Major reconstruction of a 1936 Bentley Saloon by Mayfair

[rustreapers]

I started my restoration carrier on wood for cars. My first job was to recreate the body for a 1909 International Speedster one of five to have survived. Very little was left of the body so the curated at the Henry Ford Museum let us take pictures with a tape measure to scale from.

[The Old Tinbasher]

What a excellent job. I served part of my apprenticeship in a restoration shop that specialized in British car. So I spent a lot of time working on Rolls and Bentleys in this era. The coachbuilt cars are so deceiving as they look good on the outside but inside there just like this, so I can appreciate your time and effort. Well done. I remember a 32 Chev. Cabriolet we did and there wasn't one piece of wood in the body. So the owner of the shop found a 32 Buick that was having the wood work done and he went and too patterns from that. Then he down sized the patterns to fit the Chevy. We also had a 36 PII Rolls that we needed to make a door trim panel. We made up the panel off the opposite door and when we went to fit it up it was 1/2" shorter than the door we where working on. Welcome to coachbuilt cars. The overall length of the two doors was the same but the "B" pillar was in a different location side to side. So the doors where different sizes. This was a Park Ward body. Crazy eh!!

JP.

[Gando]

Jim
IF the Fine Points judging requires reuse of as many original components as possible, at what point does a basket case that has been so painstakingly reconstructed with precision craftsmanship become disqualified, or does it?? Is it considered a replica or one off at some point or does it just become a really great car to be proud of owning and not eligible for competitive judging?
Like metal shaping, woodworking is something that my aspirations well exceed my abilities. I'm amazed at your dedication to the craft and attention to detail! Makes me wish I could have been that apprentice you spoke of. I do retire from the Fire Service in about 4 years though......Hmmm...
Gando
David Gandy
Concord, NC

[jhery]

Tinbasher: I would be more surprised to find two sides that matched. Coach- building is an art and not a science.

Gando: This car is being done for touring so he does not plan on showing it, however if he did this car has enough old parts and the design of the car is just as it would have been as new. I tried to talk him into building a Drophead Coupe but the only concession I was given was to put a sunroof in it. The Drophead body would have increased the value another $75,000 and would have been easier to build. It is always harder to restore the old parts than to build new ones.

[jhery]

The header panel was fabricated by making a contour pattern from another 35 RR in the shop with a sunroof. The shape and position are different for a fixed top and a sunroof arrangement. I lofted from two sides of the sunroof frame with an aluminum straight edge to give me the shape of the rear sunroof and the compartment for the roof to slide into. The wood was all taken a part to rabbitt the windshield opening, which was cut in 1/2" deep. The aluminum skin will wrap in around this wood and will be attached with screws or nails. Fitting the windshield opening is time consuming as it has to be a very close fit to prevent water leaking in around it. A pair of drains will be installed in the bottom corners with hoses running down the inside of the cowl panel and a hole in the sub-rail. Once the windshield was installed and swinging the old interior wood was installed to make sure it would fit. I very rarely get a car that is all together or that has all the pieces included. The radiator and shell along with the hood were installed in order to fit the wood on the cowl.

[Peter Tommasini]

Jim ...
How many outer panels needs to be replaced on that car ?
Peter

[jhery]

Peter: The complete cowl section, A pillars into complete roof and sunroof, both doglegs, both running boards, both spare tire wells, both sections around tire wheels and both rear side panels. It would have been easier to list what wasn't going to be replaced. The hood is by far the best panel on the car.

[jhery]

The sunroof was made out of white ash which is cut 3/4" thick. The pieces had to be cut with a crown in both directions so it required 8/4 wood blocks. The side pieces were cut first and screwed to the main framing and then the front and rear header were cut and screwed the same. I used half lap joints on all four corners which had to be cut on angle because of the shape. The corners were screwed together with 4 screws to keep it from racking. The complete top was shaped a little more when screwed in place and then it was taken apart and glued. I reinstalled the roof back in the car with the screws so it would dry to the exact shape of the body. It had to dry overnight and the joints were sanded smooth and the completed top was re-screwed to the framing using the same holes. The windshield was removed and the header panel was taken apart and glued.

[okie pete]

Amazing . Thank you for sharing your work.

[Z5Roadster]

Yet another masterclass, thanks for taking the time out of your busy days to post here, we certainly learn by example. strange how that piece of stainless molding got into post#15 definitely not Bentley. Look forward to the next edition.

Thank you.