Just not getting anywhere.

[Ronald G. Stephenson]

Those are excellent suggestions, but at this point, it would be hard to encourage him to approach the idea of disposing of the car. I do believe he has done some research, as he has a fair idea of the value of the car. But, like so many people these days, they take their cue from what they see going across the block at auctions for fabulous prices on cars that have had the luxury of having tons of money spent on them. I see it all the time on American 'muscle' cars, which were cheap items sold to millions of people back in the day. An old car, regardless of make, is an old car. To take the sow's ear and make it into a silk purse can and is done all the time in this hobby. It does not have to make any sense.

[GREG]

yes , agreed !

[Des]

10 months on and things are looking good, the underside anyway. Workshop is to go imminently and I'm now well into borrowed time.
I've spent the last 3 weeks telling my clients that I'm fully booked when I've really been spannering, this deceit seems likely to continue. I did think 2 weeks would suffice to get to the MOT-able stage but spent a whole week derusting and treating the floor and chassis alone. A horrid job. I carried this out with the car on its side, after many hours contemplation I've decided these cars are closer in design to that of a modern monocoque than a traditional chassis, the members which span front to rear are large and of a thin gauge, far more similar to sill members than any archaic conventional frame, and with the body permanently attached, well kind of indirectly sort of. Most car design jumped straight from chassis to mono many years ago, the Bristol looks a missing link from that evolutionary leap.

My dilemma now is if I should MOT, exempt from November but meantime it needs to be moved around, and will inhabit garage in a location impossible to reach by tow truck or trailer so has to travel under its own steam, legally would be a bonus now that our movements seem closely monitored. I have no fear of the MOT, but, while I've always known this car has been off the road since before I was born, have just realised that it was laid up before it would have been due for its first MOT, which would have been the 10 year test of the earliest MOTs.
The thing has never seen the inside of a testing bay, never been bounced across gritty brake rollers nor had to twirl front wheels on filthy greasy swivel plates, and if I can hang on for 4 Months it will never have to, as a bonus I wouldn't have to stress over where to place reflectors or drill holes for washer jets, ( I actually shall, but will be my choice).
It's a shame I didn't get around to the bodywork, and while I'm not too fussed that it looks a state I would have enjoyed painting it.
Here are some pics of the progress, much of the rust from the first pic is now in my lungs.

[Ronald G. Stephenson]

I can honestly say that I feel your pain. Having been down the restoration road many times, it is a sure-fire way to disappoint, and the glory we hope to have upon completion is not there. if we would just listen to people in the business of restoring old cars, we would be way ahead, finanacially and mentally. My last great project involved two Chryslers out of the 50's. My friend in the business told me to sit down and listen to what he had to say. First; get rid of both of them and find a decent car with little rust, that runs, and perhaps still has a shine to the old paint. It is less money, and you can enjoy your prize from the outset. Of course, I did not listen. Now sitting in my shop is still another 50's car, a large one that needs it all. I did take his advice and sold the other two, but this one now stares at me daily, and I have begun to work on it. I have little hope of ever finishing it to a standard that would be barely acceptable. Welcome to the old car hobby.

[Des]

I'm feeling more frustration than pain, I'm working on the car almost every day but time just flies past. It all looks straightforward, I've been gathering parts for many years so there's nothing I have to drop everything to go in search of, yet progress is still slow. Engine is now running well, but took a while to get there. I've run it fairly regularly to move in and out of workshop, and it has always been spluttering, farting and popping. Modern petrol had been dissolving all the muck from the fuel system and clogging the carbs so I cleaned everything up, found TDC and made timing marks, new points condenser rotor cap leads, clean slate time. Fired her up and it was barely any better, running on 4 1/2 cyls at best, pulled the coil lead slightly out from the cap, make the coil work harder and up the spark, this helped, so I threw in a set of new plugs although the originals were barely used I don't trust the little buggers, now running on 6 but way too rich at idle, spitting viciously at me, I played around with float levels for only a very slight improvement, bloody thing had me stumped, whipped the carbs apart and found all 3 idle jets have been overtightened and distorted the seatings, the jets have hex as well as slotted heads inviting a good tightening with a spanner rather than nipping with a screwdriver, this abuse most likely occured 50-ish years ago. Easy enough to fix though, popping a small O ring on each jet made a perfect seal, actually an improvement on original.
Now it goes and stops, just lights, wipers and horn and it's back on the road.

[Ronald G. Stephenson]

Des is apparently into the delights of owning an old car, and discovering that some problems go back a long way. I had a good chuckle on the carburetor settings, and will relate a short history on the new E-type I purchased back in the day. The car ran beautifully, but did not seem to have all the power one would expect from such a fabulous car. Tune up time came around at about 10,000 miles, and I expected a plug(candle) and points change would do the trick. I then read the part about carburetor adjustment. Well, it seems that the last SU in the row had been closed down tight. I had been running on two carbs. Simple adjustment of the jet and the idle screws, and it was a different car. And this, a car from the local Jaguar dealer who supposedly prepped it before delivery! So, it is best to assume nothing when you purchase a car, new or used. And that goes for everything about the car. I admire your tenacity and just know you will get there in time. Good luck, and all the best. ron

[Des]

Time for another installment. On the 30th September 2012 the car passed it's first MOT, the run from Harrow to the station in Watford was its first drive on the public highway in 50-ish years, on 50 year old crossply tyres, and I couldn't resist but give it some beans when I found Oxhey Lane unusually clear. Did surprise me at how well it went, very lively even on hills, it seemed to crave speed. In the days prior I busied myself getting the little things up to scratch, wipers, lights, etc. The horn push didn't work and had in ancient times been rewired to a big Bakelite button on the dash underside, a wire had been pulled inside the steering column and once resoldered was working again. Screenwashers are the vacuum powered big glass jar type, lots of perished rubber piping running to and from a push button valve under the dash, for speed I borrowed a bag type washer bottle with inbuilt electric pump from a Nissan van, and dropped it in the under bonnet cubby next to the wiper motor then wired it to the big Bakelite button I'd just liberated, plumbed it in and found the jets to be clear and aligned. All lights worked on replacement, just a bit of headlamp alignment needed. There was no charge from the dynamo, or rather the control box wasn't, I decided the quickest way would be to pop on an alternator, had a good one from an old VW van, but the Bristols engine mount fouls the short mounting bracket spacing that goes with an alternators fat, dumpy physique, so had to weld a little extender piece on, I rushed this a bit and finished with it just running out of adjustment before the belt was quite tight, didn't have time to go hunting a smaller belt, luckily the VW alternator has a split pulley so a little filing saw it right if messy, maybe I'll re-do it neatly.
The car has since sat in a lockup, my garage at home is too short sadly, I stashed it away for winter and will decide what to do next in the spring. I can continue working on my drive, again, too short but can go in at a right angle and I'll have privacy. The bodywork will be the biggest challenge, much is in bare alluminium and while I am capable and would enjoy repainting, I don't have anywhere to do so. I'd best pull my finger out and go earn some money to pay someone else to do it.