January 28, 2022

Love and Support – Strengthening the Sunroof of the Blaze Orange MGB GT

Brian, our lead in-house trimmer, has been working on retrimming and strengthening the sunroof surround of the Blaze Orange MGB GT.

Brian has completely stripped the piece back to its wooden frame and began to add some rigidity back into the piece using calico. This will help the sunroof opening to keep its shape and is a good process to perform on sunroofs when they’re being refurbished.

Now that this process is complete, the team can begin to look at retrimming it.

Complete Circuit – Fitting the new Brake Servo to the 1973 MGB GT V8

The Bridge Classic Cars in-house restoration team have been getting the 1973 MGB GT V8 in our workshop ready to be driven. And one of the jobs that needed doing was to replace the brake servo.

Dave, our senior technician, has been working on the car. He carefully removed the old unit out of the nose of the bright purple 1970s sports car and made sure all the hoses and fittings were in good working order before replacing it with a brand new unit we had sourced for the car.

With this part in the car and tested, the MGB GT V8 can now begin its road tests and be driven safely.

Keeping an Eye Out – Fitting the Temperature Sender to the 1934 MG PA

Dave, our senior technician at Bridge Classic Cars, has been working on the 1934 MG PA.

The latest job is to fit a new temperature sender to a gauge on the dash. That way, it’s easier to see the coolant temperatures when out driving than looking for the needle at the end of the radiator. Dave has run all brand new brass piping to and from the sender to link it up to the gauge in the dash.

This simple addition to the car makes a massive difference to any classic.

Good as New – Painting the Rear Dums on the 1977 MGB Roadster

While Paul was working on rebuilding the rear drums of the 1977 MGB Roadster, the Bridge Classic Cars in-house paint shop have also been working on parts and pieces of the 1977 MGB Roadster.

Alan, one of the painters, has refinished the drums in their original satin black. First, he carefully sanded the drums to clear them of any corrosion. Then, after thoroughly cleaning the parts, he could shoot the extremely durable satin black coating. Now, the pieces will be left to cure and then put back onto the car.

In Paint – Parts of the 1987 Mercedes 500SL in the Paint Shop

The in-house paint shop at Bridge Classic Cars has always got something in the state of the art spray booth. This time, it’s some of the parts for the 1987 Mercedes 500SL.

Alan, one of our paint experts, has been working on preparing the parts from the legendary German luxury convertible to go in front of his paint gun. He made sure to clean each part thoroughly and ensure they had all been dried and warmed before beginning laying the first coats onto the pieces.

Expect much more on the 1987 Mercedes 500SL very soon here on the Bridge Classic Cars news page,

Stop and Go – Rebuilding the Brakes on the 1977 MGB Roadster

Paul, one of the in-house restoration technicians here at Bridge Classic Cars, has been working on the list of jobs to do on the 1977 MGB Roadster that is in with us for restoration.

Paul carefully took apart the old drum brakes to inspect them and found the wheel cylinders to be leaking and some of the original hardware was close to seizing. So, Paul rebuilt the brakes with all new parts and hardware to make sure that when this classic roadster is back on the road it stops as good as it goes.

Behind The Scenes – 1964 Triumph TR4 & 1976 Mercedes 350SL Live Draw

Last night, 27th January 2022, Bridge Classic Cars welcomed the first-ever live studio audience to one of our Bridge Classic Cars Competitions live draws.

This time, it was the 1964 Triumph TR4 and 1976 Mercedes 350SL which would be finding their way to their new lucky owners.

Close friends, clients and previous winners were all invited to the event which took place in the new home of Bridge Classic Cars Competitions, the as-yet-unnamed extension. Being January, the evenings are cold but thanks to Carmello Coffee we all managed to keep warm and fed while everyone looked around some of our cars in both the extension and the workshop.

Then, as the clock struck 7 pm, it was time to go live to all our followers. Hayley and Craig, with Freddie behind the camera, took everyone on a tour around our current lineup and a few sneak peeks at what is coming in the future with Bridge Classic Cars Competitions. Hayley then had a chat with our friend Simon Benton, owner of the all-electric Mini which will soon be appearing on the Discovery Channel, about the background on the car and its connection to Bridge Classic Cars.

Next was the bit everyone was waiting for. Finding out who was about to get a phone call that would make their dreams come true.

First, was the draw of the 1976 Mercedes 350SL. As Hayley put the numbers into the random number generator, you could feel the air filled with excitement. Then, as the numbers whirred round in a flash, they stopped on number 3461. That, belong to Zhuman Zamiri.

Then we decided to find out who the new owner of the stunning 1964 Triumph TR4 would be. As Hayley put the new set of numbers into the number generators, we wished everyone luck. Then, with one click of a button. The future of the TR4 was sealed. Stuart Brown was now the proud new owner of the beautiful ’60s sports car with ticket 3338.

Hard to Reach – Fitting the Lower Pipework to the 1969 Mercedes 280SL Pagoda Engine

The engine and gearbox for the 1969 Mercedes 280SL Pagoda are one step closer to going into the car!

The iconic Mercedes which is in at Bridge Classic Cars workshop at our Suffolk HQ has had all of the new and refinished pipework installed on the lower parts of the engine and gearbox while they are out of the car. This is to make sure everything fits up where it should do and will allow our technicians to accurately tighten them down.

Many of the hydraulic lines have to be run in a very specific routing around the engine and gearbox, so using original reference photos our team took when the engine was originally taken out, Jon has managed to retrace the steps and get them all neatly and safely put in place.

Not long now, and the glorious 2.8-litre straight-six will be dropped into the nose for the Pagoda.

From Top to Bottom – Inspecting the Blaze Orange MGB GT before Teardown

The Blaze Orange MGB GT is in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop to begin its teardown for assessment.

The car is in remarkably good shape from what our technicians can see however, we take a full gallery of images for each project to use for cataloguing any parts or pieces that come off the car.

This also helps during the cars reassembly as we have reference photos to refer back to and ensure all the right pieces are back where they should be.