401 Renovation.

[Geoff Kingston]

I hesitate to say that what we are doing to one of my 401's is a restoration because we have not torn it apart to the last nut and bolt or spent hours or thousands of pounds having the body skin removed from the frame just to deal with rust in the lower regions of the frame, perhaps with the amount of time the car has spent off the road I was lucky in that it has missed at least 40 winters with salt laden roads so rust wise it was not as bad as some I have seen.
The downside is that some things have gone a bit downhill since we dragged it out of a field in Rodmartin around 40 years ago, the leather on the seats needed more work, loft storage is not kind to the leather or the stitching, but Dave Ralls is working his usual magic on that, other silly little things are the pins and springs that retain the knobs on the switches, the knobs were taken off in the 70's the pins are all seized, have freed off one all the rest to go!
The chassis, outriggers and sides to the spare wheel compartment took about 60 to 65 hours of Mike Moss' skilled welding, the fiddly bits such as the area round the filler cap a disproportionately period of extra time as did adapting the Enots chrome on brass filler cap, an ebay bargain at £15, £95 including Brian's time making and fitting a filler pipe of the right size from the copper pipe I bought from a model steam engine parts supplier.
Later we discovered that the corresponding inlet pipe on the tank had been made out of sheet alloy so 2" on one end, outlet from filler did not equal 2" on the other end, inlet to tank ,enter Brian again and about another £90 for a custom made collar, there will be no water leaks into the tank with this set up.
Parts have been retrieved from my store of bits from a 401 I broke for spares in the late 80's and from another acquired less engine and gearbox last year.
The replacement engine came from Bristol Cars purchased just before they went into receivership, the gearbox I think came with the car and now after a repair to the case is fitted with a remote change unit off a 403, the Alfin drums came off ebay or the spares car, one set of brake linings were new and the rear brakes shoes, springs and drums came off the spares car.
Very little has actually been bought new, the sills, bottom door panels, all the brake cylinders and most of the pipes, handbrake cable, clutch, starter motor (nos), engine and gearbox mountings and various small fittings. There are new stainless steel bumper bars waiting in the sidelines, new badges purchased year ago, hubcaps from ebay and a new stainless steel exhaust system just acquired from Bristol Cars. New tyres are waiting for the wheels to be refinished and the Rad is currently being rebuilt. A lot has been done since Oct 2015 and a lot remains to be done, this afternoon it was just nice to sit in the workshop having a cup of tea reflecting on progress so far and the fact that my own hours spent on the project have only cost me my time and that so much has been saved using used and refurbished parts.
So I think on balance I would say a renovation and a good scavenging exercise rather than a restoration which will hopefully see the car back on the road before the end of the year.
There are quite a few cars out there waiting for this treatment and though some are probably too far gone due to terminal chassis rot, if complete they are a huge asset as a source of spares to aid the restoration of a better car, they were also so well built that even in desperate state they can yield an awful lot of useful parts, even less engine and gearbox they can be worth having.
Anyone who has done a car like this themselves will know the additional time spent hunting parts etc, but to anyone thinking about doing it I would say don't hesitate, it won't always be easy, it won't always be cheap but with a bit of luck it will cost less than buying an already restored car,( and you will know what's under the paint) and it will cost a lot less than a cheque book restoration.
The hardest part of the project is going to be to decide what colour to have it painted.
Geoff.