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Restoring and reconstructing bodies on 2 1947 Bentleys
My customer purchased Car A with the sunroof and all the hardware missing. The tops are very complex with many moving parts so without a top to copy, it would be a very time consuming job. The body for this car was built by Coachbuilder James Young and there were only 5 of them built. He had a friend who happened to have one of them which had a sunroof but the structural wood was bad so they removed the skins and reframed the car over 40 years ago. As you will see from the photos they got in over their heads and created a mess. He borrowed the sunroof from his friend to see if it would fit in his car so he requested that I come to his home to fit the top. After a couple hours the top was on and sliding however it was 3/4" shorter than his opening so we had to decide what to do. We looked at the wood in his Car A and found that is was in bad shape and needed to be reframed also. I gave him the good news and I left. A couple of weeks later he sent me an email stating that he now owned his friends car and wanted me to modify the donor roof to fit his car and to build a convertible on the donor car chassis. I suggested to him that having a car with a sunroof and a rotten body was not a very prudent decision so I suggested taking the skins from Car A and put them on Car B which had new the wood would make more sense. He then sent me an original rendering which James Young drew but never built of a Drophead body which would be placed on Car A. Since Car A with a new body would be worth 3 1/2 times the value of the original Coupe I am taking the best parts and placing them on the Drophead. My first priority is to do the wood repairs, reskin the wood framed body with the old skins and install them on Car B and return him the car in primer. I will then reconstruct the Drophead body install a rebuilt motor and paint the same. If you are not confused by now you are doing better than me.
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James Hery |
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James Hery |
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Wow
Interesting. Thanx for sharing
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Pehr Norström |
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Wow what a great series of pictures.
Is the original wood Ash????
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Dave Bradbury |
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Well, the last few pics are my favorite. Never thought I would see a top being chopped in your shop, Jim. And it's a Rolls.
You just pushed the end of the ruler out a little further.. Very cool. Thanks for posting.
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AC Button II http://CarolinaSculptureStudio.com https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzSYaYdis55gE-vqifzjA6A Carolina Sculpture Studio Channel |
#6
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Hi,
It looks like a fun project, would love to build parts for it, I like the rendering of Car A. B
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Bill Tromblay "A sign of a good machinist, is one who can fix his F$@& Ups" My mentor and friend, Gil Zietz Micro Metric Machine. |
#7
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Hey, Bro., Glad to see you posting again. I always learn from your posts. Keep sharing which car, A or B, is being worked on.
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Will |
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Hi Jim
Looks like two jigsaw puzzles tossed into the shop, some damaged some missing. Should be a piece of cake for the master!! Look like you have a handle on it already. Thanks for sharing the progress. Steve
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Steve Hamilton Hamilton Classics Auto Restoration & Metalshaping |
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Gosh what a project. You're a star. Bravo.
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David Hamer |
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Hey Jim, You've got some work for the winter, eh?
Man, that makes me glad I quit that stuff back when I got transferred over into the easy stuff - old vintage race and antique cars, instead of the Bentleys. Sure glad to see you have the appetite for all that sorting out of wood frames, skins, chassis, body trim mouldings, upholstery, mechanical, paint, glass and mechanisms, final assy .... phew! The months(12) go right on by ..... And the loads of photos - WOW ...!!
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Kent http://www.tinmantech.com "All it takes is a little practical experience to blow the he!! out of a perfectly good theory." --- Lloyd Rosenquist, charter member AWS, 1919. |
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