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Progress to January 2007 Work on the front wings is now proceeding slowly as Dicer (Bob Price the man restoring the body) is constantly interrupted by the small jobs that are his bread and butter. The body is tantalisingly close to completion, which brings me to the engine. Paul Hurley Engineering in Bath is the machine shop favoured by Spencer Lane Jones and TT Workshops amongst others and therefore must be one of the best places to take Bristol engines in the country (photos to follow). He is an extraordinarily likeable and an extremely able engineer, and so are the people that work for him. This has made his succession of reports on engine disasters much easier to bear. Mine is a Scottish Parliament type of engine; it’s late and it has overrun frighteningly. The only consolation I have is that Bristol owners are infinitely preferable to Scottish MPs! Basically the block and head had corroded until they were paper-thin and water was seeping through in places. No attempts at repair were successful and alternatives had to be found. Thank Heavens for Brian May! He could not have been kinder, more helpful or fairer. You can see his premises elsewhere on the site if you aren’t familiar with it, he’s been hoovering up old and knackered (and good S/H ones) Bristol’s for years, it isn’t a good way to make a living because there are all sorts of regulations covering the disposal of scrap cars, a great deal of what he has is unsaleable and what he keeps may hang around for years before someone wants it. Unfortunately for me, Bristol 2 Litre engines are very much in demand for racing and competition work and as yet, no one is making new blocks or heads. They will have to soon because corrosion is a major problem and only in recent years has antifreeze: 1. Been a good corrosion inhibitor and 2. Been changed as often as it should be. Anyone who advises using just fresh water in the summer is nuts! It is essential to keep the cooling system full of water and antifreeze all year round and to change it every two years as a minimum. If you do this, things will not get worse but they will if you use just water. Having bought the bottom half of a 100B2 engine from Brian May and taken it to Paul Hurley, it was pressure tested and inspected for cracks and then re-bored. His team also reground the crankshaft and re-hardened it, supplied new mains and big ends, replaced the camshaft bearings, refaced the tappets, replaced the small ends and had new rings made for the nearly new pistons from my original engine so they could be re-used and they replaced the timing chain and bored the cover to suit a modern twin lip seal. I’d intended to use the head from my 85 engine but it wasn’t any good so back to dear Brian who sorted me a good, partly reconditioned 85 series one that I’m certain Paul will find some reason to spend more of my money on! Bristol engines are reminiscent of old motorcycle engines in that they are delicate and precise and, for the time, in a comparatively high state of tune. If they aren’t rebuilt to perfection they will surely fail quite quickly and possibly catastrophically. This engine has been rebuilt to as near new as is possible and with great care. I’d have liked a 100 series head but don’t see not having one as a worry, everything else is 100 series and the larger valves probably only account for 5 BHP or so and at the top of the rev range which isn’t so important for touring. The 400 is a lighter car and mine will be 95-100 BHP so should prove more than adequate. Once the body is back, the back axle and all wheel bearing will be rebuilt/replaced along with wiring loom, the brake master cylinder and all the leather gaiters on the front suspension. The interior needs only new carpets and headlining which my son Richard can do now that he has left Alpine Eagle and is working for himself. Shortly I shall put up a page devoted to craftsmen that are hard to find and he’ll be one of them. Properly trained trimmers for older classic cars are extremely rare now. Moderns are very easy and require little skill by comparison. To me, trying to use an old car that hasn’t been totally rebuilt is like trying to stop a sieve leaking with Elastoplasts. Fortunately cars made in the forties are a great deal less complicated than later ones and therefore less work. My car, devoid of paint, engine, gearbox and interior has been delivered to the paint shop where the wings have been removed and the metalwork below inspected for rust. I knew that the boot would have to be remade and I suspected that there might be problems between the body and the chassis. It is riveted to a flange along the bottom edge and forms a narrow V with no drain holes. The car had been totally rebuilt at Bristol Cars in ’68 and there were already signs that the work wasn’t good so it was no surprise to find that they’d pop riveted steel plates over the rust holes and concealed it with thick layers of under seal. The result was that water had lain along the base of the V and eventually rusted through the chassis for about 4’ along each side. Fortunately it is very strong and hadn’t sagged so that everything can be cut out and replaced with new metal. When we’ve finished, holes will bored into the chassis to drain out water and allow cavity wax to be sprayed inside. The join between the body and chassis flange will get the same and all should now last longer than when new.
LATEST Click here to see the engine and transmission installed. 26 August 2007 |
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