We bought this car to match our 1952 Bentley F&W and it will be painted in the same colour scheme. The car has been stripped to bare metal to expose all the problems, of which she has many. The rear wheel arches were none existent, which is something of a problem as four of the eight body mounts are located here. The car is ash-framed, much of which had rotted away around the boot area. The whole of the frame beneath the boot lid, and the stiles on either side, had to be completely remade, as you can see in the pictures.
In case you were wondering, the young assistant is my daughter, Isabelle, who was seven at the time of the picture. Wildly enthusiastic about Bentleys, (she says they are her favourite car), she learned to weld at six so that she could 'help properly' as she put it.
The car finally went of to the painters this April after considerably more restoration to the bodywork than originally anticipated. Three of the four door frames had to be rebuilt and braced to get them to align properly and the two rear doors needed the lower ten inches of aluminium skin replacing. The front wings were in a terrible state once we got them down to bare metal and it took a full week and a half to cut, shape and weld new aluminium sections into both wings.
She should be back home in a week or so, resplendent in her new black and ivory paintwork (pepper white, if you want to be pedantic) and we can fit the restored interior. Frankly Niki, my long suffering wife, will be glad to have the spare bedroom back. It is amazing how much space is taken up by a car's chromework and a full interior! Our supposedly five bedroomed house is has been reduced to three and a half bedrooms for the last year.
