My Bristol
 

Hi everybody
i have a bristol and i am starting to restore it. It was originaly my fathers. he got sick died so it is mine. What he was doing was that he was going to rebuild it. He worked a bit on the engine and was probably finishing up the interior and getting dents out of the aluminum. It has set for about 20 years. I sort of know what i am doing and My friend will sort of help.
I know a few specs about the car, it has a 318 and it most likely a 409.
I post pics later.

Have a look at the maker's plate under the bonnet, that will tell you which model (and number in the production run) it is. Also, it is unlikely to have the 318 CID engine.

George

the 409
 

You have a nice and rare car there, and I hope you are able to get it back to being roadworthy. You mentioned the engine, and a couple things happened back then, as most all original engines were supplied by Chrysler Canada. Many small blocks were 313 inches instead of the American 318, but very little difference here, so sourcing engine parts should be no problem. Same goes for the Torqueflite transmission. Both are generic items. Good luck on your project. Sorry to hear about your father.

thanks

well i will try to post some pics.
one thing is that it has a steering wheal on the side like in Brittan

RE:
 

hi i dont have a clue about how to use this forum so just send me a email (kj4yxy@gmail.com) so i can send you pics.
i know it is a mopar engine and my friend who talked with my dad when he was working on this knows it is a 318.
i know engine parts will be simple to find but it is more of finding interior parts.
also to reply to GEO where?

reply
 

thanks
i know it is a 409 because my nieghbor was watching him work on it and he said it was a 318. it has a the stearing wheel on the side like brittan.
i will email pics, just email me at kj4yxy@gmail.com

How and where?

Surely it *should* have a 318 engine if it is a 409?

Kevin

that is what everybody says

Here are some photos that were sent to me ....

It's a 408 Mk 1 so will have a 313 engine if original

Only the 407 and 408 have round Auto gear change buttons.

Hope this helps

408's have my favourite body style of all the V8's. It's very sad to see one as far gone as this is.

I hope that it will be restored but if it is , it certainly wont be for profit. ! The 313 engine is quite rare now and the gearbox can be around £4k to rebuild properly.

I guess the underneath will finaly dictate if it's worth or possible to restore. If the chassis has rotted and broken it's back, I guess it would be only good for Brian May's parts car collection.

I hope my fears are wrong and it works out to be a worthwhile restoration project.

Good luck

At first glance , it looks like the engine has been replaced with a 318 - not sure.

The chassis plate in front of the missing radiator will have the original engine number on it.

The carb is certainly wrong.

It is difficult to tell, but from the layout of the dynamo, belts etc., my first punt would be for the 313CID


It most definitely is as is Greg's identification of it being a 408 — not sure whether Mk.I or II though.

George

well it still has the radi but it isnt photoed.
i put it in but it wasnt wide enough

Seperate oil filler on a 313 that's not present on this engine ! Could be wrong - don't like the red paint either.

I thought the 408 MK 2 had rectangular auto buttons like the 409 ?

It is very knackered

According to this forums data KJ4YXY is only 14 and has lost his father !

This information makes me want to help you in anyway possible to rebuild this car.

Please let the forum members know more about your locality and what restoration problems you face.

I am sure that a few of us may be able to help.

Tell me more ?

I thought the 313 and 318 "A" series "Poly" engines were pretty much identical other than the fact that the 318 had a 30 thou wider cylinder bore. The 313 being a Canadian engine while the 318 was built in the UA.

Are there other subtle differences?

The engine number would tell us immediately.

First impressions from the photos suggest that a restoration of this car could cost much more than it would to buy one in good condition. I know you expect that with many restorations but this looks to be in a particularly bad way.

it is fine i have a step father but yes i am 14.
well i am located in the USA
one issue is that it is not in a garage :( so my mom is worried about someone stealing it.
also in the city i live there a alot of ordinances that make it hard for me to work on (drive it around and try to move it).

click on the pic to enlarge

hey i just now realized something my father was apart of the bristol owners club

More info
 

here is info/pics
dad was apart of bristol owners club.
V8 engine
found books about restoring your mopar engine

Progress
 

hey guys, new info,
it is a 407 (maybe)

and me and my friend worked on it, and i made videos, SOON i will upload them onto youtube with a link here so just keep in touch!

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.

hey thanks

the videos will take a while due to the fact that i have TONS of school stuff and no time to realy do much else, BUT i will post a link to the videos

Bristol 407 - YouTube

this is the playlist of me and my friend working on it last month

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

see all 12 videos

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.

i understand. for the state it is in there is no need to worry to that extent. once we do body work then we will have to be more careful
thanks

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 :-)

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

Hey:

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

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.