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| 8 & 10 cyl Bristol cars Type 407 onwards - restoration, repair, maintenance etc |
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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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28-04-20, 08:25 AM
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Can't help but agree! The other classic comment from the guy at SLJ was along the lines of whatever you do keep it away from salt...I then explained I lived 400 yards from the sea! So I imagine a good clean underneath, a very good dry off and lots of waxoyl are on the cards.
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03-05-20, 04:07 PM
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410 fuel pump
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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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29-07-20, 11:02 PM
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Thanks for the tip about removing runners! Will have a go. Unfortunately went out to dinner tonight and came back to a boot with a significant amount of fuel in it! Appears to be from SU electric fuel pump which has recently been rebuilt - I've never been a fan of SU fuel pumps only because of previous aggro with them on a variety of cars. Will investigate further in the morning when I can see what I'm doing.
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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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05-08-20, 07:25 AM
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There is an excellent article in the Bristol Owners Club Bulletin Number 142, dated Autumn 2011 which describes a 411 heater. The heater box in a 411 is the same as in a 410 but is relocated to accommodate a separate cold air box.
I found it extremely useful when I had the 410s heater out to replace seals etc. The heater box itself is apparently identical. Two points I found that there was a very simple gravity flap on the 410s heater which opens a direct path into the heater box from the air intake in front of the windscreen when the pressure in the former overcame the pressure supplied by the fan. So at speed the air doesn't all have to pass through the fan. I don't see any reference to this in the article, perhaps the 411 was different. I also discovered that the foam on this flap had long since perished causing it to close at intervals with a surprisingly loud, rather alarming and previously untraceable clang. I see I marked up the copy that found its way into my workshop manual, at the bottom of page 27 to read "Slacken screw E ..........at the point F and retighten screw E" One further tip. The demister vents work best when they are adjusted so that the vent exit is as close to the screen as possible. This requires more lying on ones back, the development of spider monkey arms and the deployment of much bad language.
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05-08-20, 03:08 PM
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On the wiper box front, managed to get at it by removing the inside of glove box. Lucas part number which is stamped on it is 72729A - but seems to be unobtainable. There are other parts which fit in all dimensions except the width across the back (I have one in front of me!) which on the original part measures 10 cms and on the aftermarket stuff measures 7.5 cms which in practical terms means I am no longer clamping onto the outer cable - if that makes sense. Is there a way round this that I'm missing or do I have to re-do the cabling?
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06-08-20, 08:17 PM
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What’s the problem with the existing box?
As I understand things the angle of wiper throw is determined by the size of the wiper box wheel If only the wheel is a problem might it not be possible to fit a the wheel from the new box you have? Alternatively the outer tubing is relatively standard and easily available and could be made up to a longer length, flared at each end, but you’d need to be able to get to the other box to fit it. You would only need to do that piece of outer cable.
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