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| 8 & 10 cyl Bristol cars Type 407 onwards - restoration, repair, maintenance etc |
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12-04-20, 10:01 AM
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Having done three quarters of an alpine tour, including the Stelvio, with a one broken manifold and the other blowing I am hardly qualified to judge the comparison. By the time we left her at SLJ the broken manifold was completely detached so the noise was horrendous. But I can confirm that I am entirely happy with the free flow manifolds, they don't seem noisy to me, honest.
The original 410 front exhaust hangings were far too rigid, engine torque then making the manifolds extremely vulnerable as most of the torque ended up being taken by the manifolds. The much improved 411 system is now adopted. Another piece of advice: the Stelvio, a 410 and a stiff neck don't mix. There is also only loads of tatty stalls and dirty snow at the top. As for the bloody cyclists!!! They CYCLE up it. I was so discombobulated I could only drink a bottle of cold water at the top. See photo in my earlier posting 411 front disc brakes. Roger 
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12-04-20, 08:16 PM
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some 410 pics
Andrew,
hoping this link will work for you. Some 410 pics for your contemplation in isolation.. My 410 is the former Claude Lewenz left hand drive 'Gantt' car. Restored by the factory and lightly breathed upon. Lovely car to drive. Swift and quiet with a nice growl when extended. One thing I'd change if I did it again would be to go to a 4-speed box but it's ok for most uses in the USA. https://www.flickr.com/photos/107289...57637155099704 I also had a Brigand for a while. 5.9 liters and turbo made for swift progress but it didn't get enough use to stay in tune. When it had been in the tender care of Bristol Cars it ran superbly but the 360 injected engine is a way better long term proposition. A 410 / early 411 still carries a lot of the charm of the earlier generation and fewer of the parts-bin interior bits. Best of all worlds imho :-) Wishing you the best with your search.
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13-04-20, 07:38 AM
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Morning Steve - what a stunning car and the colour suits it very well. Love the "London Meat Company" shot - excellent!
Appreciate the feedback on the driving experience, and the useful comment about the 4 speed. Thanks Andrew
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17-04-20, 08:39 AM
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17-04-20, 09:03 AM
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Andrew,
In my humble opinion, if you are going to make any compromises it should not be on the structure of the car and the interior. Both can be far more expensive to restore than any issues with the engine and transmission. I suspect the 383 and 400 engines in the 411s have better parts availablity than the 318 engine in the 410, but not enough difference to warrant avoiding the 410. Another thing to pay attention to is the front suspension. There's a bit of information on the potential problem here http://www.bristolcars.info/forums/8...ont+suspension The distance between the bottom of the front crossmember and the road should be about 5 inches on a 411 (this does vary a little depending on the tyres fitted). If a car has been standing for a long time or has no record of the brakes being overhauled, then that is also a likely requirement, although that could be said for almost any 50+ yo car. Also, lift the vinyl cover on heater box and check for rust in the tray beneath the Smiths heater box.
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24-04-20, 11:30 AM
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Well the deal has been done and I've agreed to purchase SPG 603F - a 410 - apparently well known as it's the one that had its fins removed early on in its life! It's at Spencer Lane Jones at the moment having a few bits attended to - or it would be having them attended to if they weren't locked down! Will have to just be patient but very much looking forward to taking delivery....whenever that will be.
Thanks for the advice and pointers - I'm pretty sure I followed most of them! Andrew
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03-05-20, 04:07 PM
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410 fuel pump
Quote:
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29-07-20, 08:14 AM
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Having sought advice, I thought the least I could do was let you know what happened and how we're getting on. Well, have now had the car for about a month and have put around 1000 miles on her. We're starting to get to know each other and having never driven a Bristol before am mightily impressed with the driving experience which must have been astounding in the '60's - it's still excellent when compared to moderns - but you all know that! Driving has been a mixture of motorway runs - not hanging about , pottering around the New Forest and fast A roads.
Am averaging just over 20 to the gallon which considering I'm making full use of the loud pedal is pretty impressive. The car has a three speed box, with o/drive and then a separate lockup facility, so in practice it's almost like a 5 speed box. Am still getting the bugs out of her - but the issues are relatively minor - electric fan thermostat is duff so she runs cold, left hand windscreen wiper has given up, and there's a small leak from heater matrix. Re the heater matrix - is this shared with any other cars or does anyone have any recommended reconditioners of these? Thankfully it looks easy to access - unlike the left hand windscreen wiper! Car could do with a good detailing and there's a few bits that could be smartened up/caught before they become issues but that can wait until Winter. At the moment none of the above are stopping me using her. Am humming and ha-ing about whether to stick with points (if it ain't broke etc), go with the Winterburn improvement or an electronic dizzy. Once I've got off the fence on that one, will probably get her on a rolling road - more to fine tune the fuelling than anything else - she's rich at idle and appears to lean off at the top end - but again that's for another day. Cheers Andrew Last edited by AndrewA; 29-07-20 at 08:34 AM.
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29-07-20, 07:28 PM
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Rich at idle........... This might be your solution
The foot chamber valves wear significantly over time, the float chambers get overfilled at idle and no amount of screwing in of the two idle jet adjustments at the front of the carb will compensate. I changed these, at Martin Barnes recommendation after I’d mentioned that the car was a bit of a nightmare in heavy traffic as it tended to stall on take up from idle, and was astonished to find that the idle jets then preferred to unscrewed really quite a long way and then behaved as the handbook indicates, ie set throttle idle, then set idle jets to maximise idle rpm and repeat until optimised. It no longer stalls on take up. The only way to access the windscreen wiper boxes is to remove the relevant front seat and lie on your back with your arms up behind the dash. I’d also recommend removing the relevant seat runners which have lots and lots of sharp bits to dig into you and it’s already uncomfortable enough.
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04-08-20, 10:35 PM
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I have a heater box which I understand came from a 411 which has these in a single row; on the 408 box they are staggered into two rows. I think it may also be that the 411 has a separate cold air box between the fan and the heater box. The 408 may share a matrix with a 1970s Sprite (they look similar but I have not bought one and checked). I think the heater box itself is shared with an Austin A60. I don't know what the 411 matrix or box is shared with. Either can be easily recored - Aaron Radiators can do it for you. A photograph of the two matrixes next to each other is attached - the bigger one is 408.
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