NEW CAR AGAIN.... 1956 Bristol 405 CHASSIS - 4106. 405GMT

[Excalibur]

I watched the auction online. I think the 403 went for about £15000 plus commission . Of course not seeing the car I’ve no idea of how bad it was.

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by Excalibur

I watched the auction online. I think the 403 went for about £15000. Of course not seeing the car I’ve no idea of how bad it was.

Thanks for that. I thought it would probably go over the estimate. I think the rot can be hidden from view.

I have been bitten like that before. The MG TC I bought a couple of years ago looked nice; it had new paint and trim but the old git had painted over the rust and trimmed over rotten wood. I ended up having to replace the body,,,etc, etc,etc.

[Geoff Kingston]

Results are on line now and given at £16308 inc premium so a similar figure to a 401 sold on ebay earlier in the year except on that one the paint was not good, as the link I sent on the rebuild cost topic shows there can be quite a few rust issues to sort out on 401's and 403's unless they have been done or you are exceptionally lucky.
The first place I always check is the back corner of the main chassis in front of the wheels, the steel in this area was overlapped and not unusual for it to be rotted through or starting to bulge which means as some point sooner or later work will be needed, if its very bad its a good indicator of what the rest is likely to be like.
The area between the sills and the chassis is usually enclosed with an alloy cover so issues can be hidden but if the sills and out riggers are bad this can often be eased back to get a peak at the chassis.
Mike spent about 65 hours doing very similar structural repairs to those shown in the link to put it into context on one of my 401's.
As a starting point for a project I think this might have been a good buy, if the leather was not dried out it looked as though it may come up quite nicely and the sun blinds were there which is a bonus as they can be quite expensive.
As regards the 405 I have a few bits, not much and nothing mechanical salvaged off a very rotten 405 so if there is anything missing Hesketh let me know and I'll see if I can help. This includes the front and rear glass and some door fittings.
Geoff.

[Raymond]

I think there is something to be said for buying the best you can afford. My last two classic cars have both come in from Australia and have been beautifully rust free.

[hesketh786]

dear all !

thank you so much for your kind words and helpful comments.

the 403 went for £16308 as Geoff mentioned. ACA weren't very helpfully in sending more photos of either cars, i suspect due to the rot as you have all pointed out.

i've spoke to R Hackett @ SLJ he's trying to find me a suitable engine or if anyone on here knows or can point me in the right direction for one please let me know !

very interesting to read about the wooden frame so thank you Geoff, i will definitely be taking it apart very carefully and documenting with many pics and video of the location of all parts, i will look into getting a metal frame made as you say.

the 405 should hopefully be arriving later this week so will get it cleaned up and post more photos of it.

i probably wont be starting to do anything yet on it just hunt and buy parts and clean it up as i have the 411s3, 408 and the 407 in line for resto before this one !

thank you all so much again and please let me know if you know any history about this car !

stay safe

Best
Hesketh

[AndrewA]

Congrats - Uncle's going to be busy for a while.......!

[hesketh786]

@AndrewA

thanks so much !

hahaha CLASSIC ! I haven't told him about this one yet....