Original Silver Shadow S.U. carburetors with the center plenum chamber and intake horns on the workbench ready for rebuilding. The Skinners Union company made specific carburetors especially for Rolls-Royce and Bentley and there are many design differences between similar appearing S.U. carbs used on Jaguar and other British cars.  We disassemble the carburetors and rebuild them with new jets, throttle shaft seals, float valves, gaskets and sometimes floats. The automatic choke mechanism is also inspected,cleaned and adjusted. Once the work is completed the carburetor assemblies are painted black for cars with black assemblies or left natural aluminum for models with natural aluminum parts. We have rebuilt S.U. carburetors since 1969 and have supplied parts for them for well over 35 years. Many owners ship these carburetors to us for rebuilding and we do supply all manner of parts for them for those inclined to rebuild these carburators.

Poof!

 The carburetors are now ready to refit.

Motor Tweakers

An old sparking plug removed from a circa 1974 Silver Shadow engine that had not enjoyed a good servicing for decades. Observe the thick build up of carbon or coke that has burnt onto the electrode creating a large deposit. This sort of thing happens with low quality fuel and poor tuning. The plug on the right is a new spark plug. This Rolls-Royce engine ran poorly of course but the car owner thought it ran along fine even though all eight cylinders were not firing. We supply electronic ignitions and all manner of engine tuning parts for all Silver Clouds and most Silver Shadows. These new ignitions with hotter coils really makes a profound performance improvement and this is why all post 1975 Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars have electronic ignitions fitted from new. 

A link to our E-mail address >>> Rolls-Royce & Bentley Parts USA<<<

The Wire

If your electrical wiring has issues, we can supply new wiring looms for certain Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars built front 1955-2009.  For many years these wiring looms have been unavailable and many still are. The wiring in a car runs to every electrical device and component. Thus the wiring also goes under the hood where the wires are subjected to heat, oil fumes and water damage. On many cars, the main wiring section runs underneath the car where its exposed to everything the bottom of a car runs over. Many people, mechanics included, do not understand or care how electricity works or how relays work thus they will cut and badly splice wires, or cut the wires and twist them together creating electrical nightmares or what we call "future fires".  We have seen countless live wires run to ground with the result being a burned up wiring system. It's a shocking experience to the pocketbook. 

 Wiring looms are made to be installed by professionals with knowledge of automotive wiring but a well skilled individual can also install them. Vintage cars would tend to pack all the wiring into one big harness or may have individual wires to each terminal on coach built or very early cars.  Many Modern Cars from the 1950's onwards split the complete harness into a lot of sections so a repair can be done without buying the entire loom. This said, many of the smaller sections become unavailable rather swiftly after cars leave the factories. If you need a wiring loom for an engine compartment or whatever, contact us with VIN and production date if you have it. 

Sure, we provide new engine rebuilding parts to replace parts such as this broken Silver Spur piston that did not survive an "unforeseen circumstance".  

We supply suspension and steering parts, electrical parts, body parts and A/C parts such as this accumulator/dryer for a Silver Spirit. 

This Silver Cloud is about to receive it's freshly rebuilt V8 engine. 

Bentley and Rolls-Royce engines built from the 1940’s to now were not designed to call attention to the engines or engine bays through the use of polished cam covers with chrome head nuts like Jaguar and Alfa Romeo cars of the 1950’s and 1960’s. The typical purchasers of Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars were more interested in the styling of the coachwork and appointments of the cockpit than the appearance of the engine. These owners already knew the mechanicals were well and stoutly designed to last and the engine and mechanicals were generally left to their service people to deal with. Rolls-Royce and Bentley engines, many engine related components and the engine bays were painted a flattish black.

Bentley Bling 

Once upon a time we rebuilt an engine for a Bentley SII owner and later found that he was disappointed in the appearance. This was a highly unusual event and we wanted to know what it was that he found not to his liking. 

Here is a snap of the completed and properly appearing Bentley engine about to be installed. 

Well, everybody knows that the bird is the word
A-well-a, bird, bird, b-bird's the word
 

The owner of the car that the above engine was fitted to sent us a photo of his Thunderbird engine, year unknown, that had been extensively customized with polished aluminum valve covers, thick bright purple spark plug cables, a red distributor cap, red coil and a big chrome air filter among other T-Bird custom enhancements. The car was styled as a muscle car.

This customized look on a T-Bird engine is what he thought we were going to do for reasons unknown as nothing along these lines had been requested and none of the photos we sent along had customized parts shown. Customizing American engines is an enjoyable thing to do for muscle car fans and there are countless suppliers of aftermarket stuff for American muscle cars and hot rods. We respect the shops and people that do this sort of work yet it’s a long way from what we are about as our work on Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars is more dedicated to preserving the original look and feel of a car with certain  enhancements such as electronic ignition well hidden.

 The lesson here is to clearly impart your vision to whomever is working for you well ahead of time so details are sorted out in advance. Regarding the Bentley motor referred to here, we would not have agreed to make the engine look like a Ford hot rod motor and would have left those sorts of details for the owner to have done to his liking elsewhere. 

True Blood

Rolls-Royce & Bentley RR363 brake and suspension hydraulic fluid

 and lots more about brakes and pressure operated systems

Over the many years that Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars have been built, the designers specified several different fluids to be used in various models. These fluids serve as the blood of the car and only one fluid is the true fluid for each application thus none of these fluids are interchangeable and great harm (expensive) can be done by using the wrong fluid. There is considerable incorrect information on the internet concerning the proper fluids to be used in Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars so let's clear this matter up.

 Firstly never rely on information provided by generic auto parts stores, junk yards or internet forums. This is nothing personal. It is that generic stores depend almost entirely on their computers for knowledge, generally have a lot of personnel turnover and the fact is that generic computer databases are simply not accurate concerning very limited production luxury or sporting cars.  Generic stores are useful mostly for buying common items like hose clamps or antifreeze. 

Car forums for any sort of car tend to have self appointed "experts" that haunt the sites. These people tend to answer or comment on just about everything and they may have some knowledge or may not know much at all concerning what they are commenting on. Most of the time these contributors have had one or a few cars and their experience is therefore quite limited. Clearly the computers of today are wonderful machines that are filled with whatever anyone dumps into them and car forums are kind of like that too.  We often supply parts to generic stores and help their counter people get the right parts for a customer because we are not hob nobish snobbish and we want the car, wherever it is to receive the good stuff.

 Accurate information concerning Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars can only be had from those that actually possess accurate information and have considerable experience working with these cars. This is just the way it is as people can't just inject this sort of stuff into their brains like the characters in the Matrix did. Knowledge has to be learned the hard way by extensive direct contact and study. There are plenty of self proclaimed experts on most any topic on the internet and the net has been a boon for con men, creeps, frauds, fake experts and grifters that prey on car owners that just want to know what to do or not to do. Some of these naughty people have companies that use many different names and when they rip off enough customers they move elsewhere make up a new name and do it again. We have seen a great many used parts sold by on line auction vendors asking twice or more for what we sell new parts for. There is something wrong with that.

Once upon a time a new owner of a vintage Silver Shadow called us to ask questions about brake fluids. It seems that someone told him the specified RR363 brake fluid should be poured into the engine! Fortunately this fellow knew enough to question this bad advice. Now why anyone would think that brake fluid should be poured into any engine is, well, a cause for just concern!  If someone tells you to make a good dry martini with RR363, well....

 Long ago Rolls-Royce contracted with the Castrol Company to make a special brake fluid for their cars called RR363. This fluid contains proprietary lubricants to service the very intricate and finely machined parts within the hydraulic systems. Non RR363 fluids do not contain these lubricants and the use of the wrong fluids will accelerate wear and tear on those very expensive finely machined parts. The RR363 Castrol fluid is NOT the same as Castrol LMA fluid used with pre- 1988 Jaguar cars and almost all other vintage

(pre 1980) British cars. All DOT 3 and DOT 4 brake fluids are not identical.

  If someone tells you that all brake fluids are the same they are unquestionably wrong. The fact is that DOT 3 and DOT 4 brake fluid base is manufactured in train car loads. It is then sold to repackagers like Castrol that add whatever special additives a manufacturer such as  Rolls-Royce or Bentley specifies.  The additives in the RR363 brake fluid are what are essential for these cars brake and suspension systems.

  Sometimes when we explain the need for special fluids we find that some people have already used wrong fluids and have contaminated the hydraulic system of the car they are working on. We know this because sometimes shops and individuals buy brake parts from us and don't purchase the correct fluid while insisting all fluid is the same as if this proclamation will make it so. Respectable shops always want to use the correct fluids and quality parts for their work.  Owners have to be adamant about informing shops about the correct fluids. Many owners simply buy the fluid they need from us and make it available to their shop of choice. We are happy to speak with any shop about these fluids. 

     RR363 fluid is in stock!

For this particular photo and ensuing discussion, you might like to play or hum the song "Sprach Zarathustra", written by Richard Strauss and used as the theme song in the movie 2001, a Space Odyssey.

Ready, set, hmmmhmmmHMMMdaDA!

There are many different Castrol fluids.  Don't mix them up! 

The above photo is of a typical bottle of RR-363 brake and hydraulic fluid. This fluid used to be packaged in metal cans hence in white plastic bottles and now in gray plastic bottles.  RR-363 is appropriate for all Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars up to mid 1979. After the year 1979 particular attention has to be observed about which fluids are used as 1979 was a generational transitional year as some 1979 Corniche cars used the next generation Silver Spur brake and suspension systems utilizing green Castrol Plus Mineral Oil while Silver Shadows built in 1979 still used RR-363 fluid. The brake fluid reservoir on 1966-1980 cars using RR-363 is rectangular and made of metal. Cars that use green Castrol Plus mineral fluid were built from 1979 onwards use plastic reservoirs that are round.  It's VERY important not to mix Castrol RR363 with the green fluids as a contaminated system will require a complete rebuild of the entire brake and hydraulic system for a substantial cost.  If someone tries to sell you a $5 bottle of generic DOT 3 brake fluid and says all DOT 3 fluid is the same, run!   If an owner or shop is unsure, call us with the VIN. 

A bottle of the correct Castrol Plus brake and suspension green fluid for all Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars built from 1980-1996 or so. In mid 1979, Corniche cars went to the green Castrol Plus fluid as the entire hydraulic brake and suspension system was changed to the new system (new then) to be used on all post 1980 cars.   Cars built after 1996 use several different fluids and the VIN is required. Notice the physical similarity to the bottle of regular Castrol. The Castrol Plus fluid has an anti foaming agent and the Castrol fluid made for Jaguar cars does not. This fluid has a Rolls-Royce and Bentley identifying label and each bottle comes with a filler tube. "Some people say" that the Rolls-Royce and Jaguar fluids are the same but those claiming this are not correct. Think of the fluids this way, a good Kentucky bourbon and brown tea may look the same in a bottle but does appearance make them the same? Of course not. 

This Castrol mineral fluid is used on some Jaguar cars built after 1988 and is not for Bentley and Rolls-Royce cars that specify Castrol Plus fluid.   If you own cars of both marques be sure not to mix the fluids up. This bottle label states the fluid is specifically for Jaguar cars. There is no mention of an application for Rolls-Royce or Bentley cars.   

Castrol LMA fluid is used for the brake system on later model cars such as Silver Seraph, Azure and Arnage.  This fluid is NOT for Silver Shadows, Silver Spirits, Silver Spurs or Bentley Turbo R yet is correct for most all non Rolls-Royce and Bentley British cars made before 1980. 

Pentosin CHF11 or RH5000 fluid is specified for the suspension system only in Rolls- Royce Silver Seraph and Bentley Azure and Arnage series. The proper fluid application must verified by VIN!  This fluid is absolutely NOT for Silver Shadows or Silver Spurs.  If in doubt, contact us with your model and VIN. 

Under Pressure

Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars have very good brakes and stop the cars extremely well if the systems are working properly. Time gone by has many ways of diminishing performance as cars are not like vintage bottles of wine or senses of humor that improve with age. Frequently we receive enquiries concerning cars being brought back to active duty from a long slumber.  Owners and shops frequently want to know what to do to properly wake these cars up and make them safe to drive again.  Following is a brief discussion of some basic safety work that should be high on the list.

The braking and suspension system on Silver Shadow series cars use 12-13 rubber flexible high pressure hydraulic lines along with four or more special rubber feed lines from the fluid reservoir. Some models such as Silver Shadows have flexible braided high pressure lines near the accumulators as well. These systems generate and use very high pressure and old hoses are a usually obvious weak point. We suggest replacing all of these hoses if there is no historical record of them being replaced within the last 8-10 years. 

Silver Spur series from 1980 onwards have specific reservoir feed hoses and high pressure hoses made to resist the nature of the green fluid and these hoses from cars built in the 1980s and it's a good idea to replace them if they never have been replaced. There are many variations best determined with the VIN number.

An old rusty Silver Shadow brake pipe that had snapped and was sent to us for replication seen here with our replacement pipe ready to send back. The old pipe had rusted over many years and was weak. We asked the fellow working on the car about the condition of the rest of the pipes and were told they were fine. This assertion is probably not accurate in such situations.

There are approximately 68 metal alloy high pressure fluid pipes used for the brake and suspension systems on cars built from 1966 on and these pipes should be examined for structural integrity. If the pipes are rusted, they are weakened and should be replaced. Rarely are all the pipes bad unless the cars lived in a corrosive environment like a beach or an island inhabited by mad dogs and Englishmen located near France but these cars have been around and have history thus every pipe should be inspected with at least two eyes. Blowing out a high pressure hose or pipe and experiencing a dramatic loss of brake pressure is a bad way to permanently end a nice day. On Silver Shadow series, none of the metal pipes are still available and Silver Spur series pipes were not supplied at all however we do make these pipes. Rolls-Royce uses a special flare on their pipes that is like no other car other than certain Citroens. The special flare is rated to 2700 p.s.i. The typical flare used on most other cars brake pipes are rated to 750 p.s.i. The typical flaring tool most well equipped shops have will not make a proper flare for Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars. Thus those that insist on using a generic flaring tool to make brake pipes for these cars are rendering the car into a big heavy deathtrap and this is a very non RR thing to do. We have also seen some cars where unqualified persons have made and fitted copper pipes rather than steel. Copper pipe is not strong enough for the high pressures these cars use. If your car has had copper pipes fitted, these pipes are capable of bursting such a pipe at any moment. This sort of advice about the pipes is applicable to any car. Be safe, don't end up like Princess Grace before your time and stick around a while! 

Diamonds and Rust

Vintage cars can be like diamonds in the rough or can be terminally ill from rust, abuse and neglect.  Below are some gruesome photos of a 1967 Silver Shadow that was sold by a Kansas person with very bad karma to an unsuspecting buyer. The car was advertised as being in "great shape". An absolutely horrible thing that someone did to this car was to replace a great many of the badly rusted metal alloy high pressure hydraulic pipes with copper pipe. This botched work was sure to result in the death or damage to anyone driving the car or other drivers as copper will not withstand the high pressure generated by the system and copper pipe is soft and liable to be smashed flat by a road encounter. The subject car was extensively rusted out to such an extent that the rear suspension crossmember was ripping right out of the body shell. Such a car is unlikely to make a good car no matter what is done. The same incompetent someone cut through all the brake pipes to the rear calipers as well. The pipes were just hanging out in mid air. The new owner was willing to spend upwards of $25K on this car but we felt this car could not be fixed in a road worthy manner no matter what sums were thrown at it.

A few years later we found this car for sale for $12,000 by a local junkyard that claimed it was a wonderful car.  This sort of thing is why any vintage car should be inspected by an independent shop prior to purchase. It is sad to deem that a Rolls-Royce should not be raised from the dead but cars are not zombies and sometimes a car should be allowed to end it's days.

Look at these sliced and diced rusty brake fluid pipes just hanging out mid air. Obviously these brake calipers were inoperative.

These pipes are made of copper, a sure way to achieve unexpected martyrdom by burst fluid pipes as copper will not take the high pressure of the brake system.

Here are copper death pipes joined with pipe unions, a real no no and a disaster.

Here we found a steel brake pipe held together with duck tape. What can one say... Well, one can say don't be foolish and take your expensive specialty car to a shop that is not qualified or otherwise suited to work on these cars. Or if purchasing a car, be sure to have a pro check it out beforehand unless you have experience with such things.

 A pipe union joining copper piping.  A very naughty thing with high pressure systems.

This may be hard to see but the inside of this tire is burned probably from burning brake fluid leaking from the seized brake calipers. 

 Another snap of copper brake death pipes.

Here are the sad brake accumulators missing their support bracket and both are leaking fluid in a major way. One is missing the high pressure warning placard.

This assembly is located under the left front seat area beneath the car and is known slang wise as the "rat cage". It supports the brake master cylinder ( not used after 1975) and the brake distribution valves, G-Conscious Valve and other components.  The non standard weird red wiring is a non-stock rig up.

A right rear 1967 Silver Shadow axle that evidently snapped or was sawn in half. Someone crudely welded it back together rather than replacing it. We have never seen one of these axles actually break so we don't know why it was sawn in two. This was scary stuff to find on any car much less a large Rolls-Royce.

The innards of two Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow brake accumulator spheres, each from two different Silver Shadows that show the goop glop sludge crap that develops from mixing various brake fluids with moisture and from sitting still for a long time. Not a very appetizing stew is it? This yucky residue results from a long term chemical reaction caused by moisture and brake fluid and is not what you want to see inside of your critical brake assemblies now is it? Interestingly the sphere halves seen in the photos are actually supposed to be dry and there should be nothing in there. What has happened is that the rubber diaphragm inside the spheres have failed allowing fluid to pass through where it became trapped. These accumulators were not operational. The metal fluid pipes on such cars can frequently be blocked with hardened debris and it is vital that all pipes be clear for good flow. 

The contaminated sludge that came out of a pair of 1980 Silver Wraith brake accumulators.  This pan of nasty contaminated sludge that was inside the assembly was a result of moisture reacting with brake fluid causing a slow chemical reaction that ended up seizing the accumulator valves. This sorry situation is a result of poor maintenance. We recommend that all cars have the brake fluid changed every two or three years unless you live in Arizona, the Gobi Desert, the Rocky Mountains or an area with little humidity. If your fluid has never been changed or you have no knowledge of when the hydraulic fluid was changed, have it done now with the proper fluid. Yes, we usually have plenty of all applicable fluids in stock at all times. 

The Sphere and the Valve

A typical rebuilt and fully charged 1966-1980 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow series brake accumulator sphere with attached charging valve (the gold part) from a circa late seventies Corniche ready to send back to a shop working with the car. There are several versions but they all have a similar appearance.

Each accumulator assembly is composed of two sub-assemblies, the sphere and the valve. The accumulator in the above photo arrived missing the high pressure warning placard. The well intentioned mechanic that was working on the car that this particular assembly came from was not familiar with Rolls-Royce systems and as someone in the past had "rebuilt" the accumulator and had not refitted the pressure warning placard, this unit had been left in a very dangerous situation for anyone not intimately familiar with Rolls Royce accumulators. As the warning placard was missing, this mechanic unknowingly removed the metal cap nut and if the unit had been properly charged and had the valve failed, the cap could well have blown off like a bullet into his face or body resulting in serious injury. Whomever removed the warning placards should never work on anything mechanical and should stick to Dancing in the Bars, serving ice cream or washing windows at ground level.

 Fortunately this accumulator had little or no pressure remaining as it had been incompetently "rebuilt" and did not work.  If we receive an accumulator missing the warning placards, we keep them in stock for just such occasions as we want no one working on these cars to be injured.  All accumulators on all Bentley and Rolls-Royce cars built from 1966-1980 that use RR-363 fluid have two accumulators like the one on this photo bolted to the side of their engine blocks. Some cars have both on one side and others have one on each side depending on VIN. 

Go here to look at a tiny smidgeon of new Rolls-Royce and Bentley parts we offer.

 The brake pressure accumulator assemblies used on 1966-1980 Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars must be properly rebuilt and charged when depleted or if found to be leaking fluid as accumulator assemblies on cars using RR363 fluid are not throw away parts. Accumulator spheres should never be recharged without rebuilding them along with the attached charge valves as the old rubber diaphragms and seals within cannot withstand the newly restored high pressure for long if at all.  Many cars have had their accumulators into before and these days we find an amazingly high percentage of accumulators were not rebuilt properly as we regularly find critical internal parts that are missing. Some accumulators arrive in a highly dangerous state or we find that they never worked at all after previous work was done to them. This last situation is becoming increasingly common.

There is a great difference between resealing an accumulator, charging valve or brake pump and performing a proper rebuild on them. Thus we stock and replace many parts within these assemblies that are not included in the sealing kits. Our goal being to make an accumulator work properly and safely for a long time. Sometimes a caller will ask what it costs to rebuild these assemblies and tell us that "someone else" rebuilds them for a lot less money.

Whilst it is certainly possible to "rebuild" something at a very low cost by not replacing worn parts that ought to be replaced with the goal being to produce something as cheap as possible or cheaper than anyone else but such a thing is of no interest to us or any quality shop or person whose goal is to do something right and this is true of lots of things.

We received a pair of accumulators to rebuild that upon disassembly and examination were found to have a considerable quantity of bead blasting grit and white lithium grease inside them that was left by a previous attempt to rebuild them. This discovery of amazingly sloppy work was not good as these valves and systems were designed to operate with pristinely clean fluid. Some of the grit undoubtedly found it's way into the downstream brake system thus the entire system would be suspect. Such a situation requires a complete flushing and considerable disassembly, cleaning and servicing so that many expensive components are not damaged from the grit. This sort of work should only be entrusted to highly qualified shops to do.

Brake work of any sort should be done in a clean and organized manner. The accumulator pressure spheres require special tools to disassemble, assemble and charge properly and once we complete the rebuilding work, the units are charged with nitrogen at 1000 p.s.i. Special tools do not include chisels or hammers beating on them. Yes, we have seen this sort of brutality many times. We regularly find all sorts of odd parts that have been stuffed into them to replace parts that were probably lost, old poor condition parts that were re-used, parts installed backwards, orifices drilled larger, spheres with hammer and chisel marks on them. We have found springs from ball point pens used to replace the original small tension springs within the charging valves. Accumulators in such sad shape could not have worked properly if at all thus the car would never have had good brakes after the accumulators were improperly rebuilt.

A properly rebuilt accumulator and charging valve should last for many years and once our rebuilt and charged assemblies are refitted, as long as the two brake pumps are working well, the accumulators/charging valves  will deliver 1900-2100 p.s.i. output. This sort of pressure will produce a robust squirt when bleeding the system. We encourage those thinking about rebuilding their accumulators not to do so unless all the proper tools are at hand and an experienced eye available that knows what to look for.

Therefore, DO NOT disassemble them if your intention is to send them to us for renovation. Please send them complete and untouched although we certainly don't mind if they are cleaned up.  These assemblies are a bit messy and will leak fluid so before you ship them, please drain them well, wrap them in a plastic bag or wrapping and pack them like you are shipping triangular cannonballs as they are heavy and rough shaped and will tear right through a box that is not well taped if the assemblies are not well packed. Throwing a piece of paper into the box is not good packing. These parts will move around with shipping so you should take extra care to immobilize them in the box with lots of packing material. Double boxing is best. We suggest insuring them for several thousand USD so the shipping firms will take extra care. 

Another factor to consider when having accumulators rebuilt is that with the system returned to normal high pressures after an unknown period of no or little pressure is that all downstream rubber parts such as the twelve flexible pressure hoses will be subjected to newly improved and much greater pressures than they may have been used to for a long time. Any hydraulic system is only as good as the weakest parts you see. Thusly to enhance the chances of a long life for the driver of the car, all brake components should be examined by an experienced eye or better yet, two or three eyes including the ones on the back of your head. If you are unsure about something just send us a photo of the part you are worried about or call. Why risk having a very bad or an all too short day? 

All post Silver Cloud series V8 Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars built up to near the end of the venerable V8 engine use two mechanical brake pumps fitted to the top of the engine that are driven by the camshaft to power the hydraulic and brake systems. These pumps are hard working assemblies that are critical to successful operation of the brake and suspension systems. If they deliver insufficient pressure to the accumulators, the accumulators will not deliver correct pressures and the car will not stop properly or at all. The rear suspension will not operate properly either. There are many intricate parts inside the pumps. These parts are finely machined and after many years of pumping dirty or contaminated fluid the pumps can simply wear out. Mechanical wear is greatly accelerated when incorrect brake fluid has been used. Sometimes these pumps work well and will spring a leak. If the pumps leak, they can usually be re-sealed and we stock a kit for this purpose. However, sometimes the kit does not work as the outer sleeve will have corrosion pits inside the bore and the sealing parts just don't work in a damaged environment so a new sleeve is required. Thus a careful examination is a smart move and we do rebuild these pumps.

Let it Flow

The hydraulic fluid must flow yet must be restricted. There are small valves located near the rear height control valves that are called, " pressure restriction valves". These valves can and do become internally encrusted with the same goo that the rest of the systems sometimes have. When this happens, high pressure from the accumulators will slam into the restrictor valves and stop. As the fluid is not circulating due to clogged or seized restrictor valves, the pressure essentially backs up and smashes a delicate sealing washer inside the accumulator charging valves. Nowadays if a car is being brought back to good driving condition or if the fluid is found to be trashy, these valves need to be checked.  Should a rebuilt and charged accumulator assembly be fitted and the restrictor valves are seized and jammed up, the pressure will back up and damage internal parts within the charge valve.

Call me.. unrebuildable?

While car manufacturers have been moving towards the age of unrebuildable and unrestorable cars by making car parts that used to be rebuildable into large expensive assemblies that cannot be rebuilt, we are obviously great believers in rebuilding things. For example, a critical part of a brake pump assembly is the plunger and barrel ( the inner assembly that actually does the pumping). The plunger and barrel costs around $750. or so. Aside from a plunger and barrel assembly there are many other parts within the pumps. We are aware that there are firms that sell "rebuilt" brake pumps for $3-400. Again, the definition of rebuilt is not absolute and has many meanings. It is simply not possible to rebuild a brake pump with the new proper parts required for $3-400.  It is therefore more than likely that "rebuilt" pumps costing $300-400. are done by swapping worn used parts with other worn used parts or perhaps a magic wand and fairy dust are employed.

Good results from such a lowly process should not be expected to last for very long. Even the great and powerful powers of wishful thinking and self deception cannot overcome obstacles like excessively worn clearances. If a pump is merely leaking fluid, we supply an inexpensive reseal kit for this purpose and this kit is all some pumps need.  Resealing a pump means replacing old seals and many pumps just need a reseal from time to time and resealing a pump is exactly that.

Pump it up.

A new Silver Shadow hydraulic pump, literally one of the two hearts of the system and two hearts are definitely better than one.  The new pump assemblies came complete with a new outer sleeve. New pumps deliver proper pressure and what a marked improvement new pumps and rebuilt accumulators do for a vintage Silver Shadow series. Pumps with worn or corroded internals just don't do the job properly after 30+ years of pumping gooey contaminated brake fluid. The use of incorrect brake fluid without the lubricant additives that RR363 fluid contains results in premature wear of expensive parts and results in poor pressure.  Old fluid contaminated with moisture from lack of timely servicing literally corrodes the internal metal parts and there are a lot of parts within these pumps. All this said, new pumps are not available at the moment of this writing and probably won't be for quite a while according to the factory.

Here are a couple of our rebuilt pumps with new outer sleeves. We rebuild these pumps by replacing the expensive critical internal parts that do the pumping and valve action. Our rebuilt pumps are as close to new assemblies as can be done and thusly are not targeted at the lowest possible price point because we don't want to sell assemblies that skimped on the critical parts that actually do the work so we can sell them cheaply. That sort of thing really is not what owning and driving these cars is all about now is it? We want all cars to properly stop for self serving reasons such as we drive on the same roads as well! 

There is no good end to "calling it good" with hydraulic repairs.

A front brake pump nestled home atop a circa 1990 Bentley. The front pump is located near the backside of the a/c compressor. The rear pump is located a bit forward of the distributor and looks much like the front pump except that sometimes the outer sleeve is angled differently. When post 1980 brake pumps leak, there will be green fluid leaking around the intake manifold and running down the back side of the engine to the ground. We do supply resealing kits for all brake pumps.

Some time ago but no longer, Rolls-Royce offered their own rebuilt pumps and we sold a great many over the years but these were essentially new pumps as the factory replaced just about everything in them. Regretfully, they no longer supply rebuilt pumps but we do them the same way.  

No, this is not a hand grenade. This photo shows a GMF series green brake accumulator pressure sphere for all post 1980 cars that use the green Castrol Plus fluid.  Located in the engine bay, this part IS a throw away part. The GMF spheres are supplied charged and not rebuildable. When the pressure depletes these parts are relatively easy to replace. This sphere threads onto a GMF accumulator valve and there are two valves and spheres on each car. The accumulator valves that use the green fluid are not rebuildable, no parts are supplied by the factory to rebuild them and if one of them suffers from a leak, the unit should be replaced. However, there is seal between the sphere and valve that is available and this seal sometimes will leak. Regardless the seal should always be replaced if the sphere is replaced or disturbed. 

A mechanic called us and asked for internal parts for a green GMF accumulator valve from a 1995 Rolls-Royce and stated that he had already disassembled the valve and could find no parts for it. We informed him that was because no parts were ever supplied for rebuilding these valves as the factory decided it was not safe to rebuild them. We told him that he should replace it but the car owner wanted to sell the car and did not want to fix things properly ( spend money) so the mechanic decided to walk the plank and assume great risk instead of telling the car owner that the valve should be replaced and that was that.  However, the liability for rebuilding an intricate brake part that the factory supplies no parts for is nothing to take on lightly as whom would be responsible if the valve failed and the car crashed? 

Got Muck in your Bucket?

1966-1980 Silver Shadow, pre 1979 Corniche and post 1977 Silver Wraith and all T series Bentley cars use a large rectangular fluid reservoir to supply RR363 fluid to the brake and suspension systems.  A great many fluid reservoirs that we see in our workshops during a cars first visit are found to be nasty and rusty appearing like this one. If they look this bad on the outside, the inside may well and most probably has a contamination issue. Such a reservoir should be opened and all contaminated muck and debris cleaned out leaving the reservoir spotlessly clean. Inside the reservoir are fluid level detection floats, grommets, level sensor reed switches as well as fluid baffles and we supply all these parts. The hoses that carry the fluid to the pumps are special hoses made from material that resists the corrosive nature of brake fluid. Using generic hose is a very bad idea as brake fluid will leak right through the hose and moisture finds its way in. Once all the hoses have been properly replaced and the system flushed, the car can be tested to find out if further work is required such as are the four front and two back brake calipers in good condition.  Calipers do seize solid as the internal pistons rust right to the bores. For cars that are driven on a regular basis or that have been long stowed, these hoses and pipes should be examined and replaced if they have not been replaced within 8-10 years. 

The above photo group shows the inside of a rarely if ever serviced circa 1980 Silver Wraith brake and suspension fluid reservoir. The dark contaminated fluid is a indicator of long term poor maintenance and is not what you want to find. We removed the fluid and found that the bottom of the reservoir was covered with thick layers of contaminated muck. The little round object in the second and third photos are the tops of very fine micromesh fluid filters. The third photo shows a ruler inserted into the goo.

What happens with a hydraulic system that has trash and muck in the fluid reservoir is that some of this stuff is inevitably picked up and pumped throughout the system as the engine is running and thus all the expensive components are bathed in trashy fluid and such an environment greatly shortens the reliability and length of service of expensive parts. A good cleaning of the fluid reservoir and replacement of the seals , special feed hoses and whatever else is required is very good work to do or have done on any Rolls-Royce or Bentley built that is older than 15 years or so.

Mucky Valves

Here are innards of a disassembled Rolls-Royce rear height control valve. This valve sends fluid to the rear height rams and the high pressure fluid raises and lowers the rear of the car. The two halves of the valve have been separated for rebuilding. Observe the right hand half of the valve in the photo. The lower piston has contaminated goop that squished out when the piston was lightly pushed in with a finger. The spring on top is covered in contamination. You can see the contamination in the left hand half of the valve as well. The inside of these valves should be pristinely clean. This valve was non- operational. The car that these valves came from either never had the fluid changed or a mix of fluid was used and the car sat up a long time. Thus it is very good to drive a car and keep the fluid serviced.

This a bit fuzzy photo is of a coin and a new fluid mesh micro filter that live on the bottom of the brake fluid hydraulic reservoirs fitted to every Rolls-Royce and Bentley model made from late 1966 to 1980 excepting certain Corniche cars built in 1979. No, these parts do not sell for 25 cents. In many instances, exposure to gooey contamination that can build up on the bottom of fluid reservoirs that have not been cleaned or serviced in a long time will have destroyed the filter mesh and unfiltered trashy fluid is being pumped through the system. This situation results in expensive repairs to the finely machined pumps, accumulators, distribution valves and other components. If you are planning on cleaning your reservoir and this is a great idea on 30 plus year old cars and want one of our resealing kits, you might want to examine the integrity of the two or three micro filters as well. Yes, we stock them. 

This part is called a reed switch and two of them fit inside the Silver Shadow series brake reservoirs as seen in the opened reservoir in above pictures of a nasty reservoir.  Two fluid level switch floats ride up and down on the reed switches detecting fluid levels. The reed switches screw into the reservoir from the bottom. When they get corroded from years of sitting in contaminated goop, they will leak and fail. Sometimes the electrical connection will break off from the underside so the switches are not working at all so the fluid level warning lamps are not accurate or are inoperative. This is not good!

Many times we have found that both pressure warning lamp light bulbs had been removed by evil people that seek to sell a car with brake pressure problems to unsuspecting buyers. Such people do this sort of thing because they are stupid, lack a sense of basic ethics, are possibly borderline sociopaths or regretfully suffer all three maladies. The two pressure warning lamps should illuminate when the engine is started and will briefly flash on or may stay on 30-45 seconds if the fluid is sluggish or the pressure warning sensors are weak but they always should go off when proper pressure is reached. If the lamps never light, there is good reason to be concerned.

 While writing this paragraph, our workshop was rebuilding the brake and suspension systems on three 1980 Silver Shadows.  On one of the cars, three of the four wheels had brake calipers with seized up  pistons that were rusted solid to the caliper body. The owner of the car complained that the car seemed to stop itself without his permission and this situation was because the car was stopping itself without regard for the commands of the drivers foot. When we inspected the car and unscrewed the fluid pipe fittings, several pipes snapped and broke apart. This particular car was a right hand drive model recently brought over from England where corrosion is a particular problem. Removing rusted and seized brake pistons can be a real chore and we made some special tools for this purpose. To order brake related parts, please send the VIN with your requests.

 Silver Spur and Silver Spirit series cars use a somewhat similar system in spirit but numerous changes have taken place such as very few of the brake parts or fluid were carried over from the Silver Shadow series. Many parts have similar appearances but are very different. The inspection of pipes and hoses is also very important and frequently overlooked on Silver Spurs and Silver Spirits as these cars were manufactured from 1981. The world and our lives always have complicated and interesting stuff going on that captures our collective attention so maintenance is frequently overlooked. 

Say C'est la vie or you can just say levee.

The wrath of an abused Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith

can test one's faith

so instead of a contaminated and expensive bath (in wrong brake fluid)

take a wiser path

Scotty so saith

The use of wrong fluids will poison the hydraulic system used in these cars and makes the car very vengeful.  As you can see in this photo, an almost empty gallon of generic brake fluid was found in the trunk of this 1970's Silver Wraith when it was towed in. This discovery meant that the entire brake system was contaminated with wrong brake fluid. The Silver Shadow series brake fluid reservoir has a warning label that states in plain language that nothing else other than RR363 is to be used in this model.  Unfortunately, some people ignore this warning and to save a very little bit of money will use other fluids and end up badly damaging the brake system. RR363 fluid also powers the suspension so use of the wrong fluid is bad in every possible way. To rectify contamination situations and deliver a brake system that works very well as these systems were designed to do, we rebuild, clean and or replace the entire brake and hydraulic system. Would this sort of work be expensive? Absolutely.    

Call 281.448.5165 with your VIN for parts requests or send an e-mail. 

 More Rolls-Royce and Bentley brake system chat on this and that

  Here is a typical Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud or Bentley S series lower brake master cylinder (after 1956, Silver Clouds use two master cylinders) after many years of service. As you can see, the brake fluid is oozing right through the porous metal cylinder casting. All metals are porous to some extent. All brake cylinders age and when they look like this, the inside is always in about the same condition. We stock new as in never fitted to a car new as well as experienced remanufactured cylinders.

A brace of new rear brake wheel cylinders for a circa 1961 S II Bentley about to be fitted. Usually we rebuild these cylinders. The car that we were about to fit these cylinders to was sent in from California where it had not enjoyed a recent brake rebuild. The cylinders had been rebuilt but when the brakes were applied, fluid squirted out from where the steel brake pipe tube nuts thread into the cylinder casting. What the previous shop did not notice was the condition of the rust damaged threads in the pipe fitting orifices. The brake pipe nut could not seal as there were not enough threads left to hold it. So the old cylinders were done for.  None of the brake linkage had been cleaned and lubricated either so the car would not have had proper brakes even if the cylinders had not leaked. There is much to know about these brake systems that is learned by working on many examples. 

Broken Manifolds

If your exhaust is a bit flatulent near the engine, you might have a blown gasket or broken or cracked manifold like this photo shows. Around the crack in this exhaust manifold from a 1980 Silver Shadow, are remnants of some sort of muffler patch material. This stuff will never work on a HOT manifold and probably lasted five minutes at most before it burned away. Exhaust fumes can also leak from a burned out gasket so these exhaust situations must always be inspected and rectified. We supply the original exhaust hangers for these cars as well as all manner of exhaust parts. When the rubber hangers get old and saggy, you will feel a thump thump thump of the pipes banging against the car usually when started. 

A new Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow exhaust manifold just before installation. We do repair cracked manifolds on elderly cars in instances whereby a new manifold is no longer available. However, we prefer to always replace them with new manifolds to ensure a long lasting situation. If you need a manifold, send your VIN as we can supply new manifolds for many cars built from today back to the late 1940's and have many in stock. 

We also supply exhaust manifolds for many pre-war Rolls-Royce cars and exhaust systems and exhaust parts such as mounts, pipes, mufflers etc for many Bentley and Rolls-Royce cars built after 1946 . 

A little history. 

The first Rolls-Royce made used a 1.8 or two litre engine and was built from 1904-1906 and the first Silver Ghost was built.  Seems like yesterday doesn't it?  The first Bentley was built in 1922  and featured a 2996cc engine.  As we specialize in cars built after WW2 we will skip through time to 1946 and the first car Rolls-Royce built after the war was the Silver Wraith. Silver Dawns, Phantom IV, Silver Cloud, Phantom V models followed. The first Silver Shadow I was built in late 1965 and featured a 6230 cc engine. In 1969 the engine was increased in capacity to 6750cc. The Silver Shadow II and Silver Wraith II were released in late 1976 and featured a power steering rack rather than a power steering box. The first Corniche was introduced in 1971. Prior to 1971, the two door Coupe of the Shadow series was called the James Young Coupe.

There is a loose nut

behind the steering wheel

of every car

sooner or later

isn't there?

Shake, Rattle and Rolls