Jensen Interceptor restoration
Discussion
Im not sure why my cooling fans and shroud were orange but thy looked a mess so the shroud and brackets went to be powder coated whilst the fans were stripped, cleaned and repainted.
The radiators are fairly expensive so it was flushed out and I spent a boring couple of hours straightening the fins before Geff the welder made and fitted a new bottom plate as the old one was very rusty and had broken off at one side. This was followed by a couple of hours more prep and some high temp paint.
The result £5 worth of paint, some rubber and new fixings from my stock of bits and £25 powder coating costs, a bit of my time and a favour from my mate the welder.
Its not often I put a big lump back on this car without taking a hit in the wallet so I was very pleased with this.
The radiators are fairly expensive so it was flushed out and I spent a boring couple of hours straightening the fins before Geff the welder made and fitted a new bottom plate as the old one was very rusty and had broken off at one side. This was followed by a couple of hours more prep and some high temp paint.
The result £5 worth of paint, some rubber and new fixings from my stock of bits and £25 powder coating costs, a bit of my time and a favour from my mate the welder.
Its not often I put a big lump back on this car without taking a hit in the wallet so I was very pleased with this.
Stelvio1 said:
As a schoolboy in 1967 I recall seeing an Interceptor in Scarboro' reg was XPK1F - it was love at first sight! - best of luck with the restoration. Much rather have an Interceptor than a DB6 
Was it dark blue? One of my earliest memories is of jumping up and down withe excitement seeing one on Marine Drive, blue with a silver roof (an FF?). At the time it could have been any of the trad entertainers of the time doing summer season (used to see Marti Caine's Rolls Royce) but it appeared a few years running so maybe a resident.dpp said:
Im not sure why my cooling fans and shroud were orange but thy looked a mess so the shroud and brackets went to be powder coated whilst the fans were stripped, cleaned and repainted.
The radiators are fairly expensive so it was flushed out and I spent a boring couple of hours straightening the fins before Geff the welder made and fitted a new bottom plate as the old one was very rusty and had broken off at one side. This was followed by a couple of hours more prep and some high temp paint.
The result £5 worth of paint, some rubber and new fixings from my stock of bits and £25 powder coating costs, a bit of my time and a favour from my mate the welder.
Its not often I put a big lump back on this car without taking a hit in the wallet so I was very pleased with this.
What an incredibly satisfying bit of time spent that must have been. I love doing jobs like that.The radiators are fairly expensive so it was flushed out and I spent a boring couple of hours straightening the fins before Geff the welder made and fitted a new bottom plate as the old one was very rusty and had broken off at one side. This was followed by a couple of hours more prep and some high temp paint.
The result £5 worth of paint, some rubber and new fixings from my stock of bits and £25 powder coating costs, a bit of my time and a favour from my mate the welder.
Its not often I put a big lump back on this car without taking a hit in the wallet so I was very pleased with this.
LordBretSinclair said:
dpp said:
..... and the rebuilt engine is dropped back in,
Was it really that easy Dave??? I take it the plate on the top was used. Did you have to have that made up or is it a standard piece??Superb job BTW
We didn't use the plate fitted on top of the carb I just used this to blank the inlet manifold off, to make things easier I decided to use an load leveller and judging by how easy it went it was money well spent.
The engine does sit quite a way back in these cars and even with the long reach crane it was on its limit at full extension so a sigh of relief when it was bolted in and my shiney paintwork was all intact.
silverfoxcc said:
Hooli said:
Just what I was thinking, it's got to lubricate better than the rust between most leaf springs though.
Was it RR who used to have their leaf springs wrapped in something like canvas & part of the service was to upwrap them & spread new grease around?
HooliWas it RR who used to have their leaf springs wrapped in something like canvas & part of the service was to upwrap them & spread new grease around?
RR would NEVER use canvas, so lower class. Leather my man, leather!!
And there are still a lot of bods advertising in the RR club mags this service
Hooli,
Its only those who sound like donkeys!! i still chuckle at the ones who ramble on about the 'Elegance' of a Rolls Royce, when in fact it is the craft of the coachbuilder, whose body style could be found on several other marques as a matter of course. BUT Sir Henry did design and have built some stunning stuff, as did Fred Lanchester, an motor engineer whose work is not given the full credit it deserves
My Spirit has coil springs exposed to the elements!!
O the ignomy
On a slightly related point, a few years ago one of the members rebuilt a between the wars RR engine and chassis,(IIRC it was a Phantom). Series run for ever but the work he put in is on a par with dpp.
I am keeping on my lad to read this thread and make a start on his two Dolomites.
He has the ability, but i daresay that as a new daughter arrived at 06.38 today, he has a valid reason for putting it off for a while.
Its only those who sound like donkeys!! i still chuckle at the ones who ramble on about the 'Elegance' of a Rolls Royce, when in fact it is the craft of the coachbuilder, whose body style could be found on several other marques as a matter of course. BUT Sir Henry did design and have built some stunning stuff, as did Fred Lanchester, an motor engineer whose work is not given the full credit it deserves
My Spirit has coil springs exposed to the elements!!
O the ignomy
On a slightly related point, a few years ago one of the members rebuilt a between the wars RR engine and chassis,(IIRC it was a Phantom). Series run for ever but the work he put in is on a par with dpp.
I am keeping on my lad to read this thread and make a start on his two Dolomites.
He has the ability, but i daresay that as a new daughter arrived at 06.38 today, he has a valid reason for putting it off for a while.
Thanks for the nice comments guys this has been a pretty full on job for me in my spare time for the last 2½ years but the end is in sight and hopefully I will be out in it when the nice weather comes.
I may not have answered everyones questions regarding when things will be done but this thread is still catching up with real time, although only about a couple of months out now.
With the engine safely back where it should be my attention has turned to sorting out the ancillaries so I can fire her up and hear the sweet burble of that V8 again.
The power steering pump and AC compressor came first and were just as removed a couple of years earlier.
The AC will be my very last job as I am holding off on that bill for a while so the compressor will just get a quick clean up and be refitted so that the belts can go on. The power steering pump was stripped, cleaned and a new seal kit fitted.
This was quite an easy task although I had to buy a puller kit to get the pulley off and refit it but I do like having lots of tools
I may not have answered everyones questions regarding when things will be done but this thread is still catching up with real time, although only about a couple of months out now.
With the engine safely back where it should be my attention has turned to sorting out the ancillaries so I can fire her up and hear the sweet burble of that V8 again.
The power steering pump and AC compressor came first and were just as removed a couple of years earlier.
The AC will be my very last job as I am holding off on that bill for a while so the compressor will just get a quick clean up and be refitted so that the belts can go on. The power steering pump was stripped, cleaned and a new seal kit fitted.
This was quite an easy task although I had to buy a puller kit to get the pulley off and refit it but I do like having lots of tools
LordBretSinclair said:
Was it really that easy Dave??? I take it the plate on the top was used. Did you have to have that made up or is it a standard piece??
Superb job BTW
As the OP was distracted by his excellent work and didn't fully answer, I thought I'd jump in.Superb job BTW
The carb plates are readily available from most US car parts dealers for about £20 (got mine from Wasp) and are a really good way of removing/installing engines as you don't have chains, ropes, etc. getting in the way around the engine. As was said though, you rely on manual effort to move the engine from it's balance point. On mine I used a strap around the balancer and crane arm to pull the front up, but I did need a drastic angle to fit the engine.
Sorry for the thread meandering. Back to the superb Jensen.
stang65 said:
LordBretSinclair said:
Was it really that easy Dave??? I take it the plate on the top was used. Did you have to have that made up or is it a standard piece??
Superb job BTW
As the OP was distracted by his excellent work and didn't fully answer, I thought I'd jump in.Superb job BTW
The carb plates are readily available from most US car parts dealers for about £20 (got mine from Wasp) and are a really good way of removing/installing engines as you don't have chains, ropes, etc. getting in the way around the engine. As was said though, you rely on manual effort to move the engine from it's balance point. On mine I used a strap around the balancer and crane arm to pull the front up, but I did need a drastic angle to fit the engine.
Sorry for the thread meandering. Back to the superb Jensen.
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