Project Silver Shadow

Last month, Colbrook Specialists identified major suspension and braking system faults on Dan’s Silver Shadow II, but what of the engine and gearbox?

The car’s first drive in two years throws up another load of trouble.

Regular readers will recall the power steering fluid loss I reported in my last Classics Monthly project progress report. My Silver Shadow II had dumped its red lubricant all over my driveway. The cause of the problem was subsequently identified as being a missing power steering system lubricant cooler, a thin-finned radiator located behind the car’s regal front grille. I can only assume the presence of a crude joiner pipe linking the inlet and outlet of what should have been feeding the cooler suggests the original part failed long before my name appeared on chassis SRH40385’s logbook in 2014.

A second- gen Silver Shadow’s power steering fluid cooler is twice the length of the same component fitted to the original model. Frustratingly, whereas the older car’s part is still in production, the Silver Shadow II’s has been discontinued. With this in mind, I called upon the services of a well-known distributor of new and used Rolls- Royce and Bentley spares and sourced a used-but-tested cooler from a car similar in age to my own. Complete with new genuine short hoses, the part was despatched a short while later.

Upon my arrival at leading Silver Shadow service, maintenance, repair and restoration outfit, Colbrook Specialists (bit.ly/colbrook), company boss, Colin Ayres, informed me the replacement cooler was leaking power steering fluid under pressure. Drat! Back to plan A. It looks like we’ll be calling on the project’s sponsors Introcar to supply the correct sized oil cooler for our car.

The other major complaint preventing a test drive of my car was a leaky exhaust. First impressions suggested silencers sharing characteristics with Swiss cheese, but after close inspection, Colbrook technician, Richard Meadows, told me the fault was primarily down to corroded clamps failing to hold the exhaust pipework tight. Additionally, a downpipe end had deteriorated where it was being held in place by one of the offending fasteners.

While the ideal solution would have been to buy a full stainless system with new fitting hardware, the reality of the situation is that we still hadn’t been able to carry out a test run in the car, meaning the condition of the engine and gearbox was unknown following a couple of years being laid-up after I retired the large barge from the road upon detecting strange noises moving their way around the chassis under load. Instead, I sourced a used donor Silver Shadow II exhaust system that could be raided for its component parts, chiefly one of its downpipes. Avoiding major cost before knowing whether the project was going to be uneconomical to continue seemed like a sensible move.

“The big ends have gone,” sighed Colin when the aforementioned noise presented itself as we pulled away from Colbrook’s Stilton offices on the highly anticipated day of the test drive. My heart sank before a big grin appeared on his face. “I’m only kidding!” he joked, “The sound you’re hearing is due to an incorrect hose being fitted to the hydraulic system’s offside accumulator. A build-up of pressure makes a clicking sound and travels around the system, which is why you’ve had difficulty pinpointing where it’s coming from.”

Phew! What a relief! Off we set along the Great North Road running parallel to the A1 outside Peterborough. Colin was in the pilot’s seat, observing the behaviour of the Silver Mink stunner he was in control of. “It’s a healthy engine with good pulling power. Gear shifting is smooth.”

This was music to my ears and means we can now progress with a blitz of suspension and braking equipment in readiness for the MoT test, although the test drive did highlight other niggles I’ve added to an increasingly long ‘to do’ list, as well as an increasingly long parts order for Matt at IntroCar! Here’s an overview of my findings. .