Front after the engine had been removed
This hearse is one of the earliest DS420s around having been made in 1969, the second year of production. Only 6 were built in 1968 and 33 were built in 1969. It is a Stratstone Nicholson Hearse and was built by Woodall Nicholson. It was advertised on eBay and was brought from Cornwall on a transporter. It was advertised as having a siezed engine but otherwise was claimed to be in VGC. Several different methods were used to attempt to free it the engine using Coca Cola, WD40, and an Australian freeing agent, but none of them appeared to work so the engine was dismantled. It was found that no 4 piston was well and truly siezed . The final successful method was to use a sledge hammer on the end of a piece of wood. No 4 cylinder was very pitted. It was also discovered that the front carburettor had not been working for some time and was very messy with some sort of gunge which also went into the inlet manifold and front three cylinders, 4, 5 and 6. One can only guess how long it had been like that, but the vehicle had been off the road for about 5 years.
See how the carburettor is fouled up
The engine was fully dismantled and no 4 cylinder was bored out and a sleeve was fitted. We had new pistons and valves plus several other new parts. The head was also thoroughly overhauled. Over a period of several weeks, the engine was rebuilt and put back into the car. The radiator was reconditioned by Serck Services here in Poole, the carburettors were thoroughly cleaned and reassembled with parts ordered over the phone from Burlen Fuel Systems in Salisbury. The distributor was also stripped and thoroughly cleaned. At this stage it was decided to install electronic ignition by Aldon Automotive.
A stainless steel exhaust was ordered from Ascar Exhausts in Sheffield, the main boxes were taken to Maniflow in Salisbury who modified them to improve the flow to make the engine more efficient and improve the fuel economy! Ascar had made the exhausts very well and to the correct specification, but on reflection we decided to have these modifications made.
Since buying our hearse we have looked at numerous entries on Internet
and one that caught our eye was The Classic Hearse Register.
We have recently joined this club and Sandra, the club secretary, came
with Dean look at our pride and joy and took some photos for possible use
in a later club magazine.
Return to Eardley's page, Oliver's page, 2nd Hearse page, 3rd Hearse page