A TCL First? '67 Rolls Royce project thread...

8 minute(s) of a 242 minute read

after '65 in the US, and after '67 everywhere else, they used the GM turbo transmissions... up until sometime in the 80s if memory serves. these were all 3spds, and theyre definitely the one to get.
otherwise they used a RR 4spd licensed from GM, but made by RR, thats the one weve got. it resembles an old GM hydra used in the 50s, but this one is a 4spd. the transmissions are rare, the parts are even more rare, and theyre relatively fragile.

we could have been back on the road for a couple hundred bucks if this were the GM turbo trans

has an electric shift box on it that actually runs the transmission (along with numerous levers and linkage bits for the kickdown, etc) that would need to be replaced with the later style, and as ours is a right hand drive car we would need basically an entire RHD parts car with the later trans... parts would include the column, gear indicator stuff, new electronic shift box, harness for the shift box, linkages on the carbs, transmission, driveshaft, shift box, new flex plate, etc etc

more trouble than its worth without having a RHD parts car... the 4spd trans are out there, theyre just rare

2-23-2011

another quick update, got some good condition early bumpers headed our way, along with some other misc parts ive been working for a while to track down - namely a new intake boot!

we made the executive decision to have the good trans we got in a few weeks ago completely gone through. new cltuches, seals, etc. when we put this thing together we dont want to have to take it apart again for another 50 years


ill post some pictures of the new parts when we start getting stuff in

im running into some confusion with the mirrors that should have been on this car (before it was federalized)... ill have to take a couple pictures of what ive got and post them on RROC, as ive found i think 4 or 5 different variations of mirrors on these cars and im not sure whether they were all available and were picked by the owners as options or whether it was a year to year difference.

im headed out to the shop tonight but ill post pictures of the door mounted square crap that weve got, the holes that are left over on our window trim from the small round mirrors that i presume the car used to have... and then the couple of pictures ive found online of other early shadows and what they appear to have.
lots of confusion

my hope is to try to track down the round door mounted (and adjustable from the interior) ones ive managed to find pictures of online, but havent checked for prices or availability.

im certain that this car shipped with window frame mounted non adjustable mirrors, but someone added these interior adjustable square ones at some point - and whacked holes in the door trim (for the adjusters) and in the doors. so were hoping to use the holes that theyve made to mount the smaller round mirrors...

itll all make more sense with pictures i think

thats what im thinking as well... but now that weve got holes in the wood work and the doors, my thought is to at least attempt to reuse them, if i can get my hands on two of the round door mounted style.

anyway, onto the pictures!

heres us (both sides of the car are the same):

the original holes:

and i didnt take shots but theres a hole through each front door wood piece for the adjustment knob to poke through...

heres a RHD '67 with the fender mounted setup - which seems to follow most of the other RHD '67s ive seen


and finally heres a RHD '76 with a combo of both the window mounted and door mounted round mirrors:



like i said my hope is to find a left and right version of the round door mounted style that are adjustable from inside - as seen on the driver's side of the RHD '76, so that we can reuse the holes in the wood and doors that someone so kindly drilled in our car...
something like this guy:

(currently on ebay, description says euro spec '75)


im going to bug the brainiacs at RROC about this also, but figured this might make an interesting discussion here too
chrome bumpers shipped today... so pictures are on their way soon

2-24-2011

yeah i think so, also getting our hands on non-drilled window frames is easy because thats the most common configuration - since the later more common cars had door mounted mirrors.

and according to the handful of folks whove responded apparently there were 4 different types of mirrors available in the 60s, each being available in either a single on the drivers side or a dual mirror configuration depending on how it was ordered. among those 4 types the door mounted adjustable round mirror was an option.
now to hunt down a pair!

3-15-2011

all kinds of parts sitting at the shop now, including 3 bumpers

so far got the front bumper on loose to make adjustments to the fitment... need to take a couple of pictures as it looks 100% better already and we havent even swapped up the mirrors

after removing the old bumpers i found a couple places that need some touching up underneath but it should look great afterwards

3-22-2011

couple shots of the front (havent had time to fit the rear)





keep in mind that its not really mounted but just finger tight... still need to adjust/center/level it

4-25-2011

another month, another update

trans should be a couple weeks out now, most of the way reassembled and just waiting on a couple more odds and ends to get it buttoned up.

4-26-2011

still need to track down an intake hose bracket, intake hose, and the battery cover for the trunk. over the last month or so ive managed to get the proper washer bottle, washer motor, and bottle bracket. also got a whole shifter assembly so i can replace the cracked shifter handle that weve got, and a new rear mirror to replace one of the flaking ones weve got...

next projects before the trans comes back are getting the bumpers all sorted out, hiding some of the wiring in the rear that the chrome rear bumper doesnt have provisions for, and touching up some of the paint up front behind the bumper.

i might have time to wrap up the bumpers this weekend, but i need a few dry days to finish painting the brackets.

5-1-2011

theres a jag replacement that fits and is about 10x cheaper than the identical rolls branded fan clutch. the indy shop was probably smart enough to lead him toward the cheaper part

also... theres an early 90s turbo bentley for sale on RROC right now as well. those are MUCH more expensive to run. the guy on there has also posted his costs (dealer serviced with original bentley parts) and its approaching 6 figures as i recall... just since the late 90s. big money