Nachfolgend der Text des Berichts, der sich wirklich ziemlich gut liest.
Im nachhinein bin ich umso beeindruckter von der Marketing-Leistung, die die Engländer da abgeliefert haben. Nach unabhängiger Aussage meiner beiden Projektleiter (dazu später mehr) waren einige Arbeiten wirklich sehr gut, andere dagegen grottenschlecht ausgeführt.
Auszüge aus dem Bodyshop-Magazine vom Oktober 1993:
RIOT VANS, ARMOURED LIMOS ...
AND A DAIMLER DOUBLE-SIX
Out of the same stable as the Jaguar XJ 5.3 C model which formed the basis for our earlier extrovert exercise, this Daimler, powered by the same OHC V12 5.3 litre engine, also started life as a two door coupe. Built in 1978, the car was one of the last of the 300-odd Double-Six Coupes to emerge from the Daimler factory, and was one of only a handful modified by the long established coachbuilder Avon to full convertible spedfication.
Prior to its purchase by BODYSHOP, the car had been the subject of some body restoration work by a leading London dealer, which had also carried out a total respray. Unfortunately the repaint had been carried out using 2-pack paint over the original TPA (thermo-plastic acrylic) finish.
This had resulted in excessive film-build and shrinkage in some concave surfaces which led to the paint lifting away from the subs-trate. The only answer was a bare metal repaint.
The car was first stripped of its brightwork, interior trim, hood, glass etc and then sanded back to bare metal by Peter Haie at the R-M Training School. The initial diagnosis was encouraging. The panels were undistorted and relatively rust-free. The only obvious problems were corrosion at the base of the windscreen pillar and the B- post, and replacememt door sills which had been inexpertly fitted over the orignals.
At this point, the car was moved to the Wallsall premises of S Mac-Neillie & Son who were to carry out minor bodywork renovation prior to the scheduled repaint.
S MacNeillie & Son is unique the world of coachbuilding and vehicle repair. Established in 1912 by Sam MacNeillie, the firm retained its family connection right through to the 1980s. Today's Company, under the stewardship of managing director Keith Bradley, combines the traditional virtues of quality, commitment and customer care, with the latest technology, advanced engineering techniques and tight management controls to form today's very different organisation. The singularity of S MacNeillie & Son can only really be appreciated by visiting it. As well as conventional car repair work, Mac-Neillie's has carved out a niche as probably the world's foremost producer of armour-plated cars, riot vans and police vehicles. The company's £8 million plus output ranges from riot vehicle conversions on Leyland vans through to bullet-proof stretch limousines for Government dignitaries, Arab potentates and heads of state. Naturally, all work is to the very highest standards and virtually everything is produced in-house. And not surprisingly, MacNeillie's was one of the first bodyshops to achieve BS5750 accreditation. Certainly it is the only bodyshop we have ever visited where you have to sign the Official Secrets Act before you can cross the threshold!
...
The Daimler Double-Six was being worked on in the MacNeillie bodyshop where a variety of projects were in band, including conventional accident repairs and the virtual rebuild of an armour-plated Jaguar saloon which had rolled at over 120mph whilst escaping from a terrorist attack. The occupants were unharmed and the car fully repairable; a pretty impressive achievement!
Work on the Daimler was being supervised by bodyshop manager John Hough. At the time of our visit the front wings and sills had been removed and extensive fabrication work was being carried out underneath. 'We've modified some standard Series III Daimler sills to suit the shorter wheelbase of the convertible,' said John, 'but we've had to do some fairly extensive fabrication work on the inner panels which are simply not available. The rust round the windscreen and A posts was blasted back and lead loaded, as were other panels where appropriate.'
Keith Bradley emphasised that MacNeillie's keep the use of filler to a minimum and its long term employees are highly skilled at drawing out damaged panels to achieve a well-nigh perfect metal finish, requiring only the lightest of light filler skim to achieve a perfect surface.
Once all the bodywork repairs on the Daimler had been completed, the bare metal was degreased. A wash etch primer was then applied, followed by a high-build polyester spray filler, R-M Stop filler, to provide coverage over weld seams and pitted areas such as wheel arches. After dry sanding, a coat of R-M Fast filler was applied and this was then flatted and baked. A layer of R-M Hi-Fi wet-on-wet surfacer was then laid down to give good stone chipping resistance, followed by three coats of the rich pearlescent Bodyshop Blue basecoat, which had been specially formulated for us in Diamont by R-M's colour laboratories. The pearl basecoat was then overlaid with R-M's fluorocarbon clearcoat, Euroclear FL. This is an interesting new product which creates a water-repellant surface on which rain forms tiny globales, as it does on newly waxed paintwork.
The painting was carried out by MacNeillie's Roy Taylor. 'We're very proud of our paintwork,' commented Keith Bradley, 'and we put a lot of effort into final polishing to achieve as near as possible a perfect finish. It takes time but the results are worth it. As a company we have always been able to operate profitably, particularly on the specialist vehicle side, and this enables us to put in that extra bit of effort, which would be impossible if we were struggling to cover our costs.'
Project coordination and refitting was entrusted to Paul Hands, who did such a remarkable Job on the BODYSHOP Jaguar Cabrio Coupe. His new company, Amtrans, is based in Kidlington, Oxfordshire - just across the way from that other well known Jaguar outfit TWR! As before, Paul moved mountains to ensure the car was ready in time to appear on the BODYSHOP stand at the Automotive Trade Show.
As many of the original chrome fittings and trim items as possible were retained but, where required, replacements were supplied by Birmingham Jaguar spares specialist Olaf Lund, and Bob Jones of Merritts in Amersham. Other hard-to-come-by secondhand items were supplied by Jag Gare in Palmers Green. New carpets to original specification were purchased from GW Bartlett, an American Company which manufactures complete kits for virtually all post-war Jaguars, while the dash panel was superbly reveneered in burr walnut by Malcolm Hall of London Carriage Craft.
The original spoked alloy wheels had inevitably suffered the ravages of time, but alloy wheel renovation specialists Diamond Styling of London soon transformed them to their former glory. One minor modification was the substitution of matching pearlescent blue paint as the colour contrast on the wheels, in place of the standard black.
The original trim - which had acquired a patina of age - was retained, although a new fully lined mohair hood was tailored for the car by ace trimmer Paul Plumbridge at P & G Trimmers, based at Chicheley near Newport Pagnell in Buckinghamshire.
And finally the car was ready to draw the crowds at the BODYSHOP ATS stand. The Daimler Double-Six convertible certainly showed, as these photographs prove, that when traditional refinishing skills are combined with the very latest products and technology, truly superb end results can be produced.
