Bodgers Garage.

[Geoff Kingston]

Lets face it at one time or another most of us have resorted to a bodge be it when working on a car or some other item or a job around the house. Sometimes great ingenuity and skill is displayed and the perpetrator can sit back and admire their "adaptation or modification" other times it can leave those who follow on puzzled and bemused.
Today was just such an occasion, I was sorting some 401 floor panels, gear box covers and toe boards when I came across one of the latter with a rather unusual modification, worthy if not of a Gold Bodgers Cup then certainly a Silver.
To the left of and below the hole for the clutch pedal someone had carefully fitted a T Hinge about 8 or 9" long, not only that it had been modified with a strengthening plate welded along its length. At first its purpose had me completely foxed, in one position pointing upwards it covered the mounting hole for the dip switch and whilst this would have been a lazy way to dip the lamps without lifting the foot too far there was no indication of anything to keep the hinge in that position and it would simply fall back on to the floor.
The only other possible use therefore must have been as a foot rest for the drivers left leg, Bodger must have been on good form that day.
I don't know what car this panel came off it is slightly different to the other 401 toe boards I have so may have been on a 400, the big decision now is whether to use it on the current project car because lets face it its not every day one gets the opportunity to incorporate such well thought out and lovingly crafted modifications into a restoration project.

[Stefan]

Dear Geoff,
You have clearly discovered a fine example of shed art. Examples like this are worthy of inclusion in a special museum of their own. They are too precious to be merely used up in day to day motoring and should be shared with the rest of us!
40 years ago I confess I contributed a major item to this genre. When the bonnets of my Superleggera Touring 401 parted company with the car at 100 mph I resorted to making one from fibreglass. There was no chance of obtaining a spare and panel beating was quite beyond my ability or means at the time. This fibreglass panel must still be in existence somewhere. I suppose it'd make quite a good surfboard or perhaps a roof for a small garden shed. Shed art lives!

[Geoff Kingston]

Dear Stefan,
I think shed art it will have to remain as it is a flat panel with an angled section at the bottom rather the top so it wont actually fit the 401, it is slightly narrower than the 401 panel and made out of a sheet of alloy so must be off another model.
If I hang it on the wall and put a stop on the hinge I can hang my coat or hat on it, my own Bristol coat hangar, unless of course you would like it for the heritage trust display.
I never reached your level of skill in making a fibreglass panel for any car let alone a Bristol, I did mange a couple of circlips on the drivers side window of a 401 to stop it going too far down and letting the winders detach themselves from the runner, they are still there but the runner has come off the glass now!, more shed art needed.
More recently and at more cost I have just achieved a very acceptable replacement fuel filer cap arrangement for a 401 suffering from typical rust around the filler neck and a totally u/s cap. A nice chrome on brass Enots cap was acquired on eBay for £15, this was fitted to a tank mount and someone also practising shed art had made and soldered in a copper filler tube of about 42mm diameter, the tank takes a 2" pipe so for around £20 a nice length of very heavy 2" external diameter copper pipe was acquired and the whole lot taken to a local engineering workshop who cut the pipe to the required length, cut a section out to form the required bend and soldered everything together making a super job for £50.
This level of shed art is above my skill and would make a worthy desk ornament for any enthusiast but when bolted into place on the new base of the filler flap box will be far superior to the original steel pipe and steel cap and eliminate completely the risk of water getting into the petrol tank, a bodge well done in my book.
For anyone with a similar problem of rust in the filler pipe and surrounding metal work these Monza style fuel caps are available from Car Builder Solutions, you need the 2" size with the corresponding 2" filler flange not the tank mount. The cap screws to the flange which bolts to the panel, in the original set up the pipe had been cut and welded to put a turn in it to face downwards towards the tank, this is not possible with the filler flange which is straight but the same company can supply super flexible filler pipe in the correct 2" dia which should connect everything up without the need for any further work, total cost of the bits from memory about £130/£140.
You can get the cap in chrome on brass or polished alloy which I think is cheaper, the filler flange is alloy and comes with the mounting gaskets and fittings.
This size of cap will sit well below the filler flap but needs to be positioned to clear the flap hinge when open . Another supplier has a mounting flange of slightly smaller diameter but still with a neck for a 2" pipe, I have not checked the thread size with them to see if the Monza caps will fit it.
The next task is to make a electrically operated release for the filler flap in the style of the Bentley S Type if we fail to get the bowden cable release to work again.
Geoff.