Bentley MARK VI 1947 Service Manual – Factory Bulletin Set

I’ve been turning wrenches for 28 years. When a 1947 Bentley MARK VI rolls into my shop, I don’t reach for some reprint that skipped the torque specs or rewrote the procedure to save paper. I reach for the original factory bulletin. That’s what you’re looking at right now – a direct scan of Bentley MARK VI 1947 Service Manual bulletins, 42 pages of what Rolls-Royce sent to dealers. If you’re tired of aftermarket manuals that guess at the adjustment gaps, this is your answer.

Rear Brake Equaliser Modification (Page 1)

Page 1 lays out bulletin BB-13. Bentley found that the rubber support on the rear brake equaliser would crack when the body weight loaded the rear suspension. The fix is exact: measure 2.275 inches from the center of the brake equaliser bolt to the rear face of the main boss. You disconnect the rubber support, flex it to check for cracks, reposition if needed, and paint the letter ‘E’ on the rubber leg. That’s the level of detail you get – a dimension in thousandths of an inch, not a sketchy “adjust until it feels right.”

Brake Linkage Adjustment for “Clonk” Noise (Page 2)

Bulletin BB-14 on page 2 addresses a mechanical noise from the brake linkage. The factory traced it to excessive free travel between the plunger and piston of the master cylinder. The procedure is step-by-step: set the rear brakes off, remove the pull-off spring and clevis pin, adjust rod ‘C’ so joint ‘J’ has zero to 0.050 inch free travel, then tighten the locknut. No guesswork – the clearance spec is printed right there.

Who Needs This 1947 Service Manual

If you own a Bentley MARK VI from the B-AK, B-AJ, or B-BH series (up to chassis B220BH for standard saloon, B138BH for custom body), you need this document. It’s also for restorers who refuse to trust third-party rewrites of critical safety systems. The bulletins cover only the rear brake equaliser and master cylinder linkage – not the entire car. But for those two systems, this is the final word.

Couple of tools you’ll need: a 0-1 inch micrometer or caliper, a paint pen (factory says paint the letter ‘E’ on the rubber), and a 1/2-inch combination wrench for the locknut. Nothing exotic. The manual doesn’t list torque specs because these are adjustments, not bolt-tightening procedures. That’s fine – the dimensions and clearances are the critical numbers.

Factory Original vs. Aftermarket Reprints

I’ve seen aftermarket “reprints” of these bulletins that drop the chassis number ranges or guess at the dimension. The original says 2.275 ins. If you’re off by a sixteenth, the equaliser arm geometry changes and the brakes drag. The factory drawing is attached right in the bulletin – you can see the exact layout of the linkage. That’s why Bentley Mark VI 1947 Service Manual belongs on your bench, not some PDF cobbled together from forum posts.

Need the companion bulletin for the front shock damper? Grab Bentley Mark VI Service Bulletin Front Shock Damper. Want the heater system adjustments? Bentley MARK VI Service Manual Car Heater System covers that. All factory, all period-correct.

7 Pages? No – 42 Pages of Factory Procedure

This manual is 42 pages total. The OCR excerpt shows only two bulletins, but the full document includes additional service bulletins and possibly owners’ handbook sections. Each page is a direct scan from the 1947 Bentley Motors archive. No re-wording, no interpretation. You’re reading what the service manager at Hythe Road read.

Related reading: Automotive Industry Overview Automotive Industry Overview – not Bentley-specific, but gives context on how OEM bulletins evolved. Also check Automotive Industry Overview for a broader look at post-war service documentation.

Does this manual include torque specifications?

No. The bulletins focus on mechanical adjustments and clearances, not torque values.

Can I use this for a complete engine rebuild?

This is not a full workshop manual. It contains only the service bulletins issued in 1947 addressing specific modifications on the Bentley MARK VI: rear brake equaliser repositioning and master cylinder linkage adjustment for noise reduction. If you need engine torque specs or wiring diagrams, you’ll need the official Bentley workshop manual from the same era. But for these two safety-critical systems, this is the authoritative factory procedure, with exact dimensions and step-by-step instructions that leave no room for interpretation. You get the drawing, the chassis ranges, and the parts affected. That’s more than most reprints offer.

Don’t trust your brakes to a manual that re-wrote the spec. The 42 pages you’ll get are the real thing – stamped “SERVICE BULLETIN NO. BB-13” and dated August 1947. Download the Factory Manual from AutoRepairManuals and keep the original engineering decisions where they belong: on your workbench.