THE CONTINUING STORY OF B229FU

 Once clean, then we painted with POR15 where it was bare or rusty. Any sound original paint was left so the factory painted chassis numbers are still visible

The firewall stayed on the chassis so all the wiring was undisturbed.

Then all the bits get bolted in, on and together and the long suffering spare engine installed. 

This is now the 5th car that has been powered by this engine. It was from B429CD that was used in the film "Rikky and Pete"

Once all together, what else could we do but bolt a couple of seats on and give it a go!

                                          Lightweight Mk VI Bentley 

Up and down, round and round, sorting and adjusting. Gearbox was very noisy. Pulled it out and replaced the input shaft bearings. Still noisy so pulled it again and replaced all the bearings. Much better! Makes sense...the story was that it was dismantled in 1977 because of gearbox noise.

Meanwhile work was progressing on the replacement body from B27AJ. We had mounted it on a trailer axle to move it around but the inevitable day arrived when I could no longer put off, putting it on!

THE CONTINUING STORY OF B229FU

      

Home at last and the unpack begins

We enclosed it all in pallet wrap to hold the doors shut and stop the walnut veneer flakes from blowing away through the rust holes.

The next job was to sort through the boxes and see what we 

had, or more to the point, didn't have.

All the tools were there other than the small 'magneto' spanner, though the screwdriver was a ring in!

Then the fun begins. Off with it's head

And a little bit of cleaning

The continuing story of B229FU

So with the trailer loaded on the back of the truck,

 the adventure to Hazelbrook and Upper Mangrove

  begins.

          My father Ian and I enjoyed an uneventful drive

 to Hazelbrook where B229FU has waited for us since 1990ish

 loading up

and ready for the next leg up to Central Mangrove to collect the body from B27AJ

Look easy once it is on the trailer but it took 5 people a couple of hours to achieve 

Wrap it all and head north 

with a slight delay at Macksville after we noticed a wheel short. Fortunately it wasn't scraping on the road but it chewed the end of the stub enough to require a very long spanner!

Home at last!
10/12/13

The story of B229FU

               B229FU is a 1950 Mk VI Bentley, built by Rolls-Royce Motor at Pyms Lane, Crewe.
This was the factory built in 1938 to manufacture the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine which powered, not just the classic fighter aircraft, but bombers and ground armour.
Post war Rolls-Royce 'chassis division' was relocated there from Derby which was now dedicated to aero engines.
The Mk VI Bentley was the first standard body Rolls Royce, with an all steel body constructed by Pressed Steel in Cowley and then transported to Crewe for painting, trimming and fitting to the chassis. All previous Rolls-Royce and Bentley were sold as a chassis only and then transported to the coachbuilder of choice for construction of the required body.

B229FU was ordered through York Motors, Sydney, for R.A.R. Waugh, 'Branga Park' Walcha, NSW with a shipping date of 31st of January 1950 on S.S. Doric.
No doubt the car gave sterling service on the poor roads at that time. It was ordered with 'colonial springing' as well as extra ground clearance and dust proofing.
It wore several NSW registration numbers;
GZ 523
DVA 029
RR 163
By the 1970s it was in the Blue Mountains where in 1977 it was partially dismantled and left in the weather for a considerable time. The hero of the story is Tim who rescued it some time before 1996 and stored it and all its bits under cover.
I first saw the car in 2009 but it was too far gone to be anything but parts at that stage.

                                        Major rust in the body structure.

This is where the underside of the sills used to be.

And the interior was destroyed.

The engine was left in the weather like this. 

Forward to  December 2013....

I was trolling Ebay and found this;

1947 Mk VI Bentley body and interior.

So...guess what happened next.

Hello Tim, it's Carl here. Is that bentley still for sale?

My spare engine was back in stock after an extended holiday in B188AK (while I rebuilt it's original engine).

All of a sudden B229FU was a viable car again. Couple of bludging phone calls...Hi Ron, can I borrow your truck and trailer?


To be continued................

I think we did good!

Here are a few of the wonderful testimonials we have received. It's so lovely to know our efforts are appreciated.

Hi Carl,
I realised I had this email in my drafts and it hadn't reached you..
Thanks for your lovely email.
Out of all the suppliers that we have dealt with during the wedding planning your customer service has been above and beyond any of the other suppliers and your kind email has topped it off.
I look forward to meeting you too.

Cheers
Stephanie
                                                   -------------------------------

Dear Carl,
Just a note to say thank you for the wonderful effort you put in to make Bec and Brent's wedding day so special on Saturday. The car was fabulous and your special attention to detail made a world of difference. We were so lucky to have great weather too, we feel very blessed.
thanks again and I will certainly recommend your business to everyone.

Kind regards,
Andrea

                                              ------------------------------------

Dear Carl,

I am so sorry that it has taken me this long to email you....I want to thank you and your team for taking such wonderful care of Daniel, Kiri and the entire wedding party on the day of Dan and Kiri’s wedding.

Even with the inclement weather you managed to help make their day a magnificent one! The clear umbrellas were wonderful, and Daniel tells me that your service was impeccable.

I have attached a photo for you from the day.

Thanking you so much

Mary and Larry 

To Carl

Just a short note to say thank you for your professionalism and beautiful car for our wedding 6/11/2010. Your service was outstanding and we enjoyed the classic elegance of your vehicle on our wedding day.

Thank you
Natalie and Jody

Hi Carl,

Just arrived back in Brisbane sorry I didn't check my emails after arriving in Brunswick Heads last Wednesday.

Thank you so much for helping make Angela and Matts wedding day so special with your beautiful gold Bentley, first class service and sunny personality they loved every minute of it as did Ian and myself.

Kind regards

Gwen

Dear Carl and gwen, many thanks for a professional ride for the wedding on Saturday. You even fixed the weather !  

Hey Carl,
I just wanted to thankyou for the effort you made to make it on the day.
I appreciate your effort, and you done a fantastic job! will definitely use you again and recommend you to my friends ect.
I hope you enjoyed it, as much as I did.
thankyou again :)

p.s sorry I got back to you so late, seeing we didn't really end on anything on the day!
 

Carl: The gold Bentley
What a cool set of wheels!! Smooth & fast  thank you for driving us around & being so patient. You made me feel so special arriving at the lighthouse in style  & being driven around Byron in absolute luxury - unforgettable!!

Liz and Scott's wedding

So......here are some gorgeous pics Lisa Ford kindly sent me from Liz and Scott's wedding at the Lighthouse.
I told you they were beautiful in my first post, now I can prove it!

Silver Spur