Rolls Royce Phantom II Continental Restoration

Ragtop · 10th January 2013, 12:43

I would like to share with you, in pictures and just a few words, this incredible, and sometimes frustrating journey that we have undertaken to restore our 1935 Rolls Royce Phantom II Continental back to its original glory. The internet has been an invaluable resource throughout this effort for a majority of our research. It has got us out of many a dead end and I thought it only fair to share our journey via this medium so others may benefit from us just as we learned from them.

The ultimate goal is to restore the car to a state as close to original as possible, including the original paint scheme (which I had serious misgivings about). Did we succeed? You be the judge. While the attached images provide a glimpse into the restoration process, it is by no measure a complete representation of what was done. A huge number of sub-assembly’s were taken apart, restored and rebuilt. A myriad of parts had to be sourced, manufactured, rebuilt or repaired, hours of research were carried out to get information about how it should be done, many hours were spent on the phone with international restorers to get their knowhow etc. The entire job has taken the better part of a year and is still incomplete.

In its 75+ years, this car has never been through a restoration of this magnitude. The Build Sheet states that the car was originally green on cream which was verified by remnants of this combination that we uncovered on various body parts. To the best of my knowledge, the car was repainted to a dark green sometime in the 50’s. It was repainted to a sand and sable combination in the early to mid 60’s and had the interior leather replaced to Black. Then in the 80’s, the car was repainted again to the black/cream combo as seen in the pictures and the interior was changed to red leather. In 2003, we gave the car an overcoat of paint and redid the interior to tan leather. Finally in 2008, the engine went through its first rebuild to replace a worn camshaft. And now.....THIS...

We obviously checked out images of loads of concours level cars from around the world to get a sense for the quality and finish that we were aspiring for. We had long discussions as to what we would have to do to the various parts and sub-assemblies to achieve that goal. During these discussions, I felt like some of the work that we would have to do would entail actually sanding/grinding down layers of metal before re-chroming or painting to get the desired surface finish. I was truly opposed to this. While I did want to have a car that looked great at the end of this exercise, I also wanted to ensure that this effort did not jeopardize the longevity of the metal or the car for the sake of short term benefits. Also, this is a 75 year old car and I believe that if some of the pieces look old, that is fine with me. I believe that a little pitting on some bits and minor dents on others adds character to the car as opposed to having a car that looks out of place and newer than it probably looked when it left the factory. And finally, once the car is complete, my goal is to use the car regularly like I always have so I really wanted everything to be as robust as possible. This philosophy influenced some of our decisions when it came to restoring some components like the starter, the dynamo, the firewall etc.

I will be happy to answer any questions about the restoration or any myths about this car that have been discussed elsewhere on this forum, however, I will not answer any questions related to the costs associated with this project.

A huge thanks to Marespand Dadachandji and his team. Without his help, dedication and attention to detail, this would not have been possible.

To help us along, we used the original build sheet which I happened to have a copy of. We cross checked all of the serial numbers as shown in the build sheet and everything in the car matched! - More to follow....

ajmat · 10th January 2013, 18:18

This sounds really exciting, we look forward to your sharing your experience

Bulldogji · 10th January 2013, 19:37

Hi Amir, will you be posting pictures of before and after? A photo journey, step by step, would be very informative. Your dedication coupled with maraspand's hard work will certainly result in a show stopper. I believe Jehangir had a large role to play on the mechanical side ? That is one area where we have very few chaps, willing to work on these gems. Congratulations in advance for Pebble Beach 2013.

KPS · 10th January 2013, 20:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ragtop

I would like to share with you, in pictures and just a few words, this incredible, and sometimes frustrating journey that we have undertaken to restore our 1935 Rolls Royce Phantom II Continental back to its original glory.

Thank you for being king enough to share this restoration project. Very few have the chance of witnessing a full blooded restoration of a RR and I guess all of us would are excited at this thread.

We look forward for your regular updates .....

Cheers

KPS

Ragtop · 10th January 2013, 21:12

Thanks to all, I will try and make it as informative as possible. Bullgodji, you are getting a little ahead of yourself! yes I do plan on posting before and during pictures for sure, but after....that will be a while.

Bulldogji · 10th January 2013, 21:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ragtop

Thanks to all, I will try and make it as informative as possible. Bullgodji, you are getting a little ahead of yourself! yes I do plan on posting before and during pictures for sure, but after....that will be a while.

My apologies, But your restorer has told one and all that the car was being prepared for Pebble Beach

The history, coupled with your dedicated efforts will surely bring home recognition. maybe the same that a 20 hp got in 2012

Ragtop · 11th January 2013, 09:43

Before getting into the restoration process, here is a glimpse into what the car was originally meant to be and its various avatars since manufacture:

Gurney Nutting artists rendition of what the car would look like once the coachwork was completed.

Just to put things in perspective, the car was in good, working condition (good enough to make it to Mahableshwar and back in early 2012) before we began work but was definitely rough around the edges. . All of the various sub-assemblies and systems were working, however, as you will see from the before images, the overall condition of the car left something to be desired. Here are some images before work began:
Pic taken by B. S. Motoring (2003):

Ragtop · 11th January 2013, 10:13

Pic taken by B. S. Motoring (2003)

Rolls Royce Phantom II Continental Restoration-6_800x532.jpg

At the Mumbai classic car drive in Jan 12:

Rolls Royce Phantom II Continental Restoration-img_0053_450x600.jpg

Some interior shots:

Rolls Royce Phantom II Continental Restoration-dsc_0113_800x531.jpg

Rolls Royce Phantom II Continental Restoration-dsc_0115_800x531.jpg

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bulldogji

Hi Amir, will you be posting pictures of before and after? A photo journey, step by step, would be very informative. Your dedication coupled with maraspand's hard work will certainly result in a show stopper. I believe Jehangir had a large role to play on the mechanical side ? That is one area where we have very few chaps, willing to work on these gems. Congratulations in advance for Pebble Beach 2013.

Yes Jehangir and his team did help out tremendously with the mechanicals, dismantling and reassembly and some repairs. Fortunately, we had completed a full engine restoration just a couple of years back so we skipped that step entirely this time around.

Ragtop · 11th January 2013, 10:25

Some Engine bay shots (2012) – Some of the electricals and peripheral parts have already been opened.

Rolls Royce Phantom II Continental Restoration-img_0209_450x600.jpg

Rolls Royce Phantom II Continental Restoration-img_0210_800x600.jpg

Rolls Royce Phantom II Continental Restoration-img_0211_800x600.jpg

Bulldogji · 11th January 2013, 11:24

The car looked stunning when she came to Mahableshwar and drove they way she was meant to, sporty , to say the least. One could tell that this was a car in regular use, not trotted out like a prized filly at shows. With this most recent restoration, a new level of excellence is likely to be set, for all of us to strive to achieve. I am particularly interested to see pictures of work in progress as I know of another car undergoing a similar restoration, done by a friend with equal dedication. Gurney nutting coachwork remains my favourite, this particular design being one of the most stunning styles I have seen. The car is extremely fortunate to be in the hands of the Jetha family.

harit · 11th January 2013, 12:09

Hi Ragtop,

Here is a rare picture of your car taken at the Bombay rally in 1968. Hope you like.

Image taken from an old publication, enlarged and hence grainy.

See that Packard next to it? Where is it now

Cheers harit

jubin · 11th January 2013, 12:10

just sharing a pic of me with this very car
a couple of years ago at a VCCCI Rally held in the kala ghoda parking lot and the then Commissioner A.N Roy was the Chief Guest.

Bulldogji · 11th January 2013, 12:40

The Gurney Nutting picture, green/cream shows rear wheel skirts. I believe sometimes the cars rolled out of the coachworks slightly different from these pictures, they being an artists rendition. Amir, did she ever have these skirts? Are you planning to put them ? Will she get full wheel discs, hiding the spokes? I may be wrong but I dont think the skirts were finally put on the car. Somewhere in my mess I have an old book on gurney nutting bodies. This beautiful example is pictured, minus the skirts.

Ragtop · 11th January 2013, 13:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bulldogji

The Gurney Nutting picture, green/cream shows rear wheel skirts. I believe sometimes the cars rolled out of the coachworks slightly different from these pictures, they being an artists rendition. Amir, did she ever have these skirts? Are you planning to put them ? Will she get full wheel discs, hiding the spokes? I may be wrong but I dont think the skirts were finally put on the car. Somewhere in my mess I have an old book on gurney nutting bodies. This beautiful example is pictured, minus the skirts.

Bulldogji - hold your horses, all will be revealed in due course...

speedmiester · 11th January 2013, 13:19

Great thread. Thanks for sharing.
The car looks very majestic in it's own way.
I love old Rolls Royce's. They have a certain charm that the modern Rolls cannot match.

Please share more details of the restoration with pictures of work in progress.

10th January 2013, 12:43	#1
Ragtop BHPian Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Mumbai Posts: 90 Thanked: 248 Times	Rolls Royce Phantom II Continental Restoration I would like to share with you, in pictures and just a few words, this incredible, and sometimes frustrating journey that we have undertaken to restore our 1935 Rolls Royce Phantom II Continental back to its original glory. The internet has been an invaluable resource throughout this effort for a majority of our research. It has got us out of many a dead end and I thought it only fair to share our journey via this medium so others may benefit from us just as we learned from them. The ultimate goal is to restore the car to a state as close to original as possible, including the original paint scheme (which I had serious misgivings about). Did we succeed? You be the judge. While the attached images provide a glimpse into the restoration process, it is by no measure a complete representation of what was done. A huge number of sub-assembly’s were taken apart, restored and rebuilt. A myriad of parts had to be sourced, manufactured, rebuilt or repaired, hours of research were carried out to get information about how it should be done, many hours were spent on the phone with international restorers to get their knowhow etc. The entire job has taken the better part of a year and is still incomplete. In its 75+ years, this car has never been through a restoration of this magnitude. The Build Sheet states that the car was originally green on cream which was verified by remnants of this combination that we uncovered on various body parts. To the best of my knowledge, the car was repainted to a dark green sometime in the 50’s. It was repainted to a sand and sable combination in the early to mid 60’s and had the interior leather replaced to Black. Then in the 80’s, the car was repainted again to the black/cream combo as seen in the pictures and the interior was changed to red leather. In 2003, we gave the car an overcoat of paint and redid the interior to tan leather. Finally in 2008, the engine went through its first rebuild to replace a worn camshaft. And now.....THIS... We obviously checked out images of loads of concours level cars from around the world to get a sense for the quality and finish that we were aspiring for. We had long discussions as to what we would have to do to the various parts and sub-assemblies to achieve that goal. During these discussions, I felt like some of the work that we would have to do would entail actually sanding/grinding down layers of metal before re-chroming or painting to get the desired surface finish. I was truly opposed to this. While I did want to have a car that looked great at the end of this exercise, I also wanted to ensure that this effort did not jeopardize the longevity of the metal or the car for the sake of short term benefits. Also, this is a 75 year old car and I believe that if some of the pieces look old, that is fine with me. I believe that a little pitting on some bits and minor dents on others adds character to the car as opposed to having a car that looks out of place and newer than it probably looked when it left the factory. And finally, once the car is complete, my goal is to use the car regularly like I always have so I really wanted everything to be as robust as possible. This philosophy influenced some of our decisions when it came to restoring some components like the starter, the dynamo, the firewall etc. I will be happy to answer any questions about the restoration or any myths about this car that have been discussed elsewhere on this forum, however, I will not answer any questions related to the costs associated with this project. A huge thanks to Marespand Dadachandji and his team. Without his help, dedication and attention to detail, this would not have been possible. To help us along, we used the original build sheet which I happened to have a copy of. We cross checked all of the serial numbers as shown in the build sheet and everything in the car matched! - More to follow.... Attached Thumbnails
	(29) Thanks

10th January 2013, 18:18	#2
ajmat Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 14,858 Thanked: 27,925 Times View My Garage	Re: Rolls Royce Phantom II Continental Restoration This sounds really exciting, we look forward to your sharing your experience
	() Thanks

10th January 2013, 19:37	#3
Bulldogji BHPian Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: planet earth Posts: 888 Thanked: 1,188 Times	Re: Rolls Royce Phantom II Continental Restoration Hi Amir, will you be posting pictures of before and after? A photo journey, step by step, would be very informative. Your dedication coupled with maraspand's hard work will certainly result in a show stopper. I believe Jehangir had a large role to play on the mechanical side ? That is one area where we have very few chaps, willing to work on these gems. Congratulations in advance for Pebble Beach 2013.
	() Thanks

10th January 2013, 21:12	#5
Ragtop BHPian Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Mumbai Posts: 90 Thanked: 248 Times	Re: Rolls Royce Phantom II Continental Restoration Thanks to all, I will try and make it as informative as possible. Bullgodji, you are getting a little ahead of yourself! yes I do plan on posting before and during pictures for sure, but after....that will be a while.
	() Thanks

11th January 2013, 09:43	#7
Ragtop BHPian Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Mumbai Posts: 90 Thanked: 248 Times	Re: Rolls Royce Phantom II Continental Restoration Before getting into the restoration process, here is a glimpse into what the car was originally meant to be and its various avatars since manufacture: Gurney Nutting artists rendition of what the car would look like once the coachwork was completed. Just to put things in perspective, the car was in good, working condition (good enough to make it to Mahableshwar and back in early 2012) before we began work but was definitely rough around the edges. . All of the various sub-assemblies and systems were working, however, as you will see from the before images, the overall condition of the car left something to be desired. Here are some images before work began: Pic taken by B. S. Motoring (2003): Attached Thumbnails Last edited by moralfibre : 11th January 2013 at 11:40. Reason: Removing font tags.
	(6) Thanks

11th January 2013, 10:25	#9
Ragtop BHPian Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Mumbai Posts: 90 Thanked: 248 Times	Re: Rolls Royce Phantom II Continental Restoration Some Engine bay shots (2012) – Some of the electricals and peripheral parts have already been opened. Last edited by moralfibre : 11th January 2013 at 11:41. Reason: Removing font tags.
	(9) Thanks

11th January 2013, 11:24	#10
Bulldogji BHPian Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: planet earth Posts: 888 Thanked: 1,188 Times	Re: Rolls Royce Phantom II Continental Restoration The car looked stunning when she came to Mahableshwar and drove they way she was meant to, sporty , to say the least. One could tell that this was a car in regular use, not trotted out like a prized filly at shows. With this most recent restoration, a new level of excellence is likely to be set, for all of us to strive to achieve. I am particularly interested to see pictures of work in progress as I know of another car undergoing a similar restoration, done by a friend with equal dedication. Gurney nutting coachwork remains my favourite, this particular design being one of the most stunning styles I have seen. The car is extremely fortunate to be in the hands of the Jetha family.
	(2) Thanks

11th January 2013, 12:09	#11
harit Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Mumbai Posts: 4,033 Thanked: 3,281 Times	Re: Rolls Royce Phantom II Continental Restoration Hi Ragtop, Here is a rare picture of your car taken at the Bombay rally in 1968. Hope you like. Image taken from an old publication, enlarged and hence grainy. See that Packard next to it? Where is it now Cheers harit Attached Thumbnails Last edited by harit : 11th January 2013 at 12:10.
	(7) Thanks

11th January 2013, 12:10	#12
jubin BHPian Join Date: May 2008 Location: mumbai Posts: 164 Thanked: 74 Times View My Garage	Re: Rolls Royce Phantom II Continental Restoration just sharing a pic of me with this very car a couple of years ago at a VCCCI Rally held in the kala ghoda parking lot and the then Commissioner A.N Roy was the Chief Guest. Attached Thumbnails
	(7) Thanks

11th January 2013, 12:40	#13
Bulldogji BHPian Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: planet earth Posts: 888 Thanked: 1,188 Times	Re: Rolls Royce Phantom II Continental Restoration The Gurney Nutting picture, green/cream shows rear wheel skirts. I believe sometimes the cars rolled out of the coachworks slightly different from these pictures, they being an artists rendition. Amir, did she ever have these skirts? Are you planning to put them ? Will she get full wheel discs, hiding the spokes? I may be wrong but I dont think the skirts were finally put on the car. Somewhere in my mess I have an old book on gurney nutting bodies. This beautiful example is pictured, minus the skirts.
	() Thanks

11th January 2013, 13:19	#15
speedmiester Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: bangalore Posts: 2,387 Thanked: 6,630 Times	Re: Rolls Royce Phantom II Continental Restoration Great thread. Thanks for sharing. The car looks very majestic in it's own way. I love old Rolls Royce's. They have a certain charm that the modern Rolls cannot match. Please share more details of the restoration with pictures of work in progress.
	() Thanks