2019 update

I was finally reunited with my Bentley in early June. Adrian at Cofton Motors has done a splendid job of removing all the corrosion and plating in new metal. We decided that a full repaint was required to achieve a result appropriate to the extensive metalwork that had been needed,

The car had its first outing at Powderham Castle on 13 July

(pic by Chris Kallis - click for larger image)
after Paul Mascard had fitted a new set of Michelin tyres. These do seem to be more compliant and quieter over noisy surfaces than the Avons that had previously been fitted.

Whilst at Powderham, I bought another set of LED festoon bulbs (see 2017 update); the polarity-insensitive ones that I had fitted in 2017 run very hot - presumably because the circuitry required to make them polarity-insensitive wastes half the current as heat - causing some to flicker after a few minutes' running. The new ones are polarity-sensitive, but run cool and take less current.


This pic (click to enlarge) shows both sides of the two types of festoon LED: the polarity-insensitive ones on the left and the polarity-sensitive ones on the right. The positive end of the latter is that nearer the small rectangular inclusion on the back side of the circuit board.

The new bulbs are not as bright as those they replace: they have half the number of LEDs. They are nonetheless brighter than the original incandescent bulbs. I am minded to leave the 12-LED bulbs in the boot and underbonnet lamps where extra light is particularly useful.

The new bulbs are available from Classic Car LEDs Ltd of Cheltenham.

For completeness, here is a link to the article on fitting LED festoon bulbs.

In August, the screen washer pump failed, so the car went back to Specialist Cars South West (SCSW) for a replacement. It seems that there are two pumps: one for the screen wash and second, high-pressure pump for the headlamp wash. The latter is unaffected. Both pumps are located within the washer bottle, so replacement is a non-trivial task. While at SCSW, they will also fit a new set of brake discs, which are causing some judder at speed and surge at low speeds. This seems to be a recurring issue with these cars, so aspiring owners would do well to budget for replacment discs every five years or so ... or perhaps I have just been unlucky.

1 September 2019

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