Bentley 3 Litre

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ntiz

Original Poster:

2,354 posts

137 months

Tuesday 3rd July 2018
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Little bit of research that car it appears is a totally different one that is now in Australia.

http://www.vintagebentleys.org/carpages/ku7964.php

So I have no idea why I have a pic of it in our file. Only thing I can come up with is that they wanted to copy it or something? Also just noticed in the old pics that our car doesn't have the slopping carbs that it does now.

ntiz

Original Poster:

2,354 posts

137 months

Wednesday 11th July 2018
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Been fiddling with switches and electrics the last week.

Added some new switches that we think look a bit more appropriate than the ones that they have replaced. 2 pull switches to replace the modern switches and the horn button that was only attached with one screw and didn't sit flush.

IMG_4453 by Elliot Simpson, on Flickr

Hopefully they are an improvement?

Whilst doing this we decided to check the brake lights, indicators etc turns out other than headlights non of it worked. So we have been non indicating or brake lighting, people probably think we are self important knobs for the last year hehe After a bit of checking was a simple fuse that made the brake lights work and the indicator switch is faulty only working when it felt like. This also uncovered that at some point the cover for the fuse box had fallen off and melted on the exhaust. So new fuse box which gives us an excuse to check all the wiring.

IMG_4455 by Elliot Simpson, on Flickr

We have been looking up the rules for VSCC sprints and hill climbs that have thrown a bit of thought on how we are going to proceed with the car in the future. Alternators are totally banned which for us would mean removing ours and reinstating the dynamo. We are bit torn as to whether we should work on the car with a plan to make it eligible for a bit of competition or for touring reliably, idealy we would like to be able to do both. Any ideas on how to get around this would be welcome? Like other forms of competition that aren't as strict or even what would be the best way to enjoy the car?

Are dynamos that bad?

I personally think it would be really amazing to have it eligible to compete at classic le man in 2024 for the cars 100th birthday!! Whether or not the car would be selected is another but would love to try.

Wifes crappy pic.

IMG_4366 by Elliot Simpson, on Flickr

ntiz

Original Poster:

2,354 posts

137 months

Thursday 4th October 2018
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So we have dug up some more history on the car Dad has written something up here.
IMG_5350 by Elliot Simpson, on Flickr

We have decided to try and get a long term plan for the car in terms of a sort of restoration based on what we would like to do with it. We have been looking at the possibility of racing it or hill climbing but with research have realised that we would need to invest over 100k to get it competitive then once that money has been spent neither of us would feel comfortable risking it with that much money on the table if we crashed it. Still plans to get into classic racing though wink

So it has been decided that we want to make it ideal for touring around Europe. This means we would like to make it reliable and a bit faster so we can sit comfortably at 70-80 on a motorway without stressing it to much and get up mountain passes with no bother. Plus we would like to add things like a larger fuel tank perhaps and tidy up the rougher edges on the car that we think go beyond patination into just a bit scruffy.

Don't know how to do this so we are talking to some well known Bentley restorers about how to achieve our goals and them having the car for maybe a couple of months a year over the winter for the next few years until the car is at the spec we would like. Not very keen on giving someone our car for 2 years not getting to drive it.

Would like to get to something a bit like this.

large_1491933423_92f5636c71e19dceab5343aebc20ce0b1d38aa91 by Elliot Simpson, on Flickr

ntiz

Original Poster:

2,354 posts

137 months

Thursday 25th October 2018
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So we said goodbye to our 3 litre on Tuesday for a few months.

After speaking to the guys at VBE Dad felt they were on his wave length about how to approach our car. So he decided to take the car down to see them for some work and to discuss the whole car as a long term project. Until this point we had started to get a little worried that we had bitten off more than we can chew with regards to how much getting work done on this car cost.

So Dad left at 7 am in the dark on his trip to Warwickshire. No traffic cold crisp morning empty roads just him and his car. Apparently the car was running fantastic and he was having so much fun he had to call me at work to tell me smile

Although it did highlight that the headlights are totally wrong when on dip the right hand headlight is on high beam but so high it is more likely to blind a helicopter than a oncoming car. On full beam the left headlight goes full the right dips.

Once he got there one of the guys at VBE had a drive of it. Turns out our gearbox is much more difficult than it should be. Our cars alignment is out as the car tramlines quite a lot, we just thought that is how it was. We have 2 spoke wheels one side and 3 spoke on the other. The wrong tyres on the front apparently the ones we have are for a 4.5 litre which are wider but make the steering heavier. Personally not so sure on that one but any excuse to get some new Blockley tyres for it.

Dad would like the fabric body re skinned at some point which means interior out and dash out. So worth getting the dash repainted and interior retrimmed. The guide prices given for this work and possibly going to 4.5 with the engine were much more reasonable than what we have been told before. They seemed to have a much more practical approach than the other place we had spoken to trying to work with what you have got rather than build you something new at huge cost.

The car was left and we are waiting on a full quote. We think we will start with getting the following mechanical stuff done first to get the car in good condition to use next year.

Gearbox re aligned with the engine
New starter ring
Better and more seals to try minimise oil leaks from pretty much everywhere.
Headlights working correctly
New clutch brake
Get the Rev counter working
New tyres and put 3 spoke wheels on back 2 spoke on the front. Re align to make sure.
Check all dampers replace if necessary.
And a few others that I can’t remember.

The good news is Dad had such a good drive down there that it has given much more confidence in the car that he wants to go to his house inFrance in it as soon as he gets it back.

Sorry for the long rambling boring post if anyone is still reading.

Edited by ntiz on Thursday 25th October 22:07

ntiz

Original Poster:

2,354 posts

137 months

Sunday 18th November 2018
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Good news and bad news.

Seals in the rear axel are done and the rear brakes are in good shape don’t need any work at all which is always encouraging.

Bad news turns out the windscreen wasn’t made for the car isn’t straight and appears to be made out of several different non matching parts. So looks like I’m having a new one made. Thinking maybe getting a spotier version that can be laid down with aero screens. The bad bit it has added about 25% to what we had planned to spend this winter. Oh well it will be worth it.

Edited by ntiz on Sunday 18th November 19:39

ntiz

Original Poster:

2,354 posts

137 months

Monday 4th March 2019
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Quick update.

The car is still in the garage having work done. We decided to concentrate on mechanical stuff to make the car drive as well and be reliable as possible.

So far we have had:

Clutch relined and the clutch brake refurbished. Universal joint which is fabric replaced.







New starter ring on fly wheel and repainted whilst out of the car.







Seals added to gearbox and back axel to reduce the sieve like tendencies of the traditional thrower oil seals.

Dip stick and hatch fitted to the gearbox so you can check the oil without having to take the floor up and take the lid off the box.





Oil filter converted to modern cartridge type inside existing housing.



Reinstated the Autovac as the main fuel pump making the old one the reserve. Didn't have a usable reserve before. Had a tap fitted under the rear seat to start using the reserve.







Magneto striped and rebuilt as it was falling apart. Only acts as a distributor for a twin coil system.





Bearings replaced on all 4 corners.





New wheels because on inspection they are all worn out or not matching. New blockley tyres all round to go with the tyres.

Second set of dampers added for better road holding and cornering. Twin dampers make the suspension more responsive compared to single. Single needs to be much tighter which leads to much higher "stiction". Had all of leaf springs cleaned checked and lubricated ready for leather covers to be fitted. New brackets have had to be made to fit the double shock absorbers to the axles.



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Fixed all the poor wiring to the headlights as they used to smoke which wasn't very inspiring.

|https://thumbsnap.com/0273u5ji[/url]

Windscreen started with detachable side screens that will be convertible to aero screens.



Finally the much debated rev counter will work with a new cable with a reversing gearbox in the middle.

Its not pretty but hopefully will make the car nicer to drive and in good health. Hoping to get it back in April can't wait.

ntiz

Original Poster:

2,354 posts

137 months

Monday 4th March 2019
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Plus not all the parts in the engine match but it runs nicely so not going to fix what’s not broken until we do a full refresh.

ntiz

Original Poster:

2,354 posts

137 months

Tuesday 5th March 2019
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I’m going to fall into the trap.

The myth is that the Blue Train was 8 litre coupe. But it was actually a 6.5 le man body?

Wasn’t as impromptu as originally thought either. Still an awesome story though.

ntiz

Original Poster:

2,354 posts

137 months

Wednesday 6th March 2019
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Paul S4 said:
Fascinating write up...very interesting and it is great to see such a car being used properly !

I had the fortune to run a classic Lotus Elan that was restored by my late uncle. After the initial phase of treating the car like it was glass...I slowly got used to using it like an 'ordinary car', so I used it for commuting to work in the summer ( a good 70 mile round trip on decent roads !), going to the shops, driving up to Scotland with the front seat full of golf clubs etc etc.

Over the time I 'owned' the Elan, I did over 35,000 hard miles in it, including an amazing European trip to the Villars-Ollon Historic Hillclimb event.
If there was one thing that I learned from owing a classic, it was that they run so much better if they are used regularly.

Also that mastering the art of double de-clutching is very rewarding....in fact I still do it on my modern car to smooth out gear changes !

Keep up the good work, more pictures please...!

Totally agree the only cars we have problems with are the ones we don’t use enough. Dad also has a 1977 Carrera 3.0. He had it fully restored back in 05 unfortunately with being so busy with other cars we haven’t really driven it for around 18 months now, it needs work again. Hoping to get it sorted this year. Been really annoyed with ourselves for neglecting it.

I have never been in one but Dad has been reading and mentioned he had elan +2 as a daily for a while and loved it. Has got me looking in the classifieds.

Small world I know Villar very well went to school there used to watch the hill climb cars go buy from my balcony. Great event.

ntiz

Original Poster:

2,354 posts

137 months

Wednesday 6th March 2019
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Swallownut said:
A most enjoyable thread. It is nice to see someone appreciate the old 3 litre Bentley. So much has been written and said about the 4 1/2 that the car which was I suppose the original concept is sadly overlooked. Whilst I cannot hope to afford a vintage Bentley of any size, I can appreciate the unique experience that a quality vintage car can give as I drive a 1926 Dodge Brothers tourer. It is a large, comfortable, 3 1/2 litre four cylinder car with a certain presence. Not in the same league as a Bentley but I like it.
That’s a lovely looking car. Vintage cars of any kind make all journeys an adventure possibly because you never know what’s going to happen.

3.5 litre probably goes better than ours. I’m guessing quite a lot like a Bentley long stroke loads of torque?

ntiz

Original Poster:

2,354 posts

137 months

Thursday 7th March 2019
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Swallownut said:
The Dodge Brothers has plenty of torque but won't do much more than 50 mph. It is built for comfort rather than speed.! Only 3 speed box and one carb.

It was originally aimed at the buyer who wanted something a bit better than the ModelT Ford. You need to look at Packard or Deusenberg to better compare with Bentley.
That period of American cars always seems to be really under appreciated. When we thought we had missed the boat on a Bentley I started rearching other marques and gained a lot of respect for Stutz. We looked really closely at a 8 litre with a blower that supposedly had Le Man history. But the price seemed to good to be true for a car with so much history and we couldn’t really nail down if it was what it said it was.

Is it centre throttle etc? What quirks does it have?

I’m all for this becoming a general vintage thread for everyone to share.

ntiz

Original Poster:

2,354 posts

137 months

Thursday 7th March 2019
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Schmeeky said:
ntiz said:
This needs to be printed, framed and titled 'Generations'. Fabulous picture.

Beautiful machine, thank you for sharing with us!
It’s one of my favourite photos and oddly one of the few I have of my Dad.

Maybe I should sell it to Bentley for advertising I would accept a new Conti GT.

ntiz

Original Poster:

2,354 posts

137 months

Thursday 7th March 2019
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Mirrored gear change??

ntiz

Original Poster:

2,354 posts

137 months

Thursday 7th March 2019
quotequote all
....... well that sounds like even more of a challenge than the Bentley. At least the gears are vaguely were I expect them to be.

Is the gear lever in the middle?

ntiz

Original Poster:

2,354 posts

137 months

Tuesday 26th March 2019
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More less than great news.

Turns out the clutch pedal for some reason has been bent quite severely for some reason on purpose and when you push it all the way down it hits the fly wheel. So having that put straight and a new floor put in to stop the pedal going all the way down will have to get figured out properly next year when the body comes off.



The brakes work great but the guys working on the car have no idea how!! There are some bolts that you put in to hold everything in place whilst you set up the rods etc they are still in place so they aren't self balancing like they should, bit of a mystery. Have asked to have them set up how they should be.

The wiring is a total rats nest that is basically falling apart so bad that the electrician pretty much refused to work on it unless he got to do all of it because he couldn't in good conscience guarantee it wouldn't break. So after being shown how horrendous the current wiring is we decided to get the whole car rewired to make sure we don't have any problems in the future. Especially as the only breakdown we have had is because of some crap wiring failing.



The body is broken at the back so now a matter of when not if we replace it which is annoying. Also for some insane reason the body has been stuffed with house insulation and bits of aluminium mesh for no apparent reason. Having to leave it until next year now as we are desperate to get the car back to enjoy.



The red bar in this photo with the bolts on the top are the ones that aren't meant to be there for the brakes.

Now that we have new wheels and tyres the mud guards need resetting so they fit correctly.




ntiz

Original Poster:

2,354 posts

137 months

Wednesday 27th March 2019
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We do seem to have found the right people to work with on the car. Very much on the same page as far as how we would like to go about the work.

Small world though got chatting about ph and turns out the owner knows the Range Racer guys and it’s kept in his barn.

The insulation was a surprise can’t think why you would do it not as if it’s going to keep you warm.

ntiz

Original Poster:

2,354 posts

137 months

Friday 3rd May 2019
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Having the car rewired has given us the opportunity to renew a few things. Like having new rear lights put on and getting rid of the horrible fog light on the back that you can see in previous pics.

Whilst the dash board is out of the car has given us the chance to move some of the buttons and get new ones to replace some of the not so original buttons to make it look a bit better. Decided to have it repainted as well. Turns out the dash was barely held in with block of wood and practically fell off the car when being removed to new brackets are being made to attach it a bit better so hopefully won't vibrate as much.

Here is a pic of the refurbished dash what do we think an improvement?

IMG_6214 by Elliot Simpson, on Flickr

ntiz

Original Poster:

2,354 posts

137 months

Monday 17th June 2019
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Was going through some old pics on my Dads old desk top and stumbled across this.


|https://thumbsnap.com/jGUhdNc8[/url]


Only pic of me with a car of the 100s we have of the 2002 Classic Le Man funny how I chose one of these. I look forward to everyones ridicule. laugh

Hopefully will be having ours back again in a couple of weeks just waiting for shock absorbers to be delivered and chroming to be finished on the windscreen after some complications have slowed both down.

Here is a pic of last time I visited the chaps working on our car. They had this in for some work bloody beautiful. Not one of the original 50 but I think I could deal with that personally. laugh


ntiz

Original Poster:

2,354 posts

137 months

Saturday 13th July 2019
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We have our car back!

It has been well worth the wait to get it back. It is driving so much better than it used to. Adding the extra shock absorbers has really nailed the car down and stopped some of the strange wobble we used to get on the front that made going down a bumpy road quite challenging to keep the car straight. We just used to think that was part of driving a car this old but apparently not.

Having the correct size wheels put on seems to have made the steering lighter and with new suspension set up you no longer have to give a big arm full of lock and hope for the best. You can guide it a bit more with some accuracy.

New pedal position and gearbox adjustment have been worth it although putting the pedals back to how they should be has made the clutch and throttle really close together which is taking some getting used. The gearbox isn’t really any easier to get smooth but it does seem to be more forgiving in terms of totally refusing to go into a gear which used to happen if you got the timing really wrong.

Took a bit of time off work went for a drive out this afternoon to try driving it a bit harder. It has been a year since I last drove it and I forgot just brilliant it is as an experience. With all the work we had done it has made it a much more confidence inspiring car to push on in. Found myself catching up with traffic most of the time.

It’s fun racing people that don’t know how hard you trying to keep up. smile

Pics

Front shocks



Rear shocks double as well.





New wiring. We had some power points added under the dash out of sight to power sat nav etc. Much tidier than the rats next we had before plus we now know what all the switches do.





New windscreen with side panels that become aero screens.



The new view.


Peddles and random pic






ntiz

Original Poster:

2,354 posts

137 months

Thursday 18th July 2019
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Parents are all packed up ready for an event at Prescott this weekend.

Mostly camping stuff