Running a Silver Shadow everyday
Discussion
I have a Series I from 1974 in Seychelles Blue over Grey with picnic tables and front headrests.
I bought my car from a well-known and respected chap in Edinburgh who I am sure we all know (nice guy by all accounts). Quality cars and quality prices.
I have owned the car for just over a year and I confess it is not my daily driver - but it does get out regularly.
Here is the spend to date:
1. Strip and re-lacquer all door cappings, dashboard and console £1248 IVAT.
2. Convert headlamps to LHD spec, seat belt inertia kit, add rear foglamps, underseal with tectyl coating, check heater operation £799 IVAT,
3. Vehicle check for MOT and MOT EUR 378 IVAT.
4. Replace master cylinder and lower and upper cylinder valves, replace gearbox outlet hose, new battery, 10L DOT3, replace fuel seal gasket EUR 4946 IVAT.
5. Clean and refit accumulators and replace brake accumulator seal, 2.5L DOT3, check geometry, check and refit of electrical fitting of headlamps, and re-polish of bootlid EUR 2373 IVAT.
So I guess I am about EUR 10,000 IVAT for this past year...
But I know the car has now been thoroughly checked, is running very well, is solid, and I love it.
Cheers
I bought my car from a well-known and respected chap in Edinburgh who I am sure we all know (nice guy by all accounts). Quality cars and quality prices.
I have owned the car for just over a year and I confess it is not my daily driver - but it does get out regularly.
Here is the spend to date:
1. Strip and re-lacquer all door cappings, dashboard and console £1248 IVAT.
2. Convert headlamps to LHD spec, seat belt inertia kit, add rear foglamps, underseal with tectyl coating, check heater operation £799 IVAT,
3. Vehicle check for MOT and MOT EUR 378 IVAT.
4. Replace master cylinder and lower and upper cylinder valves, replace gearbox outlet hose, new battery, 10L DOT3, replace fuel seal gasket EUR 4946 IVAT.
5. Clean and refit accumulators and replace brake accumulator seal, 2.5L DOT3, check geometry, check and refit of electrical fitting of headlamps, and re-polish of bootlid EUR 2373 IVAT.
So I guess I am about EUR 10,000 IVAT for this past year...
But I know the car has now been thoroughly checked, is running very well, is solid, and I love it.
Cheers
Edited by V12Manual on Thursday 7th February 12:22
OLDBENZ said:
I took my recently reacquired Bentley T2 from London to the West Coast of Ireland to see the in-laws. I previously owned it from 2003-2014 and had always regretted letting it go. I was itching actually to take it on a decent trip and this was the ideal opportunity. My wife flew so this was a solo jaunt. I took the ferry from Holyhead having taken a roundabout route though Wales up the A470 which is one of my favourite drives.
Long and the short is that I convinced myself that if I had to have only one car this could very well be it.
Things of note:
1. I covered 1350 miles odd in 6 days (approx 500 of which were covered in a 16 hours slog on my return journey broken only by the ferry crossing) at average mpgs varying between 15 and 16 mpg. These were rather better mpg figures than I recall from my previous ownership;
2. I was very glad that I had tested the new TEX wiper blades I purchased for the trip before setting off. These were complete rubbish and seemed to fail to make any attempt to touch the screen for most of their coverage area. Hillier Hill kindly let me have some secondhand wipers from their secret stock of 'stuff that isn't made the same these days' and these were brilliant. Very handy as it rained a good percentage of the trip. Whilst I am on a rant the TEX wiper blades are completely straight where as the originals are curved. Interestingly, I had the same issue with TEX wipers on my old Astons but managed to find a satisfactory alternative. I can only assume that most old cars with these wipers are 'dry weather only cars';
3. I had made the same trip in early December in a Lamborghini Huracan and enjoyed the (very different) T2 experience just as much;
4. I bought some period-appropriate cassettes off Ebay for the trip for the princely sum of £9. Some period-correct things are best left in the past;
5. The T2 seemed to attract more positive attention than I remember from my previous ownership;
4. Ok - a confession to blot its otherwise perfect copybook: As I pulled into our Square in London at 5am at the end of my return journey through Wales from Holyhead the car cut out and had just enough oomph to coast to my front door. Technically, I guess it completed the journey. The culprit was a duff rotor arm which I see the previous owner had replaced and which only managed a couple of thousand miles. Beware the ignition stuff you buy even from the principal marque spares suppliers! The T2 is now back in storage with a new rotor arm from the chap dressed like a surgeon who advertises at the back of the magazines and who claims his stuff does not suffer from the general crappiness of the stuff made in the Far East and stuck in Lucas boxes.
I hope someone finds this ramble interesting.
Gratuitous pics below:
Looks wonderful. I’ve also (somewhat) fixed the photos for you...Long and the short is that I convinced myself that if I had to have only one car this could very well be it.
Things of note:
1. I covered 1350 miles odd in 6 days (approx 500 of which were covered in a 16 hours slog on my return journey broken only by the ferry crossing) at average mpgs varying between 15 and 16 mpg. These were rather better mpg figures than I recall from my previous ownership;
2. I was very glad that I had tested the new TEX wiper blades I purchased for the trip before setting off. These were complete rubbish and seemed to fail to make any attempt to touch the screen for most of their coverage area. Hillier Hill kindly let me have some secondhand wipers from their secret stock of 'stuff that isn't made the same these days' and these were brilliant. Very handy as it rained a good percentage of the trip. Whilst I am on a rant the TEX wiper blades are completely straight where as the originals are curved. Interestingly, I had the same issue with TEX wipers on my old Astons but managed to find a satisfactory alternative. I can only assume that most old cars with these wipers are 'dry weather only cars';
3. I had made the same trip in early December in a Lamborghini Huracan and enjoyed the (very different) T2 experience just as much;
4. I bought some period-appropriate cassettes off Ebay for the trip for the princely sum of £9. Some period-correct things are best left in the past;
5. The T2 seemed to attract more positive attention than I remember from my previous ownership;
4. Ok - a confession to blot its otherwise perfect copybook: As I pulled into our Square in London at 5am at the end of my return journey through Wales from Holyhead the car cut out and had just enough oomph to coast to my front door. Technically, I guess it completed the journey. The culprit was a duff rotor arm which I see the previous owner had replaced and which only managed a couple of thousand miles. Beware the ignition stuff you buy even from the principal marque spares suppliers! The T2 is now back in storage with a new rotor arm from the chap dressed like a surgeon who advertises at the back of the magazines and who claims his stuff does not suffer from the general crappiness of the stuff made in the Far East and stuck in Lucas boxes.
I hope someone finds this ramble interesting.
Gratuitous pics below:
V12Manual said:
I have a Series I from 1974 in Seychelles Blue over Grey with picnic tables and front headrests.
I bought my car from a well-known and respected chap in Edinburgh who I am sure we all know (nice guy by all accounts). Quality cars and quality prices.
I have owned the car for just over a year and I confess it is not my daily driver - but it does get out regularly.
Here is the spend to date:
1. Strip and re-lacquer all door cappings, dashboard and console £1248 IVAT.
2. Convert headlamps to LHD spec, seat belt inertia kit, add rear foglamps, underseal with tectyl coating, check heater operation £799 IVAT,
3. Vehicle check for MOT and MOT EUR 378 IVAT.
4. Replace master cylinder and lower and upper cylinder valves, replace gearbox outlet hose, new battery, 10L DOT3, replace fuel seal gasket EUR 4946 IVAT.
5. Clean and refit accumulators and replace brake accumulator seal, 2.5L DOT3, check geometry, check and refit of electrical fitting of headlamps, and re-polish of bootlid EUR 2373 IVAT.
So I guess I am about EUR 10,000 IVAT for this past year...
But I know the car has now been thoroughly checked, is running very well, is solid, and I love it.
Cheers
Beautiful colour.I bought my car from a well-known and respected chap in Edinburgh who I am sure we all know (nice guy by all accounts). Quality cars and quality prices.
I have owned the car for just over a year and I confess it is not my daily driver - but it does get out regularly.
Here is the spend to date:
1. Strip and re-lacquer all door cappings, dashboard and console £1248 IVAT.
2. Convert headlamps to LHD spec, seat belt inertia kit, add rear foglamps, underseal with tectyl coating, check heater operation £799 IVAT,
3. Vehicle check for MOT and MOT EUR 378 IVAT.
4. Replace master cylinder and lower and upper cylinder valves, replace gearbox outlet hose, new battery, 10L DOT3, replace fuel seal gasket EUR 4946 IVAT.
5. Clean and refit accumulators and replace brake accumulator seal, 2.5L DOT3, check geometry, check and refit of electrical fitting of headlamps, and re-polish of bootlid EUR 2373 IVAT.
So I guess I am about EUR 10,000 IVAT for this past year...
But I know the car has now been thoroughly checked, is running very well, is solid, and I love it.
Cheers
Edited by V12Manual on Thursday 7th February 12:22
I'm trying to work through some braking issues on mine right now. There seems to be a blockage as when you run the engine. The brakes lock up to the extent that you can't over power the back brakes with the engine. I just managed to drag it to the lift which was all kinds of fun. The only thing that I can see so far is that the rat trap is leaking.
silverfoxcc said:
V12
Get out of the pool NOW
It is a Royce as any fule know
Only Builder and oicks call them Rolls or Rollers
Remember, Royce built them Rolls sold them ( as i was forcibly told three minutes into the drivers course at Crewe in 1999!)
That's all true of course but, having said that, I suspect that there aren't many current Royce owners who were sold their Royce by Rolls Get out of the pool NOW
It is a Royce as any fule know
Only Builder and oicks call them Rolls or Rollers
Remember, Royce built them Rolls sold them ( as i was forcibly told three minutes into the drivers course at Crewe in 1999!)
alabbasi said:
I'm trying to work through some braking issues on mine right now. There seems to be a blockage as when you run the engine. The brakes lock up to the extent that you can't over power the back brakes with the engine. I just managed to drag it to the lift which was all kinds of fun. The only thing that I can see so far is that the rat trap is leaking.
This usually means you have a brake hose that has collapsed internally and isn't letting the fluid back to the distribution block. The rat trap leaking is "normal".jeyjey said:
This usually means you have a brake hose that has collapsed internally and isn't letting the fluid back to the distribution block. The rat trap leaking is "normal".
Yep, not just a brake hose. Lines are rusted. I was in it yesterday and pulled the calipers off. One line came off in my hand and two more had their flare fittings incompletely rusted so I had to use a cut off wheel to cut the line so that i could put an extractor tool on it.More details here if interested: https://youtu.be/Ivcepzl1Mac
I tried it for a couple of years ('79 T2). It was one thing when it broke and you felt like doing a bit of wrenching. It was another when it broke and you were just trying to get somewhere.
I'm getting on great with the Arnage I replaced it with.
Would be curious though whether or not it would work with a late Spirit or a Turbo R....
I'm getting on great with the Arnage I replaced it with.
Would be curious though whether or not it would work with a late Spirit or a Turbo R....
jeyjey said:
Would be curious though whether or not it would work with a late Spirit or a Turbo R....
My Turbo R is a late one from 1996. Although it's not a daily driver it is my only car, I do live in a city so most of the time I can get by without it. Weather allowing I drive it every week, and a few times a year I take it on longer trips to visit family.I bought it in late May this year, so I've had it a bit over 6 months. It's cost me a bit more than I budgeted for so far but a good chunk of that are costs that I shouldn't have to take on again for a while, e.g. it needed a full set of new tyres on because the ones it came with had plenty of tread left but were just far too old, I can't remember exactly but possibly even from 2009 or something like that. Hoping it won't need as much doing to it next year.
Just seen an old post in this thread mentioning parking, and yes, it can be a concern. At 5.31m x 1.89m (and that's not the LWB version) it does not fit in any UK standard parking bays, so I do have to think about where I'm going to put it when I go anywhere. Quiet places with huge car parks where it doesn't really matter if you take up more than one space are best, it's also influenced my hotel booking, though I've only had chance to go to one hotel since I got it.
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