1974 BRISTOL 411 SERIES 4 - just acquired

[hesketh786]

Good evening all !

I hope everyone is keeping well.

I recently acquired a 1974 Bristol 411 Series 4.

Chassis no - 7700386
Reg no - VMD98M
Mileage -28k

The car is complete and in excellent condition.
The engine of the car is with the car but in several parts as I have been told it had a broken piston ring and the previous owner was going to fix it, never got around to it.

I will be rebuilding the engine over the next few months and will be putting it back in the car.

In the meantime I will be dropping in another Mopar 383 engine so that the car is drivable.

My other 411 is making great progress, the body has been stripped back to bare aluminium and the 383 Mopar has been fully rebuilt.

Below are the pics of the car.

Does anyone in the club have any history of this car or know anything about it ?

Thanks again,

Hass

[David C]

Congratulations! Looks really good.

[hesketh786]

Thank you David !

[Nick Challacombe]

Interestingly Hesketh, the chassis list I have does not list any 411 series 4 with a chassis number starting with a 7700. registration number VMD 97M, VMD 99M are listed but not VMD 98M.
Car looks good, hope all goes well with the engine rebuild at least all the parts needed if any are readily available for the engine.
Regards,
Nick 407 6028

[hesketh786]

Hi Nick,

Thanks for the post and hope you are well.

That is interesting !
I read that the 411 S4 was produced from 1974 is this incorrect then ?

I hope to find out more on this car.

Many thanks

H

[David C]

The first four digits of 411 chassis numbers increase one at a time and the last digit increases by three so 7700 386 is prior to 7701 389 which is followed by 7702 392.
By my reckoning this would make yours roughly the 18th S4 produced.

[Nick Challacombe]

Good day H, as far as I can tell from the chassis lists the first 411 series 4 was a demonstrator reg number then as always MPH 100.
The Reg number when sold was changed to WLX 343M. This car reputedly was converted to the series 5 spec demo car CA.73-77.
It may well have been built in 73 but the first 411 series4 were registered in 1974. There are no chassis numbers listed at all in the chassis number book produced by the club which have a double 0 after the 77. Chassis number increased by 6 or 4 numbers throughout production and not necessarily in numerical order. Many mysteries in numbering of Bristol's , the answers died with TC RIP.

[hesketh786]

Good evening Nick,

Thank you for the information provided that is very interesting !

So could my car been built in a cross over period of the S3 and S4 ?

Many thanks again,

H

[David C]

Hello H.

Per my previous, I think your car was bang in the middle of the s4 production.

It looks as though 7682 was the first S4.

Your car, 7700 reg VMD 98M, 7702 was VMD 97M and 7703 was VMD 99M. Presumably all registered in a block, possibly in the Manchester area.

[AndrewA]

H - you've done it again!
Are you receiving any treatment for this addiction?
This one looks great and reasonably straightforward - but then they all start off that way .
Cheers
Andrew

[hesketh786]

Dear Andrew !

I hope you are well sir !

I know I know ! I could not resist the temptation it was to hard not to buy it !

And yes treatment is well underway for this horrible and crippling addiction I have.... but unfortunately as we can see from the latest results that the help is not working just yet ! hahah !

Yes she is a rather straight forward and easy resto by the looks of it as of now !

Like you say they can spiral out of control !

How are you keeping and how are your cars coming along ?

Great to hear from you,

Best
H

[hesketh786]

Good evening all,

A few photos before and after the first of many cleans

Best

H

[AndrewA]

Wow - car has come up brilliantly - you must be pleased.
Mine has had a number of niggles attended to and is being used regularly despite the weather. Am now at that obsessive stage where I'm trying to get it as quiet as a new modern luxury car and must admit I'm getting close!
Am going to follow the suggestions and upgrade the dash lights to LED's but that's about it.
Have booked some trips/tours to France and Italy in it for later in the year so am looking forward to those.
Model A is up in Scotland waiting for me to visit and attempt North Coast 500 in it - open car with limited storage - should be interesting.
When you can face it, an update on all your Bristol projects would be excellent please.
Best
Andrew

[Xseries]

7700386 was despatched on 11 March 1974 so will be celebrating a half century in less than a fortnight. I make the car to be the 21st Series 4 in terms of chassis number (with another 47 odd cars until the Series 5 started).

Strangely DVLA record three Bristol cars - VMD 96, 97 and 99 M but for some reason not 98 M. The car was originally despatched with an electric sunroof - does that remain hidden under the black vinyl perchance

In October 1974, responsibility for issuing registrations was transferred from local and regional authorities to specialist Local Vehicle Licensing Offices (LVLOs) or Vehicle Registration Offices (VROs) run by the DVLA.
Whilst MD became Manchester in late 1974, it belonged to London North East originally and then Greater London. Thus these 4 Bristol cars were most likely registered in London in March (96 and 97) or April (99).

Brian
BOC 411 Registrar

[hesketh786]

Good evening all !

I hope I find you all well !

Sorry for being quite over the last few weeks.

I've been working on the 411 S4 whilst i've been offline.

During that time i've done the following

Replaced all 4 shock absorbers on the car to new SPAX adjustable ones.

Cleaned down the full underside, arches and chassis and coated it all in black Hammerite and will be Waxoyling or Lanosealing it next.

Replaced all inner & outer wheel bearings, grease seals, ball joints and lubricants.

Had the gearbox rebuilt and upgraded the rear planetary from 3 pinion to a 4 pinion to cope with the extra bhp and torque from the rebuilt engine.

New radiator made by RadWeld who know Bristol rad's very well.

Bought a full set of brake discs, callipers, pads and fitting kits for front & rear.

Removed the grill and 4 headlights. Ive polished out the grill and ordered
4 x new Lucas headlight bowls.

Ill be posting pics soon for you all to have a gander !

Best

Hass

[Thomas591]

Hello,

Could you please be so kind and share with me the dimensions of the front wheel bearings and oil seals? This information is still missing in my parts list.

Regards

Thomas

[hesketh786]

Dear Thomas,

Yes of course, I have bought exactly the same as the originals on the car.

FRONT AXEL BEARINGS - 48548/48510 Dunlop Tapered Roller Bearing 34.925x65.088x18.034mm

FRONT AXEL OIL SEALS - 27618750D
(I couldn't find these online so bought a pair of them from Spencer Lane Jones, will share sizes when they arrive)

REAR AXEL BEARINGS - 2735X Bearing 60.72x73.03x19.05
(Again I couldn't find these online so bought a pair of them from Spencer Lane Jones, will share sizes when they arrive)

Other parts you may require for the rear axel hub if overhaulling :

BRG53 Halfshaft grease seal: £8.12 each
- Outer seal houses in pressed steel housing

BRG110 halfshaft oil seal: £14.59 each
- Inner seal, housed in end of axle casing

AXL140 grease seal housing: £37.54 each

- Housing for BRG53, sealing face often found to be warped and a source of leaks

GKT123 gasket, grease seal housing: £3.17 each


Kind regards,

Hass

[hesketh786]

More Pics !

[hesketh786]

a few more !

[hesketh786]

last few for today !