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| 8 & 10 cyl Bristol cars Type 407 onwards - restoration, repair, maintenance etc |
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07-12-11, 05:13 PM
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I hope you do not mind me saying this, but you have a long time before you can start thinking about the interior. A lot needs to be done, if you want to do this restoration properly. If you do it badly, you will damage the car more than restore.
I personally think you should try restoring something more simple, like a motorcycle, first, so you get used to the tools etc. If you restore an old Harley, and do it well, you can make some money, which you can use in restoring your Bristol. As you live in the US (correct?) you can get all Mopar parts locally, including the resto of the engine and conversion to a 6 speeder. Not sure why you want a 6 speeder, the engine would be very happy with less gears. 
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07-12-11, 05:23 PM
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Restoration/personalization of your Bristol
Definitely two schools of thought, and this goes on all the time in the hobby I would not be opposed to making changes in seating and the engine/drivetrain, but I would be careful not to change or alter the car itself, as most of what you intend can be reversed. I'd advise to save all the original things removed, and keep them so that the next owner may want to restore the car to original and keep it's value intact. You can have the best of both worlds.. It just takes a little planning. I agree that the original engine has plenty of torque and the standard 3 speed in the car is more than adequate.. Of course, rowing through the gears provides a lot of satisfaction to many of us, and all this is going to take is a clutch pedal and some modification of the transmission tunnel which can be reversed in the future. As to myself, I never leave a car original, and have personalized most everything I have ever owned, and that experience is quite extensive. Good luck on your project.
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07-12-11, 05:34 PM
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The Bristol and the young man
Now, in reading down the list of threads, I realize that some of us have already commented and attempted to advise the new owner as to what we would do with HIS prize. For the most part, we have wasted our breath and he is going to do whatever suits HIM at this point in his life. I even went so far at to advise him to sell the car, save the money, and put it toward a good education. And now, he is talking of customizing the car. So be it. I am finished and am not taking the bait any more. The rest of you may have the pleasure.
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07-12-11, 07:52 PM
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07-12-11, 07:54 PM
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07-12-11, 08:02 PM
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As for restoring stuff i also have a festiva that i sort of work on, my friend if you saw the videos is restoring a BMW. I do a lot of work on computers so in a sense i sort of know the basic concepts. I actually own a triumph that my dad was working on but i dont have any self confidence to work on a motorcycle.
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10-12-11, 05:11 PM
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Ok, to answer some questions : The reason we have chose to drop the auto is for several reasons, such as fuel economy, a better driving experience, and that no one else (as far as we know) has done this. Don't worry about us having experience, we will be doing a resto on his DD next summer, and I will be doing as little work as I can so he can gain the experience that I have. As for what his mom said, it was more along of the lines that there is currently nowhere to work on it, and that he does not have that much cash right now. All in all, it will be done right. If you're still not confident, my next project is a 65 D100 that needs the bed floor replaced, cab swap, and conversion from a 3spd to 4spd w/OD. Whatever skills we lack, we will learn by experience. There is not much here that if screwed up, can not just be done over. I am done here for now, and will be back the next time I work on the car.
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15-12-11, 10:05 PM
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As far as I can see from reading this thread, while there may not be a lot of finance, practical skill or even rational thought floating around, this lad has an abundance of the most important thing - ENTHUSIASM.
It's surprising how many hurdles can be overcome with this alone - other things can come later! Good luck to you. 
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05-01-12, 04:17 PM
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I understand your vehicle is under a tarp outside?
I might have said this earlier: I have experience from several car resto's, and several motor bikes. I started by restoring a couple of bikes, then went on to cars. ( soon I will start the resto of my motorcycle that is a Jawa 175cc Super Sport from 1934). I have started all the restos by first tackling the Chassis and rust. Then body work, driveline and the interior last. While I stored/worked on the cars, I had them on blocks. Useful changes to the car are: New more efficient rad fans, with a manual override Edelbrock carbs ( plus other Edelbrock treatment of the engine, if you like more BHP) Seat belts in the back Front seats with a head rest Main cut off switch for the battery, accesible in the drivers footwell Last edited by Janne; 05-01-12 at 04:50 PM.
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06-01-12, 09:47 PM
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The young man with the old Bristol
Janne, a few of us have tried to make some sense of this, and the other conflict is between the new owner and his mother. He wants to fix the car up and change things out, like the transmission. She wants him to keep it original,and my guess would be hopes that he would sell it for a good price to someone who wants one to restore. We all told him that any alternations will decrease the value of the car, regardless of the poor condition it is now in. I too, admir enthusiasm, but youth and common sense or not mutually exclusive.
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27-01-12, 09:37 PM
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Old Photoes
Hi Everybody,
I was going through some old photos and I found some of the Bristol. This is how it looked before my dad started working on it. There are also some photos of the door and some lights. The photos were scanned in to the computer so they are not the best quality. There is also a photo of a Bristol 403, I think my dad went to a show or to a friends house and took this photo.
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28-01-12, 02:17 PM
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I can see only two maroon coloured 403's on the owners club register in the USA and only one is left hand drive like the one on your pictures.
Maybe you could contact the owners to find out if they knew your father and have any information on the 408. Although the other right hand drive 403 is an identical colour so may have been converted to LHD. Hard to tell with no reg. on the front. Hope it's all going well
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28-01-12, 02:53 PM
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The first two photos are of my Bristol before my dad started work on it. The 403 is probably his friend's. I just want to know if any of you know who it is so I can figure out more about my dad and the other cars he worked on.
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| Tags |
| 407, bristol, restore |
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