|
|
|
Aug 14, 2019 12:06:13 GMT
|
|
"Took the car for a pre-MOT check over. Less of a winner."
That had me laughing out loud in the office (lunchtime reading).
Great read and keep up the good work, those busses get under your skin, I used to smoke about in a old T1, S1-3's, Turbo R's and also a Mulsanne S with the old carb in a box contraption.
That thing would get 9mpg if you took it easy.
|
| |
Last Edit: Aug 14, 2019 12:06:57 GMT by maxypriest
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Aug 14, 2019 18:48:45 GMT
|
I know exactly what you mean about them getting under your skin now... I am really liking this car. Really liking it! Since finding the issue with the thermostat I picked up a replacement from ECP and made a new gasket up, which was satisfying.  I need to invest in some better hole punches tho. Cheap eBay ones are just too blunt for anything but the thinnest, softest paper. The thermostat also caused a minor issue. Essentially the thermostat needs to be of the size below  Around 10mm of travel is needed to blank the bypass valve and the stat should open at 82 - 84C (according to the internet). BMW E9 (M30 and M20) thermostats fit the bill with most owners replacing expensive and flawed the Crewe part with a Stant 13588 or NAPA 136. Neither of these parts are available in the UK so I did some part number cross referencing and found later BMW E24 and E34 parts should be interchangeable. It turns out that while the diameters are correct the overall height is around 12mm shorter. This means that the thermostat will control flow to the radiator just fine but when temperatures increase further the bypass won't block meaning that not all coolant is passed into the rad reducing the efficiency of the system. For reasons that will stay secret for now I don't have time to wait for parts to arrive from the US so modified the thermostat with a delrin spacer bonded on with epoxy. I also drilled the stat and fitting the jiggle float which I believe aids bleeding the system.  Before putting it all back together again.  The system bled easily but initially the temperature gauge wasn't working. I cleaned it up with contact cleaner and took it for a test run. After 10 minutes it came back to life and is working fine again. Weird! The modified thermostat isn't the best fix, especially if it needs to be replaced so I have done some more digging and come up with a few more part numbers that should be compatible out of the box. Quinton Hazell QTH125 and Gates TH01682G1 are the best candidates so far and are on order. Finally, an arty shot because it's Wednesday.  James EDIT: This is an excellent resource I have found for finding alternative part numbers that may be of use to some other Rolls / Bentley owners mutley.hypermart.net/RollsSubstituteParts.htmlrichrollsMidland Performance & Retro |
| |
Last Edit: Aug 14, 2019 18:50:27 GMT by metroman
|
|
|
|
|
Aug 14, 2019 18:53:05 GMT
|
|
Should be able to sharpen the punches, i use the fine stone on my bench grinder.
|
| |
|
|
fer4l
Posted a lot
Testing
Posts: 1,497
Club RR Member Number: 73
|
|
Aug 14, 2019 19:22:56 GMT
|
Should be able to sharpen the punches, i use the fine stone on my bench grinder. And / or repurpose other tough tubular items the same way - can't for the life of me remember what the gaskets were for but we reused old cam followers bitd |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Aug 26, 2019 16:51:22 GMT
|
Hmm, I think an update may be due. The day after my thermostat swap I got paranoid about the jiggle pin location being wrong and potentially getting stuck and jamming the stat open so took the housing off again to check. I am glad I did because the gasket material I had used was clearly completely wrong and become water logged and started to break down. To overcome this I cleaned the faces to within an inch of their lives and sealed the stat with some genuine Nissan red gasket gunge. The jiggle pin was fine… Next up was a trip to Just Tyres in Lewes for some new rubber. Tyre places are normally much of a muchness but these chaps really did go above an beyond and I couldn’t recommend them more. They went out of their way to get non-stock tyres in extremely quickly and were exceptionally diligent in fitting.   After a lot of searching, researching, comparing and generally wasting a lot of mental energy I decided to go with some Nexen Rodian CT8 225 70 R15 van tyres. All the Goodyears that came on the car were over ten years old and while still sporting plenty of tread they were starting to deform and bulge slightly. They are no longer in production leaving just Avon Turbospeeds (at around £200 each!) and some unknown brands in the original 235 70 R15 size with the 150mph speed rating. Normal car tyres in this size are all for off-roaders and SUVs so are loud, inefficient, have weak sidewalls and have ugly off-road tread patterns. The weak sidewall alone was enough to discount these tyres because I wanted to retain the surprisingly sharp steering. A bit of lateral thinking lead me to look at ‘commercial’ tyres as they are designed purely for road use and have strong sidewalls for heavier vehicles. The speed rating is also adequate and tyre noise is comparable to the Avons but with much better wet stopping and less resistance. Oh, and they are under £60 a corner. Several hundred miles later and I am very happy indeed with the Nexens. Road noise is significantly down and the steering is better. The only change I made was running the 110mph pressures (30psi front, 34psi rear) as the standard pressures were a little ‘squashy’ and the tyres looked flat. Roll on to Sunday morning and the reason for all the prep and the excuse for buying this car in the first place…  Road Trip!     Six of us travelled down in the two cars to just outside Chinon for a week consisting mostly of wine and cheese. Neither of us had any car issues and the Bentley broke 18mpg on the long runs at 120kph and the air con on full.  For long distance it is superb, utterly faultless. I cannot believe how easy it is to drive and how relaxing it is.   We stayed in a lovely farm house and visited a couple of Chateaux’s…   Went on early morning boulangerie runs…  And toured 6-up in the 505 that looked right at home…   Saw some tat and visited some nice places…     The Tank Museum in Saumur was very good…   It got very hot and I nearly died canoeing down the Loire in the middle of the day with no water but neither car seemed bothered.   Finally we loaded up with a lot of wine and came back. I have a list of things that want looking at on the car having properly lived with it but have completely fallen in love with it. More to follow soon! James |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Aug 26, 2019 17:24:35 GMT
|
Long distance cruising - just what it was built for  Looks a very nice holiday! |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Aug 26, 2019 17:35:24 GMT
|
|
Absolutely loving this thread. I have nothing but admiration for you for taking this on when so many of us just dreamed of doing so when it was advertised for sale.
It's fantastic to see the car being used just as it should and you inspired me to throw common sense out of the window and purchase an old V8 Jag recently.
Metroman, you sir are the stuff of legends!
|
| |
Currently driving a '68 Karmann Ghia as my daily. Don't ask about previous cars - there have been way too many and I stopped counting at 160!
|
|
|
|
|
Aug 26, 2019 18:13:10 GMT
|
|
What a great thread, cool car and awesome work too.
I personally like my cars to be mechanically spot on, but I never worry about the small stuff like parking dings etc, as I have had too many low mile garage queens. The ones with the story to tell are far more interesting and where the real memories are made. Road trips and stone chips is the way forward, especially for such a car that can rack up the miles with ease.
I did wince a bit when you mentioned the temp gauge earlier in the thread, as on the Turbo R the sensor is not very nice to change.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Aug 26, 2019 18:29:09 GMT
|
|
Wonderful!
|
| |
1968 Mini MkII, 1968 VW T1, 1967 VW T1, 1974 VW T1, 1974 VW T1 1303, 1975 Mini 1000 auto, 1979 Chevette, 1981 Cortina, 1978 Mini 1000 1981 Mini City, 1981 Mini van, 1974 Mini Clubman, 1982 Metro City, 1987 Escort, 1989 Lancia Y10, 1989 Cavalier, 1990 Sierra, 1990 Renault 19, 1993 Nova, 1990 Citroen BX, 1994 Ford Scorpio, 1990 Renault Clio, 2004 Citroen C3, 2006 Citroen C2, 2004 Citroen C4, 2013 Citroen DS5. 2017 DS3 130 Plenty of other scrappers!
|
|
|
|
|
Aug 28, 2019 20:07:47 GMT
|
|
one of the mannequins appears to be david bowie ?
weak sidewalls on offroad tyres is not two statements i've heard in the same sentence before ! know what you mean about it being the sweet spot in offroad tyre sized though, the mind is now wandering to that corniche which entered 1981 paris dakar rally
|
| |
|
|
|
|
vader
Part of things
Posts: 425 
Club RR Member Number: 93
|
|
Aug 28, 2019 20:27:45 GMT
|
|
Great thread, great car, enjoy.
|
| |
Triumph Stag
Ducati Supersport
Shanks’s Pony
|
|
|
|
|
Aug 28, 2019 20:54:55 GMT
|
Thanks for all the kind works chaps! disasterbus - we only live once, common sense is all well and good but sometimes it's great to go a bit mad. I hope you are enjoying the jag! blackpopracing - I cannot agree more, it is really nice driving a car in the exact way it was designed to be. Sports cars are great and extremely rewarding but I often feel I am a weak link or traffic is holding it back or the road is a bit dull. This is a different experience and a very pleasant one. jamesfuller - thankfully the temp sender is pretty accessible on the N/A engine. I am happy it is working and the temp is right. I am also very much in agreement about mechanically sound vs cosmetically perfect. It is rare that both are the case. I was always terrified parking my E24 for fear of it being damaged. Tomorrow is a big scary day - MOT first thing. I've checked it over and basically it all looks okay. The car gods did bait me a bit and blew a side repeater bulb when I was testing the hazards and I don't have a spare the right size. Hopefully they can turn a blind eye / have one on the shelf. Then the electric seats and mirrors decided that they didn't want to work again. They have been fine since I fixed them on the first day with contact cleaner and fuse wiggling on the fuseboard and the same trick seems to have worked again. I will be pulling the board when I get chance to make sure something else isn't at fault. Typical that these things go at the worst possible time, here is hoping nothing else crops up... James |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Aug 28, 2019 20:59:29 GMT
|
one of the mannequins appears to be david bowie ? weak sidewalls on offroad tyres is not two statements i've heard in the same sentence before ! know what you mean about it being the sweet spot in offroad tyre sized though, the mind is now wandering to that corniche which entered 1981 paris dakar rally Maybe that's the wrong terminology but I have always found off-road type SUV tyres to really lack in turn-in compared to road tyres of the same profile. Either way I wanted road tyres for noise etc and am happy with the Nexens. Dakar Rolls FTW    |
| |
Last Edit: Aug 28, 2019 21:00:00 GMT by metroman
|
|
|
|
|
Aug 28, 2019 21:27:45 GMT
|
|
yeah i know what you mean, the higher load rating of 4x4 tyres (mine are 1.2 tonnes each!) doesnt necessarily seem to translate into stiffer carcass
|
| |
|
|
bstardchild
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,976
Club RR Member Number: 71
|
|
Aug 28, 2019 23:35:57 GMT
|
Hmm, I think an update may be due. The day after my thermostat swap I got paranoid about the jiggle pin location being wrong and potentially getting stuck and jamming the stat open so took the housing off again to check. I am glad I did because the gasket material I had used was clearly completely wrong and become water logged and started to break down. To overcome this I cleaned the faces to within an inch of their lives and sealed the stat with some genuine Nissan red gasket gunge. The jiggle pin was fine… Next up was a trip to Just Tyres in Lewes for some new rubber. Tyre places are normally much of a muchness but these chaps really did go above an beyond and I couldn’t recommend them more. They went out of their way to get non-stock tyres in extremely quickly and were exceptionally diligent in fitting. After a lot of searching, researching, comparing and generally wasting a lot of mental energy I decided to go with some Nexen Rodian CT8 225 70 R15 van tyres. All the Goodyears that came on the car were over ten years old and while still sporting plenty of tread they were starting to deform and bulge slightly. They are no longer in production leaving just Avon Turbospeeds (at around £200 each!) and some unknown brands in the original 235 70 R15 size with the 150mph speed rating. Normal car tyres in this size are all for off-roaders and SUVs so are loud, inefficient, have weak sidewalls and have ugly off-road tread patterns. The weak sidewall alone was enough to discount these tyres because I wanted to retain the surprisingly sharp steering. A bit of lateral thinking lead me to look at ‘commercial’ tyres as they are designed purely for road use and have strong sidewalls for heavier vehicles. The speed rating is also adequate and tyre noise is comparable to the Avons but with much better wet stopping and less resistance. Oh, and they are under £60 a corner. Several hundred miles later and I am very happy indeed with the Nexens. Road noise is significantly down and the steering is better. The only change I made was running the 110mph pressures (30psi front, 34psi rear) as the standard pressures were a little ‘squashy’ and the tyres looked flat. I've always found that an accurate tyre tread depth tool and a digital pressure gauge is essential for swapping tyres from what was original equipment. It takes a little while to optimise the pressure for the load and sidewall stiffness but as most people know tyres wear in the centre if over inflated and at the shoulders if under inflated. With a depth gauge and the starting point of the depth on a new tyre you can (over a short period of time) quickly spot the early signs of uneven tyre wear and correct accordingly I've found small differences of 2 or 3 psi can make a massive difference I'm currently doing the same thing with my LC as the original Goodyear tyres that were made specifically for the car haven't been available for a few years - so I had to fit an alternative (and as I am very fussy about having matching tread patterns front and rear my choice was very limited) and after just 1000 miles I've already had to drop the pressures (from OE specs) by 3 psi as the centre of the tyre was wearing faster than the shoulders - it's also improved the ride quality a little too  Anyway - nice road trip and good work so far |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
one of the mannequins appears to be david bowie ? weak sidewalls on offroad tyres is not two statements i've heard in the same sentence before ! know what you mean about it being the sweet spot in offroad tyre sized though, the mind is now wandering to that corniche which entered 1981 paris dakar rally I don't think weak as in easily damaged is what he meant. They are soft, as in fold nicely around the ground/rocks/routes at 7psi type of thing, so I think they would probably get quite hot with prolonged high speed cruising unless the pressures where higher than optimum. Also, thinking about the ground clearance, suspension and tyres available just makes me think, Paris Dakar, Cannonball Run with the Big Cibie Oscars on the front, very easy to led astray! We had a W124 Merc with SLS rear suspension, we took it up several green lanes in the Peak District over the years on just winter tyres. Unless you are familiar with production car trials and long distance trials I think a majority of people would be amazed where a 2wd car will actually go. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ah, they where Hella's  |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Last Edit: Aug 29, 2019 7:43:22 GMT by motardman
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Looking at the Dakar one, even the split rim wheels are from a 40 series cruiser. The C R car was a standard car. I had a 1967 Silver Shadow, and the steering was unnervingly light, I think they sorted it by the time the big bumper cars where released, if not, well lets just say the drivers where braver than me! |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Aug 29, 2019 14:09:47 GMT
|
I don't think weak as in easily damaged is what he meant. They are soft, as in fold nicely around the ground/rocks/routes at 7psi type of thing, so I think they would probably get quite hot with prolonged high speed cruising unless the pressures where higher than optimum. Also, thinking about the ground clearance, suspension and tyres available just makes me think, Paris Dakar, Cannonball Run with the Big Cibie Oscars on the front, very easy to led astray deffo, majority of tyres heat comes from tyre wall deformation. p.s good shout re: the sheiks car, that corniche opened up the same bookmark in my head  the paris dakar car didnt finish under its own steam  the rate of attrition is mega on that event though, usually in the 80% region but what an incredible story. |
| |
Last Edit: Aug 29, 2019 14:11:02 GMT by darrenh
|
|
|
|
the rate of attrition is mega on that event though, usually in the 80% region but what an incredible story.