Bentley Turbo R - My Passion

Bentley Turbo R - My Passion

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Discussion

W12GT

3,502 posts

220 months

Thursday 8th May 2014
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Does anyone know how WG is getting on? I have been reading up on Bentleys recently and noticed in a number of posts how passionate he was about Hatty and the marque.

If you are reading this I hope you are getting the right treatment and you are in better health.

Cheers,
David

Edited by W12GT on Thursday 8th May 21:54

Waffagolf

Original Poster:

103 posts

178 months

Thursday 8th May 2014
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Hello everyone. I'm still here. Still fighting. I have recently been afforded a break from treatment, but that begins again next month. All cutting edge stuff with no guarantees. Those looking after me are the best in their field. Thank you for asking after me, I really appreciate it more than you know.

I am delighted to read that 'Hatty' passed her M.O.T. with no advisories. It made my day. I have a recent picture of 'Hatty' that Graeme took. I know I've mentioned it before, but she does look splendid with her 'Flying B'.

With the (hopefully anyway) fine weather of summer fast approaching. May I wish you all the most enjoyable of times with your respective ladies.

Kindest regards
WG

graemel

7,017 posts

216 months

Friday 9th May 2014
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Many thanks WG you are a great man.

I'm going to treat Hatty to some new tyres.
I can buy the original fitment Avons at a very good price.
What is your general consensus of opinion on these.
Your thoughts would be very much appreciated

POORCARDEALER

8,523 posts

240 months

Saturday 10th May 2014
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graemel said:
Many thanks WG you are a great man.

I'm going to treat Hatty to some new tyres.
I can buy the original fitment Avons at a very good price.
What is your general consensus of opinion on these.
Your thoughts would be very much appreciated
The Avons are great if you can buy them at sensible money, if not I put Michellins on which are fine

Byteme

450 posts

141 months

Tuesday 27th May 2014
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Fantastic thread that should never be off the first page.

Byteme

450 posts

141 months

Wednesday 28th May 2014
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graemel said:
That is very true. Non petrolheads find it bizarre that you can develop such a passion for an inanimate object.

The roof has some micro blistering in the lacquer. I reckon that can be wet sanded out and re lacquered. Brian has a good mate who is a RR & B paint specialist up in Suffolf that I will get to do the job.
Unless Hattie has been refinished from bare metal she will not have a clear coat. If the blisters are clearly visible they are not micro blisters and indicate a bigger problem where an incompatible finish has been applied.

silverfoxcc

7,683 posts

144 months

Friday 30th May 2014
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Graemel

Apologies for delay in replying

Nor Flundun!!! my old stamping ground ( Well skank town was)

This is the chap both front seat/door pulls and top roll and the seat piping was 475.00 and he did it on site and less than a day


http://www.benchmarkleather.co.uk/text/clients.htm...

Ron




graemel

7,017 posts

216 months

Saturday 31st May 2014
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Many thanks Ron.
I'll give him a ring.
I popped into see a chap I know and to recover the front seat he reckoned £2500 to £3000 eek

V8 FOU

2,970 posts

146 months

Saturday 31st May 2014
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graemel said:
Many thanks Ron.
I'll give him a ring.
I popped into see a chap I know and to recover the front seat he reckoned £2500 to £3000 eek
I have a complete good interior you could have for a grand......

Byteme

450 posts

141 months

Saturday 31st May 2014
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graemel said:
Many thanks Ron.
I'll give him a ring.
I popped into see a chap I know and to recover the front seat he reckoned £2500 to £3000 eek

To trim the cushion and squab is no more than a days work. His labour rate must be astronomical.

graemel

7,017 posts

216 months

Saturday 31st May 2014
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Byteme said:

To trim the cushion and squab is no more than a days work. His labour rate must be astronomical.
Apologies. I should have said, both front seats and armrests. Still far too much money IMO.

graemel

7,017 posts

216 months

Saturday 31st May 2014
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V8 FOU said:
I have a complete good interior you could have for a grand......
Thanks Paul. Apart from a little wear on the front seats, no tears or grazes the interior is pretty mint. The back is like new. I would rather keep it all original to be honest

Byteme

450 posts

141 months

Saturday 31st May 2014
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You also have the option of replacing single sections, for example the outer cheeks pieces that are worn entering and exiting the car.

graemel

7,017 posts

216 months

Sunday 1st June 2014
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Byteme said:
Unless Hattie has been refinished from bare metal she will not have a clear coat. If the blisters are clearly visible they are not micro blisters and indicate a bigger problem where an incompatible finish has been applied.
The paint code under the bonnet is 951 so one would presume that the paint is TPA. Colour is Midnight Blue which is metallic. So just to clarify, you are saying that even with the metallic TPA finishes they were one coat only. No clear coat over base.

Byteme

450 posts

141 months

Sunday 1st June 2014
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graemel said:
The paint code under the bonnet is 951 so one would presume that the paint is TPA. Colour is Midnight Blue which is metallic. So just to clarify, you are saying that even with the metallic TPA finishes they were one coat only. No clear coat over base.
Hattie's age would dictate that the original finish was TPA and probably that she was not stripped and painted in 2K. Only a few authorised repairers were involved in this type of warranty repair and they would have replaced the ID plate, at significant cost.

TPA was a strange material to work with and, initially, was a good finish for all sorts of reasons but as soon as the major manufacturers went to more modern paints the quality of the small batches of resins used to make it dropped. The only reason Crewe stuck with it was because of the pea-brained union officials who virtually bankrupted the company under endless warranty claims. The only reason every single car was not stripped and painted was because most owners never looked and their chauffeurs knew it was better to stay quiet.

All metallic TPA colours were a single layer finish with no clear coat. If you polish a panel and colour rubs off it is original, if not then it has been repainted.

Midnight Blue is one of the most forgiving colours and will take several repeated hard polishes. Other colours, Windsor Blue and Cobalt, are the exact opposite and often required multiple re-paints before leaving the factory because one pass to many with a polishing mop exposed too much of the metallic content and left discoloured patches called "shears". I recall one car that had its upper rear 1/4 panel repainted seven times and still wasn't "right" and had to be stripped and painted before the selling dealer could show it to the purchaser.

I would suggest you try a quick polish on each panel section. Upper and lower side panels were always painted separately when entire panel re-paints were not required. Bonnet halves or sometimes quarters were treated the same way. If you have the original finish you will be amazed at how a proper polish can restore the paint to new condition. TPA had its problems but the ultimate level of finish was not one. There is no doubt that colours like Midnight and Royal Blue, cosmetically, were the ultimate finishes ever applied to any production car and were far superior to any clear over base system.

graemel

7,017 posts

216 months

Sunday 1st June 2014
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Steve. Many thanks for taking the time out for such an in depth reply.
Took Hatty for a drive today. Sitting out in the brilliant sunshine you could really see the metallic components that make up the paint. Turquoise, red and gold.
The reason I ask is that yes I have to deal with some corrosion on the wheel arches and some mild blistering around the door handles which is hard to see.
But I have a blister just under the rear screen that lips under the rubber. I reckon with TPA I might be able to do a local repair.
The micro blistering on the roof is a strange one. I could not see it all today and I am starting to think that it only becomes prevalent in the damp weather. Hatty lives in a warm dry garage.
Thanks once again for being most helpfull smile


Byteme

450 posts

141 months

Monday 2nd June 2014
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graemel said:
Steve. Many thanks for taking the time out for such an in depth reply.
Took Hatty for a drive today. Sitting out in the brilliant sunshine you could really see the metallic components that make up the paint. Turquoise, red and gold.
The reason I ask is that yes I have to deal with some corrosion on the wheel arches and some mild blistering around the door handles which is hard to see.
But I have a blister just under the rear screen that lips under the rubber. I reckon with TPA I might be able to do a local repair.
The micro blistering on the roof is a strange one. I could not see it all today and I am starting to think that it only becomes prevalent in the damp weather. Hatty lives in a warm dry garage.
Thanks once again for being most helpfull smile
Midnight, and Royal, blue had a depth to the metallic effect that appeared to be a inch thick, it is truly amazing to anyone that can appreciate it. The clear over base system never achieved that.

The rear wheel arch issue will require serious attention. You could attempt to get small sections welded in but corrosion was built into these cars due to two poor design factors. Just above the rubber stone guard is a lapped joint between the rear wing and what was referred to as a "dog leg" that also contained much of the door aperture. This was lead loaded and the corrosive by products found their way into the joint and inevitably its rusts. The second and more serious issue is that the designers got the shape of the inner arch wrong. With the Shadow there is enough space between the inner and outer arches to allow the dip coat to penetrate. In the SZ cars the inner arch just about touches the outer so any protective coating is sparse to none.

My advice is not to waste money doing small repairs. Get a good restorer to cut out the entire arch and weld in a new repair panel. It's also likely that as section of the inner arch will also need replacing. Believe me this will save money in the long run and if Hattie is a keeper you will have to address this issue at some point. It's better to leave one side alone for a while to correct the other properly

My best guess is that the rear screen corrosion will required removal of the screen to address fully however partial removal of the chrome moulding will allow extra movement of the rubber allowing you to get further underneath. If you do decide to remove the screen check to see how pliable the rubber is. If it is hardened, cut it away and then lift out the glass.

I'm sure there is still some original TPA out there but without the required thinner it can't be used. The costs of these materials when your car was produced were eye watering and if I had any (I don't) I would be asking £250+ litre. TPA contains very strong solvents that dissolve and fuse into the original finish rendering even brush touch in repairs nearly invisible. Anything else just sits on the TPA and eventually the plasticisers it uses break down adhesion.

Given that you don't have an option you have to work with current clear over base finishes so I would suggest keeping any repair as local as possible. With the rear wheel arches I would strip the lower half of the wing to bare metal and then build a new paint system on the lower part. The primers, colour and clear will only overlap the original upper finish by a small margin reducing the potential for problems.

Micro-blisters do react to moisture. This is because paints are not generally waterproof but operate as semi-permeable membranes. The propensity for TPA to blister is the reason why these cars should never be placed under a cover. A warm and dry garage is good but ventilation is essential and must be improved if there is ever any condensation. Anything around a door handle however is corrosion caused by a galvanic reaction between the door handles and aluminium door skin and nothing can prevent this.




Edited by Byteme on Monday 2nd June 00:48

AeroMan

601 posts

244 months

Monday 2nd June 2014
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Although I run a modern day Bentley, I must say that I find your posts really very interesting Steve and a great addition to the forum. I don't know where you got this depth of knowledge, but I guess it must be experiential. Did you work for Bentley or Rolls Royce at some time in the past? smile


TheValk

50 posts

124 months

Friday 6th June 2014
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Sitting here in the sun Downunder, I was just wondering how Waffagolf might be getting on- thought I might log on, and now I know.
Just great news. EverOnwards.
TheValk

Waffagolf

Original Poster:

103 posts

178 months

Saturday 14th June 2014
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Hello Everyone

Just checking in after returning from hospital again yesterday. Wanted to say I keep reading with interest about 'Hatty'. She's being spoilt by Graeme for sure. I've loved reading the posts by Byteme. You obviously know your stuff. My very best wishes to you all and enjoy your summer run outs.

Kindest regards

WG