The Posh Thread. 1991 Bentley Turbo R.

In reply to californiamilleghia :

Just in front of the fire extinguisher you can see the battery disconnect. 

In reply to Woody (Forum Supportum) :

I'll have to look into that. Thanks!

I have spent the last couple of weeks trying to find a USA source for a brand name LHM+ Hydraulic oil. I thought I found a place that had the TRW brand in stock and ordered a case. I received an email Friday that they were out of stock and didn't know if they would be able to get more. I really wish people would start weeding their websites. 

I need 9L to flush the system. Flying Spares has it and their prices aren't terrible @ $10/L but the freight is another $8/liter. 

I guess I'm going to have to bite the bullet and pay the freight.  

Quick googly shows that its about a 20 weight mineral oil. Amsoil thinks this is equivalent. 
https://www.amsoil.com/p/synthetic-anti-wear-hydraulic-oil--iso-22-awg/

In reply to TJL (Forum Supporter) :

The LMH+ apparently has some sort of lube in it for the pumps. Everything I'm reading states synthetics are the death of the seals as well. LHM or LHM+ is all that can be used under the pain of expensive problems and I really don't want to experience that. There is apparently a worldwide shortage at the moment and since it's not a common oil used in the States, we are out of it. 

Can someone smarter than me explain why brass is a good choice for lug nuts? Seems insane to me. 

In reply to thatsnowinnebago :

Are they actually brass, or beryllium bronze? (Brass look, but really hard stuff used for non sparking tools?)

thatsnowinnebago said:

Can someone smarter than me explain why brass is a good choice for lug nuts? Seems insane to me. 

"Because we did"

Everything I have read says they are brass.

As to why? Because, British? Because, Rolls Royce. Who knows. 

With a 6" bolt circle they are putting up with less load than a modern 4-3/4 bolt circle. Brass is obviously plenty strong enough. I've never heard of Rolls Royce or Bentley cars shedding tires. 

In reply to Toyman! :

Just a quick glance at the picture, from my phone, makes them look like an alloy color, more than full on  brass, and even a soft bronze would have more strength. 
That's were my metallurgy knowledge hits a wall!

If was anyone other car, I'd assume cadmium plating, but a brass alloy would be odd enough for high end Brit stuff for me to believe. Non alloy brass... too soft, me thinks!

In reply to 03Panther :

Got me. I don't know squat about brass alloys. I can only repeat what I've read. 

At $9 each used and $30 each new, I'll have to be very careful with them.

In the interest of keeping the seats in good shape long term, I ordered some leather treatment in one of my Flying Spares orders. It was their recommended goo so I thought I would give it a try. 

I must admit, it's good stuff. You don't understand just how much leather is in one of these cars until you have to treat all of it but I'm pretty sure it's a smallish herd of cows worth. Basically, everything that isn't floor or ceiling or wood is covered with leather. All of it was apparently pretty dry. I practically drowned it to start and there wasn't much excess to wipe up. All in the leather sucked up almost 1/2 of a liter of treatment. 

I don't know if you can see the difference over the internet, but in person, it's pretty impressive. 

Before.

After.

Before.

After

The goo in question. It worked well and best of all, it smells like leather instead of candy or cheap perfume. 

That interior is super clean. Only thing that is throwing me off is the black steering wheels. 
 

Is the wood in the center console different than the rest of the wood in the interior?

In reply to yupididit :

All the wood is the same. It looks to be a burl maple. 

And yes, the black steering wheel looks out of place. I have been keeping an eye out for options. 

Re: steering wheel...  1990 was the first year requiring passive driver safety.  For most manufacturers, this was accomplished via airbags but retractable seat belts (belts on roller, window tracks) were popular too.  I'll bet that for '90 (and '91) that Bentley quickly sourced a black steering wheel with airbag.  What does a 1989 Bentley wheel look like? 

In similar news, by 1995, passenger airbags became US law for cars (but not trucks.)  

Even in my 69 Silver Shadow the steering wheel was plain black plastic.   

This thread has me so engaged. I don't know what it is about these Bentleys but man they speak to me. 

I spent a little time looking for steering wheels. OEM wheels are either what I have, what I have with a brown leather rim, or the below pictured wheel if it didn't come with an airbag.

What I would like is something like this, but at $1600 that won't happen. 

The steering wheel isn't high on the priority list so I'll play the waiting game and see what I come across. 

Toyman! said:

 

Apropos to nothing..  what is the "I" in "P R N D I L"?

In reply to wae :

I have no clue. It's a GM Turbo 400 so it's a 3-speed transmission. Maybe the British call it Low, 1st, and Drive. 

Intermediate

03Panther said:

In reply to Toyman! :

Just a quick glance at the picture, from my phone, makes them look like an alloy color, more than full on  brass, and even a soft bronze would have more strength. 
That's were my metallurgy knowledge hits a wall!

If was anyone other car, I'd assume cadmium plating, but a brass alloy would be odd enough for high end Brit stuff for me to believe. Non alloy brass... too soft, me thinks!

"Brass" isn't a thing by itself. The variety of flavors is wide, especially if we allow for bronze, which could look much the same. I would destroy it to test, and that's likely cost prohibitive. Just peruse McMaster-Carr for a gentle intro to the different strengths of different hardnesses of brass and bronze.

1SlowVW said:

This thread has me so engaged. I don't know what it is about these Bentleys but man they speak to me. 

I was hoping for that, but it's all the opposite for me. Reinventing the wheel for the sake of doing so, when there isn't even a clear benefit to doing so.

Anyway it's cool, and I'm glad you're enjoying it.

I've always had a thing for these, awesome to see someone on here pick one up.  If I had one, no one would ever ride in the front passenger seat, and I would always wear a suit and cap whilst driving.  Seems only proper...

Woody (Forum Supportum) said:

In reply to Toyman! :

They make a dual band mounting bracket for that Amerex extinguisher that might work better for you in that spot. I would hate to see that handle wear through the (probably leather) trim in the trunk due to bumps and gravity.

Thanks again for the info. 

Installed. I also turned it around.