Soldato
Cracking job Fella
Project Bentley
- Thread starter JRS
- Start date
Bulb changed. New plates arrived. Radiator shell picked up from paintshop, couple of bits to sort before I throw it on the car.
I've eyeballed up the job for fitting the new 'B' mascot on the front, plan is in place for that now. The repair job Gary did to the front badge looks good (you've really got to look hard to see anything was ever wrong with it) so that can go on the shell once we're ready to fit it.
Slowly but surely, we're getting there. Though apparently we do indeed have a fairly big hydraulic leak from that lousy rear suspension setup. Hoping we can squeak through the MOT with it and get whatever's broken replaced in the new year.
I've eyeballed up the job for fitting the new 'B' mascot on the front, plan is in place for that now. The repair job Gary did to the front badge looks good (you've really got to look hard to see anything was ever wrong with it) so that can go on the shell once we're ready to fit it.
Slowly but surely, we're getting there. Though apparently we do indeed have a fairly big hydraulic leak from that lousy rear suspension setup. Hoping we can squeak through the MOT with it and get whatever's broken replaced in the new year.
An update.
So, Gary and I went hell-for-leather at the front end of the car today. I don't have many 'in progress' pics, but I can show you exactly where we ended up. Excuse the general filthiness of the body, it rained. A lot.
The new Flying 'B' mascot:
Headlamp surrounds, indicators and sidelights in place:
The front 3-quarter view, complete with centre-strip on the bonnet:
Range-finder for target acquisition
D):
And that's the front end complete, except for the new uncracked number plate going on.
Of course, nothing about Bentley fixing ever goes smoothly. Turns out that on the drivers side, the bolts that the rear bumper end cap attaches to have been removed from the body. This is, of course, a disaster as the plate that they fit into behind the quarter panel has now dropped out of alignment. And short of hacking a ******* great hole in the panel, it can't be retrieved.
D'OH!!!!
Now, honestly. Which moron at Crewe thought that design was a good idea? What was wrong with having a pop-nut thread insert (which is the way we're probably going to end up going)? Ah well. I have no idea who removed those bolts, but I know it wasn't me and Gary swears it wasn't him. Upshot is, we can't really fit the rear bumper properly until we make a way of holding the end cap up against the quarter panel. So, tool and thread inserts being ordered as I type.
God bless the Bay of E.
So, Gary and I went hell-for-leather at the front end of the car today. I don't have many 'in progress' pics, but I can show you exactly where we ended up. Excuse the general filthiness of the body, it rained. A lot.
The new Flying 'B' mascot:
Headlamp surrounds, indicators and sidelights in place:
The front 3-quarter view, complete with centre-strip on the bonnet:
Range-finder for target acquisition
D):
And that's the front end complete, except for the new uncracked number plate going on.
Of course, nothing about Bentley fixing ever goes smoothly. Turns out that on the drivers side, the bolts that the rear bumper end cap attaches to have been removed from the body. This is, of course, a disaster as the plate that they fit into behind the quarter panel has now dropped out of alignment. And short of hacking a ******* great hole in the panel, it can't be retrieved.
D'OH!!!!
Now, honestly. Which moron at Crewe thought that design was a good idea? What was wrong with having a pop-nut thread insert (which is the way we're probably going to end up going)? Ah well. I have no idea who removed those bolts, but I know it wasn't me and Gary swears it wasn't him. Upshot is, we can't really fit the rear bumper properly until we make a way of holding the end cap up against the quarter panel. So, tool and thread inserts being ordered as I type.
God bless the Bay of E.
Not got any photos yet, I'll edit this post as soon as I have them, but need to get a few updates committed to screen.
Both sill moulding are on, which is nice. We managed to find the inner plate for the bumper mounting and got it reattached. So now the rear bumper is also on, and Jesus H. Christ what a pain in the backside that was.
Also nice was another thing that fixed itself. Post #31, where I mentioned that the drivers seat controls had stopped working? All sorted. On Saturday, we pulled the control box from under the seat and cracked it open to look at the battery. It was fine. Voltage, perfect (3.8V, 3.6-3.8 is all good). So we pulled the box from the passenger seat and connected it up to the drivers seat. It worked perfectly. Then this morning I wired the suspect box into the passenger seat.
It worked perfectly.
Woohoo!
I'll take 'em where I get 'em....
Both sill moulding are on, which is nice. We managed to find the inner plate for the bumper mounting and got it reattached. So now the rear bumper is also on, and Jesus H. Christ what a pain in the backside that was.
Also nice was another thing that fixed itself. Post #31, where I mentioned that the drivers seat controls had stopped working? All sorted. On Saturday, we pulled the control box from under the seat and cracked it open to look at the battery. It was fine. Voltage, perfect (3.8V, 3.6-3.8 is all good). So we pulled the box from the passenger seat and connected it up to the drivers seat. It worked perfectly. Then this morning I wired the suspect box into the passenger seat.
It worked perfectly.
Woohoo!
I'll take 'em where I get 'em....
Man of Honour
Typical isn't it. For no obvious reason it works fine but as you say don't question it too much, when it works that's good enough.
Soldato
JRS, are you the guy that works/runs Jawel paints by any chance?
Nope, but I do know the guy who has the Jawel branch on Wharf Rd - they did the rather good paint job you see on the car now.
Will grab some pictures next time I'm at Gary's place. Now that the rear bumper is in place, she looks like a car again!
Soldato
Yeah when I got some paint from there I seen it (before the restore).
For a while now, we've been having trouble with starting the car. The battery fitted was pretty under-spec'ed, short on amp-hours and short on cranking amps. Once running the car was fine, but getting it started was an absolute pain. Gary's bought a new battery today with the funds saved from the seat ECU fixing itself. The car now starts up much more easily.
Booked in for the MOT next week. Got to put the seats back together after the ECU-swapping, and sort out a dim headlamp bulb. Fuel mix needs leaning out a touch, some final bits of trim need nailing on, new carpet pieces need fitting in. Few last little bits of tidying on the new paintjob, and then a damned good clean inside and out.
Booked in for the MOT next week. Got to put the seats back together after the ECU-swapping, and sort out a dim headlamp bulb. Fuel mix needs leaning out a touch, some final bits of trim need nailing on, new carpet pieces need fitting in. Few last little bits of tidying on the new paintjob, and then a damned good clean inside and out.
I was going to post full update once we got a fresh ticket on the car. As per usual she decided to throw a spanner in the works, and failed the MOT.
Catastrophically.
When Gary first bought the car, one of the original jobs that needed doing was the replacement of a track rod end at the front. The other side has gone now. The headlamp and sidelight wiring was causing trouble with the lights (some dim, some not working at all when high-beam enabled). That hydraulic leak at the back? Failed self-levelling strut (and new ones are mind-blowingly expensive, we've sourced a good used one instead). The rear brakes and parking brake are slacking. The emissions are too high even with the less stringent limits for a car of that age. A rear wheel bearing is a bit loose (Timken bearing though so easy enough to sort). Spring mounting on the rear left is corroded. And the front tyres are cracking due to age.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaanyway....
Sorted the sidelight wiring the other day, did the headlamp wiring this morning. Easy enough job on the drivers side once you move the top half of the airbox out of the way, utter swine of a job on the passenger side since the lines for the air-con are right in the way along with the screenwash bottle and radiator expansion tank! The car is going back to the garage next week to have everything else sorted.
Catastrophically.
When Gary first bought the car, one of the original jobs that needed doing was the replacement of a track rod end at the front. The other side has gone now. The headlamp and sidelight wiring was causing trouble with the lights (some dim, some not working at all when high-beam enabled). That hydraulic leak at the back? Failed self-levelling strut (and new ones are mind-blowingly expensive, we've sourced a good used one instead). The rear brakes and parking brake are slacking. The emissions are too high even with the less stringent limits for a car of that age. A rear wheel bearing is a bit loose (Timken bearing though so easy enough to sort). Spring mounting on the rear left is corroded. And the front tyres are cracking due to age.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaanyway....
Sorted the sidelight wiring the other day, did the headlamp wiring this morning. Easy enough job on the drivers side once you move the top half of the airbox out of the way, utter swine of a job on the passenger side since the lines for the air-con are right in the way along with the screenwash bottle and radiator expansion tank! The car is going back to the garage next week to have everything else sorted.
Not done yet! Our tame mechanic has only been able to start the complicated jobs this week (spring mount, hydraulics). Most places don't want to touch a car like this if it's anything more complicated than changing a bulb (and even that job has pitfalls), so our choices were either wait for our usual mechanic to get around to it or take a chance on someone else who may get halfway through the job before deciding he can't actually do it.
Will post a more detailed update soon, but at this rate we'll be into March by the time Gary and I get the car back on the road.
Will post a more detailed update soon, but at this rate we'll be into March by the time Gary and I get the car back on the road.
So, the car still isn't on the road. And it's a bit of a situation....
See post #92? The car went in for the remaining work, and the MOT not long after that. Then in post #94 we thought that we finally had some action (and that was two months on from #92).
Hoo boy....
It is now, as I type this post, the 23rd of June. And the car is still in the workshop. Scott Cooper (I'd post the full details but I know what this forum would do!), the mechanic we thought we could trust to do a good job in a timely fashion, has basically done half of the work and then....well, not got it finished.
Oh, but he's promised to get it finished
Over and over
For months
Now, there comes a point where you lose patience with a garage and it's pegs out. The owner of the car is at that point. And what neither of us get is....why the hell have things gotten to this stage? The mechanic's perfectly capable of doing the job.
Just too silly.
See post #92? The car went in for the remaining work, and the MOT not long after that. Then in post #94 we thought that we finally had some action (and that was two months on from #92).
Hoo boy....
It is now, as I type this post, the 23rd of June. And the car is still in the workshop. Scott Cooper (I'd post the full details but I know what this forum would do!), the mechanic we thought we could trust to do a good job in a timely fashion, has basically done half of the work and then....well, not got it finished.
Oh, but he's promised to get it finished
Over and over
For months
Now, there comes a point where you lose patience with a garage and it's pegs out. The owner of the car is at that point. And what neither of us get is....why the hell have things gotten to this stage? The mechanic's perfectly capable of doing the job.
Just too silly.
This Gary, Its my Bentley. James and I have started a rebuild of the car (she's more than a car),we see the end in sight. There is always a bit more to do, but resprayed /electrics done/ all screws we saw changed for stainless screws/oil in engine ,diff,gearbox changed. then a trusted garage keeps the car, wont give me a bill or estimate and then will noll not finish the work. All the parts needed are with the car. For Gods sake why. It's not money, It's not lack of ability so Why do I have to take a steam hammer to crack a nut(case). At a loss Gary.
Man of Honour
I can only imagine how frustrating it must be though to keep getting close to finishing and then have it denied to you. Best of luck getting it completed to your satisfaction as it's a lovely car and well worth saving.
Cheers semi-pro. Hopefully we'll have better news to report soon.
The ridiculous thing is - he's a bloody good mechanic! He made up some window lift drives for this car - Bentley want an exorbitant figure for cruddy plastic ones, he turned some metal ones and fitted them for less money than having to buy an original part before shipping costs. He's done stuff on this car that 9/10 garages would blanch at and refuse to get involved with (exhaust manifold gaskets, that was a pig of a job). And it would be okay if he held his hands up and said 'sorry lads, can't do it, I'll nail the wheels back and let you take it away. Here's what I've done so far'....but instead we are where we are.
You and me both. It's such a fun car to drive - like a properly ignorant piece of old American pig iron, with better quality leather, more physical steering, and brakes that actually work. I prefer it to his '99 XJ8 - the Jag is faster, more composed, probably better built, certainly easier to drive quickly, possibly more comfortable depending on your size (I'm really not mega-comfortable in either car to be honest, too tall and too fat!) and that matters not a single ******* bit because the Bentley is a Bentley!
I was showing Gary the photos this morning from back when it was in the paintshop to gee him up a bit. It worked, 'cause it's such a good job that was done. The car will be beautiful. We're achingly close to getting this car back to her former glory....and then stymied.
Like I said. Too silly.
If you'll excuse the Lloyd Webber lyric....there's a light at the end of the tunnel 
Project Bentley is off the lift and on terra firma again. Bearings done. Brakes done. Suspension just about finished. Emissions hopefully sorted enough to get a fresh ticket. Tyres waiting at Gary's home - replacements for the fronts and the spare. By the close of play today, I should have another update that will hopefully see Project Bentley returning to road legal status. Or at least, an update that sees Project Bentley an awful lot closer to the finish line that she was a few weeks back.
Phoned Gary earlier to find out where we were at, since today was effectively Zero Hour (more on that in another post). Knew it must be looking better because he sounded....happy when he answered the phone. Happiness hasn't been one of the emotions generally going around with the car recently. Aggravation, flat-out anger, resignation and then a new determination to not be taken for a fool have been the prevailing emotional states.
I suspect tonight will involve drink. I also suspect that my next few weekends are going to be tied up with the jobs that were remaining at the start of this fiasco back in December. Not much, just got to....
Project Bentley is off the lift and on terra firma again. Bearings done. Brakes done. Suspension just about finished. Emissions hopefully sorted enough to get a fresh ticket. Tyres waiting at Gary's home - replacements for the fronts and the spare. By the close of play today, I should have another update that will hopefully see Project Bentley returning to road legal status. Or at least, an update that sees Project Bentley an awful lot closer to the finish line that she was a few weeks back.
Phoned Gary earlier to find out where we were at, since today was effectively Zero Hour (more on that in another post). Knew it must be looking better because he sounded....happy when he answered the phone. Happiness hasn't been one of the emotions generally going around with the car recently. Aggravation, flat-out anger, resignation and then a new determination to not be taken for a fool have been the prevailing emotional states.
I suspect tonight will involve drink. I also suspect that my next few weekends are going to be tied up with the jobs that were remaining at the start of this fiasco back in December. Not much, just got to....
- Pull the centre console to get at the aerial connection on the radio, and sort it out
- Get the near-side rear electric window working again
- Nail some trim onto the B-pillars and roof gutters
- Pull the mascot off the front, get someone to weld the threaded stud into the bottom of it, and make a neoprene gasket to go between the radiator shell and mascot base
- Get the car back to the paintshop to sort out a couple of issues (including a scratch that I had something to do with ) and put the pinstripes on the flanks