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The Sapphire 346 has arrived

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Daimlerdb18

Daimlerdb18

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Ahhhhh! The 1954 Armstrong-Siddeley Sapphire 346 arrived Saturday after a number of adventures on the road. The transporter broke down in Modesto CA, then in Fort Stockton, TX, but finally after a week and a half arrived safely and without damage to the car. It is a beauty! It's very like a Daimler in build quality, but is a more technically advanced car. It drives very nicely indeed, lots of power, but needs attention to the left front brake which locks under moderate braking. Pictures to come soon.
 
You might check the right front brake hose... My MGB locked up on the opposite side that the hose was failing on, under hard braking, or wet conditions.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Ahhhhh! The 1954 Armstrong-Siddeley Sapphire 346 arrived Saturday.... drives very nicely indeed, lots of power, but needs attention to the left front brake which locks under moderate braking.

[/ QUOTE ] I had a similar situation last year with a friend's MGA 1500. Turned out that the LF wheel was about the only one with any discernibly functional wheel cylinders! Needless to say, a major brake overhaul was performed. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Meanwhile, I, too, look forward to seeing pictures!
 
There's a pic at my web page https:\\home.earthlink.net\~lbvarley
It's late and I'm puzzled by how to get a photo into the text of the message....I suspect it may be done through the signature or profile??
 
Wow! I remember you talking about this car before, they are special cars over on this side of the pond, I know I've never seen one before (mind you, there are a lot of cars I haven't seen before /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif)

Signed,

Stuck in Calgary, land of very few interesting import cars
 
Cool! looks a lot like my Jag Mk VIII. very classy.
Definatly check all the brakes. like was said above, it's more likley to be the other side not working at all.
Does it pull to that side under braking?
It might even be something as simple as the shoes needing to be adjusted. with a front drum setup, if they're not adjusted equally, it'll pull.
Could also be a leaky wheel cyl. in that corner, and it's grabbing because the fluid is saturated into the shoes.
I guess it's gonna require an inspection.
Neat, rare car. Enjoy!!!!
 
Pulled the drums on all wheels this weekend. There's plenty of friction lining and aside from a littel dust, they're clean as a whistle (just how clean are whistles?). They're all adjusted per the tech manual. So, it must be a dodgy wheel cylinder on the left side not releasing the shoes or perhaps a swollen brake high pressure hose to the left side. Now the trick is to find the hose, but I'll wager that the folks at the Siddeley club may be of help there.
 
A full suite of pics are posted on my web page...www.home.earthlink.net/~lbvarley
As predicted the folks with the Siddeley club were very helpful. Brake hoses and rebuild kits are available!
 
The brake hoses and cylinder kits arrived only five days after being ordered from the Spares Depot of the Armstrong Siddeley Owners Club in the UK! The Royal Mail and USPS were working well together...
Now let's hope the theory about perished hoses is correct and the uneven braking is history (I was going to say a pull to the left, but we're prohibited from discussing politics??)
 
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