Major reconstruction of a 1936 Bentley Saloon by Mayfair

[Steve Hamilton]

Jim

That looks like a nice challenge!!!!!

That should keep you busy til the end of June!!!

Thanks for posting.

Steve

[skintkarter]

Blimey Jim, that certainly is broken...! Look forward to seeing progress and thanks for taking the time to post.

[Z5Roadster]

And the customer said "a little lead loading and a paint job " how do you tell the guy that his Bentley just fell apart. Mind you don't get the Allard remains mixed up with this one. Think I would have thrown a sheet over it and pushed it in the corner.

Joking apart going to be another good read, thanks for letting us see what happens behind closed doors.

Tom

[dtracy]

Wow! Where do you start?

Good luck, and I agree, a visa is in order.

Dave.

[jhery]

When the body was all taken apart or fell apart I started by building the main wooden framing which attaches the floor. The B pillars were carefully measured out from the firewall and cross measured. I ran a center line string on the frame and from the top of the cowl a center point on the rear of the frame so I had reference points to measure from. The doors were attached to the sub-rails and a metal X brace held the doors square side to side. Bracing was then attached from and back to hold the B pillar in the correct upright position. Since the A pillar on the right side turned to powder and most of the left one did the same I started to build from the firewall back and will be able to create the A pillars once most of the cowl is done and can build to the door openings. The top stringers were so rotten I had to guess at them in order to get the doors aligned.

[Kerry Pinkerton]

I'm overwhelmed by the scope of this project Jim. How do you keep track of which pile of dust and splinters is which and what goes where? Do you tag and label everything or do you have enough experience to know what is what?

Also, where do you get your wood? Do you buy it somewhere or have you had someone local cut some ash and it's been air drying for years?

Finally, the sheet metal looks pretty good from the posted photos. Is it? Or are you going to have to remake much of the external skin also?

[mastuart]

Jim you sure turned that silk purse in a sows ear. It looks like you have it going back in the other direction nicely . Do you have a guess on how much time you have from start to where you are now? Also how many men are on this project? I have been wanting to come see you for a visit some time. Maybe some of your energy would rub off and motivate me on my cobra project.

Mark

[cliffrod]

Very cool, Jim. Sure love seeing what you're doing, even if it's on via the forum right now...

[jhery]

Kerry: I have been reconstructing and restoring Rolls Royce and Bentley cars for 44 years and have developed the mind of a British Coachbuilder. The British were very disciplined and conservative and rarely thought out of the box in their designs and construction so recreating a British car comes natural to me. Most of the cars I work on are one off cars which don't have many parts included when they are delivered to me so there aren't many bags and tags and I know where and how things would have been built. I have been blessed with vision which sometimes is a curse. I photograph everything or try, and then I can use that as a reference.
Most of the wood which is White Ash comes from my backyard. I have 38 acres of timber and cut and dry much of the wood used in the construction. The large pieces for the roof stringers in the photos I got from Dan Pate who got them from Cass when he moved.
Photos are deceiving, the metal is not in very good shape as it is fatigued after 80 years, however I have to save as much as possible as the value of the restoration and judging rules require it. As the job progresses I will post photos and you will be able to see the whole process. This is a small job compared with the majority current projects. The Bentley below was a one off by Harrison built for the two English chaps in the original photo as they were preparing to break the record which the car was designed for. I had the chassis, motor and a broken transmission and this photograph to design and build the body. There was a fair amount of vision and educated guessing required to construct this car. The finished photo was taken by world renowned photographer Michael Furman and is a fine example of deception. He can make any car look great.

[norson]

Just a comment on Eastern Ash (America). A lot of disease in the north eastern US has killed off a lot of the trees which is limiting the availability and increasing the price. When I was looking (for a Model A) I found it at a specialty wood supplier (think furniture/cabinet). The wood was in the form of odd sized boards of varying lengths. Finding the two pieces for the sill plates was a challenge and they were spendy. It might have been more difficult for me because I live in the northwest and this is an eastern product. There is a lot of waste and a Model A is child's play compared to this. Note: the type of wood is exstremely important. I've heard that Ash is the best, but Oak has been used in some cars. There are two main types of Oak and one of them rots like crazy.