Forum Replies Created
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😀 David –
The 2.6 and 3.0 litre cars were practically all built with manual 4-speed David Brown boxes (I stand to be corrected of course). If you know of anyone throwing these away, please do let me know.
Tim –
I am aware of the over-drive conversion for the DB 4-speed box, I have been told it has been sourced from a Ford Granda (amongst others) on more than one occasion and costs ca. 1000 pounds fully fitted, several people are doing this. It is meant to make the car far more useable for the 2.6 and more so the 3.0 litre models.
With regards to Chris’s top top tips….
1. I fully agree with a re-core on a radiator, makes it much more efficent. Have never been convinced at the expense of an ally radiator replacement.
3 and 5 All very sensible tips, and no doubt generated through years of experience.
2. How is the water pump with an internally shaped pump cover. boss contributing to improved water flow ? Wouldn’t it be better to deal with this water flow issue inside inside the engine ?
4. A glass bowl fuel filter – as used on the later DB Astons, allowing better filtration of muck, particles and sludge which sits at the bototm of the bowl, and easily removed; alnd also allows a better flow rate of fuel. Unlike the situation in the normal DB Lagonda set-up which can be prone to blocking, and fuel starvation if you are unlucky. Good thinking, and will look into this one, very sensible.
6. There are several other mod’s on bit the 2.6 and 3.0 litre engines mentioned on this forum and the other one, it would be useful to bring all of this information together.
Is Chris – “Bruno” on the AMOC site ?
In the end, bottom line is, what do people do with these Lagonda basket-cases, leave them to rot, I hope not. I think dropping another engine and gear-box in , is a very useful solution, since the cost of replacement DB engines is far too high to be economical.
This ebay car is a good project for someone, at say 1000-1250 pounds, yes plenty of work, but so much can be done by a handy-person, good at wood-work and basic car mechanic skills
I see that the 2.6 litre saloons still do not have any real following, unlike the 2.6 litre drop-heads of course and all the 3.0 litre cars. Is there a reason why ?
The car is not unknown, it is on Ron Press’s excellent web-site previously owned until the end of last year by Jonathan Dormer.
Simon
PS Are you by any chance taking a commission for Chris, amongst your many other activities ??? 😀 😆
Peter and Tony,
Engines are around, you just have to hunt for them very hard and determined. Same for gear-boxes, I have found a couple and there are for sure more out there, but clearly not common.
Tony – I see you have benefited from the latest craze of Aston Martin owners, to throw away perfectly good and original gear-boxes, for newer modern 5-speed alloy boxes from the likes of Tremec, Toyota etc. If you browse the AMOC forum, you will see this is an increasingly common practice. I would happily bet, that your gearbox is in good order, and yes it is unique to the post-war DB cars.
Would be interested to hear Tim’s thought on the subject, perhaps I am mistaken and stand to be corrected ?
By the way this car actually dates from 1952, the post war Lagonda registar informed me this evening.
The seller has reduced the price to 1800 pounds today.
The car could still be brought back to life like Harry Taylor did with his 3.0 litre 2-door, using a 1980’s Japanese straight six cylinder and five speed box-beautiful work. The car is road registered and of course has been given a new lease of life, after being rescued from the Lagonda grave-yard of1990.
Simon
This car is LR126 as everyone on the forum seems to know.
I have been informed that this car is now sold.
Wasn’t on the market long from January !
Going back to the car…
Looks like it has been well stored, with paint-work in what appears to be good condition.
The garages in South Ken, round the corner from when I worked at Imperial, were cavernous and well constructed. Which may mean for once that a car has come out of storage in good condition.
Will be interesting to see this “barn fresh” car and of course the bench mark price it makes at South Kensington.
I hadn’t realised that there were any barns in South Ken…
The car has actually been reguarly serviced and very well looked after and presents well. I liked it soo much that I actually made a good offer which was declined.
The problem is that the owner is elderly (in his 90’s) and is down-sizing his considerable private collection. He has still got to come to terms with the amount of work which is required to bring the car up to a good standard – not a concours queen, but a highly acceptable and useable vehicle.
Electroytic issues are common in all of these cars when in an unrestored condition, and it very much depends on the restorer which route you take and how deep your pockets are
I didn’t see any filler, if I had, I would have paid extra for that, loved the picnic tables though…
The car made 19,600 pounds, which is a very fair price for the car.
Peter hi
So the change or re-bodying incorrectly, means the car has lost its real value and is neither fish nor fowl, if you know what I mean ?
The car I prefer if I had the spare cash is this one :
This example coming up on 24/5 for auction.
May I assume from the lack of interest, that the 2.6 litre saloons are still at the bottom of everyone’s wish lists, what a shame!
I offered the owner 5k and this was declined, not that I need another project, but the wooden frame is straight-forward. However, the biggest issue is the car is left outside and there is a great deal of rust and rot in the steel floor; of course there is a potential engine rebuild as well.
Best of luck to anyone who goes for it, but do keep your eyes open.
Simon
The wrong enigine will always be a concern, and more so as these cars start to increase in value as is now evident.
However, the major issue, potentially with this car, is what may in fact seem to be trivial – the door not closing properly. If the ash sills have rotted, then the wooden A posts will be on the way as well. This sagging will become more evident and the doors won’t open or close properly. This will mean that the body will have to be lifted off and the ash frame properly repaired, a good home wood-worker can do this job.
The owner had emailed me to say the door was now opening or closing correctly, one would have to view this statement with great caution.
As for the interior, on this car aside from the dash-board it is very presentable and from the limited view picture appears to be very complete. The time consuming job will be taking off the walnut veneered dash-board and restoring it.
The word of caution is that any buyer must take care with what they are buying and also double check the engine is working properly; these are very expensive to have fully rebuilt.
Simon
Here is the link to the engine, just re-advertised on eBay:
The car has now got 3 bids on it, and it is up to 18,500 pounds already, which is pleasing to see.
Seconded, and this one can easily be brought back up to a good spec by an enthusiast who will love the car. There are also 3.0 litre engines around if someone was keen, that would make a substantial difference to the car as well.
Beautiful shape, drop dead gorgeous imho as are all post-war Lagonda’s!
Tim hi
I hear what you are saying, but the key issue is that it has the wrong engine, it would have been better if it was a 3.0 litre replacement.
When first questioned the owner told me it was the original, the engine number tells you it is a 2.6 litre. He then told me that it had been bored out to 3.0 litres; in other words he has no ideas of what his car is!
There are also a raft of inconsistencies in the information provided.
If you look at the pictures, the dynamo is missing from the engine, so how can it work at the moment, maybe removed for the picture ?
I would suggest that the price is over-inflated, given the sizeable amount of work to do on it, more likely 11-14k would be right.
There is also the issue of the body and paint, which will need to be looked at carefully and the ash frame.
Best of luck, but not one for me Gunga-Din !
Simon
Peter and Tim
I have been in touch with seller, simply to extract more information, which is important for future records and to safe guard these great cars.
He has been going through his large amount of pper-work with the car and Foreshaw of Aston Martin Dorset supplied, and I quote as follows:
” I have reams of handwritten correspondence between Capt Forshaw of Aston Dorset where the engine is
discussed. The 2.6 was already in the car in 1980 and was rebuilt by post.
Fascinating there may be a book here.Forshaw supplied high compression
pistons and saysThe 2.6 is in fact structurally stronger than the 3, and
given the larger carburettors is exactly the same externally…….high
compression pistons when coupled with the larger carburettor would bring
the engine virtually to the Vantage spec and performance.I have the
invoice supplying high compression pistons.”My gut-feeling is that this car, like so many fabulous cars of the 1950’s was run into the ground by the time it got to its 3rd or 4th owner, who simply did not have the money to spend on its upkeep. Sometime in the late 1960’s or early 1970;s the engine developed a fault cracked block or similar and not economic to repair. A 2.6 litre block was then sourced from an unloved saloon which could be bought for maybe hundred pounds or less.
Of course I could be totally wrong and stand to be corrected!
The pictures underneath the car, show a lot of work has been done, and the engine bay to the car’s credit is very nice.
But, and this is the big part, take great care and caution!
Regards
Simon