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Obscure Longbridge Parts

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Csarneson

Csarneson

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Still working on my Longbridge BN4 and I am trying to acquire some obscure parts. The usual suppliers don't have the pieces I need. Could anybody point me in the direction of a kind soul who might have some advice or direction


vent.png

Original vents. Both heavily rusted but usable. The tiny metal catch which holds the handle on broke on one of them.

reflectors.PNG

These reflectors look like they were orange and not red. Since these don't seem to exist from the parts houses will the flat red ones from later cars fit in their place?

Finally, AHSpares charges $270 for the rubber door seals for the Longbridge. Moss doesn't even have them. Is there another source or a suitable replacement material I can use. I think I can reuse the aluminum frame but the rubber is gone.

Concours is not my goal but I'd like the car to appear mostly original to a layman. Thanks guys!

Chris - Bighorn, WY
 
I may have the catch pieces. will look tomorrow. I think I got my reflector covers from BCS or AH Spares. On the door seal, many are going with the 'bristle flex" material. Don't know the cost of that, though. I think it's a cheap alternative. I've heard it's preferred by some.
 
The conical red reflectors are available and would be correct for your BN4. The reflectors faded over time and became orange, then colourless as seen in your photos. It’s not 100% certain there ever were orange reflectors on the BN4 although there is some evidence they began with orange ones and then changed to red.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. I have some more research to do.

The reflectors were definitely orange. I've decided to try to restore them since new orange ones don't exist. Doing some reading this weekend I found that Krylon makes an orange transparent paint. https://amzn.to/2QPa2bO I've buffed them out and filled the cracks with superglue and I am going to try painting them. The cost isn't much so it's worth the gamble. If it works I will post a photo.

The vent catches are very small and the threads are probably 6-32. I don't see any lift-the-dot options that small. I might just screw on the pull and leave it without a latch for now. Randy if you have one I would be grateful to buy it from you.

The furflex option seems appealing. It seems to look good and would save me several hundreds of $$. My seal tracks are in rough shape so when all is said and done it would be a very expensive option to go back to original.
 
For door seals did you look at Amazon car door seals all shapes and size in long lengths. for tail lights Look at Shell Valley parts
 
I have red replacement NOS bullet reflectors if interested pm me. My '57 BN4 has the original orange ones.
 

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  • '57 Rear.jpg
    '57 Rear.jpg
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Dougie I’ve decided to try to rehab my orange ones first. If that fails I’ll reach out to you. Thanks so much for your offer. That mint green 100-6 is spectacular. I’d never expect to love that color but I do.
 
Csarneson said:
Still working on my Longbridge BN4 and I am trying to acquire some obscure parts. The usual suppliers don't have the pieces I need. Could anybody point me in the direction of a kind soul who might have some advice or direction


View attachment 69890
Original vents. Both heavily rusted but usable. The tiny metal catch which holds the handle on broke on one of them.

View attachment 69891
These reflectors look like they were orange and not red. Since these don't seem to exist from the parts houses will the flat red ones from later cars fit in their place?

Finally, AHSpares charges $270 for the rubber door seals for the Longbridge. Moss doesn't even have them. Is there another source or a suitable replacement material I can use. I think I can reuse the aluminum frame but the rubber is gone.

Concours is not my goal but I'd like the car to appear mostly original to a layman. Thanks guys!

Chris - Bighorn, WY
Click to expand...
I have some NOS conical covers with restored original chrome bezels
 
Csarneson said:
Thanks for the replies guys. I have some more research to do.

The reflectors were definitely orange. I've decided to try to restore them since new orange ones don't exist. Doing some reading this weekend I found that Krylon makes an orange transparent paint. https://amzn.to/2QPa2bO I've buffed them out and filled the cracks with superglue and I am going to try painting them. The cost isn't much so it's worth the gamble. If it works I will post a photo.

The vent catches are very small and the threads are probably 6-32. I don't see any lift-the-dot options that small. I might just screw on the pull and leave it without a latch for now. Randy if you have one I would be grateful to buy it from you.

The furflex option seems appealing. It seems to look good and would save me several hundreds of $$. My seal tracks are in rough shape so when all is said and done it would be a very expensive option to go back to original.
Click to expand...
There’s a bulb dye used in the theater industry that works great. Comes in colors.
 
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