Daimler 2½ litre V-8 “Cresta” prototype DN250 history of the project part 4 painitng and fitting the body and rebuilding the engine – August 2008 to August 2011
	August 2008 Suddenly it looks more like a car, with the boot and rear near-side filled and flattened. The boot lid handle still says Vauxhall, but a new one is being made with Daimler fluting to match the radiator shell.
	August 2008 Here at last. The engine left John Nash’s Aladdin’s Cave on Tuesday or Wednesday and arrived on Thursday the 31^st of July. Here’s hoping that it will be love at first sight (with the aid of a welding torch) when it is introduced to the bodyshell. To judge by the picture in Hot Car of September 1979 (see home page) they should be made for each other.
	September 2008 The front end is close to being finished. I bought two bumper bars from John Nash. One, a front bumper, will fit the back very nicely, while the other, which was too curved to do, fits well on either side of the radiator grill when cut into two parts. The gap between them will be filled with a plinth for the number plate, which here is just “tacked” in place. The radiator shell has been shortened to fit.
	September 2008 See the previous note.
	November 2008 The front panel with the radiator and bumper. The forward position of the radiator shell presented a big aesthetic problem. I had already settled for a split bumper but the proposed plinth for the number plate concealed the bottom of the radiator shell and looked silly. The shell has been shortened still further and the number plate will be hung as shown two pictures up.
	September 2008 The front near side, at least from the driver’s door forward, is fairly close to the photos and drawings of the original, - cont. below
	September 2008 (continued) but the rear is rather different. First I have rounded the rear wings and eliminated the vestiges of the fins, as I hope Daimler would have done. Secondly Daimler must have intended a more upright and curved rear window, but I have kept to the original rear screen and panelled the quarter lights.
	September 2008 Here at last is the bit that really matters. The engine fits nicely. Note the engine mount on the Vauxhall’s front suspension sub frame.
	September 2008 In this view you can see the twin bonnet locks (from a TR), one on either side of the radiator shell. I do not want to risk a repetition of Dotty’s bonnet flying open at speed! On the previous picture you can see the wire connecting the two locks.
	19 December 2008 Back to WT Bells for the engine to be rebuilt. The crankshaft and main bearings are fine needing no more than a little TLC.
	February 2009 Engine bay being prepared for priming.
	February 2009 Off side also close to priming.
	February 2009 Bonnet and front wings in primer.
	10 March 2009 Reboring to take 20 thou oversize pistons..
	20 March 2009 How do know it’s a Daimler. By the radiator, silly. The fluting is Daimler’s symbol. The same at the back. Above is the Vauxhall boot trim and handle with the name blanked out as the back-up item. Below is a spare one with Daimler fluting added by one of the skilled foundry pattern makers at Tom Brough & Co of Brown Lees, nr Stoke-on-Trent.
	16 April 2009 Bottom end re-assembled.
	17 April 2009 Drain plugs old and new.
	18 April 2009 If you can’t find one, make it..
	21 April 2009 The turn of the valve seats.
	week ending 1 May 2009 This is the final colour. The front wings, which are bolted to the body shell, have been painted separately, then will be attached for finishing.
	week ending 1 May 2009 More of the same.
	week ending 15 May 2009 This is still the final colour, a dark blue but not as dark as it looks in these pictures.
	28 May 2009 It really is getting like a motor car. The loom has been laid out and most of the interior trimming done. I was so busy watching the work on the floor (sound damping and carpet) that I had to be prompted to look up o admire the headlining.
	28 May 2009 Carpet, loom and a bit of the exterior bling. My budget did not run to chromed brass window frames so I will have to live with painted steel. It’s a tough life! You may also make out the Daimler radiator grill and a modern door mirror mounted on the front wing.
	28 May 2009 But here there is a little less of the bling. There are plenty of other shiny bits round the boot, so for now the fluted boot handle is painted to match the body. Maybe another year I will have a casting made and chromed.
	8 June 2009 The front bumper was a problem as the radiator shell is curved and protrudes a lot, so a one piece bar would have to be mounted to far forward to look right. Besides the only bar I had available was too curved to fit in one piece (it was off the back of some Daimler or other) but became quite neat when cut in two.
	28 May 2009 The rear bumper was no problem. John Nash did tell me what it was off, but all I can remember is that it was from the front of something. Here is fits perfectly. I found the badge on eBay and Jules Bodycraft made a plinth to mount it.
	28 May 2009 You can just see that this is a typical Daimler steering wheel. Luckily (and skilfully) a Daimler steering wheel and column have been fitted to the Cresta steering box. Here the newly trimmed front seat has been fitted so I can gauge by how much the steering column needs to be shortened – about 1½ inches.
	19 August 2009 The almost finished dashboard. I might remove the two centre air vents so that the heater controls and radio can be moved up and the bottom of the board made straight. It looks a bit overwhelming at present, but perhaps I have just got used to it being an empty space. The piggy bank has run dry so progress is slow.
20 November 2009 Progress is slow, for which an empty piggy bank is only part of the reason. Getting a windscreen made to measure is no problem for Uroglass. The problem is that I am having it made with a built in heating element. Hitherto these are obtainable only from a factory in Finland where they make them by the 10k and slip in the odd half dozen for the classic market in between long runs. I was promised mine in August and so on month after month. I am also still waiting for a prop shaft, a gear selector and a few odds and ends, all sourced but not yet delivered. In the meantime the wiring is being done, the trimming finished, getting ready for the last push.
	December 2009 These two pictures show a bit more of the woodwork, still to be veneered. The dashboard has been test fitted: see the next photo above. The windscreen news is that the elements will soon be made in Britain, so this piece may be here in January 2010.
	December 2009 As above.

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