30 Jan Spanner Works: Wenstley Wicomb

A regular feature by senior workshop technician JP du Plessis outlining the activities of FMM’s workshop personnel who are responsible for repairing, renovating, refurbishing and restoring the museum’s large and varied collection of vehicles. This month, JP reports on a Bel Air that Wenstley Wicomb’s readied for display at the L’Ormarins King’s Plate…

After WWII, the automotive industry changed significantly. In 1949, Chevrolet revisited its entire range of passenger cars and adopted full-width body designs utilising pontoon fenders, which became the norm of the period. In 1950, the Bel Air 2-door coupé made its début as a Styleline Deluxe model, and FMM’s example is the car Wenstley recently worked on.

Chevrolet in-line 6s are famously reliable and don’t need much attention to keep running. That’s why it was decided to bring the museum’s neat, powder blue with a gloss white roof coupe out from storage and into the workshop for Wenstley to do some inspection, cleaning and recommissioning. He started by checking whether the car would start. An auxiliary fuel supply was hooked up, a battery was connected, and after a few tries the engine started and idled. While running on idle, Wenstley checked for leaks and listened for anything untoward. It was decided to drain the old lubricants – oils and coolant – and then to remove the carburettor for a comprehensive service and clean along with the fuel pump. The radiator was found to have a leak and was sent away to be refurbished.

Then the brakes were inspected and found to be in good shape, but the wheel cylinders’ cup washers no longer sealed as they should. So Wenstley duly removed the cylinders – which also looked to be in fair shape – gave them a hone and fitted newly-procured washers. After a good bleed through and adjustment, the brakes were fully operational again. With the fuel pump and carburettor refitted, attention turned to the radiator that had been renewed and was fitted to the car with fresh hoses and clean coolant. The system was checked to ensure that all air locks in the coolant channels were burped out.

Wenstley took to the roads on the estate to test whether his work was done correctly. Not surprisingly, he returned with a smile and another successful job well done. The car was also proudly displayed at this year’s L’Ormarins King’s Plate equestrian performance event.