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

[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.