I have these Universals (but with the narrow white band, same tread pattern) on my 1966 Mk 2. They are smooth, quiet, and handle well. I recommend them.

This car had only 16,000 miles (all documented) on it when I got it 15 years ago. It had been used so infrequently that anything that could leak, did. And the paint was tired and scratched. So I took it off the road and did a complete restoration, engine and transmission out, all suspension rubbers replaced, new shocks, all fluids, belts, generator and starter and fan motor taken apart for inspection, found perfect, brake system redone completely except that the car is still on its original brake discs (in almost new condition), interior removed, body taken to bare metal and refinished by Coachwerks here in Victoria (more than 300 hours logged).
The interior is almost completely original; I replaced the headliner because of soiling but the rest is reconditioned but as it was. The air conditioning is the original dealer-installed unit (installed in 1966) with the original York compressor. The car is still positive ground, the clock works, the one-speaker radio plays Petula Clark...
These photos are pre-restoration- no rust, no accidents.




The photos below show the work in progress: first removing everything (that exhaust system is not from the Mk 2):





The engine bay was left as "driver quality" on purpose - I have had too many concours cars that I was afraid to drive lest the engine get dirty. This is driven all year long provided the roads are dry.

[QUOTE=JeffR1;1987598]That's incredible to find a car like that, it had to have been in a garage all its life, probably heated too since the brakes were all good.

Even the black leather and carpeting was kept out of the sun ![/QU

Correct! The car came to me from Winnipeg, where it was sold new at Motor Sales. Obviously it was used in the summer (for non-Canadians: Winnipeg summers are brutally hot), thus the dealer-installed AC; and I suspect it was not used in winter because there was no corrosion, not even on the chrome -and it was certainly garaged year round.
The carpets are original, completely unworn, even the driver's side, and they are still a rich black. No fading at all.
The brake discs were and are good, as you can see in one of the photos above, but all the rest of the brake system needed to be renewed including the booster unit. I put in a new water pump, all new hoses, a new SU electronic fuel pump (which looks identical to the original points pump -and it hides behind a panel in any case), and a Pertronix unit hiding in the original distributor. Those are the only modifications made, and they were made as a matter of reliability. The fuel tank was removed, cleaned, coated and replaced. I did fit a small filter between
the tank and pump. The compression was checked and it was 170 in all 6 cylinders. The transmission was leaking copious amounts from perished seals...I hesitate to say any more about the transmission because it is a long and sad story...oh heck...: my mechanic sent the transmission out along with another DG250 that had gone 200,000 miles. Of course I recorded my transmission serial number before it went and I verified it when the transmission came back.. The report from the transmission shop was that mine was perfect internally, needing only a new seal kit, which was done. But when the restoration reached the stage of putting the transmission back in (4 years later...don't ask...) it was immediately obvious that something was wrong. It simply did not shift properly. Out it came to go to a different shop. They took it apart, noted that the innards were worn , that the torque converter showed evidence of having been welded at least three times...ultimately, after two tries, they gave up; they just could not make it run properly. Have you figured it out? The case was my original case all right, but the workings were from the other, 200,000 mile car! The original shop had them both apart at the same time and mixed them up. As this was 4 years removed from the time the transmission went to the original shop, there was not much that could be proved. The other transmission, MY transmission in the other case, was long gone to parts unknown. To end the story, I bought a remanufactured unit from Whitehouse in England. You no doubt want to know what that cost (with shipping to the west coast of Canada) but I cannot bring myself to write it. In any case, the transmission shifts perfectly!

That would be good - but a much better use of your drive down to Victoria would be for Jaguars on the Island in July...it is the largest Jaguar Show in North America every year!