bearings etc. Some engines suffer worse than others for many reasons but all have it to some degree.
When we looked into a remedy for this we obviously looked at the damper. Making it tighter or looser did have an effect but it only seemed change the frequency range up or down by about 100 rpm or so, therefore sometimes taking it away from our regular cruising speed and so making it feel less of a problem. But not getting rid of the problem.
So, we made and fitted some modern dampers and after experimenting with diameters etc we had great success! When fitting a modern Rubber bonded damper we found that the problem was completely gone up to 3500 rpm and never surfaced again! We found that the engine would seem to have it back again a little at about 3750 on a standard M45 engine and about 4000 on an LG, but as these are speeds that we should not be using on standard cranks and rods then it’s immaterial.
On the big performance type engines we build we use a more expensive “Fluid filled” damper and then all is well for any rpm you care to imagine!

This is what we do with every engine we build now without fail and even do it on the V12s as the standard damper on those is a joke and although you don’t feel it through the car much due to better mounts etc, has more of a problem then the 4.5s!
Modern measuring equipment picks it up easily!

Regards,
Julian

Julian Messent

10 August 2011 at 08:11 #48431

Hi John,

If you have a black bonnet and scuttle then the chassis and axles were almost definitely black also.

Never 100% sure as you could and still can have what you like, but all the more original cars of this configuration that we have encountered are painted as such.

Best regards,
Julian