Richard Spratley

[Deleted]

Does anyone have any feedback or comments about Richard Spratley's restoration work or has anybody used him for work?

[Smallfry]

Supposed to be good, but I have not actually seen any of his work first hand...............at least not any that has been admitted to !

Would be interested to know costs though. Again something that is not normally divulged !

[Colin McA]

is it not £170 per wheel?

I am sure he has website.

Colin

[Deleted]

Thanks but I was really referring to general restoration rather than the wheels.

[Deleted]

Why not ask him to let you see examples of his work, visit his premises etc.

[David]

As an alternative you may want to consider Graham Floyd In Gloucester. He is just finishing the restoration of my P5B, which you can check over for quality of work etc.

He specialises in P5's.

HTH

[DanielSheard]

I've had window seals done and some other bits and pieces by Richard. Very pleased with the work and he is someone I have no hesitation in recommending. He knows the cars well.

Daniel

[Deleted]

arthuy said:

is it not £170 per wheel?

£170 a wheel...for what?
is that the price of refurbing Rostyles?
I was considering have mine done,but at that price I'll buy a new car instead

[DanielSheard]

Yes, it is a lot. If you look back on the old board you will see a long set of threads from someone trying to find a rechromer who could deal with the Rostyles properly. That was before Richard started to offer them. It is not simple.

[Phil Nottingham]

RS actually restored the P5 convertible now in Oz and a past header of this forum. He also did the Kendals 2 door Coupe

[Deleted]

I used RS to restore my P5B coupe.
He takes a long time to do the work, in my case 10 months.
I would describe the standard of work as acceptable, although his attention to details is not always good.

[Deleted]

See spare parts section under P5B. I'm buying Rostyles from RS at end July and will report afterwards. For website just google his name!!

[Deleted]

Mmorris, that sounds like "steer clear" without actually being libellous
A restorer who doesn't attend to detail isn't worth bothering with.

[Phil Nottingham]

No restorer can satisfy the detail of an owner unless its clearly specified what detail is wanted! Expectation gaps are often too wide to reach a compromise which is why I try to do everything myself!

[johnwp5bcoupe]

If you do it yourself Phil there is only one person to kick if it's not right

[Deleted]

I think most owners like to do as much as possible for themselves but there are times when that avenue isn't an option.
In my case, we needed to extend the property some years ago necessitating incorporating the garage into the house. The Rover than had to go to my parents house and now lives in a fairly large single garage at the bottom of a 1 in 6 driveway hemmed in on both sides.
At some stage in the future, I want to change the sub frame as I have an almost perfect replacement that I have had for about 15 years. This would be an impossible job for me to tackle with the facilities currently available.
My point is: If you are in the fortunate position of having 2 or more garages side by side on a level site with stacks of room then it is all too easy to forget that not everybody is so lucky.

[glennr]

Space, the final frontier. I agree with you. If I had a double garage life would be so much easier, you don't end up tripping over things, you can work indoors. Here's hoping one day.

[Phil Nottingham]

I started "restoring" cars on my parent's sloping drive - I never worked on a car in a garage until I demolished the 16 x 8 garage that housed my wifes Mini in 1989 and erected a tandem 3 car sectional garage 15' wide by 53".

I had restored said Mini on the drive as the garage was too small although I had resolved when I bought a house it would have a level drive and garage space which this did as it had a very long garden

Although the long tandem garage had loads room and it would house 3 cars with Mini at one side, it was still awkward to use as the cars were never in the correct order!

My present "new" 5 year old garage will take 4 cars but I only keep the 2 P'5s and the P2 in it as the Mini occuppies the existing brick built 20 x 17 garage at the side of the house. The Land Rovers live outside

It is nice to have a lot of convenient working space on hand but in winter unless essential I avoid doing big projects in it as its size 31 ft X 21 Ft with a high roof is very difficult to heat but it is dry and draft proof.

None of the garages required planning permission but had to comply with building regs as to fire resistance and structure

[Kev]

Guys,
Just been on the Jenson Owners website and there are posts on there about R.S's refurbed Rostlyles.Some are saying once refurbed he sprays them with a clear laquer,this then peels off after time leaving a patchy wheel.Also someone has a newly refurbed set that is pitting badly.
Maybe the pitting is a one off but im not sure about the laquer being needed.
Big Kev.

[dorsetflyer]

Unfortunately if you have pitted rust even if they are re-furbished the pitting will eventually break through. It's just a fact of life and one must be prepared for that.

[gipsykev1]

ive seen rs work and i thought it was very good , however i know my attention to detail beats them all hands down and at first of all a fraction of the price and a faster turnaround , but what do i know ? anyone wishing to see engine bays done to better than oe please feel free to email me for pictures , kev

[Phil Nottingham]

Lets face it the Rostyle wheels are cheap and always looked cheap, clearly a BL cost saving exercise. The steel used was probably no different to that Rubery Owen used on any other mass produced car and will have corrosion pitting built in that no amouny of polishing or chrome-plating will cover up for long

[Deleted]

Ahh the rostyle debate again ;D Sorry to sound like a broken record but I think they only look good with accompanying white walls and of course lets not forget shed's beautiful saloon sporting GKN alloys from a Jensen Interceptor. And while on subject of garage size /envy , I built a barn in France complete with pit , which my darling wife dug out god bless her! it measures 10ft by 30ft , is the home to my M.G Magnette Farina and was purpose built for man stuff, unfortunately we moved to Ireland shortly afterwards so I still havnt had a chance to play in it !! In Ireland I had a 4 car barn and a massive workshop but they didnt like us so we came back to old Blighty and now I have to make do with a drive with a car cover. I guarantee next house will be my last and will have a man fun size garage with enough room to swing several large felines ;D, Scarlettwill

[dorsetflyer]

My God didn't she do well digging out a pit 10ft x 30ft.

[gipsykev1]

now this is strange ? this forum can slag a good man off all day , then i add a quote to say id do a full restoration ,detailed following the customers full requests and cheaper and for some unknow reason that gets erassed from the replys i think im getting the jist with this site just fine ! slanderouse is fine trying to be helpfull is not !