The 1952 Bentley MkVI Drophead Coupe recently arrived here at the Bridge Classic Cars restoration HQ just outside Woodbridge in Suffolk. As part of the cars recommissioning journey, the team have dived deep into the handbuilt Britsh classic luxury convertible – going through each and every system on the car in order to build up a complete picture of what would need to be done.
‘Refit brake drums. Raise and drain fuel tank. Blow out fuel lines from pump to carbs. Strip carbs and clean out float bowls. Clean pistons and chambers. Set jets and rebuild carbs. Access battery under seat. Check and top up brake reservoir. Connect jump pack and see if we have power. Remove spark plugs and clean. Regap and refit.. check points. Spark OK. Refit cap.’
‘Put in 10 ltrs E5 petrol. Rank over and eventually get started. Ran not too bad considering. Drain rear axle. Sand rear shoes and drums and refit. Adjust rear brakes. Mechanical rear brakes so all OK to reassemble. Continue rear brakes and refit wheels. Swap spare to offside rear and vice versa. Fill rear diff. Drain gearbox. Removecarpet and access dipstick. Unable to remove dipstick and bakerlite top off. Chip away bakerlite around stick and remove dipstick. Get Clinton to weld top. Grind groove in stick and fit dipstick. Start filling box with syringe through dipstick hole.’
‘Help Rachel Remove roof. Remove battery and measure tray and battery size for Mark. Remove bake drums and start stripping brakes. Continue removing front brakes helping Rachel with roof when required. Strip brakes completely on bench. Ready to send away. Refit both front drums and wheels to make mobile.’
Whilst Jon worked his magic underneath the car and through the drivetrain, our trimmer Rachael began to tackle to the hood and headliner on the classic Bentley. When it first arrived, the team could see that the hood and headliner had rodent damage – but we had to find out just how far it went. Rachael carefully seperated each layer, peeling it back further and further to reveal the true extent.
With the hood being removed, our technician Oscar worked around the removal by inspecting alot of the wiring which ran through or near to the areas of major rodent damage in the hood. He noted that most of the wiring to the rear of the car had been chewed, damaged and broken so a plan will need to be drawn up and executed by the time.
