Rolls-Royce

GHOSTHUNTER

Full member
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Location
buckinghamshire, england
Car
silver shadow II
So, this is where all the experts hang-out!!!

Here is a new thread for Rolls-Royce.

Please post whatever you have regards this company, real cars, model cars or
anything to do with the commercial side, like their plane engines etc.

I am specifically looking for Silver Shadow owners to get in touch here, as I own a 1977 Silver Shadow II and it needs tuning, can anyone advise?

Regards,
GHOSTHUNTER.
 
Hi and welcome

What do you define as 'needing a tune'? A simple service or an increase in power?

Athough RR engines are no different to any other internal combustion 4 stroke engine; - suck-squeeze-bang-blow, what can be done to them in order to increae power output will require specialist knowledge.
 
Hi, my Silver Shadow II will not run smooth, it has a constant lumpyness about it.

I have been through the usual stuff like leads, plugs, dizzy cap, mixture weakening device, change of both carbs, take out the air filter and so on and so on...

I have adjusted the mixture control on both carbs, (seperately), changed the whole mixture weakening system, changed the rotor arm, changed the coil, driven it without any power steering, (this was because of another unconnected fault), but I will try anything!!!

What can I try next, I am not a complete novice, used to do rescue and recovery work as a full time job.

Thanks for getting back to me,

see you soon,
GHOSTHUNTER.
 
Have you checked the compression and that every spark plug is firing and getting fuel?
 
Hi old-git...don't think much to your monicker, I'm sure your not an 'old-git'!

Anyway, been through three sets of plugs, all gapped properly, the last set was gapped with a brand new set of feeler gauges, just in case it was those, still no difference.

The car has lost no performance, gave it a good shake down on a duel carriage way and she changes gears properly, the kickdown works fine and she cruised effortlessly at 95 MPH, no problem, its just a constant juddering like when you drive over those red painted corrugated sections on the road to warn you, you are entering a village, drive with caution.

Its not a bad tyre or damaged wheel rim, because its there on tickover while the car is stationary.

The way she does drive effortlessly, suggests a compression test won't throw up anything.

I started her up this morning and let her run for a short while and checked the exhaust tail pipes, the left side was still black, (obviously too rich), the right side was a nice dark grey, (a much weaker mixture). So I still think it is a mixture/carb problem, (the 1977 Silver Shadow II, is not fuel injection, good old fashioned, SU HD 8, carbs).

Thanks for getting back to me on this,
Cheers for now,
GHOSTHUNTER.
 
Your thoughts on the fueling etc may well be correct. However, I totally disagree with your theories of whether a compression test or leak down test is of any value.
This is even more so of value on larger engines which can quite comfortably cruise at high speeds with a damaged valve/valve seat etc.
It will indeed cause a slight misfire at idle and become more pronounced at higher revs but giving the false impression that the engine internals are sound as a pound without giving too much indication that performance has been affected.
There is a vast difference in a slight blow on a valve than a full impact of a large valve burn out.
I would be doing the comp test as a matter of course.
 
Hi there country bumpkin.

Thanks for your thoughts.
Any idea roughly how much a comp test is, the last time I was at a workshop, (not for the car, I happened to work in the same courtyard), they said they could do a comp test for me, but would take some time because of how awkward three of the plugs are on the left side of the block. At that time, cost was not talked about, so I don't know how much it is.

If I borrowed the equipment, would I be able to do it myself, I do not have a Ph.D. in rocket science for using such test equipment!

Many thanks,
GHOSTHUNTER.
 
Sorry, I have no idea on a price, although I can ask a friend who has a Silver Shadow, who works in a workshop.
Yes, with a decent Pressure Testing kit, tools & perseverance, most people with common sense can carry out tasks like this.
I'll ask my mate and get back to you on this issue.
 
a rolls is no more difficult to compression test once the plugs are out than any other car

However these engine are quite complicated and have lots of unusual features . They run superb when spot on in fact tbh one would probably cruise at 95 on seven.
but this extra complication means they can have faults other cars dont get.

however the car is thirty five years old so sounds to me like something may be worn .
Possibly one of the carbs and that is affecting idle but becomes irrelevant when under power
 
I had a quick chat with my mate, he says that his plug change took a couple of hours working slowly with a couple of tea breaks.
Doing a compression test will be the same process, except for actually screwing in a tester and doing the test, if you add half an hour, job done.
It's just a bit fiddly but with the air cleaner removed it's not rocket science.
I'd renew the plugs whilst doing it as a matter of course.
 
I have no idea how to send a private message otherwise I'd give you my phone number and you're welcome to call me and I'll gladly talk you through the whole process, it's really nothing to be overly cautious of.
 
I have no idea how to send a private message otherwise I'd give you my phone number and you're welcome to call me and I'll gladly talk you through the whole process, it's really nothing to be overly cautious of.


Its very easy to do CB ;)


Just click on the members name in the left hand side of his post and you will see a small dialogue box appear.

Then just click on the line that reads: Send a private message to GHOSTHUNTER.

The rest as they say is; Simples! :amuse:
 
Curious! :blink:

He might not have had enough posts to allow incoming PM's CB, did you get through to him? If not, then I shall have a word with Obi Waynne Kenobi and see what it is that is missing here.

Good luck buddy :)
 
Hi there country bumpkin,

Thanks for replying,

The plugs are good, not at all old or badly gapped.

I was wondering how you do a compression test on an engine installation such as this, (large V-8). On normal 4-pot cars, you simply turn over the crank shaft with a big spanner, you can't do that with the Rolls unit, can you, would there be too much inertia for this and I have not actually looked to see if you can put a spanner on the crank bolt.

I was also interested in finding out wether you can still buy a 'Colourtune', allowing you to see the colour of the fuel-air mixture as it is literally burnig inside the combustion chamber.

I will have to Google it, (other search engines are available !), and see if the company still exists.

Thanks for the advice, I have not posted enough to allow the extras, sorry.
GHOSTHUNTER.
 
SHADOW II, POOR RUNNING UPDATE.

Car seems to be running fine at the moment. Went through the fuel/air mixture adjustments again on the Carbs, by making the mixture so week the car would not start. I slowly turned the adjusting screw until the car started and stayed running. I then turned the second Carb mixture screw until there was a slight increase in tickover revs and went back to the first Carb screw and turned it clockwise and anti-clockwise, until I found the ideal sound and smooth tickover. I then blipped the go faster peddle to see if the revs drop down to low, to a stall situation and if it does, slightly richen the mixture again to an acceptable tickover level, without the revs dropping.

Now, while all this is a worthwhile procedure for anyone who is confident about working on their car, I cannot say for sure that this is what has cured 'my' particular fault.

Prior to all this, I had put a second spare set of 'HT leads' on the car to sort out a similar problem some years ago by trying to determin that a lead was not faulty. This second set of leads are still on the car and laying loose, but easily available if I need to try one. Now I know that if you lay two identical leads down in the engine bay, sod's law kicks-in and makes you pick up the wrong lead. I was fully aware of this happening If I was not careful where I lay the lead down while I take out a plug and check the gap etc,

During this most recent attempt to try and sort my problem, I carefully placed the 'in-use' lead in a place to be sure it went back on the plug, and it did, but when I traced it back to the distributor cap, it wasn't there, so tracing the lead from the cap back towards the plug, confirmed the lead was not the same one!

At some point during my attempts to sort the problem, I had accidentily put a spare 'not in-use' lead onto one of the plugs.

Was I the victim of my own lack of checking certain basic procedures, I don't know, but it seems I was and driving around on only 7-cylinders!

So, be careful at all times, it is very easy to miss something or not check something thoroughly.

Time permitting, I will relay various car based stories onto this forum, not only about my car, but other cars, as I used to work in rescue and recovery.

Thanks to the guys who have replied to this posting, but as I said earlier, the car is running fine at the moment and all it seems to have been, was a plug not firing because it was not connected to the correct lead...!

Regards,
GHOSTHUNTER.
 
Good news, I'm pleased for you and fingers crossed that the 'old lady' continues to run well.
This is a prime example of how hard it is to assist people over the net, without going through every conceivable possibility, it's down to a bit of pot luck sometimes and going back to basics.
A lot of faults, especially after doing a bit of home maintenance, are down to a simple oversight.
 
Hi guys, just an update on my Silver Shadow II.

Since my last posting here, she has behaved herself and I must put that last fault down to 'user error':embarrest:

I am now starting to prepare the woodwork for re-varnishing, this will be on all four, door top rails, the full multi-piece dashboard and several smaller sections dotted around the inside of the car. Anyone done this could give me some tips perhaps, but I am not looking for the type of finish originally achieved by Rolls-Royce, that would be too involved and take too long, I just want a decent protection of the exposed wood veneers.

Regards,
GHOSTHUNTER.
 
Hi guys, just an update on my Silver Shadow II.

Since my last posting here, she has behaved herself and I must put that last fault down to 'user error':embarrest:

I am now starting to prepare the woodwork for re-varnishing, this will be on all four, door top rails, the full multi-piece dashboard and several smaller sections dotted around the inside of the car. Anyone done this could give me some tips perhaps, but I am not looking for the type of finish originally achieved by Rolls-Royce, that would be too involved and take too long, I just want a decent protection of the exposed wood veneers.

Regards,
GHOSTHUNTER.
Not really a top quality finish can be achieved by using button Polish! The Polish itself isn't cheap but the finish is top quality and easy to achieve! For a cheaper option don't over look car body clear lacquer it's a painter's hidden gem;)
 
Thank's waynne and herb, it's nice to know people are reading what I write...

I have been told that good polyurethane based varnish as used by boat builders would be OK, for the level of finish and protection I am after, but have never had the need to use this stuff, so am reluctant to jump-in before I've read any views of how good or bad it can be.

I suppose I should join a boat builders forum, but hey, I spend too much time on my PC as it is...! and was just hoping someone here has done a similar job on some woodwork in a car, fingers crossed they have.

Thank's again guys, I'll be back soon.

Regards,
GHOSTHUNTER.
 
Great posts. I own a 1981 Silver Spirit. I am looking for high performance mods, like cam or possibly a turbo swap from the Bentley. Any thoughts or input would help. I can find restoration parts... it is the 6.75 Litre
 
Love Rolls-Royce cars. My Silver Spirit is the first one I’ve owned. It has some very unique systems, hydraulic suspension, no master cylinder brake system and the list goes on. You can’t beat the 6.75L V8. It will get some more low end torque, just doesn’t get off the line very fast, also looking for a gear swap for the differential. Thinking about two tone silver and black like the newer Ghost...
 
Hi I am a classic car nut. I’ve always wanted a corniche convertible with a turbo. I don’t know whether to chop the mulsanne turbo or turbocharge a corniche convertible. I think chopping the mulsanne would be cheaper.
 
Adding a Turbo would be way cheaper and much easier. I sourced a complete Turbo kit from a Bentley. Look for “luxury salvage” in the US. Great guy will ship anywhere. Mine was 1250$ complete manifolds, turbo and engine mgmt.
 

Please watch this on my YouTube channel & Subscribe.


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