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It is if it lasts, otherwise it looks **** real quick and ruins the effect of the good work.
Thats why i asked if it was brushed or sprayed, brushed on being the best way.
Project Bentley
- Thread starter JRS
- Start date
It is if it lasts, otherwise it looks **** real quick and ruins the effect of the good work.
Thats why i asked if it was brushed or sprayed, brushed on being the best way.
Burnsy2023 - we think so.
DiamondMark - I know what you mean, and in a perfect world with funding to match the car's heritage we'd have had the interior retrimmed from scratch (and the body bare-metal resprayed, and the rear bumper completely replaced, and a new backlight....the list is ******* endless
). But so far (about a week or so on from being applied) this masked + airbrushed job seems pretty well stuck, though I suppose it might still be fully curing. At least it doesn't flake off onto my jeans like the old paintjob did by the time we got around to sorting it!
DiamondMark - I know what you mean, and in a perfect world with funding to match the car's heritage we'd have had the interior retrimmed from scratch (and the body bare-metal resprayed, and the rear bumper completely replaced, and a new backlight....the list is ******* endless
). But so far (about a week or so on from being applied) this masked + airbrushed job seems pretty well stuck, though I suppose it might still be fully curing. At least it doesn't flake off onto my jeans like the old paintjob did by the time we got around to sorting it!
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So, updates.
1) The car has gone away to have a new alarm/immobiliser/remote unlock setup fitted. The old Scorpion 758 system that was in there has bought the farm - if you tried turning the system on, it completely immobilised the car (disabling the engine, central locking, not arming the alarm setup and generally behaving like a bump on a log) and drained the battery right down. Ah well, what's another few hundred quid?
2) I know some of you have seen that Wheeler Dealers episode where they took an '84 Bentley and 'restored' it. Here is that very same car on eBay:
Linky dink.
Some choice quotes from the auction:
Sold it with no MOT as well. I do hope it's gone to someone who knows that this car is about to kick him square in his bits-and-pieces rather than someone who has no idea what awaits him....
***edit***
Oh, and the Jag is still away being repaired so my mate is down to the 2.9i Granada Of Spooky Doom™ and a BMW 520d estate loaner that his wife won't drive.
1) The car has gone away to have a new alarm/immobiliser/remote unlock setup fitted. The old Scorpion 758 system that was in there has bought the farm - if you tried turning the system on, it completely immobilised the car (disabling the engine, central locking, not arming the alarm setup and generally behaving like a bump on a log) and drained the battery right down. Ah well, what's another few hundred quid?
2) I know some of you have seen that Wheeler Dealers episode where they took an '84 Bentley and 'restored' it. Here is that very same car on eBay:
Linky dink.
Some choice quotes from the auction:
A lesson in how TV shows lie through their teeth about certain aspects....
LOL, cowboys.
So it's buggered, then? Actually, to be fair some of those are easy fixes (the lights, the window and the alarm). The cruise control is a bit more on the expensive side, as we're finding out with the Project.
What did that TV show actually do to this pup when they had it? Because they sure as hell didn't restore it.
Sold it with no MOT as well. I do hope it's gone to someone who knows that this car is about to kick him square in his bits-and-pieces rather than someone who has no idea what awaits him....
***edit***
Oh, and the Jag is still away being repaired so my mate is down to the 2.9i Granada Of Spooky Doom™ and a BMW 520d estate loaner that his wife won't drive.
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That episode of wheeler dealers with the Bentley made me laugh, what a load of ****** that was.
That respray would have cost a normal person 6k.
That respray would have cost a normal person 6k.
Car is back now with the new alarm system fitted. This system works perfectly, with one tiny, insignificant exception.
The drivers door won't operate on the remote.
*sigh*
We've had the door mostly apart, found issues with pretty much every single bit that we could reach and fixed them, and still no joy. So a phone call to Montague and Co was placed for new solenoids. These are ~£60 each + VAT brand new from Bentley.
We got the whole solenoid pack (both solenoids, casing, arm etc) for ~£90.
Win!!!!!
The drivers door won't operate on the remote.
*sigh*
We've had the door mostly apart, found issues with pretty much every single bit that we could reach and fixed them, and still no joy. So a phone call to Montague and Co was placed for new solenoids. These are ~£60 each + VAT brand new from Bentley.
We got the whole solenoid pack (both solenoids, casing, arm etc) for ~£90.
Win!!!!!
Hehe yea, the one where they restored a BMW 840ci made me chuckle too, without Mike Brewer's ...'contacts' they could never have done it so cheaply. And they didn't seem to bother doing a few things they probably should have done either.
Right, well that was a complete PITA....
So I get the solenoid pack out of the door, and we transfer the guts of the new unit into the old pack since the backplates are different on the two of them. Unit then goes back on the car, and....no joy.
So I get the solenoid pack out of the door again, take it half apart and loosen a few bits off on the lever arms at the bottom. Unit then goes back on the car, and....no joy.
So I get the sol-....oh hell, you see where this is going. Basically, after getting soaking wet in the rain adjusting various bits of the door lock mechanism and trying the locks (making sure to run the engine occasionally to keep some charge in the battery) over and over and over I finally got to the point where I'd adjusted the thing as far in the opposite direction to where it was as I could go. Shut the door, and tried again.
Joy.
I then proceeded to wander down the driveway, shouting "Lo, I am unto a God!!!". The whole Cobra system now works - alarm, immobiliser, remote central locking. And as an added bonus, I appear to have sorted the stiff locking barrel on the drivers door while I was at it.
Damn, I'm good.
So I get the solenoid pack out of the door, and we transfer the guts of the new unit into the old pack since the backplates are different on the two of them. Unit then goes back on the car, and....no joy.
So I get the solenoid pack out of the door again, take it half apart and loosen a few bits off on the lever arms at the bottom. Unit then goes back on the car, and....no joy.
So I get the sol-....oh hell, you see where this is going. Basically, after getting soaking wet in the rain adjusting various bits of the door lock mechanism and trying the locks (making sure to run the engine occasionally to keep some charge in the battery) over and over and over I finally got to the point where I'd adjusted the thing as far in the opposite direction to where it was as I could go. Shut the door, and tried again.
Joy.
I then proceeded to wander down the driveway, shouting "Lo, I am unto a God!!!". The whole Cobra system now works - alarm, immobiliser, remote central locking. And as an added bonus, I appear to have sorted the stiff locking barrel on the drivers door while I was at it.
Damn, I'm good.
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Good job 
That's the front door locking mechanism that I now have an almost perfect recall of in my brain. Getting the damned thing out of and into the door ranks up there as one of the more irritating jobs you can do on a Bentley. Especially when it's pouring with rain. I'll try and get some photos of it all in the metal at the weekend.
I'll ask the owner.
I think the figure might be getting interesting by now. The car was six grand initially, maybe another grand in bodywork inc labour, bunch of parts and fluids, couple of hundred sorting the seat electrics, a few hundred for the new alarm inc. installing it, the interior leather renovation....the small matter of keeping me tanked up on caffeine in order to work on the thing....
It was too good to be a parts car, and bad enough that it needed some money spending. We can look back now and see just how far we've gone with it, and yet the list of work to do still stretches out ahead. Fortunately, a lot of it now is getting to the stage where it's just making stuff pretty rather than making stuff work (last thing on that list is probably the cruise control).
In an ideal world with a lottery win providing the funds, we'd make it the single best Bentley Mulsanne S on the planet (Blackpool Project style motor, re-trimmed interior, some minor bodywork modifications, Gear Vendors modified 'box for six speeds....
). In this world, we're merely having to content ourselves by making it as good as we possibly can without spending a small fortune in the process. And I think we're doing alright.I'm certainly enjoying the progress .
I won't lie, I have found myself looking at the classifies for old Turbo Rs and find myself wondering... Of course I do see these cars everyday, but I don't really know what they are like to live with and what can be done with modest funds.
I like reading this thread because it gives me hope that despite the fact that there is a 97 Brooklands with just 7,000 miles on the Clock but ££££ worth of work needed waiting on the ramp for me tomorrow, it is possible to run one with a reasonable sized wallet.
Would absolutely love one, such a mean and imposing car.
.I won't lie, I have found myself looking at the classifies for old Turbo Rs and find myself wondering... Of course I do see these cars everyday, but I don't really know what they are like to live with and what can be done with modest funds.
I like reading this thread because it gives me hope that despite the fact that there is a 97 Brooklands with just 7,000 miles on the Clock but ££££ worth of work needed waiting on the ramp for me tomorrow, it is possible to run one with a reasonable sized wallet.
Would absolutely love one, such a mean and imposing car.
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I'm certainly enjoying the progress
I won't lie, I have found myself looking at the classifies for old Turbo Rs and find myself wondering... Of course I do see these cars everyday, but I don't really know what they are like to live with and what can be done with modest funds.
I like reading this thread because it gives me hope that despite the fact that there is a 97 Brooklands with just 7,000 miles on the Clock but ££££ worth of work needed waiting on the ramp for me tomorrow, it is possible to run one with a reasonable sized wallet.
Would absolutely love one, such a mean and imposing car.
You could run one better than anyone on a budget.
Quick and dirty costs rundown:
Car - £6000
Bodywork - £600 so far (more to come next year!)
Door cappings - £100 but we're re-doing as it hasn't lasted
Dashboard and console wood - £120 with us doing all the removing and refitting
Leather - around £300, we may well be going back to them for some more stuff on both the Bentley and the Jag now it's returned from its little adventure at the repair shop
Track rod end - £200 inc labour
Oils and fluids - Lord alone knows (easily over £100, probably over £200)
Vacuum pipe for making the engine actually work - £150
Setting up the engine after fitting said vacuum pipe - more than a few hours of tinkering
Electrical work - whatever spades cost
Mirror glass - £75
Seat memory unit - £300 in part-ex for the old unit
Seat memory switches - parts cost plus a bottle of whisky
The figures would be even higher had we not done a great deal of the labour ourselves (and if we'd had to buy that ******* seat memory switch panel for over a grand rather than get the old one repaired!). Spread over 2 years it's not actually as painful as it could be. When we get it to the point at which we're happy for it to be seen parked up I'll re-cost it. I suspect the figures will have climbed a bit by then.
Car - £6000
Bodywork - £600 so far (more to come next year!)
Door cappings - £100 but we're re-doing as it hasn't lasted
Dashboard and console wood - £120 with us doing all the removing and refitting
Leather - around £300, we may well be going back to them for some more stuff on both the Bentley and the Jag now it's returned from its little adventure at the repair shop
Track rod end - £200 inc labour
Oils and fluids - Lord alone knows (easily over £100, probably over £200)
Vacuum pipe for making the engine actually work - £150
Setting up the engine after fitting said vacuum pipe - more than a few hours of tinkering
Electrical work - whatever spades cost
Mirror glass - £75
Seat memory unit - £300 in part-ex for the old unit
Seat memory switches - parts cost plus a bottle of whisky
The figures would be even higher had we not done a great deal of the labour ourselves (and if we'd had to buy that ******* seat memory switch panel for over a grand rather than get the old one repaired!). Spread over 2 years it's not actually as painful as it could be. When we get it to the point at which we're happy for it to be seen parked up I'll re-cost it. I suspect the figures will have climbed a bit by then.
Here's where I spent most of my time the other week working - the drivers door, getting the remote central locking to work properly.
You can see two of the three rods along with part of the solenoid pack and one of the c/l microswitches there. That circular whole is just about large enough for me to wedge one of my hands into.
Looking at it slightly to one side:
There you can just about see the solenoid pack on the right-hand edge of the large hole, just to the right of one of the tensioning cables for the window lift. I ended up having to get the solenoid pack out of the door by disconnecting the rods and finessing the whole bag of mashings past the tensioning cable. And there's quite a bit of tension on those....
The workshop manual reckons that you have to remove the window lift drive before attempting that job. I say that Bentley is wrong, and we have working remote central locking to prove my point
You can see two of the three rods along with part of the solenoid pack and one of the c/l microswitches there. That circular whole is just about large enough for me to wedge one of my hands into.
Looking at it slightly to one side:
There you can just about see the solenoid pack on the right-hand edge of the large hole, just to the right of one of the tensioning cables for the window lift. I ended up having to get the solenoid pack out of the door by disconnecting the rods and finessing the whole bag of mashings past the tensioning cable. And there's quite a bit of tension on those....
The workshop manual reckons that you have to remove the window lift drive before attempting that job. I say that Bentley is wrong, and we have working remote central locking to prove my point
Things inside the car are starting to come together again. We're fitting insulation (which will double as waterproofing) to the back of the doorcards and refitting them now that they've had a bit of a resto to match the seats. The wood cappings on the doors are getting their second paintjob in two years (long story) as well.
Here's how the drivers door looks right now:
It's not finished yet, but it's a lot better than it was Got some pictures of the insulation coming, but my e-mail is taking forever to drag them in.
In other news, my mate's Jag is finally back after some serious screwing up by the bodyshop that had it in for insurance work and the Jaguar 'specialist' (I use the term loosely) that got it running again after the bodyshop flooded the engine. This is a long story of woe and stupidity, and one that I cannot be bothered to type out. All that matters is that the Jaguar is back and the Granada Of Spooky Doom™ can now be taken back off daily driver status.
Here's how the drivers door looks right now:
It's not finished yet, but it's a lot better than it was
Got some pictures of the insulation coming, but my e-mail is taking forever to drag them in.In other news, my mate's Jag is finally back after some serious screwing up by the bodyshop that had it in for insurance work and the Jaguar 'specialist' (I use the term loosely) that got it running again after the bodyshop flooded the engine. This is a long story of woe and stupidity, and one that I cannot be bothered to type out. All that matters is that the Jaguar is back and the Granada Of Spooky Doom™ can now be taken back off daily driver status.