| Author | Message | ||
     Jan Forrest Prolific User Username: got_one Post Number: 223 Registered: 1-2008 |
I've just had a go at removing the above chrome strips on the front and rear wings of RSH24518 only to find that although they're mostly held on with replaceable 2-part plastic 'poppers' the front or rear of each (respectively) appears to be screwed or bolted from behind the body panels. Has anyone had experience of removing these trim pieces please? I desperately need to get them off so I can treat the rust bubbling that is spreading over an inch above and below the mounting holes. | ||
| Jan Forrest Prolific User Username: got_one Post Number: 224 Registered: 1-2008 |
Never mind; I've worked it out. They're all held in with captive bolts on the back of the trim with small (BA?) nuts and washers inside the body panel. The rears are easy as all you have to do is prise back the top of the side boot trim just inside the boot lid and access is relatively unobstructed - for Rolls Royce that is. For the fronts ones the simplest access is by removing each of the outer headlights along with both headlight bowls. However you will be working purely by touch and a pair of pliers may be the best option to get the nuts moving. On both sides this was just enough to allow me to take the nuts & washers off by hand although perhaps a little painful with the passenger side which was a little rusty. I've not yet tried to take a photo of them and it's doubtful that I could get the camera into position to do so. I'll have a go when I've finished and putting them back again. If I remember! Unless I disturb the female poppers while I'm desrusting around them I may have got away with just having to replace about 4 or 5 of each. *fingers crossed* | ||
| Paul Yorke Grand Master Username: paul_yorke Post Number: 773 Registered: 6-2006 |
Hi Jan, don't try and force them or they will distort. You need to remove the front headlamp and the trim panel in the boot. There are indeed nuts and bolts holding them on. | ||
| Jan Forrest Prolific User Username: got_one Post Number: 228 Registered: 1-2008 |
Despite my previous prayer to the gods that look over Rolls Royces (and even Bentleys when they have the time to spare) I couldn't avoid destroying every one of the female poppers. Fortunately they're still available for about 2 for one BBT, so I'll be ordering 40 of the little beggers very soon. At least I've got rid of all the annoying paint bubbling and the rust that caused it for another 3-4 decades: By which time The Old Girl will be in new hands as I'll be 'pushing up the daisies' having 'fallen of my perch', 'shuffled off this mortal coil', 'be singing with the choir eternal', etc. (courtesy of Monty Python and The Dead Parrot sketch) | ||
| Laurie Fox Frequent User Username: laurie_fox Post Number: 87 Registered: 6-2004 |
Jan B420EY is my 1949 MK VI which I bought in 1959 when I was 44. We are still looking after each other. In 3 - 4 decades time you may well be doing the same with your Old Girl. Laurie | ||
| Jan Forrest Prolific User Username: got_one Post Number: 230 Registered: 1-2008 |
Is that correct? You were 44 in 1959? I was only just turning 9 that year having been born on the 11th anniversary of the tragic U-Boat attack on Scapa Flow. Anyway. Thanks for the vote of confidence Laurie, but I've already seen out 6 full decades and I doubt that I've got more than another 2 left in me - and probably quite bit less considering all my disabilities and other ailments. I've not been in gainful employment for the last 2 decades because of them. It's as much as I can do to keep the house, garden, caravan and cars tidy. As long as The Old Girl sees me out I'll be content: Which she should do while I can still work on her or afford to pay someone to do the work for me. Personally I prefer the former as, if I cut a corner at least I know which corner and by how much I've cut it. | ||
| Laurie Fox Frequent User Username: laurie_fox Post Number: 88 Registered: 6-2004 |
Jan Yes, it is quite correct. I was born in 1915. B420EY had 97,000 miles on the clock in 1959 and has 413,000 now. Except for MOT tests I have been the driver all the time which gives me more Bentley miles than most owners - very satisfactory. Maintenance 99% by myself. Engine change at 303,000 done professionally etc. Currently I have a mechanically competent gardener who can get under the car while I tell him what to do. Our last activity was to fit rear silencer No 6 which took us 2 3/4 hours from start to finish. I have had much argument with the BDC Website Subcommittee over the years and now run the BDC forums for them with my software. You can see the maintenance story of B420EY in "Laurie's Ledger" there ( www.lauriefox7a.me.uk/bdcl ). The rest is quite interesting with many pictures. Regards Laurie | ||
| Jan Forrest Prolific User Username: got_one Post Number: 231 Registered: 1-2008 |
I notice that spark plug checking, cleaning, regapping and replacing seems to crop up with monotonous regularity. Using eBay I've replaced the standard BPR5 plugs with the NGK Iridium equivalents for barely more than double the cost of the ordinary plugs. They shouldn't need to be disturbed again within my lifetime as they're guaranteed for 100K miles - excluding accidental damage of course. I don't know if they do a model for your Bentley, but it's got to be worth a look. Surprisingly a local branch of "Bullseye Motorists Centre" even had the plug leads in their parts inventory, although not actually in stock at the time. However they had set delivered that afternoon for me and they only cost about the same as for any other V8 engine and certainly nowhere near the quotes I'd had for a pukka Rolls Royce set from the usual sources. Since you're another Brit it's worth remembering even though they only appear to cover the better parts of the country (Yorkshire). | ||
| Richard Treacy Grand Master Username: richard_treacy Post Number: 2393 Registered: 4-2003 |
Incidentally, Jan, when Crewe introduced Platinum then Iridium plugs, recommending them retrospectively in many cases too, the plug service interval did not change. Why ? So that you remove them regularly, lubricate the thread with nickel antiseize, and refit them. That's almost only to stop the plugs seizing in their threads, not because the plugs wear. I replaced my last Turbo R plugs after 160,000km (Iridium) and wondered why I bothered to buy new ones. Maybe the aluminium washers age with removing and replacing. What else ? Plugs are no longer service items on cars since the late 1990s. On a Bentley Continental GT you must remove the motor to replace the plugs. Thank goodness it’s a 15 minute job to replace the plugs on our SY and SZ V8s. RT. | ||
| Jan Forrest Prolific User Username: got_one Post Number: 232 Registered: 1-2008 |
Richard: You must have arms like an octopus! It takes me the best part of a day to change all the spark plugs. That's despite the fact that I always ensure that they have a fair coating of copper based grease on the threads. Plug B4 is the worst as I usually drop it several times before I can screw it home and often requires regapping a couple of times. At least the Iridium ones don't have that weakness, but I still might have to clean grit off the threads and renew the coating of grease. |
