It's a dirty dirty dirty dirty dirty dirty world.

All of us live on a big ball of dirt called the Earth. Plants and some creatures like to live in dirt but engines don't and a car is not a banana plant so you surely don't want dirt in your expensive motor?

   It's a dirty dirty dirty dirty dirty dirty air filter.

If your Silver Spur or similar vintage Bentley has an air filter that looks like this dirt packed air filter then your car has been neglected for far too long or perhaps drove through a dust storm and is now drinking too much fuel.  A dirty air filter impedes the air flow into the engine resulting in poor performance and mileage. You should want your car to be as efficient as it can be. Observe how deeply the dirt has penetrated the media of this filter rendering it pretty much into an dirt air dam as there is little through air flow. Sure, we have air filters for Silver Clouds, Shadows, Spurs, Bentley GT and many more as well. 

  A fresh and ready to suck up dirt circa mid eighties Rolls-Royce Silver Spur air filter looks like this.  Replacing these filters is the same sort of service situation as your home a/c systems air filter. A heavily dirt encrusted air filter is not doing much other than choking the engine.  Treat your car to a new air filter if its dirty and check your home filter for your lungs. Sure we have air filters to fit every Rolls-Royce and Bentley built since 1960 to 2004. Previous to 1960, Rolls-Royce  used an oil bath air filter design and these are to be cleaned and serviced.  

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. We supply electronic ignitions and all manner of engine tuning parts for all Silver Cloud, Silver Shadow and Silver Spur. 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<<<

Get unbent.

We rebuild Rolls-Royce and Bentley convertible top cylinders for cars such as the 1950's James Young Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith drophead and many others. These cylinders have been long unavailable new and are getting on in years and may require specialized manufacturing of new parts for them such as the rods that get bent from raising and lowering the great weight of the top with frame. Contact us with the VIN.

The Wire

If your electrical wiring has issues, we can supply new wiring looms for certain Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars built from 1955-2015 depending on VIN.  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 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 tend to pack all the wiring into one big harness or may have individual wires to each terminal on coachbuilt or very early cars.  Many Modern Cars from the 1950's onwards split the complete harness into many small sections so a repair can be done without buying the entire loom.  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 air conditioning parts such as this accumulator/dryer for a Rolls-Royce 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.

 The Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph and Bentley Arnage series

The Seraph and Arnage series are examples of how the design philosphy of building cars and supplying parts for them has changed in that few assemblies are rebuildable and entire assemblies usually must be replaced to sort out a failure. This is the way of just about all modern cars built from the late 1990's onwards and is in stark contrast to the days gone by of car manufacturers willingness to supply small parts and kits to enable repair of larger assemblies. Tis a throw away world now but we still supply as many rebuilding parts as we can.

 These models are getting on with years and usage or non-usage of the car can result in condition and function issues.

1998-2002 Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph cars have 12 cylinder engines and sometimes these engines  have problems with hydraulic pushrod failure. This condition creates a disturbing knocking noise from the cylinder head areas. The solution is to replace the 24 hydraulic pushrods. This job requires the usage of a special tool that we rent to shops that purchase the pushrod set and gaskets. The engine drive belts are likely to be original and ready to break and the front suspension bushings and ball joints should be inspected for wear.  The rear shocks can leak and the front suspension bushes and joints may have wear.

 1998-2010 Bentley Arnage series cars used several different motors depending on year and model.

 The trunk or boot lid on these models use four presurized stays to hold the lid up. When these stays fail, the lid succumbs to gravity. The solution is to replace the four stays.

Sometimes as it is failing, the A/C compressor will create a knocking noise from the clutch or from a compressor that has been running with insufficient oil. The solution is to replace the compressor and dryer.

The power windows can have non-function problems and the usual fix is to replace the regulator assembly as no parts to repair window regulators are supplied for Arnage series.

Arnage power steering racks can and do leak and no parts are supplied by the factory to rebuild them. The repair solution was to replace the rack with a new assembly but new rack assemblies are no longer available. Some racks can be rebuilt. Sometimes power steering hoses leak and the solution is to replace the leaking hose. If one leaks, all are suspect.

The front suspension bushings can and usually are squashed from carrying the great weight of the car and the ball joints and sway bar links usually have wear resulting in sloppy steering.

 Yes we do supply all manner of parts for these models.

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 that is 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" with a lot of spare time and they haunt these 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 devices 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.

 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 did in the movie The Matrix. Knowledge has to be learned the hard way by extensive direct contact, study and making mistakes. 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 and make up a new name and do it again. This a sad thing but it is very real. We have seen a great many used parts sold by on line auction vendors asking twice or many times 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 was keen enough to question this bad advice. Now why anyone would think that brake fluid should be poured into any engine is 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 and these people may also believe that the Sun revolves around the Earth. The fact is that DOT 3 and DOT 4 brake fluid base material is manufactured in train car loads. The base 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 essential for Silver Shadow and Bentley T brake and suspension systems.

  Sometimes when we explain the need for special fluids we find that some people have installed or added non compatible fluids and have contaminated the hydraulic system of the car. 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 Rolls-Royce brake fluid for certian models 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 and don't drink them unless you want to die. 

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 or any ther fluid 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 fluids are the same, run!   If an owner or shop is unsure, call us with the VIN. 

A bottle of the correct green Castrol Plus brake and suspension 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 have a simular appearance in a bottle but does a simular color make them the same?

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. 

As 1980’s and 1990’s Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars mellow through the years, there are a number of parts that should be replaced so you enjoy a long and prosperous life. The following advice is presumed that nothing has been done for a while.

These large heavy cars use very high pressure brake systems that require special fluids. A very common mistake that owners and shops do is to pour the wrong fluids into the wrong places. You would not want to mistake rat poison for a single malt scotch now would you?  Using the wrong fluid is like feeding your car poisen, is deadly to your wallet and is going to cost you a lot of money to sort out properly.  When incompatible fluids such as the brake fluid are added to a system, the fluid mixes with the original fluid and becomes a chemical mess causing premature failure of the brakes and suspension. Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars use a system that circulates and fluid passes through every component in the system.

Car owners should familiarize themselves with the proper fluids and make absolutely sure that any shop working on the car knows what fluid goes where.

A typical Silver Spur, Corniche or Silver Spirit has the following components in the brake and suspension hydraulic system.

1. two fluid reservoirs

2 . 14 to 16 low and high pressure fluid hoses 

3. two brake pumps

4. two brake accumulator valves,

5. two distribution valves

6. G-Valve

7. one or two height valves

8. two pressure valves

9. two rear dampers

10. various fittings and filters

11. a great many metal fluid pipes

12.  four front and two rear brake calipers

None of these parts are cheap so the best way to preserve them is to make sure the fluids you use are correct. Should a cars fluid become contaminated then all of the above parts should be replaced or when kits are available, flushed and rebuilt. All vestiges of contaminated fluid have to be removed for a successful and lasting repair situation. I know of many situations where a car system was contaminated and the owner or whomever was working on the car would call us, find out the financial severity of what they had done by adding wrong fluids and then would simply do nothing other than sell the car on to an unsuspecting buyer.  The next  owner will find the car to have continual brake and suspension failures and leaks.

The cars they are a chang’in

Come gather around cars

wherever they roam

and admit that the brake hoses

are as hard as a bone

and accept it that soon

 old hoses are going to be blown

cause they are rapidly agin’

Please get some new ones

and change them

if your life to you

is worth sav’in

For cars are always agin'

Under Pressure

Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars have very good brakes if the systems are working properly. The survival rate for these cars is quite high as owners enjoy driving the cars but much time has passed for many cars out there and a car will have steadily diminishing performance as cars are not like vintage bottles of wine or senses of humor that sometimes 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 bucket list.

The brake system used for all Silver Cloud and Bentley S series use a combination of hydraulic and mechanical drum brakes with a mechanical brake servo assist mechanism. Depending on year model, there are one or two master cylinders. There are six wheel cylinders. There are five rubber brake hoses and a number of bushings and mounts for the shifter mechanism.

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 metal high pressure lines near the brake accumulators as well. These systems generate and use very high pressure and old hoses are a usual 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 and Silver Spirit series from 1980 onwards have specific reservoir fluid feed hoses and high pressure caliper hoses made to resist the nature of the green fluid. These hoses from cars built in the 1980s and 1990's are usually neglected and it's a good idea to replace the hoses if they are older than eight years. There are many variations best determined with the VIN number.

An old rusty Silver Shadow metal brake pipe that had snapped as a a result of rust and was sent to us for replication seen here with our replacement pipe ready to send back. 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 was probably not accurate.

There are approximately 68 metal alloy high pressure fluid pipes used for the brake and suspension systems on Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow and Bentley T cars 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 end a nice day. On Silver Shadow series, none of the metal pipes are still available and Silver Spur series pipes were not supplied. We do make these pipes though. 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 same 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 that sometimes 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 non original pipes are made of copper, a sure way to achieve unexpected martyrdom by burst fluid pipes as copper pipes are like playing Russian Roulette as copper pipes can have unexpected consequences as they will not take the high pressure of the Rolls-Royce brake system.  Rolls-Royce and all manufacturers use steel alloy pipe for very good reason.

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

Here we found a steel brake fluid pipe held together with duck tape. What can one say about such a thing? 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. If purchasing a car be sure to have a pro check it out beforehand unless you have experience with such things.

 Oh please no. Here we see a pipe union joining copper piping, a very naughty thing with high pressure systems.

Old Flames

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

 Another snap of copper brake death pipes.

Here are the ever so sad brake accumulators missing their support bracket and both are leaking fluid in a major way. One accumulator is missing the high pressure warning placard. This is usually a bad sign.

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, the brake distribution valves, G-Conscious Valve and other components.  Silver Shadows did not use a brake master cylinder after 1975. 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 automobile.

Brake pumps, accumulators, height control valves, level valves, restrictor valves and magic paint.

Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars use two brake pumps to power the hydraulic systems that use RR363 fluid on cars built from 1966-1980. These pumps are no longer supplied as complete new assemblies and the original pumps must be rebuilt. These pump assemblies contain many parts such as the actual pump mechanism, several springs, several valves and valve parts, collars, special washers and spacers, rubber seals and more. The above photo shows a sub assembly part of a brake pump that is called the “assembly plunger and barrel”.  This is the actual part of the brake pump assembly that pumps the fluid and it has no rubber parts as there are no rubber parts in the pumps that have to do with pumping fluid. The rubber parts in these pumps are for sealing purposes that keep the RR363 fluid inside the pumps. When pumps leak they can be re-sealed with a seal kit. This sealing process should not be confused with the work and parts required for rebuilding a pump as sealing a pump and rebuilding a pump are very different jobs.

When we rebuild a pump, we usually replace the plunger and barrel as this hard working assembly is usually worn out unless the pump has been little used such as on very low mileage vintage cars that suffer other problems from being low mileage vintage cars.   At the time of this writing the plunger and barrel costs around $800.00.  An average selection of the rest of the usual parts required to do a good lasting rebuild costs around $258.00 per pump. This makes the average parts cost around $1058.00 and this figure depends on condition.

There are firms that offer “rebuilt” brake pumps for around $400.00 or less. The question is how can the thing be rebuilt for $400.00 when the parts alone cost over 2 times that amount?  The answer is straightforward as rebuilding something without replacing worn or critical parts and instead refitting old used worn parts that may be in a little better shape or using no new parts will make a big difference in cost and result in what?  However, one of the oldest games is to place a very low price on something and call it something it is not.  We have seen many things rebuilt with a nice coat of magic paint.

Rebuilding brake accumulators that use RR363 fluid are the same sort of job. There are many intricate parts inside the valves and spheres and over time these parts deteriorate from exposure to old contaminated brake fluid.  The little parts get pitted and corroded. This system has not been used since 1980 so the parts are at least 36 years old  and if someone rebuilds an accumulator assembly and does not replace old tired parts then the “rebuilt” accumulator can be sold quite cheaply. We do our best to rebuild them to last.

The rear suspension level valves that use RR363 need rebuilding from time to time usually when they leak. There are intricate parts within the valves that deteriorate and pit from exposure to old contaminated brake fluid. On some unfortunate cars we have found the supply pipes to these valves have been blocked with ball bearings or the pipes have been purposely smashed flat or the pipes have been severed and plugged.  Likely cause of this sort of abuse is a height valve that leaked and someone decided to kill the rear hydraulic suspension rather than repair it.  This sort of thing stops the rear suspension height system from working and the car hangs down low in the rear. The car rides poorly and looks like a small elephant is in the trunk. We rebuild these valves as well.

The restrictor valves contain a number of small intricate parts that reduce brake pressure to the level valves. If these valves not working properly the level valve seals will; blow and or the brake accumulators will be damaged. We have found inside parts on these valves to be rusted together in a lump from old brake fluid exposure and we have found them to have missing parts from someone fooling around and the car was seriously diminished.

Brake fluid Mulligan Stew

The innards of two Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow brake accumulator spheres each from two different Silver Shadow cars that show the goop glop sludge crap that develops from mixing various brake fluids with air borne 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 found in a pair of 1980 Rolls-Royce 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. 

S = av²        Sphere = accumulator valve squared

(There are two on each car)

Thanks to Albert Einstein. 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 bargain "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. 

 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 simply resealing an accumulator, charging valve or brake pump and performing a proper complete rebuild. 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 will tell us that "someone else" rebuilds them for a fixed price for less money. Well that is ok we say.

 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 botched 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 to do if the car owners wants to live. 

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 to beat on the accumulators.  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 to not do so unless all the proper tools are at hand and an experienced eye is 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. Heavy 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 sealing 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 won't seal against the pits 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 that feeds the brakes and suspension must circulate yet pressures must be restricted to the height control system.  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 cease flowing. As the fluid is not circulating due to clogged or seized restrictor valves, the pressure essentially backs up and damages a delicate sealing parts 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 and the job has to be partially redone.

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 and this part inside the inner assembly actually does the pumping work. 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 $300.-400. Again, there is no fixed definition of what rebuilt means. It is simply not possible to rebuild a brake pump with the new proper parts required for $300.-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 a low grade rebuilding process should not be expected to last for very long. Even the great and powerful powers of wishful thinking and self deception cannot overcome physical obstacles like excessively worn clearances. If a brake pump is merely leaking fluid, the pump does not need a rebuild but does require re-sealing and perhaps a new sleeve. We supply an inexpensive reseal kit for this purpose and this kit is all some pumps require.  Many pumps just need a reseal when they leak 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. Properly rebuilt pumps deliver proper pressure and what a marked improvement rebuilt pumpsand  accumulators do for the brakes on a 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 assemblies.

Here are a couple of our rebuilt brake 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! 

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

Bentley factory Hydraulic pressure testing tool for 1980-1998 Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars using the green fluid and is not for RR363 fluid cars.

This special tool uses special software and a group of sensors that attach to various pressure points. It creates a virtual set of pressure gauges on a laptop display that reads live brake and suspension pressures. The tool allows accurate pressure setting of the level valves and greatly helps solving difficult brake and suspension hydraulic problems.  Without this tool it is nessesary to consult a rectal database and these are variable. Very few shops possess this tool as it had a cost well over $5000.00 years ago and is no longer made. We do have one of these tools in our workshop but due to the rarity and value, we do not loan it out.

These photos show the tool engaged on a 1996 Bentley.