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1926 Bentley 3 Litre |
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Original 1926 Numbers
Chassis No. NR510
Engine No. 1053
Registration No. RK 9711
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This car - updated
Chassis No. -
Engine No. -
Registration No. RK 9711
(Current owner / former owners, please come forward with updates. - January 2017) |
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February 2016 |
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"Parts of this engine (No: 1053) are in our chassis 134. These parts have been found
whilst doing a restoration on chassis 134 registration PG 5439." |
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Source:
Roger Morton
Posted: Feb 27, 2016 |
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2006 |
In
USA in 2006 / Owned by a BDC member |
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Click
on thumbnail for larger view |
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"This was scanned
from a leaflet for a local show and
steam fair." |
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Source:
Bob Rippon
Posted: Aug 16, 2013 |
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Click
on thumbnail for larger view |
Hay assembled his 'bitsa'
3 litre using ingenuity
and widely sourced parts,
over eight years |
This, assembled, is the
extent of the first pile
of bits Hay bought in '82 |
Engine block a
lucky, cheap find |
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The Bentley Boy
Mick Walsh of "Classic &
Sports Car" meets with Michael
Hay
Article below
as carried on pages 146 and 147 of
the Aug. 1998 issue of the magazine
Most of us give up any hope
of owning our dream car, but spiralling
values of vintage Bentleys in the
early '80s didn't deter a teenage
Michael Hay: "It was a book in
our school library called Cars, Cars,
Cars that really switched me on. On
the back cover was an overhead shot
of a 1926 3-litre Speed Model."
Although Michael was only 14, that
image triggered a craving to own one.
"In 1981, I was unlucky enough
to be involved in a bicycle accident
which landed me in hospital for three
months, followed by another six struggling
around on crutches. However, with
the £3000 insurance money I
started seriously looking for a Bentley.
By then I was 17 and had already met
several owners including Tim Holding.
He had a built, 4½ Litre from scratch
between '77 and '81 and his was the
first Bentley I rode in. That exhilarating
late-night ride will never be forgotten."
Hay hit gold when he spotted an advert
in November 1982: "I caught a
train up to see the owner, Douglas
Miller. What remained was a chassis
frame, front and Back axles, a radiator
and a steering column, which was better
than it sounds. It took all my insurance
money. The removal company that transported
the parts down to St Albans joked
about my delivery of scrap when it
finally arrived."
This discovery had started life as
a 3-litre model with saloon coachwork
by Harrison. It had been broken up
in 1960: "The chassis had been
really butchered. To shorten it from
10ft 10in to 9ft 9½in they
had cut it and crudely arc-welded
1/4in plate on each side. The car
had also been involved in an accident
as the front dumb irons were twisted.
The track rods were missing, the radiator
shell was cracked and the front axle
had no brake linkages or backplates."
It needed great imagination to see
a finished car in the remains lying
on the drive but Hay was inspired.
It would be another four years before
he passed his driving test, so trips
in the quest for spares were by bicycle
or train.
Hay had joined British Aerospace in
1983 and trained as an engineer, which
proved useful during the long rebuild.
"Much of the car went in there
and I came to know the sandblaster
really well. Some aluminium welding
was also done at work but most of
the car was built in my parents' garden
shed or a nearby lock-up."
Toughest task was finding the mass
of missing parts: "I'd been a
member of the BDC since I was 14,
so I was by then pretty familiar with
the cars. Over the years I collected
bits from all corners of the country.
My luckiest find was a cheap cylinder
block which turned out to be better
than expected. The engine I built
myself, with the exception of the
line boring.
"Often I would salvage and repair
parts that other owners had discarded.
The back axle I built up. It needed
a new crown wheel and pinion as it
had at one time run out of oil and
was in a real mess. I made the shackles,
the kingpins and the brake rods from
scratch." The backplates are
typical of Hay's ingenuity. He found
a set that had been converted to hydraulics.
To return to Perrot mechanical spec'
he machined a block of Duralumin for
each mounting bracket and fixed these
with 'Hysol', a cold setting adhesive
used on aircraft door frames. "They
would have cost me £200 each
to replace andI built the pair for
£40."
The gearbox was his biggest nightmare:
"The gears were worn but usable,
but I had to remake many of the missing
parts including the complete gearlever
shaft from scratch."
Competition For parts was a problem,
particularly with I-lay's limited
budget. One enquiry was typical when
the vendor asked: "How many 8-litres
do you have?" "I have one
3-litre and most of it is under my
bed," was Hay's response. His
eccentric case not surprisingly endeared
him to owners and specialists.
By January 1987 the Bentley was a
rolling chassis although much of it
was still mocked up. The body kit
came as a pile of wood: "The
cost to have one built professionally
was by then outrageous. There were
no drawings but the joints had been
marked. I had no experience at woodwork,
so I cut out the joints with my milling
machine and chiselled out the radius.
The bogy was assembled in the garden
one summer holiday."
Slowly the car started to take shape,
the scuttle was built, the wiring
done and the dash fitted but certain
parts were still elusive. It took
Hay three years to put together a
deal for a dynamo which eventually
included a complex transaction involving
three parties swapping bits.
By June 1990 Hay was close to start-up
but he didn't quite make his target
of the bst BDC rally at Hatfield House.
The starter motor running backwards
didn't help.
For the first year the Bentley became
known as 'the air conditioned special':
"With its uncovered body it was
very draughty, but I just wanted to
learn to drive it all I'd driven
up to that point was a Morris Marina.
There is no secret ahout driving a
Bentley and, providing the car is
set up correctly, it's very logical."
A return to student life to study
philosophy has prevented Hay from
using the Bentley on a regular basis
hut, since completion in 1990, he
has covered more than 25,000 miles.
"It's still an unrivalled experience
driving it alone on quiet country
roads and, whenever I can, I get out
behind the wheel." |
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Source:
"Classic & Sports Car"
magazine
Posted: Sep 09, 2006 |
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EARLIEST
RECORD OF HISTORICAL FACTS & INFORMATION |
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Chassis No. |
NR510 |
Engine No. |
1053 |
Registration
No. |
RK 9711 |
Date of Delivery: |
April 1926 |
Type of Body: |
Saloon |
Coachbuilder: |
Harrison |
Type of Car: |
ST |
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First Owner: |
F.E. Still |
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More Info:
NR510 was Chassis
no. 1043
Michael Hay, in his book Bentley:
The Vintage Years, 1997, states:
"Was 1043. Broken up ca 1955 -
subsequently rebuilt. 9'9½" chassis,
eng 1045 ex ch. 1026 - C box 6129, front
axle and steering column SR 1410, back
axle 820. Engine 1053 was in ch. SR
1418, now spare to this chassis. Vanden
Plas 4 seat replica by Hay." |
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Posted: Mar 01, 2007 |
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Submit
more information on this car |
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BACK |
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Sep 30, 2020 - Info and photograph received from Simon Hunt for Chassis No. RL3439 |
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Sep 30, 2020 - Info and photographs received from Dick Clay for Chassis No. 147 |
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Sep 29, 2020 - Info and photographs received from Ernst Jan Krudop for his Chassis No. AX1651 |
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Sep 28, 2020 - Info and photographs received from Lars Hedborg
for his Chassis No. KL3590 |
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Sep 25, 2020 - Info and photograph added for Registration No. XV 3207 |
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Sep 24, 2020 - Info and photograph added for Registration No. YM 7165 |
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