411 Door handle and Bonnet

[Geoff Kingston]

Peter,
I forgot about the 412! and that despite the photograph of a fantastic looking example in the May BOC Newsletter. In the early 80's when I had my 411 there was one example a series one or two in the club that had been fitted with a Chevrolet engine and gearbox, the man who carried out the conversion was associated with a short lived Brighton Classic Car dealership, he said it was a very easy conversion and the car drove very well and quite a bit faster than original. It was interesting in the latter days of Bristol that all the 411's being refurbished and on display at the workshop where fitted with Chevrolet engines and gearboxes, I wonder why?
Geoff.

[Philip]

Simply because there’s a lot more aftermarket support for the LS engines and associated gearboxes, and not very much for the third gen Chrysler Hemis.

[Geoff Kingston]

They certainly seem easier to source second hand in the UK now if someone wanted to do a conversion on a budget but I must admit if I was going down that route I would be tempted to fit a Bentley V8 just for the hell of it.

[bnuttee]

Thank you very much for every comments. I will start restoration project soon. I will start new thread for restoration so everyone in forum can share comment and see the progress.

[Kevin H]

Originally Posted by Geoff Kingston

Peter,
It was interesting in the latter days of Bristol that all the 411's being refurbished and on display at the workshop where fitted with Chevrolet engines and gearboxes

Are you sure about this Geoff?

[Philip]

Originally Posted by Kevin H

Are you sure about this Geoff?

The factory were doing LS conversions, yes.

[Kevin H]

Originally Posted by Philip

The factory were doing LS conversions, yes.

What's LS ?


PS/Edit: I see, it's the GM engine. So what engine did the 411 S6 use?

When did they start using the GM engines?

[Geoff Kingston]

Kevin
When I went to the event at Windlesham to celebrate Brian's long service with the company there were at least two possibly three 411's there which were being rebuilt and all had the Chevrolet LS engine and gearbox conversions, I got the impression that was what was then being offered as part of the up grade package and that there had been a move away from using the Chrysler units, obviously I am referring to the period just before the recent liquidation not the run up to 2011 when Bristol had started to offer cars rebuilt to series 6 specification.
Geoff.

[Philip]

The Series 6 cars had a 5.9 Chrysler Magnum small block, as per the Blenheims.

[Geoff Kingston]

The parts of the series 6 package that appealed to me were the upgrades to the brakes, the suspension and the four speed box, I was offered a crashed Chrysler 300 with the magnum engine and four speed box when I still had my 411 but we were focused on work on a 401 so I let it pass.
If I ever need to overhaul the mechanics on my 603 it will be a stroker conversion and an uprated or four speed box.

[Kevin H]

I feel it's unfortunate that Bristol started using a GM powertrain in the final chapter of the company's history. Given the small number of cars they were upgrading why not continue using the Chrysler engine they used in the 411 Series 6.