| Author | Message | ||
     James Bowie Yet to post message Username: eastfreo Post Number: 1 Registered: 05-2020 |
Just picked up a 1951 Mark VI last night. Seems in pretty reasonable condition. Would like to gradually restore back to original delivery colours etc. First up - any advice on fixing a radio? Not sure if these are items that are even worth looking at. Obviously know I am not providing enough information for people to make a proper assessment but interested in whether anyone else has looked into it. FYI - it's chassis number is B363MB. Cheers James | ||
| David Gore Moderator Username: david_gore Post Number: 3709 Registered: 04-2003 |
James, If you know any ham radio operators in Perth, ask them if they know any repairers of old radios especially valve radios as your radio should be capable of being repaired subject to availability of the valves in the radio or substitutes for unobtainable valves. There are also restorers who take the old radios and replace the internals with new solid state receivers - old radio outer with modern radio inside. The choice will be yours to make and you will have a working radio either way. | ||
| Jeff Martin Experienced User Username: jeff_r_1 Post Number: 55 Registered: 07-2018 |
Hello James I don't have a place that you can send it, but I can tell you what to look for that usually needs doing. The vibrator to get the voltage up pretty much has failed, the guy who repaired mine had replaced it with a small transformer. The other things are old shorted/swollen capacitors and lastly cold soldering connections. Mine was kept in someone's unheated garage and all the solder had oxidized. Tubes usually don't give a problem. | ||
| David Hughes Experienced User Username: wedcar Post Number: 113 Registered: 07-2004 |
Hi James Congratulations on your purchase and looking forward to many years of enjoyment with your car. Welcome to the forum,this is an excellent resource when assistance is required. Also, the technical documents on the website (kindly made available by generous enthusiasts) are a valuable resource. Regards David | ||
| James Bowie New User Username: eastfreo Post Number: 2 Registered: 05-2020 |
Thanks all. My father in law told me today he will have a look. Turns out he has a few boxes of old valves and radio gear and might be able to assist!  | ||
| Jeff Martin Experienced User Username: jeff_r_1 Post Number: 56 Registered: 07-2018 |
That's nice, I like the whitewall tires, it works well with that colour scheme. The fresh air scuttles are on the side, it's a big bore ? Does it have the quick release oil filler cap and full flow oil filter ? Does it have the big single acorn nut or six screws to change the oil filter ? | ||
| James Bowie New User Username: eastfreo Post Number: 3 Registered: 05-2020 |
Forgot to check the screws but I assume it has the quick fill - it has an oversized looking oil cap.  | ||
| Mark Herbstreit Frequent User Username: mark_herbstreit Post Number: 211 Registered: 05-2005 |
James, Your Chassis number B363MB has brought back memories of a car that was a big part of my childhood interest in all things RR and Bentley. Your car was delivered through Kellows in Melbourne. The next car in series was B365MB a well known Melbourne club car also delivered through Kellows. Three cars away from yours was B371MB(series was alternate chassis numbers with sequential engine numbers 13 omitted). This car pictured below was also a Kellows car and delivered new to SJ. (Bull) Perry. It was used regularly between Melbourne and Shepparton and had clocked up around 300000 miles by the 70's with a comprehensive Kellows service record. Somewhere in the late seventies it was purchased by friends and neighbors of my family David and Dorothy Blackburn. It was used as an everyday car at the time and I can still remember once standing on the back seat looking out the back window as Dorothy was retrieving my pedal car that had fallen off the open boot lid on the way to kindergarten. It did suffer a bit of servo lag and Dorothy took out a few peoples front bumpers rolling back on the steep Beach st and Cranbourne road intersection. By the nineties it was looking tired and was relegated to the occasional family wedding. It was when I was given the Job of Chauffeur for one of these weddings I realised it was down to mechanical rear brakes only. I convinced David a freshen up was urgently needed and I repainted the whole car. My dad tackled the engine and mechanicals. Interesting the half chrome bores had original hone marks and no lip after such a high mileage. Sadly family circumstances forced its sale in the early 2000's. It was sold to WA and I hope it is still alive. Please look out for it James. Note your oil filler and oil bath air cleaner are correct.   | ||
| Jeff Martin Experienced User Username: jeff_r_1 Post Number: 57 Registered: 07-2018 |
Yes James, that's the quick release cap. Interesting about what looks to be the coolant bypass hose on the thermostat housing, I've never seen it there before. Can't really tell what's going on. Sometimes the incorrect thermostat is installed with out the built in bypass, so maybe someone got creative and added that. A modern wax pellet thermostat that fits correctly is not inexpensive so people will find a way around that. Note too that the distributor cap is at an angle, it's been probably removed at some point to accommodate an oil pump replacement, or even a new camshaft was installed. Looks like you have a big bore small boot. The 4.5 litre engine had number of improvement over the 4.25. | ||
| James Bowie New User Username: eastfreo Post Number: 4 Registered: 05-2020 |
Thanks all. Really appreciate the advice and history. Interestingly I spoke to the Adelaide surgeon who had the car before the last owner (when I was checking up on it before buying) and he mentioned he had put in a bypass in the cooling system that meant he never had any further over heating issues even in the middle of summer. I couldn’t quite follow what he was saying but maybe it relates to this. I was also able to talk to a Ross Bartlett in SA who did a lot of body work on it a few years back and I gather a Lyndon Modra From Antique Autos did a heap of work as well. I might reach out to the latter and see if he recalls this specific work being done (probably about 5 years ago). Anyway, I had some nice chats and thought it was too nice a car to let slip through my fingers. By the way, any recommended mechanics in Perth? | ||
| Trevor Pickering Experienced User Username: commander1 Post Number: 140 Registered: 06-2012 |
Yes Talk to Matt Henderson at Bling Garage in Perth Tele 0403 021530 | ||
| Bill Vatter Experienced User Username: bill_vatter Post Number: 105 Registered: 09-2004 |
Interesting photos. I also notice the small hose connecting to the thermostat housing top/outlet. It is not clear to me exactly where the other end of that small hose connects. Can you take some additional pictures? Perhaps the other end is on the water pump? A common problem with these cars is air pockets in the cooling system. Normally the water pump would provide enough flow to flush that air through to the top of the radiator, but if the air pocket is in the pump, it cannot develop enough head to clear the air. There is a vent path provided to allow air to escape from the pump, but this is often blocked by corrosion. When the pump does not operate at full effectiveness, overheating will result. I am thinking that perhaps this small hose is an external vent to clear air from the pump. If the car had been plagued by an air bound pump, this could have eliminated the problem, and perhaps there is something here for the rest of us to learn. The way the cooling system was designed, you really need to be using the original bypass and a thermostat that will open the main flow path to the radiator while it simultaneously closes the bypass. The bypass is necessary to provide adequate flow and cooling to internal hot spots during warm up before the thermostat opens. If your thermostat does not close the bypass, part of the coolant flow bypasses the radiator, and the radiator will not adequately cool the system. It is perhaps possible to close the radiator bypass and have an always-open thermostat bypass to allow flow during warm up. Doing that would be tricky and engine warm up would be significantly slower. The thermostat bypass would need to be enough to provide adequate cooling during warm up, but not so much that the engine never gets warm on cold days. | ||
| Bill Vatter Experienced User Username: bill_vatter Post Number: 106 Registered: 09-2004 |
I also note the incorrect position of the distributor. A lot of cars are like this, and it is caused by the oil pump gear being off a tooth in its mesh with the gear on the camshaft. This can be corrected by lowering the oil pump, turning it one tooth, and then reconnecting. The ignition will need to then be re-timed, and that will result in the distributor being positioned as it was when the car was new. You do, of course, need to remove the sump to get at the oil pump, and the effort required might be more than you want to take on. If it was my car that would be on my list of things to do, but likely not at the top of the list. The car will run fine with it as is. Interestingly, the distributor position is correct in the earlier picture. | ||
| Bill Vatter Experienced User Username: bill_vatter Post Number: 107 Registered: 09-2004 |
I have two of those radios, both working, one in my Mk VI, and also in my Silver Wraith. The sound is at best poor by today's standards, and they do not get today's FM stations. Some of the AM stations are received, but not all. One end of the AM band is cut off. The radio will be a problem if you ever want to change the car to negative ground. Frankly, I don't think the originality of the original radio is worth preserving, if sound is what you want, but that's only my opinion. I do appreciate originality, and my cars are as original as I can practically make them. I don't listen to my radios, so I am not troubled by poor sound quality. | ||
| Jeff Martin Experienced User Username: jeff_r_1 Post Number: 61 Registered: 07-2018 |
When I do a coolant change, I carefully fill the block through the thermostat housing. This allows any air in the pump to easily work its way out. One has to be carful though and do this slowly, the level will suddenly come up and flow over the housing. I get the level to where the wax ball in the thermostat is immersed in coolant. Assuming that one uses the new type thermostat. I then bolt down the aluminum top to the housing and finish filling as normal through the rad bringing the level to about an inch in the top tank in the rad. About the new type thermostat, they are expensive, but made really well with a cast brass and nickel plated housing. Very reliable, the temperature gauge stays rock solid and the car warms quickly. | ||
| Norman Geeson Unregistered guest Posted From: 81.99.138.38 |
Bill You are quite correct in assuming the small hose is intended as a water pump air blead. All these pumps retain some air which becomes a problem in hotter climates and fitting a air bleed does help. I rather think you have made a wrong assumption with “There is a vent path provided to allow air to escape from the pump”. It is a common mistake to assume the three small holes in the water pump back plate are for an internal air bleed, and I believe those holes are what you have in mind. They are in fact water drains to ensure the system is fully drained when the coolant is evacuated or flushed. (Message approved by david_gore) | ||
| Bill Vatter Experienced User Username: bill_vatter Post Number: 108 Registered: 09-2004 |
I accept that regarding the internal vent. The hole placement isn't really ideal for vent. Based on hole location in the pump back plate, I would have thought water would drain out the pump inlet and through the radiator drain as well as or better than through the holes in the pump backing plate, but I recognize your knowledge of such things greater than mine. So the pump vent looks like it is near the top of the housing casting, appropriate location. I think it would be important to have a restriction in that path somewhere so that there is no more than ~1/16 inch path for the air, or the vent will steal significant flow from cooling the engine. Jeff, I can't remember, but is there not an air bleed in the proper thermostat? Most thermostats have a hole with a little ball hanging on a hook that will allow air to pass through when the engine is stopped. When the engine is running, flow forces the ball into the hole to prevent water bypassing the thermostat. If so, removing the thermostat as you describe should not be necessary. It might take a little longer to fill through the radiator cap perhaps. When I change coolant for any car, I fill, then drive a little and check the level. It is always lower, due to air that was trapped when filled having been purged by flow through the system. I don't think any cars are without that situation to at least a small degree, but it is not a problem. You only need to remember to have a short first run and then check the level. If a car has an external expansion tank, it is not enough to just look at the expansion tank following a system drain and refill. You need to open the cap and look in. The expansion tank will eventually purge trapped air and send water to the coolant system, but that is a rather slow process dependent on heat-cool cycles A similar air bleed feature with a little ball stop valve could be placed in a water pump vent. I think I would do something like that if I added such a vent to a car of mine. However, I don't have a problem indicating need for an air vent. | ||
| Jeff Martin Experienced User Username: jeff_r_1 Post Number: 62 Registered: 07-2018 |
Bill, I knew someone may point that out, yes, I'm just a bit OCD, so that's the way I do it. I like too see the physical coolant where it comes in contact with the wax bulb so I know it's there.  | ||
| James Bowie New User Username: eastfreo Post Number: 6 Registered: 05-2020 |
Some great advice above. Will get some more photos and also look at the points raised. Thanks all | ||
| Bill Vatter Experienced User Username: bill_vatter Post Number: 123 Registered: 09-2004 |
Looking through the older posts, I see the words, "quick release, "quick fill, " and "oversize referencing the oil filler cap. Ha ha ha ha. Yes, you will be pouring in a lot and often at that point. The first EPW cars didn't have that type cap, but in proper form the factory recognized the problem and fixed it in their usual way. ; |
