January 2019

Cutting the Packard valves

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Ady has been cutting a 45′ seat with a Mira. We have also made a new valve guide. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Read More »

Stripping the rear axle and suspension

Our 1975 MG B restoration is progressing nicely with the rear axle now stripped and ready for refurbishment.

The brake drums and suspension components are also stripped and ready for media blasting.

The metalwork from within the rubber bumpers are also separated and ready for media blasting.

Cutting the Packard valves

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Ady has been cutting a 45′ seat with a Mira.

We have also made a new valve guide.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

1963 Mini Paintwork

The underneath and inside of our 1963 Mini is now finished in Almond Green as work continues on the full respray.

The car is in with us for body preparation and paint and we then hand back to the owner to be rebuilt.

 

Jaguar E-Type V12 parts to be blasted

Work has now begun on the rebuild of our 1972 Jaguar E-Type. Brian is sorting through the components that will need to be media blasted, painted and refurbished to get them ready and on the shelf for the refit stage.

The rear cradle is ready for blasting and the rear wishbone assembly is ready for dismantling.

Our 1971 Jaguar E-Type, now with bonnet.

With the iconic Jaguar E-Type bonnet making up almost half of the exterior of the car, the day we are able to fit up the bonnet is the day an E-Type restoration really starts to take shape.

With the bonnet off and the full engine on display the car looks relatively incomplete but now you can see just how beautiful she looks and how striking the Golden Sands with red interior combination is.

Our E-Type Racing car is now in primer…

We are now very close to our amazing 1967 Jaguar E-Type racing project being ready for the full respray colour change. The exact colour has now been chosen but will be kept under wraps for the big reveal.

The body preparation, to this stage, has been carried out by the guys at Simon Morris in Ipswich. We have agreed to take back control once the car is ready for paint for our own paint shop to carry out the respray.

Jaguar XK150S – Body Preparation

We are pleased to welcome Chris Jeffreys to the Bridge Classic Cars family as of today and already he’s getting stuck in to one of our many paint projects that we have.

Our 1961 Jaguar XK150S will be one of the first cars into our paint booth this year for a full respray. At present, Chris is busy removing the existing paint which had micro-blistered . In order to tackle this issue it is best to strip the paintwork back to metal and re-apply the paint using the correct procedures at each stage.

We are progressing very well so far but a long way still to go.

V8 Corvette engine reassembly

Ady is now reassembling the V8 Corvette engine to be fitted into our 1957 Jensen 541R (chassis #328).

The block has been refaced, the bores have been honed and we have fitted new pistons with piston rings. Now the engine has been painted we can continue on with the re-assembly.

1957 MGA visits our workshops

We had a visit today from a beautiful 1957 MGA. Gordon was on hand to look over the work that we are hoping to carry out. This will be a possible re-paint in 2019 to get on top of a couple of imperfections that are starting to appear.

 

Refurbishing the Jaguar E-type diff

Our 1972 Jaguar E-Type Series 3 diff has now been stripped, cleaned, galvanised and repainted. This is now on the shelf ready to be re-fitted when the time comes.

Brand new fuel tank pickups

Our brand new fuel tank pickups have arrived this morning from Chris and the guys at Four Ashes Garage. Because of the rarity and complexity in the fuel tank pickups, our old units have been returned to Chris for a future rebuild.

Who are Four Ashes Garage

They are a family owned leading independent Aston Martin Specialist with a combined experience of over 100 years on Aston Martins, based near Stratford-upon-Avon in the Heart of England, the Company has been owned by Jean Moss and Chris Adams since January 2003.

Jean is the daughter in law of Four Ashes Founder Jack Moss and widow of Michael Moss, Jack’s son who died in 1982,  Chris Adams was a family friend of Jack and family before working at Four Ashes from the early 1970’s when he joined as an apprentice technician, a proper technician with 5 years extensive training (5 years at college on day release & evenings, hard work!! ) on engines, gearboxes, suspension, brakes, axles, bodywork & vehicle refinishing.

Chris is also long term partner now husband of Jean, Chris helped with vehicle repairs from an early age (6!) with his father’s haulage business before working at Four Ashes and has run his own workshop in between Four Ashes stints, specialising in high performance cars including many Aston’s, racing of classic cars and rallying, eventually involving Works type Opel Manta 400’s in the Republic of Ireland.

Chris rebuilt his 1st Aston cylinder head when just turned 17, by 18 he was rebuilding 40% of the Aston engines that came through Four Ashes hands, including all of the race engines for MYT 625, the Racing DB2 that the garage owned, which is now owned by Chris and Jean.

They have been servicing, rebuilding, restoring and racing Aston Martin cars for well over 40 years, Chris has nearly 44 years experience with the marque.

Coming Soon: 1963 Jaguar E-Type

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Arriving into our workshops very soon we have our 1963 Jaguar E-Type, in for a possible restoration.

The car is a US import and whilst in the states had undergone various modifications and alterations, including a V8 engine.

Our objective is to restore the car back to original condition with a few sympathetic upgrades.

Firstly we need to look for an original E-Type engine.

The car is due in to us around the end of January 2019 but work will not commence immediately.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”25287,25288,25289,25290,25291,25292,25293,25294,25295,25296,25297,25298,25299,25300,25301,25302″][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Running up our V12 engine

Our 1972 Jaguar E-Type’s V12 engine is now fitted up to the test rig to check it’s running capabilities. It turned over first time with very little effort which is great news so Ady now knows what he needs to work on to refurbish and prepare the engine for refit.

AutoClassics – Top 10 Classic Car Stories of 2018

As we start a new year here at Bridge Classic Cars we open our inbox to a fantastic breakdown of last years stories from the guys and girls at AutoClassics.

Source: autoclassics.co.uk

“As 2018 draws to a close, it’s time to reflect on all that’s happened in the world of classic and collector cars. Below are our 10 most popular stories from 2018, ordered from first to 10th.

You, our readers, have demonstrated a taste for stories across the spectrum this year – whether it’s multi-million dollar classic exotica or a cheap muscle car in need of some TLC.  Even the somewhat polarising EV conversion movement got some love from our readers this year.

We look forward to bringing you even more of the best classic car news and features in 2019. From all of us at AutoClassics, have a happy new year!”

  1. FBI halts $4.5 million classic car fraud scheme. Back in July, the FBI revealed and stopped a classic car fraud scheme based in America, which scammed victims out of $4.5 million…
  2. This muscle car dealer is selling a dream barn find collection. Restore a Muscle Car wants you to take on restoration of some of its stars…
  3. Pristine Ferrari 250 GTO sells for record $70 million (£52m). The GTO sold to David MacNeil is now the most expensive car of all time…
  4. We’ve got two, babe! Sonny and Cher’s custom Mustangs. Sonny and Cher’s George Barris-customised Mustangs were unleashed…
  5. This is the electric E-type that Harry and Meghan drove. The automotive lowdown from the royal wedding of the year…
  6. Could the Singer DLS be the greatest Porsche 911 ever? This Williams F1-inspired car is even better than we ever (re)imagined…
  7. There’s a Lamborghini Gallardo in this Ford Mustang. Two for the price of one has never been so literal with this combination…
  8. Dodi’s Auto Sales – the USA’s most unusual car dealership. TV star Dodi Khalil sells classics that no-one else would touch in Monterey…
  9. How Honda’s NSX beat Ferrari at its own supercar game. Honda’s first supercar became a legend with the help of Ayrton Senna…
  10. The incredible story of the lost 1939 Antarctic Snow Cruiser. America’s Snow Cruiser is engineering at its best. So what went wrong…