Barry's convertible

[Shawn Newcomb]

Barry,
Today I was listening to a review of the new Bentley Continental and they were talking about the changes made to the existing car to accomodate a drop top model. Apparently, in addition to strengthening the chassis like was done to your car, they also had to rework the entire back seat area to the extent that the same rear seat isn't shared with the hardtop anymore.
This brought your car to mind and I wondered if your car differs from ours in any other ways besides the top goes down and you have additional chassis bracing.
Does your top intrude into the original trunk area?
If your car has air conditioning was the unit relocated from behind the rear seat to make room for the folded top et al?
Was your back seat modified in a noticeable manner? Would your seat still be interchangeable with any other?
Were the quarters modified at all?
Was your deck lid modified?

[Barry Wolk]

Barry,

Does your top intrude into the original trunk area?

No, but the air conditioning does. The top drops into the area where the a/c goes. When the metal boot was installed on my car in '66 the car had an under-dash a/c unit. When they installed the boot the top-stack was too tall so they removed the hydraulics, dropping the stack by removing the pistons. The restorer saw the holes left from the compressor and relays and thought it had had a trunk-mount unit and installed one where the hydraulic compressor used to be.

The frame was strengthened by installing 1/4" plate steel to the underside of the frame rails and "X" bracing to the "A" and "B" pillar. The convertible top mounts to posts that are independent of the body.

If your car has air conditioning was the unit relocated from behind the rear seat to make room for the folded top et al?

See above.

Was your back seat modified in a noticeable manner? Would your seat still be interchangeable with any other?

The seat was narrowed, but, unlike the Derham car, the center arm rest was retained.

Were the quarters modified at all?
Was your deck lid modified?

No, and no.


Any more ????????????????????????????????? I love answering them, if I can.

[Shawn Newcomb]

Thanks for answering.
I understand from some previous thread that you keep the top down which ALWAYS looks best anyhow. It is disappionting to see convertibles with tops that the owners refuse to ever put down to avoid wrinkles. Oh well...
Without the hydraulics is the top operating manually now?
I wonder if your car ever had the fender scoops and they were removed because you wouldn't want the air and water directed into a folded top or boot? And simply blocking them or the hoses off would've looked haphazard.
Were the armrests retained/relocated with the ashtray/lighter and window switches?
I'll assume they built the x-bracing around the driveline and the two piece driveshaft aided them.

[Barry Wolk]

The transmission sits above the frame, leaving plenty of room for 1 1/2" tubes welded to the center of the frame member.

My car and C5681120 were both non-air cars so there were no nostrils. Too bad, I think that's one of the most attractive design cues on the car.

The article that Dennis Adler wrote in 1978 shows my car when it was British Racing Green, with a tan top. It shows an underdash a/c unit and the underhood picture shows one of the lines going through the firewall behind the battery.

There are no armrests nor window switches because it has no quarter windows, like the original Continental. With the to up it has a 3 1/2 foot blind spot on both sides. I think it is ungainly with the top up. Blech!

[Shawn Newcomb]

WOW! I didn't realize you had no quarter windows. (never read the referenced article. can you tell?) That is the biggest shocker of them all to me. A six window hardtop car with a convertible variant usually retains the windows. WOW!

I wonder if the there was a specific reason for doing away with the windows or if it was simply the look they were after. The original Continental certainly did have that top. And the "Carson-style" tops had a similar look and were a popular mod to hot rods back then too I believe.

I bet the riding in a narrowed rear seat with that top up was clausterphobic and while they were having nicotine withdrawals to boot!

It has been years and I'm still not sure if I like the nostrils or not. I striking feature indeed...but...it is the split in the middle that gives me pause. I think I might like them better undivided as a scoop better...That said, I have never seen them in person to really study them from any angle to make up my mind. Most pictures that I've seen aren't from an angle that shows more than the outside nostril. Those that do generally are closeups so I can't see the whole of the vehicle.

[Barry Wolk]

The back of the window is cut to match the rake of the original Conti.

http://memimage.cardomain.com/ride_images/1/1361/1921/3400960003_large.jpg

[Shawn Newcomb]

I've read the materials and am up to speed on the convertibles now. I see some of my questions were already answered in the text. Quite an ordeal you went through...unless you enjoy that kind of thing. Barry against the world.

I am still amazed at how dramatically the car is changed with the top up or down. It is like two different cars.

[Barry Wolk]

It's not an ordeal, it's a quest.

To that end, Willard Hess' daughter is reviewing what's left of the H & E files for further documentation on my car and C5681120.

[Shawn Newcomb]

That is a better way to look at it. I see you are a glass 1/2 full kind of guy. I need to work on that...

[Shawn Newcomb]

Thanks for posting the picture with the top up. That top isn't so different from your Porsche is it? Except in scale I guess. Is the rear window glass or plastic? Rectangle or oval? Large or small?

[Barry Wolk]

Here's one of the few pictures that exist of the car with the top up. This was taken at Motor Muster in '07. Somebody posted it wondering why we had the top up. We had to rush home as a friend was supposed to let our black Lab out while we were gone and they let him out the wrong door and he ran like the wind. We buttoned up both cars and headed home to start the search.

Five hours later we caught him chasing geese. He had finally tired himself out.

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg18/barry2952/1%20Mark%20II%20docs/3382999001_30bfd2ee36.jpg

[Chuck Lutz]

I'm posting this cuz he said I could :)
One of the many things I thought was interesting about this car and the conversion was that the rear windows were kept in tact. No, it's not an original color but somehow it "works" :)
One of these days we'll get him to participate here. He is a member and a fun car nut.

[Barry Wolk]

Sure helps visibility, but loses that "Continental" roof line.

[Shawn Newcomb]

This was the profile I had pictured in my mind before Barry posted the pictures of his car with the top up. This top doesn't really pay homage to the original Continental, but it does accurately reflect the roofline of the Mark II.

[Barry Wolk]

The Derham convertible didn't have quarter windows, either.

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg18/barry2952/1%20Mark%20II%20docs/3400960135_large.jpg

[crystal59]

Here's one of the few pictures that exist of the car with the top up. This was taken at Motor Muster in '07. Somebody posted it wondering why we had the top up. We had to rush home as a friend was supposed to let our black Lab out while we were gone and they let him out the wrong door and he ran like the wind. We buttoned up both cars and headed home to start the search.

Five hours later we caught him chasing geese. He had finally tired himself out.

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg18/barry2952/1%20Mark%20II%20docs/3382999001_30bfd2ee36.jpg

Barry. I am not trying to derail this thread as I love your Mark II but your story about your black lab touched my heart. I can imagine your wife and you driving home with grim faces and hoping everything is all right while your 'puppy' is having the time of his life. We have all been there and they become cherished memories. We were on holidays when my mother phoned and said a fence fell on our Gordon Setter. End of holiday mode. He was bruised but fully recovered. It reminded me of the time our Gordon Setter saw his first pheasant that wandered into our yard. He took the pointer full stance with the nose pointed and the right leg bent. Then he looked down at his leg and wondered what he was doing and became our 'puppy' again. A cherished memory. Barry started a thread on naming our fur kids but it would be terrific to hear members stories on how they touched their hearts.

[Barry Wolk]

I was surprised that that thread didn't take off. Similar threads have been very popular elsewhere. :confused:

[crystal59]

I was surprised that that thread didn't take off. Similar threads have been very popular elsewhere. :confused:

Yeah, me too. On that thread several pets were posted and there must be heart warming stories there. Mark IIs and pet stories should go hand in hand. Oh well.