1978 ROLLS-ROYCE SILVER SHADOW

STUART GRANGER, NORTHUMBERLAND

‘My dad bought a Silver Shadow II in 1998 and used it regularly until 2010 when it was parked up. He died two years ago and it was at that point that my brother Rob and I took the car on, recommissioning it to get it back on the road.

‘ The bodywork was pretty rotten so Rob replaced most of the lower six inches by fabricating everything himself; any panels that are available are fiendishly expensive. He spent a year getting the bodywork sorted before I then took over to focus on the mechanicals. I’ve got quite a few classics including a Mulsanne Turbo and a Turbo R – the latter bought as an abandoned restoration for just £750 – so I’m used to reviving projects on a tight budget. However, I also have a rule that I can jump into any of my cars and drive them as far as I like without carrying any tools, so

I don’t cut any corners.

‘Predictably, anything new from Rolls-Royce is expensive – a set of new front suspension bushes is £2900 and balljoints alone are £220 each. But Flying Spares and Westminster Autos usually have what I need on a used basis; a windscreen for £120 was just the job, for example, and I bought a complete fuel injection system for just £400 because converting from the existing carburettors is on my to-do list.

‘Investing in a set of factory workshop manuals is essential because they’re so clear and enable you to do anything on a DIY basis; you can download them from the internet because one of the overseas clubs has digitised them.

I’ve saved a fortune by doing stuff myself; re-building all four window motors cost me nothing whereas reconditioned units are £150 each. I refurbished the wood trim and got a good result that might not be quite up to professional standards, but then I didn’t have to find £1500, either. I’m a member of several Facebook groups including Dean Jaggard’s excellent topics, faults and resolutions (tinyurl.com/y6zgmk4q), which is full of great advice for owners of these cars.

‘ The Silver Shadow is much simpler than many people think they are; there’s nothing to be frightened of with the hydraulics, an annual service costs me around £50 and even the really big service at 96,000 miles can be done for little more than £300 – a specialist will charge at least ten times as much to do this job because it’s so labour-intensive.

‘ That’s the thing about the Silver Shadow – while some parts are costly, it’s the labour that makes them expensive to run if you use specialists all the time. Do the work yourself and the running costs are actually extremely low – fuel bills aside, of course!’