Have you seen Number27's episode on cars that will ruin you....?
and he's now gone and bought one too...
Eb
Yeah lol, i did all the research , and i wasnt even looking for one which in all intense and purposes was absolutely insane and a big NO NO and against all my better judgements ,that I came across a very pretty one on Copart which was live and in progress and ended up actually pulling the trigger without actually viewing the car , that caused a few days of lumpy throat syndrome i can tell you. Anyway car arrived on the back of a trailer and looked a completely different colour more a bronze than silver , as it ( the trailer )reversed into the garage my throat which was as dry as the Mohave dessert by this time started to moisten as the car turned a bluey pink .............yes its pearlescent and then i saw the mulliner interior and the cloth roof looked in pretty dammmm good condition .
Mixed feelings at this time I can tell you , all sorts running through my mind excitement and what the fk have i got myself into thoughts were running amok , after first light inspection I was happy that the body damage shown was as little as the photo s ...good sign and with pinkies crossed .....opened the boot to find an array of boot covers off, carpets up and nuts and bolts everywhere gulp, Ignition switched on showed a various array of dashlights ................back to more arrrse twitching so I decided to lock it away for the night and approach it with a clean objective mind in the morning.
Bit of a sleepless night goes without saying , so out I trot opened the garage to see that the colour had returned to silver again in good daylight, took out all the loose bits and labelled and listed them , behind the batteries , there are two of them each side in the rear wing compartments both loose .....they had been out and not replaced correctly .......tools readied and a couple of hours later we had the front offside wing off and the bumper and the headlight , which exposed very minor damage behind the wing ....fortunately oil cooler and auxillary radiator minor damage ......that was it I thought or rather hoped that was it . Got on the blower to Mark ( Maf 260 ) who was a great help and pointed me in a few good helpful directions ,After calling flying spurs parts it was obvious I was about to have my pants truly taken down , so i did what i do best and started trolling the net and picking peoples brains ....researching local body shops .......yes I had moved again and my good guy back in Milton Keynes would have taken it on but logistics just added to extra expense and more difficulties so I eventually found a guy who did a lot of Bentley work who informed me the wings are particularly difficult to work with on the 2nd generation as they were all in one piece unlike the first generation which was smaller and split at the headlights. basically very difficult to rework because of the thinness of the alluminium .....so new wing at £4k plus vat a pop , headlight £3k a pop, so yes daunting at this stage .
Managed to buy a wing from Poland and a headlight from Brighton and new oil cooler aux/rad from audi direct same as on the RS all for under £2k , bought new batteries wheels refurbed and new set of tyres £1900 to have it painted and re fitted up .................when we went to test the roof ......nothing nada , my guy checked it out and quite obvious it became apparent someone had nicked the boot drive motor which has to signal the right conditions for the roof to open , sods law the GTC boot motors like hens teeth and have had past issues and not made any more factory went bankrupt during covid .....refurbed one when you can get one are £1200 plus vat .....................not that you would notice I have a jury rigged GT one that at least works and will do the job for now until the correct one becomes available .
My tech guy was then happy to start the car having given it the once over and filled new oil , she purred into life like a dream ......but once warm a very slight tappet like noise on revving , he knew what it was straight away .......fortunately only one turbo bearing was worn ..............so we removed them both sent them to be refurbed and upgraded with the latest oil line system , different car once they were refitted ......and she now purrs like a kitten ..............and looks a million dollars ............what could have been a nightmare has thus far turned into a good experience if not an adrenaline pumping one ..........not the V12 this is the twin turbo 4 litre , just as quick but not as juicy
