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

[Raymond]

You have four Bristols?

No wonder they are getting rare...you have them all!!

(No worries...Bristols should always come in pairs!)

[hesketh786]

indeed sir !

405,407,408 and a 411s3 !

I got bitten by the bug !

best
h

[AndrewA]

Car looks great and polished section excellent .
All quiet with my cars - just occasional drives. Am doing up a house and that's consuming almost all my time at the moment.
Best wishes
Andrew

[hesketh786]

Thanks so much Andrew ! Really appreciate it !

Oh thats nice to hear - hows the Bristol running ?

Yes i can imagine so ! House renovation is very time consuming, hopefully you
will be over it all soon.

Take care sir,

best
h

[AndrewA]

Bristol in good health but not getting as much use as it deserves at the moment but will hopefully that will improve.
From the photos of your car you don't appear to have uncovered any historical bodgery/excessive use of filler or accident damage - which is always a relief.
Best
Andrew

[hesketh786]

Evening Andrew,

Always great to hear she is in good health !
Try and get her out for a blast in this glorious weather !

Indeed - the car hasn't had much filler at all, or any major dings !

Managed to get the front bumper off and also finished the drivers door !

[Geoff Dowdle]

"H" ,
I noticed in your recent photos you placed a number plate "7SHM" on the dash.
Is that the last registered number or "405GMT" ??

Have you used paint stripper to remove the majority of paint before using sandpaper?

The alloy body looks very straight .
Will you fit a Bristol engine & gearbox/overdrive ?

Geoff

[hesketh786]

Hello all

Hope you are well

My woodworker has some spare time so time to start on the ash frame on the 405

does any one have templates of the frame so that he can replicate them and replace my rotten ash.


Does anyone know if SLJ or the Bristol Club have any templates ?

Please let me know !

Thanks all

Hesketh

[405dh]

Originally Posted by hesketh786

Hello all

Hope you are well

My woodworker has some spare time so time to start on the ash frame on the 405

does any one have templates of the frame so that he can replicate them and replace my rotten ash.


Does anyone know if SLJ or the Bristol Club have any templates ?

Please let me know !

Thanks all

Hesketh

Hi Hesketh,

Having just acquired 405 C/N0: 4012 Regn: PCD 405 I also need to repair / replace all the woodwork.
Did you manage to find any template or suchlike for your woodworker to refer to?
I'm just starting to remove the old paintwork to bring back to bare aluminium. I plan to use combination of hot air gun / blow torch / paint stripper. Initial trials with the blow torch and stripper are promising, though I'm very scared of causing any damage to the aluminium through excessive heat.
I plan to get removable panels, such as doors, soda blasted.
Any comments / advice on these methods much appreciated!

Regards,
Chris.

[pnaleahy]

Probably the best place for wooden frame repairs to a Bristol 405 would be someone in the boat builder trade. They have great experience in such wooden frame work.

[David C]

Until I started work on my Woody I would also have thought a boat builder would have been a good pace to start but having dug into the subject a bit deeper I think there are more subtleties than it would first appear. I have mentioned before that some parts can be regarded more as a mechanism than a structure.
If making small repairs a competent joiner should be fine but a large repair where exact details of the original are not clear then I would suggest getting help from an experienced coachbuilder such as Clanfield Coachbuilding.

[JoeF]

It would be good to see some drawings. On my 405 I need to do some work to the top of the a-pillar where it meets the bottom of the screen pillar. There is a lap joint there to allow the top of the car some freedom of movement, but without the drawings I am unsure of exactly how it was done.

[405dh]

Originally Posted by David C

Until I started work on my Woody I would also have thought a boat builder would have been a good pace to start but having dug into the subject a bit deeper I think there are more subtleties than it would first appear. I have mentioned before that some parts can be regarded more as a mechanism than a structure.
If making small repairs a competent joiner should be fine but a large repair where exact details of the original are not clear then I would suggest getting help from an experienced coachbuilder such as Clanfield Coachbuilding.

Thanks for the suggestion David. I've found a local man, experienced in woodframing work and aluminium panelling who comes recommended to me by someone I trust. He has taken a look at it and is confident he can do it, so I will be taking the car over to him at the end of the month.