Falling into Place – Fitting the Headliner to a 1970 Dodge Charger
October 6, 2021
It’s been an absolute treat to have one of the most iconic muscle cars of all time in the trim shop of Bridge Classic Cars.
October 6, 2021
In With the New – Recommissioning the Cooling System on the 1973 MGB Roadster
October 6, 2021
The 1973 MGB Roadster we currently have in at Bridge Classic Cars for work has been having its cooling system gone through. Our in-house restoration
Closer Look – Investigating a Misfire on the 1971 Jaguar XJ6
October 6, 2021
The wealth of knowledge held in our workshop is incredible. Centuries almost of combined experience allow Bridge Classic Cars to look into a wide spectrum
Weather-Sealed – The Bespoke Hood Cover for the 1965 Amphicar
October 6, 2021
The 1965 Amphicar is already quite a unique and rare piece of automotive history. But, an original convertible hood cover? Slightly rare than hen’s teeth.
Down to the Bare Bones – Teardown on the 1956 Jensen 541
October 6, 2021
Here at Bridge Classic Cars, we’ve built a reputation for being one of the leaders in the restoration of the Jensen 541 family. The latest
Falling into Place – Fitting the Headliner to a 1970 Dodge Charger
October 6, 2021
It’s been an absolute treat to have one of the most iconic muscle cars of all time in the trim shop of Bridge Classic Cars. This 1970 Dodge Charger. The 2nd generation Chargers are without a doubt, one of the best-looking muscle cars built.
This particular 1970 Charger is in with our expert in-house trim team to be fitted out with a brand new interior. First up, Kath began to fit the headliner to the Charger. Covering such an expanse in fabric can be daunting, but for the Bridge Classic team, it’s not a problem. Working through the car methodically allowed Kath to stretch and pull the headliner into shape and give it the best finish possible.
Each of the ribs was carefully moved into its position millimetre by millimetre to ensure it was level and square. These spars allow the fabric some element of give but also when they are correctly installed, gives the best finish with no ripples or waves.
Whilst installing the headliner, Kath did note a small area of corrosion on the shell by the back window. It had been treated and wasn’t structural. In any case, we always let our clients know and suggest a course of action. At this time, it will be underneath the headliner. As said, it’s not in a structural location, it has been treated and on inspection by our body shop team, it is perfectly fine for years to come.
Updates on the rest of the interior will be up very soon so keep an eye out on the Bridge Classic Cars blog.
In With the New – Recommissioning the Cooling System on the 1973 MGB Roadster
October 6, 2021
The 1973 MGB Roadster we currently have in at Bridge Classic Cars for work has been having its cooling system gone through.
Our in-house restoration technician Ady last time worked on removing the water pump and the old radiator from this iconic little sportscar. New parts were put on order and have now been fitted into the front of the bright red MG B.
A completely new water pump has been fitted to make sure that when it is eventually driven, the temperatures stay nice and safe. Working alongside the new water pump is the replacement radiator.
This was crucial in the cooling system as the old one had seen better days and on the advice of our in-house technician, a new one was fitted for peace of mind.
More will be coming up soon on the MGB Roadster so be sure to keep an eye on our News Page.
Closer Look – Investigating a Misfire on the 1971 Jaguar XJ6
October 6, 2021
The wealth of knowledge held in our workshop is incredible. Centuries almost of combined experience allow Bridge Classic Cars to look into a wide spectrum of issues on classic cars.
Take for instance this 1971 Jaguar XJ6. Recently it had its fuel tanks replaced with us but during the setup, our in-house restoration team noticed that it had a pretty bad misfire. This needed to be looked into more in-depth. Dave, one of our most experienced technicians, began to dive deeper into the straight-six.
Dave had noted that the HT leads and the coil was arching to the closest metal object. So, with that and his experience he elected to replace the leads and the coil as the first port of call. However, after startup, the misfire was still prominent. At that point, it was decided to perform a compression test. 5 out of the 6 cylinders were all within spec. However, 1 of them was suspiciously low. With the classic cars, it can be a myriad of things that can cause this.
Dave then pulled the rocker cover off of the intake side of the engine to gain access to the rockers and more importantly the valves. With the help of our in-house engine builder Ady, Dave checked each of the valves for the correct lash. Originally they would have been between 10-14 thousandths of an inch but on Ady’s guidance, he is happy to see them between 8-10 thousandths with a vehicle of this age and mileage. All of the valves however fell within those guidelines. Nothing was noticeably out of place.
With that, Dave then found the leads had begun to arch again. This time through a set of pliers and straight to the cylinder head, which was worrying. So, Dave is going to rebuild the distributor with new points and condenser along with a completely new set of HT leads again.
Expect to see more of the progress of diagnosing the misfire on the 1971 Jaguar XJ6 at Bridge Classic Cars very soon on the News Page.
Weather-Sealed – The Bespoke Hood Cover for the 1965 Amphicar
October 6, 2021
The 1965 Amphicar is already quite a unique and rare piece of automotive history. But, an original convertible hood cover? Slightly rare than hen’s teeth. However, after some research, we found a company in the States who make them!
We had one shipped to us here for our 1965 Amphicar which was installed by our in-house master trimmers. As you can see, it looks absolutely brilliant!
Down to the Bare Bones – Teardown on the 1956 Jensen 541
October 6, 2021
Here at Bridge Classic Cars, we’ve built a reputation for being one of the leaders in the restoration of the Jensen 541 family. The latest of these that is just beginning its journey is this 1956 Jensen 541.
This car came to us as a semi barn-find. After pulling it into the workshop, our in-house restoration technician Scott began to separate all the associate parts that were left inside the shell. This is an important part of any ground-up restoration as it gives you a clear view of what is going to be needed and its availability.
With the body and chassis of the Jensen, Scott has been going through to assess what parts can be refurbished and what will need to have replacements made. Carefully Scott has been removing, cataloguing and storing the various fixings and components which can be fully inspected at a later date by our in-house restoration teams.
Expect to see more about the restoration of this 1956 Jensen 541 on our Blog very soon.
