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| 8 & 10 cyl Bristol cars Type 407 onwards - restoration, repair, maintenance etc |
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20-08-11, 10:10 PM
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20-10-11, 05:20 PM
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The pix on the old 407?
Glad to see you have posted some pix, but castings do not give us much of a hint as to what you have. Perhaps the YOutube pix-videos will be more help. Glad to hear your dad was a member of Bristols at some point. Looks to be very rough, but it can and should be restored as best you are able to do. You are fortunate indeed to have the car, and the sentimental value is there.
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14-11-11, 09:19 PM
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14-11-11, 10:03 PM
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the old bristol
I about had a heart attack watching you guys sitting on the aluminum body. Not all that strong and you could be doing amazing damage. You should have pulled the wheels and freed up the drums so it would roll, instead of pulling it like that. Anyway, good luck on your project. ron
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14-11-11, 11:49 PM
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the old bristol
I looked at the videos, and you are scaring me. I wish that car was a Camaro of something. That way I would not be so concerned. Anyway, good luck on the project. This is perhaps the most valuable project you will ever have the opportunity to work on, and I hope you will give it the respect it deserves.
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15-11-11, 01:06 AM
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thanks
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15-11-11, 04:01 PM
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I agree with Ron for once ! You are scaring me too ...
It is a 408 , not 407 -- the 407 numbers you see around are just part numbers that are shared with a lot of V8 Bristols Please get a professional mechanic to take a look and write you up a job list that you can tackle one at a time. Don't use the body work as a work bench and tool tray -- you will loose tools and cause more damage. The button on the floor you asked about is for the main beam headlight on/off Just keep asking on here when you are stuck or need parts on and someone will help Did you actually get it running ? Please check all fluids are okay before you try again and make sure it isn't seized. Do you need help with that ? Good luck and remember one job at a time, keep taking pictures and don't loose anything. I started with lawn mowers and mopeds ! you are very brave and fearless :-) Last edited by GREG; 15-11-11 at 04:08 PM. Reason: lllllll
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15-11-11, 05:25 PM
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The A/C compressor you were looking at is the brake servo - it doesn't have A/C
The power steering pump that was in your way was something else as they don't have power steering and use a Marles steering box It has the wrong carb on so look out for a 4 barrel Edelbrock I think you may be better getting a cheap running 318 engine from a breakers yard somewhere, around 1963 vintage, so you can get it rolling -- if the tranny is working. Then you can work on the original engine and components at your leisure. Really don't want to be patronising but please, please, get some help ! Watching you hitting the gear selector with a lump hammer nearly made me cry :-( Here are normal pre start checks after a car has been stood - but these are based on a radiator being fitted and a fuel supply -- which yours has not !! So stop and get help 1 Check for any obvious damage to hoses. 2 Fully charge the battery. 3 Take out the sparking plugs. 4 Disable ignition circuit (pull out the funny shaped plug on the ignition amplifier situated above the fuses in the offside pannier) 5 Remove air cleaner. 6 Squirt a little thin oil into each plug hole, and into the top of the carb; push open the choke plate and throttle butterflies as you do this. 7 Even if oil looks clean (perhaps especially if), change it before turning over the engine. Deposits and crud may have totally settled (like sediment in wine) and may clog oil passages when stirred up. 8 Turn the engine over a couple of times using a socket on the nut holding the crankshaft pulley at the front of the engine. Make sure that the engine turns reasonably freely. 9 Have an assistant sit in the car while you keep an eye on the engine. 10 Have him turn the key to the start position. The engine should spin over. 11 Carefully watch for any petrol leaks as the mechanical pump (I assume you have one) fills the float chambers. Sometimes after very long periods of inactivity, the floats can be stuck by gummy deposits in old petrol. If all is well, continue to spin the engine on the starter until you see the oil pressure come up. Replace plugs, air cleaner and enable ignition circuit. Go for a pint ( Cola ), (this is serious, it gives the electric choke time to cool down) Try it, if all is well you will get a cloud of smoke from the exhaust as the excess oil is burnt off. Let it warm up, checking all the time for fluid leaks.
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15-11-11, 07:12 PM
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The poor Bristol
Thanks, Greg. I was beginning to think I was the only one with concerns about the old car. This is going to be a huge 'learning moment' for this young man and his friend, and my fondest wish is that the object of their intentions was another car. Having searched for a 409 for so many years that I could afford to purchase and restore has my emotions reeling when I saw this original posting. I am in the process of tracking one down, perhaps two from the same deceased owner. They will need everything from what I can gather, but I will not be deterred. You have given them much advice and I hope they follow some of it. Experience is a wonderful teacher, but the stakes involved in gathering it needs to be taken into account.
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15-11-11, 09:37 PM
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Sooner or later you will need to shell out a lot of money for that car on parts , paint and upholstery -- even Tyres cost a fortune for a 408 !
Unless you have decent financial pot to go at you should look at selling it. You could probably get something cool like an old VW Beetle with the money from the 408. They are perfect first cars to work on. Sometimes you need to be realistic
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15-11-11, 10:09 PM
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The old Bristol
I will have to whole heartedly second that suggestion, and I went so far as to suggest that to the young lad very early on. Properly handled, that sale would provide quite a few dollars toward an education, or anything else he had in mind, like a much more modest car as a project. I fear that the car will continue to be devalued as the work progresses. It does not look good. Sentimental value aside, good decisions are not being made.
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16-11-11, 12:17 AM
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I know I am new here, and do not own a Bristol, but calm down. When it comes down to it, there was no way to free up the drums, as it was wedged between a 20ft drop and a shed. It never started or turned over. (Never got a good ground anywhere) As for the gear selector, don't worry about that either. The engine and trans are being replaced (may rebuild 318), and the trans is going to be a manual. (Yes, we know it did not come like that) He does not want to sell it, but would like to restore it. As for everything else, it can be done. Myself, I will be starting the restoration of a 1965 Dodge D100 that my Great-Grandfather owned, which has sat in a field for around 30 years. As for the work I have done : My 318i Thread - Bimmerforums - The Ultimate BMW Forum . No, we should not have laid tools on the fenders, but when you are going to do a frame off anyway, you just don't think about it. I do not want to offend anyone here, I just want to say that we are capable. I know I am going to get a lot of angry comments, but I think we lose the whole point of forums with stuff like this. Aren't we supposed to be here so that we can help each other out to restore our cars, instead of fight about our personal opinions? He never knew his dad, and this and a 1988 Ford Festiva are the only real links beside a house that he has to him. If I really tick anyone off, feel free to ban me. I'm just trying to help out a friend.
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16-11-11, 10:33 PM
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The old Bristol
I am glad to hear that you are trying your best to help your friend out with his car, and hope you get it up and running soon. You mentioned 'frame off' and that is a big undertaking, not to mention expense. Some of us have tried to make some helpful suggestsions, and not to discourage your efforts. We have also spent a lot of time on these things and have learned a lot along the way, and all we were attempting to do was to give some advice. So, in that spirit, I wish you all the best in your efforts. I do, however, stand by my opinions on the car in question; that it is valuable and needs to be treated as such.
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17-11-11, 01:39 PM
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K14UJO - you are obviously a great friend and nobody wanted to insult you.
Personally I would keep the car standard, because it's rare and because the sell on value will be much much higher. Saying that, we can all do what we want to our own cars ! If you want to go the mod route, you could always go for a 440 V8 or anything that will fit. You could also fit some nice alloys as the 408 has the same wheel bolt pattern as Merc's and some Audi's Happy to help and interested whatever you decide - but remember the after sales price, as it will be the difference between a money pit and a money maker ! Have fun PS Nice job on the Beemer - good idea dying the upholstery Last edited by GREG; 17-11-11 at 01:58 PM. Reason: llll
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17-11-11, 08:56 PM
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Ive been noticing all the comments and here is what i have to say. iv talked to my mom and she says the it WILL stay the same. this is why (i don't agree, because i like customizing) "when you look at something that is a work of art/rare, you need to preserve it, like your fathers art, (my father was an artist) when you take something that people aspire to want (you guys want this car) and it is rare, then you see someone that has exactly what you want then they start messing with it and beating it, it would break your heart." So therefore in conclusion i will probably not go that custom (not my choice) and will postpone most of the project till i get more money. thanks i will still upload videos once i do more work Thanks
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19-11-11, 03:17 PM
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Your mom is very wise, but there are compromises to be had. You can do a lot of mod stuff like custom wheels and vinyl wrap (chrome wrap available now ! ) over the paint job. 408's look good with the bumpers/fenders removed. There are also loads of chrome engine dress up kits you can get for the 313 /318 engine and of course you could get any colour film to go over the glass.
All of the above mods can be easily put back to standard very quickly if needed. As far as budget goes , there is lots that can be done for very little money, such as preparing the bodywork and taking components apart to clean, paint and rebuild and sorting any welding out. Sorting the brakes out is also a good job to tackle. I know quite a few people that have taken 20 years restoring a car. Just be patient and enjoy it. Martin Barnes at ACCS in England imports a lot of Mopar parts for Bristols in the UK, so could probably help you out with where to get what you need over there.
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