Refurbishing the Bentley’s Master Cylinder and Slave Cylinder

A trip down the A14 for us as we look to get the Master Cylinder and Slave Cylinder refurbished by the guys at Past Parts.

Past Parts specialise in the supply and re-manufacture of braking and clutch parts for a range of older vehicles including older and classic cars, classic motorcycles, commercial and agricultural vehicles, and industrial plant machinery.

The brake cylinders have been refurbished ready to be fitted back up.

Taking the Bentley for a drive

We took a trip down Faversham with the Bentley in tow so whilst the sun’s out we thought it’s only right to take her out for a little photo opportunity.

1949 Bentley Special Mk VI in our workshops

Our Bentley Special is currently in our workshops have a clean over due to the recent works. As we haven’t many pictures of her inside our workshops now was the perfect opportunity to take a few.

Fitting up the bespoke leather steering wheel cover.

With the existing Bentley steering wheel being just that little bit too big to comfortably fit your legs in we decided to re-manufacture a 15″ steering wheel. Trickier than it sounds when we are having to use the original bezel.

With the steering wheel complete and in position we then had the tough task of finding a cover. Having searched the internet high and low for a 100% genuine leather steering wheel cover we were losing hope as we were unable to find something that fitted the look and style of our Bentley.

We then stumbled across KR Classics, specialists in the finest leather steering wheel covers and they were able to help.

So Asa has been busy this morning hand stitching the cover to close up around the wheel.

Inside Bentley: A Great British Motor Car

Last week we attended the Annual Christmas Classic Auction held at Sandown by Barons Classic Car Auctioneers. Also in attendance were the production crew from Channel 4’s new documentary Inside Bentley: A Great British Motor Car.

We were thrilled to hear that they were there to film our 1949 Bentley Special Mk VI and were keen to talk to us about the car.

Inside Bentley: A Great British Motor Car aired on Channel 4 on the 17th December 2017, it offered an insight into the British car manufacturer. The company opened its doors to the cameras, providing exclusive access to the creation of one of the company’s newest models, the Bentayga.

The program looked at the Crewe-based historical factory, its workforce and the craftman-ship that goes into making a luxury car.

“Even if we could never afford one, many of us have a fascination with what goes into the design and manufacture of a luxury car,”  said editor Ian Dunkley, in a statement. “This documentary lifts the bonnet on an iconic British brand whose assembly line remains proudly located in the North West of England.”

Here are some screenshots from the episode featuring the car itself and Gordon appeared too! (He’s now just waiting for the call from Strictly Come Dancing or Celebrity Big Brother)

…even Craig and Jack appeared in the background too!

1949 Bentley Special ready for auction

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]A couple of small additions to add to the Bentley with some new history plaques to fit but overall, our work is now complete and she’s ready for next week’s auction.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”16635,16636,16637,16638,16639,16640,16641,16642,16643,16644,16645,16646,16647,16648,16649,16650,16651,16652″][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Tidying up the Bentley wiring

We found a wire under the engine bay that hung lower than the rest so we tidied it up but fitting a rubber covering to hold it in place.

Refurbishing the Bentley Rev Counter

The original Smiths dial was in need of refurbishing so we called in the assistance of Speedograph Of Richfield to help us out with this one.

As all of the other dials inside were Bentley dials we hoped that Speedograph Of Richfield could reprint the face to be more in-keeping with the rest of the dials.

Now with the Bentley emblem:

Producing the new Bentley plaques

The new plaques have arrived ready to be fitted to our 1949 Bentley Mk VI Special.

The small jobs that’ll make a big difference to our Bentley Special

Work continues this week on our 1949 Bentley Special as we get ready for next week’s Annual Christmas Classic auction, hosted by Barons Auctioneers and being held at Sandown.

It starts at 1pm on Tuesday 12th December and our Bentley is set to be one of the star cars on the day.

We also have our 1967 Austin A35, 1957 Morris 1000, 1991 TVR SEAC and 1960 BSA Sunbeam featured in the auction.

Getting back down to business, here we have a slection of smaller tasks we’ve completed on our Bentley. The air filter and spare wheel cover have been glossed up ready to be refitted.

The freshly polished side step has now been fitted. As always, credit to Tony and the guys at Wyatt Polishing for doing a great job on all of the polishing.

The underside has been cleaned up, prepared and blackened.

We’ve also cleaned down and re-finished the brake drums in silver, heat resistant, paint.

The polished fuel tank has now been secured back into position, followed then by the spare wheel and we’ve replaced the modern indicators for age related components.

As you can see, the number plate screws have not yet been changed but we’ve made up the new bumper fixing covers. We decided to remove the front bumper completely as the majority vote seemed to say that the Bentley looked more appealing without the bumper. We have kept the original bumper in vcase the new owner disagrees.

Bentley Special Polished Aluminium

Thanks to Tony and the guys at Wyatt Polishing for doing an amazing job on the aluminium components of our 1949 Bentley Special.

The bonnet, fuel tank, side steps and various smaller items have been polished up beautifully and are now being fitted back up.

Tidying our Bentley’s Engine Bay

With less than a week to go until Barons Annual Christmas Classic auction at Sandown Park, Dave and Pete are busy working on 1949 Bentley Special. The aluminium bonnet has been removed for polishing which has given them full access to the engine for a general clean and tidy.

Bentley Special – Touching Up The Paintwork

One of the most appealing characteristics about our 1949 Bentley Special is the originality of her.

It would be a huge shame to get carried with this project and create a car that is destined for a showroom. The car has been used and enjoyed and that’s what is so great about it…and we wouldn’t want to take away from that.

As always, there are certain aspects that could be improved on and that is what our concentrations are on.

Today, she has gone though our body shop to have the underside and chassis cleaned down and re-painted. Not only will this freshen up the look but will help preserve the underside for many years to come.

Transforming the look of the wire wheels

As part of the project to improve the overall look of our 1949 Bentley Special we decided to re-colour the wire wheels in a deep red finish. A lot of the racing cars from the era used this colour wheel and we felt that it would really lift the look and styling of the car.

Once are now waiting on the aluminium panels to return from the polishers, we have a few improvements to the exterior that we would like to make and the whole car will undergo a full detail.

Improving some small areas of paint

Whilst the aluminium parts are off the vehicle being polished it was a good opportunity for us to improve a couple of small areas that require paint.

The steel straps that hold in the fuel tank have been hand painted the same colour as the body colour, these will be stripped back and repainted black.

And the rear cover that was hinged in position and holds the spare wheel in place has been altered. The hinge was bent and twisted so we have removed the hinge completely as it is not essential and where the modifications have been done has left unpainted areas. The whole section will be colour matched and resprayed.

Polishing up the Bentley Special metalwork

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]This afternoon we removed the large items of aluminium from the car ready to transform them with a good polish.

We’ve drafted in the help of our good friend Tony and the guys at Wyatt Polishing to complete this task. With the tools and machinery they have at their fingertips sometimes it’s worth sitting back and assessing how long it may take you to do something when you can call upon the experts who can probably carry out the task in half the time.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”15947,15946,15945,15944,15943,15942,15941,15940″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]P.S. Based on my ‘half the time’ theory I think we could’ve had this all done in 2 days so Tony, I’ll see you tomorrow with it all :)[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Work begins on the Bentley

Work is now underway on our 1949 Bentley Special Mark VI.

Our work is very minimal on this project. Mechanically she is fantastic but we felt that a few small alterations to the look would make a huge difference. The aluminium bonnet and tank will be removed and re-polished, the exterior lighting will be replaced with age related components rather than the modern aftermarket option.

Work is now underway and we should see a vast difference in a relatively short space of time.