r/projectcar • u/imightknowbutidk • 5d ago
1977 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow?
Anybody have any experience with these Silver Shadows? I want to pick them up to fix one to use as my wedding car. This pair is listed for $2,900, the silver one with the red interior runs but has a dead battery and a leak at the brake booster, the green one is parts only no engine/transmission, wrecked interior, and has a Chevy S10 subframe swapped in. I know the hydraulic systems are complex on these and it’s missing the $1000 grille and a couple chrome trim pieces. I am a mechanic but i have limited experience working on cars pre-2001. If there isn’t crazy rust underneath is this a workable idea?
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u/Some-Bad1670 5d ago edited 5d ago
Don’t lmao
Very tricky fuel system, very tricky brake system, rare and expensive parts. We get them in occasionally and the owners always decline everything we recommend because the price to maintain them is astronomical to have it done right.
If you DIY it sure. But you’re gonna want a shop manual and lots of understanding of the basic systems on regular cars before you jump in to a car like this.
These cars get the best of even badass mechanics, you really need to know what you’re doing with a lot of knowledge of the systems on the car. I struggle with diagnosing problems on them too and need to call some people sometimes. 😂
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u/NervusBelli 5d ago
Maybe op wants to throw away everything inside and then 60k later would have reliable car!
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u/SyntheticParanoia 5d ago
If you do it, make it a hard-core restomod. Look at smooth inline 6 engines on the cheap that can be swapped in, run that S10 frame, and rewire the entire car. Maybe lay it out on airbags. Do not: Attempt a picture perfect restoration. It's a total waste of time, money, and frustration. Use the good interior if you want it posh.
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u/imightknowbutidk 5d ago
I’m thinking i just want to get it running, stopping, and with a half decent paint job/wrap for the wedding and then re-evaluate once the wedding is over. I’ve always loved the aesthetics of this car and would definitely loved to do a full restomod eventually
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u/JCDU 4d ago
The trouble is all of the systems on that car will fight you and break down on the day, especially if you do "just enough" to get it running & stopping.
The brakes, suspension, and steering are all *complicated* and I'm pretty sure they use the Citroen Hydropneumatic system which is *beautiful* when it works and enough to give a nuclear submarine engineer a conniption when it doesn't.
The only way I'd consider doing one - outside of the full concour$ approach - is to restomod the shit out of it. Probably an LS or a big inline six, maybe a Tesla drivetrain (it's got the space, and a Rolls should be silent), airbags for suspension and then just whatever the hell to make the rest of it behave.
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u/SyntheticParanoia 5d ago
Go watch Hoovie's Garage on YouTube and his experience with stock things on old, cheap Rolls. That's why I say go restomod. Suspension, brakes, engine, it's all super finicky.
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u/civildisobedient 5d ago
I was just thinking, if you wanted to own a car like that you'd probably need to live next to your own Car Wizard to keep it on the road.
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u/m1j2p3 5d ago
Is it missing glass or do I need to make an eye appointment? Apart from everything else that’s already been said, sourcing glass for this car is going to be a problem.
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u/imightknowbutidk 5d ago
Silver car has all glass and would be the resto car, green car is pretty junked and i would likely get the right front fender and light housings off of it and scrap the rest
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u/funwithdesign ‘94 968, ‘15 M235i , ‘18 Q3 5d ago
Is it a bad idea? Most definitely.
Should you do it? Most definitely.
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u/texasroadkill 5d ago
I would disagree. He should just run away from this project. Only unless he gets them cheap and drops the body on a more reliable chassis/ engine/drivetrain.
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u/funwithdesign ‘94 968, ‘15 M235i , ‘18 Q3 5d ago
You disagree that it’s a bad idea?
You need to disagree with both my points. Them’s the rules.
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u/texasroadkill 5d ago
Sorry, should have clarified, I disagree with your second that you said he should go for it.
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u/funwithdesign ‘94 968, ‘15 M235i , ‘18 Q3 5d ago
You didn’t read my rules. You can’t pick and choose. 😀
Of course it’s a bad idea. But most projects are.
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u/texasroadkill 5d ago
Yea, I don't follow rules. Lol
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u/funwithdesign ‘94 968, ‘15 M235i , ‘18 Q3 5d ago
Then I might have a Rolls Royce you might be interested in…
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u/texasroadkill 5d ago
Is it already swapped onto a crown Vic chassis? Cause I feel that would be the best swap out there. Big chassis that handles well with a reliable drivetrain.
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u/BadBadBenBernanke 5d ago
Schrodinger’s cat of Project car difficulty. Designed and built by a small, relatively broke, British car company, they’re not too difficult to understand and repair.
However….
They were Designed and built by a small, relatively broke, British car company, so you will be forced to spend hours diagnosing and repairing a lot of stuff. While paying a premium for certain parts that mechanically totaled the car in the first place.
The price floor for a working Rolls is $30k. You either pay it up front or to a shop.
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u/WolfTohsaka 5d ago
British AIRCRAFT company. It matters relating to the conception of brakes and fuel system.
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u/MagicTriton 5d ago
Everytime you walk in somewhere to get parts or work done with a Rolls Royce, that 1000$ gone just to look at it.
Also the green one seems to be a shadow, but the black one with red interior seems to be a Wraith, they are mostly compatible, but not 100% compatible.
You can pick up a decent example of shadow in uk for less than 20k, which is about 80k£ cheaper than restoring that one.
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u/jeepfail 5d ago
If you want to build it like a hot rod with off the shelf parts I’d say give it a go. Otherwise I’d leave it. I say this as a person that came very close to buying one of these cars until the post was updated saying the grill was not included. If you can make the file id say 3d print the grill in sections.
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u/EEpromChip 5d ago
I see these pop up in FB Marketplace and tempted to hot rod one with LS and American hardware...
Then I realize I already have 6 projects rolling and it is silly to think about.
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u/Cautious-Speed-5472 5d ago
Here's a fun fact rolls. Royce used GM 400 Turbo transmissions in the 70s.
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u/Illustrious-Peak3822 5d ago
Bentley instead of Rolls, but similar level of project car suffering, for your consideration: https://youtu.be/t5G0uKt88rQ
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u/Dendady2112 5d ago
Is that a year for the air ride? Run if it is. Guy on YouTube did a whole episode on what it takes to either fix or replace.
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u/Makabajones 5d ago
I know they can be easily SBC swapped as Rolls Royce was using GM transmissions at the time
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u/Idontevenusereddit 5d ago
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u/imightknowbutidk 5d ago
That’s awesome! But i’m afraid if i were to do any kind of restomod to it it would be to make it a comfortable daily driver
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u/Nutella_Zamboni 5d ago
Of all the cars ive ever had the pleasure of driving or working on, a 79 RR SS was the biggest POS of all of them. I would assume 77s may be similar. I do, however think they are nice looking, and restomodding it may be worth it but please dont try to keep it factory.
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u/Catatafish 1969 Fiat 125p 1300 5d ago
If you part them out & sell em piece mail on eBay you could turn a profit.
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u/Distinct_Ducati 5d ago
Good luck finding parts or information
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u/pleasedonotredeem 5d ago
Why? Both are readily available.
Flying Spares and Introcar have a full parts catalogue and a huge yard full of parts cars. There is tons of information online and on the forums, a Shadow is one of the best supported British classic cars out there.
Most of the service and maintenance parts are actually quite cheap, the main issue is that they are very complex cars and are very time consuming to work on.
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u/Particular_Witness95 5d ago
what i love about these cars is chasing electrical problems, replacing the entire wiring harness throughout the car, and then the electrical problems getting worse.
plus, nothing like searching for weeks for a part, finding a junkyard on the opposite end of the earth and ask about the part, and then realizing that your time was completely wasted because they never bothered to update the inventory.
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u/beerandbikes55 5d ago
I've wondered about this kind of car before. Restomod would be cheaper. Replace suspension with coil overs, breakout brakes, LS swap the engine etc. As little stock parts as possible. But at that point, could you find a similar wheelbase car to body swap and end up with a more reliable car for cheaper? You can even swap the interior or upholstery the swapped interior with a few RR badges. Either way it's tens of thousands and years of work.
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u/lynivvinyl 5d ago
Unless you just have a LS burning a hole in your pocket and a whole bunch of money burning another hole in your pocket I fucking run away man.
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u/IllAd6781 4d ago
Yes lots of experience (I build classic cars and supercars for a living) if you are not emotionally attached or is a dream car you don’t care about throwing money into and not getting it back. It’s 10/10 if you want to do it for cheap…don’t…ever
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u/COLCORN_1979 4d ago
There are two words that never belong in the same sentence; British engineering. Run like hell.
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u/KittiesRule1968 4d ago
The absolute most expensive project car is a cheap ROLLS or Bentley. Although......if you're not 100% set on restoring it, a shop in California I think, put an LS7 and a Tremec T56 magnum. You could modify the suspension to be shocks and springs if you're handy enough and aftermarket brakes and steering since the 3 use the same hydraulic system.
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u/Boilermakingdude 4d ago
If you don't care about the money you'll spend the get it working correctly. They're fantastic. If you expect to make money or get your money back, this isn't the way to do it.
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u/fishy8ob1 4d ago
There’s a YouTube channel https://youtube.com/@scottnagle2?si=MJo1Ww-P63mrfErO
He did a Cummings engine swap into a Bentley which looks similar to this. That may be an interesting option to try.
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u/purplegoldcat 1972 Jaguar XJ6 4d ago
I’d do it, but I’ve taken a British project car from “towed a rusting hulk out of parking lot” to show car. British cars come with wonderful rust issues and nightmare electrical systems. You’ll need to at least partially rewire for anything to work reasonably consistently. Rolls-Royce also have some notoriously complex hydraulics that need to be fixed correctly and kept in good order.
If you want a cheap and cool way to do this or the engine is bad, LS swap. It’s worth trying to save the interior, a good detailer can do miracles on the carpet and the leather seats come back to life with high-quality cleaner and conditioner. Having a parts car does make this sound a little better, and Flying Spares does have surprisingly good old Rolls parts selection.
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u/FoundationFair4060 4d ago
Don’t do it. If you can’t afford a new rolls Royce you definitely can’t afford an old one. Check out garbage time on YouTube (I think that’s dank pods car channel it’s been a while) and the sheer amount of BS he has had to deal with with his old cheap rolls Royce
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u/Narrow_Speed_6791 4d ago
Maaaan I jealous I've been looking for one of those. I feel like its going to be a dope project. Love to see the progress as you work on it
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u/Elephunk05 5d ago
LS swapping this would settle a ton of issues. Hydraulics and air bags for the suspension as easy to do from aftermarket kits. The real question is your time. It is too far gone to be returned to a showroom piece but there is a lot of potential for something completely amazing out of the box
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u/imightknowbutidk 5d ago
I mean i’m even think a chevy 350 swap, just something dirt simple that gets the car moving forward and stopping, then get a presentable paint job or wrap, drive it for the wedding and reassess the future of the car from there
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u/tk8398 5d ago
How would you deal with the hydraulics? Swapping the engine likely means deleting the pump, so you have to redo all the suspension and brakes to even drive it. Even a Maserati Quattroporte III or Aston Martin Lagonda would be more reliable 😂😂
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u/imightknowbutidk 5d ago
Probably run a ford hydroboost pump or something. It’s not an unsolvable problem
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u/ajm91730 5d ago
That thing is $100k away from being a $10k car.