Off-road Bristol!

No, not a new SUV, but news (belatedly!) that my 411 has been off the road for some weeks over the last of the summer due to a perished hose emptying the system of coolant! Fortunately I managed to stop before too much harm was done, in spite of it happening on a stretch of motorway. However, some weeks have passed since the occasion as I have searched for time and the parts to fix the problem.

In short, the mount of the lower pipe from the radiator to the engine block, where it meets the block, had started to give in. There had been some signs of impending doom as on a few occasions I had found the car releasing steam in spite of the fact that the temperature guage, which I consider reliable, had not found its way into the danger zone. I kept topping the car up though and the problem remained intermittent.

Until, that is, one morning whilst returning to Windsor from Marlow when slowing down in heavy traffic gave the steam opportunity to engulf the front of the car! I stopped soon after.

My thanks go to those on the Bristol Enthusiasts Email Forum who offered advice on locating replacement hoses. After spotting that the upper hose had different diameter ends, I decided to visit some motor factors for a match rather than risk a bad fit from something ordered over the net. Problem is, most factors hold many pieces of hose and seemed unable to produce an obvious match easily (this may be different if you found one that stocked original Mopar parts, but they are few and far between in Blighty). So I gave Mr Morelli at Bristol Car Services a call and he supplied a silicone Blenheim hose for a reasonable £45. It is a different length - the Blenheim looks to have the radiator mounted closer to the engine, as the piece is shorter - but this doesn't matter as I'll just hack it and use either end on the metal tube that bridges the two rubber hoses on the 411. Job done! Or at least it will be if the rain stops for Sunday.

I know I have been remiss with updates, but as soon as the car gets back on the road I'll post more details, including all costs to date which I have to say are pretty unsignificant (hose, oil and a new radio aerial!).

Facebook group

Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/) seems to be mainly a hang out for teenagers, but if you can avoid that aspect it's also a way to get back in touch and stay in touch with old friends. Newly addicted, I have added a group called "We love Bristol Cars" for those of us who'd like a fix when on Facebook. Owners and fans welcomed. Check it out!

New pictures of my car

I have been meaning for some time to post some new pictures of my Bristol, but never seem to find the time to get my camera out due to one thing or another. Well would you believe it? Some nice chaps from NCP, employed under contract to Reading City Council, have done a splendid job for me for the reasonable sum of £30 - and they let me park in Reading all evening for free to boot. I would recommend their services, especially if you have business in the area and can't find a car park.

New Bristol badge!

While looking around the web for some Bristol information, I discovered this picture (left) on the Autocar website, which seems to show a revised Bristol Cars badge - I am guessing from the steering wheel boss of a Fighter.

Anyone wish to identify the difference?

Crushed by the council: the classic car that was parked legally

Sad news from today's Daily Mail: Sam Frost tells us of an article revealing that London's Lambeth council towed away a legally parked, registered and taxed Bristol 411, crushing it soon after. The owner believed it had been stolen before discovering its true fate. This was in 2004. Since then he has been pursuing the council for compensation, which is still not forthcoming. Let's hope the sum, when it appears, is covered by pursuing through the criminal justice system the inidividuals concerned - or insurance, rather than Lambeth's unfortunate council tax payers. You can read the full article, including comments from readers, by clicking here.

UPDATE: Mr Stewart's predicament is also getting some discussion, and support, on the PistonHeads enthusiasts website - click here to read the forum topic.

The Bristol 411 at the Earl's Court Motor Show 1969

An amusing link sent on to me from a fellow Bristol Owners Club member of footage from Pathe of the Earl's Court motor show of 1969 and a brief look at the Bristol 411 (click the image to the left).

Some other interesting cars in the clip too - though not many of the others can still be seen on the roads today!

A fascinating new insight to YTA105L's history

Now that the BOC has attributed YTA105L to me in their database, I get a view of all the data they retain on my chassis number in their system - and a lot has been revealed!

I can now identify many more of the custodians of the car previous to me:

• From ca 1972 (first registration) to ca 1981 - E D Birch (reg'n 86 EBJ)
• From ca 1981 to ca 1983 - R J Russell of Somerset (reg'n NHW300L)
• During 1983 - H S Howe of Devon (reg'n HSH444)
• From ca 1983 to ca 1988 - Sophia Wilson
• From 9 May 1988 to 19 April 2004 - W R Pickering of London, then Dorset (bought from Bristol Cars Ltd. on reg'n YTA105L)
• From 19 April 2004 to 30 April 2006 - G Wilson of Kent
• From 30 April 2006 to 13 February 2007 - T Visser of Surrey

Now this seems to fill in the gaps between 1977 and 1988, but still only identifies 7 keepers before me, whereas the V5 shows that there were 10. So still some assumptions made above would be my guess, probably where the timings of handovers are vague.

If anyone knows anything I'd love to hear from you - e-mail address at the bottom of the page.

Latest running report

My mileage so far: 475
Total mileage: 91,556
Costs since last report: £38
Total costs so far: £281

A night out in West London and then a run up to Cambridge last weekend put quite a few miles on the 411, but it didn't miss a beat. I have been keeping a careful eye on fluids but all seem to be as they were when I picked the car up, with good oil pressure and a steady temperature on the gauge, although in heavy traffic I can see the fuel gauge moving!

Speaking of which, I seem unable to get anywhere near filling the car with its maximum 82 litres of petrol due to any pump cutting out as if reaching brim. The fuel gauge shows it is barely more than 2/3rds of a tank too. And then it seems to plunge down to its last quarter quickly, before then slowing down to near empty. Odd, but I am getting used to it.

Talking of petrol, my heart goes out to all those caught by the Tesco contamination. I guess the benefit of running a classic is that it just runs through the engine and gets burnt off, without any oxygen sensors or EMSs to knacker along the way!

It seems to have rained constantly since I picked the car up, so not much opportunity to give it a full shampoo and wax, but I did climb inside today and go over the front seats with Gliptone leather cleaner and then conditioner (£13.35 for the two delivered from Gliptone UK). Thus far I can't say I have noticed any visual change, but the leather does feel softer. It hasn't yet, as it claims, returned the smell of new leather to the car, although I smell different! I'll leave it a few days and report further.

Also, puchased some top up oil for until I get round to a full fluids change. Halfords do a 20w/50 for classic cars at £17 (also bought some Castrol Dexron III automatic transmission fluid top up) which I'll keep to hand in case the dipstick shows some usage, but I see that SC Parts do 5 litre cans of Castrol XL 20/50 which would be better to refill the sump, so I plan to order some of that soon.

I remain a bit confused about what oil filter I should be using though. It currently has a Purolator L-30001 on it (as recommended for a Jensen Interceptor MkII of 1971 with the Mopar 383cid engine), but this not seems to cross-reference to the FRAM part numbers recommended by the BOC (PH2857A/PH2821A/PH2825A), nor with what FRAM suggests for the same Jensen model. Anyone with any ideas?

Discovering more of my car's history

Rejoined the Bristol Owners Club after letting my membership lapse last year while distracted by other things... Anyway, found the old girl listed by the BOC and to my delight the online database of cars (accessible only by members) shows two old photos along with the entry:

My car pictured on 19 April 2004 at British Car Auctions, Bridgwater, presumably when Glenn Wilson bought the car. UPDATE: I have found from the BCA website that this was Lot 45 and the hammer came down at £7,597 (with VAT added £8,926). I have receipts from Glenn's tenure for a further £8,600 of work before he sold the car in 2006.


Apparently also a photo of my car, although with a different registration number to current (the BOC has identified it by chassis number). This picture was taken on 1 September 1977, the car five years old, just after being announced the first winner of the Dudley Rylett Memorial Trophy for top scoring 411 at the BOC Concours of that year. The gentleman with the car is Mr E D Birch, custodian of the car at the time. UPDATE: This car also won the Elite Trophy at the 1978 BOC Concours (for highest scoring former class-winning Bristols), again with Mr Birch, but I can find no record of the car between 1978 and 1988. Can anyone help?

I know that a William Pickering was guardian of the car between Mr Birch and Glenn Wilson, but the 10 total recorded keepers suggests there may have been others between them - do you know of any? If so, let me know - my e-mail address is at the bottom of the page.

The history of the car

The car was registered in November 1972 and has had 10 guardians prior to me. The car came with receipts and invoices from 1988 and show the owner then was a William Pickering, who bought it that year with 62,000 miles showing. Mr. Pickering kept the car for eight years, during which he did 20,000 miles.

The car then passed to Glenn Wilson in 2004 and under his stewardship the car had a comprehensive engine re-build including unleaded valve seats, a transmission service and a brake overhaul with new discs. I first viewed the car when Glenn had it, although business commitments stopped me buying the car at the time. Instead, it went to Theo Visser in April 2006 with 88,000 miles under its tyres.

Theo completed a further 3,000 miles in the car in his 10 months as guardian. The collection of MoT certificates show the mileage of 91,000 to be authentic. The car has "historic vehicle" classification with DVLA and as such is zero rated for Vehicle Excise Duty ("road fund licence"). For the same reason it is also cheap to insure at some £200 per year unlimited mileage for a 38 year old male with a rather grubby licence!

Before purchase I had the car inspected by Spencer Lane-Jones and his team, who have made me aware of all work that is likely to need doing over the next two years. I hope to start on these items soon and will detail them as I get to clearing them from the list.

First running report

My mileage so far: 75?
Total mileage: 91,156
Costs since last report: £243
Total costs so far: £243

When I picked up the keys from Andrew Blow at the weekend, he made me aware that although the car came with two sets, one of the bunches was missing the key for the fuel cap. Aware I could mislay a set while out and be stuck without the means to open the fuel cap to re-fill, I decided to go and get a spare cut at my local Timpson. I also noticed that one of my boot keys was bent and cracked and liable to snap off in the lock, so got that copied too. £8 later and I now have peace of mind that if I lose a set, I have replacements at home; also that the two sets I have are both fair quality and less likely to snap off in locks. It was only of slight annoyance that when I got into the house I then realised that the spare set DID have a fuel filler key on it after all! Oh well...

This modest cost adds to what I spent with Spencer Lane-Jones having an inspection of the car done before purchase to warn me of expense ahead. £235 well spent, as I am sure I will get this back many times over through being able to replace things before they break.

Collection!

Having spent some time trying to buy this car - some 10 months in total, under two owners - enough had been done to win custodianship on 17th Februry 2007 and I called Andrew Blow to arrange collection.

I have been over the car on three previous occasions so there was not much for Andrew to show me, plus after such a long period of temptation I was keen to set off on my hour or so drive home.

An uneventful journey back to Windsor. The car impressed with its comfort at motorway cruising speeds and ability to accelerate into gaps as they revealed themselves on a fairly heavily trafficked but fast moving road.

Car now parked up in my drive - filling every inch of it! - the only concern was some grinding over speed bumps as I took some friends out later that day. That said, I have had many cars do that with no real damage done. I also inspected under this car at Spencer Lane-Jones' before purchase and can confirm it has seen the sump guard touch tarmac before, so I am not duly concerned. I'll make sure to check all fluids before I go out next anyway.

And that will be a trip up to Cambridge this weekend for a family function and to show the car off to some friends. A bit further than the trip from Marlborough to Windsor, it will allow me to get to know the car better and start to get a feel for how much it is going to cost to fuel the beast!