1986 Daimler DS420 – Prep And Paint
November 21, 2022
Our 1986 Daimler DS420 has had a new coat of paint! Before its final coat could be applied though, the entire car and its components
November 21, 2022
Work Continues – 1977 Triumph Spitfire
November 21, 2022
Classic car technician Jon has once again been investigating the running issues facing our 1977 Triumph Spitfire. After his initial investigations and subsequent work with
New Clutch Pedal – 1969 Morris Minor 1000 Convertible
November 21, 2022
When it comes to classic cars, like our 1969 Morris Minor 1000 Convertible, there are a wide range of components that have to fit perfectly
Repairing The Floor – 1976 Aston Martin AMV8
November 21, 2022
Classic car technician Scott has had his work cut out with our 1976 Aston Martin AMV8. After his investigation and prep work on this attention-grabbing
1954 Jaguar MKVII – The Restoration Continues
November 21, 2022
The restoration of our 1954 Jaguar MKVII has continued recently with quite a bit of work being completed by classic car technician Dave. After the
Saying Goodbye (Again) – 1972 Chevron B20
November 21, 2022
It doesn’t seem that long ago that we first said goodbye to our 1972 Chevron B20. There was a mix of emotions felt when it
Supporting The RNLI
November 21, 2022
The late Robert Furniss Riding (known as Bob) was a passionate supporter of maritime charities. He had a past love of sailing and felt it
£2000 Donated To The NHS
November 21, 2022
During the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, Bridge Classic Cars wanted to show our support for the incredible work the NHS was doing. Not only did
£38,500 Raised For The DEC Ukrainian Humanitarian Appeal
November 21, 2022
When Russian forces invaded Ukraine, a huge number of people were left in a very bad situation. Aid was desperately needed and that meant money
Raising £100 000 For The Community Sports Foundation Charity
November 21, 2022
In October 2021, Bridge Classic Cars teamed up with Lotus and the Norwich City Football Club charity – the Community Sports Foundation (CSF). We worked
1986 Daimler DS420 – Prep And Paint
November 21, 2022
Our 1986 Daimler DS420 has had a new coat of paint!
Before its final coat could be applied though, the entire car and its components needed to have primer applied,
Some of the parts of this classic car had to be removed and prepped separately from the rest of the vehicle. These were painted on both their interior and external surfaces while they were detached from the main body of the car.
The car itself was also prepped for painting. It was masked up before getting its final coat of paint applied.
To make sure our 1986 Daimler DS420 looks its very best, classic car technician Chris polished the newly painted doors. As you can see from the progress photos below, this makes a big difference to the overall final look of the doors.
Now that our DS420 has been painted, it looks very different to how it did when it first arrived at the Bridge Classic Cars workshop all the way from the United States of America. There is still a good amount of restoration work needing to be done but progress is certainly being made and this classic car continues to get better and better.
Work Continues – 1977 Triumph Spitfire
November 21, 2022
Classic car technician Jon has once again been investigating the running issues facing our 1977 Triumph Spitfire. After his initial investigations and subsequent work with the brake fluid being used in the car, he has had to continue his work to find the cause of the running issues being experienced.
Jon stripped the carbs so he could thoroughly inspect them. He found dirt in both float bowls so these were blown out before Jon cleaned them out ready for reassembly.
The fuel lines were also blown out and the filter was removed and cleaned too. Jon found a small leak at the gearbox end of the fuel line so he fitted new seals to rectify the issue.
After this was all done, Jon balanced the carbs and rechecked and adjusted the ignition timing. Although Jon was keen to take our 1977 Triumph Spitfire out for a test drive to ensure everything was moving in the right direction, unfortunately, the weather was not suitable on his first attempt.
During his investigations, Jon bypassed the ballast resistor in the wiring loom by running the power wire directly to the coil. Doing this got the car running perfectly. Jon found an ignition-fed live wire which he traced back to the rear of the fuse box where he soldered the wire from fuse number 1 to the coil-positive terminal.
Jon tested everything and all was working as expected. The last thing to do was to tidy up the wiring and to refit the components.
Now that Jon has been spending some time with our Spitfire, it looks to be making good progress and will soon be back with its owner and on the road again.
New Clutch Pedal – 1969 Morris Minor 1000 Convertible
November 21, 2022
When it comes to classic cars, like our 1969 Morris Minor 1000 Convertible, there are a wide range of components that have to fit perfectly together to form the beautiful classic vehicles you see leaving the Bridge Classic Cars workshop. While some of these components will be as unique as the vehicles themselves, there are some parts that will be very familiar to modern car owners too.
One such example of this is the latest work classic car technician Scott has been completing on our 1969 Morris Minor 1000 Convertible. Scott has recently installed a new clutch pedal and bushes to this very popular classic car.
As you can see from the photos below, Scott spent some time tucked into the front of this beautiful classic car while he was completing the task and he has now bought it one step closer to leaving us to go back to its owner.
Repairing The Floor – 1976 Aston Martin AMV8
November 21, 2022
Classic car technician Scott has had his work cut out with our 1976 Aston Martin AMV8. After his investigation and prep work on this attention-grabbing classic car, he looked at the fuel system as part of his preparations to start the engine, and he also started removing some of the interior so he could access the floor pans.
Scott recently continued his work of stripping the interior of our AMV8 so he could get a better look at the rust issues the car seems to be suffering from. Once Scott had stripped the interior, he went on to remove the fuel lines and brake master before cutting out any rust that he found.
After cutting out the rust, repair panels were needed. Scott made these and welded them into place before dressing the welds. Once this was done, the welded-in panels fit smoothly into the car while also resolving the rust issues.
Finally, Scott primed and painted the areas where new panels had been fitted before re-installing the interior.
Our 1976 Aston Martin AMV8 has made good progress since first arriving in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop. Its long journey from America to us here in Suffolk was just the beginning as it now continues to make progress through the rest of its restoration journey.
1954 Jaguar MKVII – The Restoration Continues
November 21, 2022
The restoration of our 1954 Jaguar MKVII has continued recently with quite a bit of work being completed by classic car technician Dave.
After the engine of this beautiful classic car was removed a little while ago, it has now been rebuilt by our friends at Coltec and delivered back to us here at Bridge Classic Cars. Dave has been working on getting the engine back into the car so it can continue on its restoration journey.
Prior to the engine returning to us, we were able to see the pistons being machined so it was great to see the full engine back with us and ready to go back into the car.
Once the engine was back in, Dave was able to get it running and conduct a check of its condition. He was pleased with the temperature levels but did some additional work on other areas of the car.
The 2 fuel pumps were drained, removed, and replaced.
While working on our 1954 Jaguar MKVII, Dave noticed that the fan was broken. A new fan was installed but, as is the case with a lot of the classic cars we work on, the new fan didn’t quite fit into place exactly as it should. Luckily, our classic car technicians are master craftsmen so Dave was able to weld some new lugs onto the car so it would accept the new fan being installed.
To make sure the new lugs blended perfectly with the rest of the car, Dave painted them black and, as you can see from the photos below, they are now in perfect keeping with the rest of this classic car.
Now that the engine is back with the car, work can continue on our 1954 Jaguar MKVII. We are looking forward to seeing things progress over the coming weeks and we are excited to see this impressive classic car back out on the road with its owner.
Saying Goodbye (Again) – 1972 Chevron B20
November 21, 2022
It doesn’t seem that long ago that we first said goodbye to our 1972 Chevron B20. There was a mix of emotions felt when it left as this is a special classic car that we don’t usually see in the workshop. That being said, we were excited to see it move on to the next stage of its adventure.
When it returned to us last month, we were happy to have it back in the workshop and our team of classic car technicians were very keen to get their hands on this incredible car one more time.
Although its time with us was short, our 1972 Chevron B20 was stripped and underwent checks for asbestos here at Bridge Classic Cars before being given the all-clear to continue with the plans to move it to Victoria, Australia.
The F2 race car was collected from our secure storage facility, The Hangar, and set off for the next stage of its epic journey to the other side of the world.
Even when being loaded into the back of a transport lorry, it’s hard not to stare at a car like this. It looks extremely cool whether it’s sat on the tarmac, in our workshop, or in the back of a lorry.
Our 1972 Chevron B20 is moving on to the next chapter of its story in Australia. We hope that, eventually, it will end up back on a race track but, whatever happens, we hope its owner enjoys having such a special car in their collection.
We have said goodbye to this car twice now and, although this seems like it could be the last time, we hope that we see it again in some form in the future as we really do like having our 1972 Chevron B20 with us.
For now though, we will admire it from afar!
Supporting The RNLI
November 21, 2022
The late Robert Furniss Riding (known as Bob) was a passionate supporter of maritime charities. He had a past love of sailing and felt it was very important for charities such as the RNLI to be supported as much as possible.
After Bob’s sad passing in May 2022, his support of the RNLI continued.
Over the years, Bob had acquired a substantial car collection. With many of these being classics and rare vehicles, his collection was worth more than £1.5 million.
To show how generous Bob was, the RNLI was named the Residuary Beneficiary of the Robert Furniss Riding estate. This meant that, after his death, when his collection of cars went to auction, the money raised would go to the charity.
We purchased one of Bob’s cars – our 1991 Maserati Bi-Turbo Spyder E and, in the process, offered our support to the RNLI.
The RNLI does extremely important work keeping people safe at sea. Everyone here at Bridge Classic Cars is very proud that we have played a small part in supporting them and we are honoured to be a part of Bob’s story.
Helen Hopkins, head of legacies at the RNLI, said:
‘We are incredibly grateful to the late Robert Furniss Riding for naming the RNLI as one of the beneficiaries of his estate, along with many other beneficiaries.
The sale of the classic car collection will form some of the donation as the RNLI is the residuary beneficiary, so we’re very grateful to see it raise so much money.
Six in 10 lifeboat launches are only possible due to gifts in wills. Any gift left to the RNLI, large or small, makes a huge difference.’
We are very keen to support and promote local and national charities to help support them in their work and this is just one of the ways we have done so in the past.
The full story of our 1991 Maserati Bi-Turbo Spyder E can be seen here.
All of our charity projects can be seen here.
£2000 Donated To The NHS
November 21, 2022
During the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, Bridge Classic Cars wanted to show our support for the incredible work the NHS was doing. Not only did the National Health Service staff put themselves at risk by working through the pandemic, but they also work extremely hard to keep us safe every single day.
We launched Bridge Classic Cars Competitions during lockdown and the very first car drawn, our 1964 MGB Roadster was used to raise money for our amazing NHS.
As a result of the competition, we made a donation of £2000 to the National Health Service.
We are passionate about helping causes that do extremely important work and we can’t think of many more important causes than the NHS.
£38,500 Raised For The DEC Ukrainian Humanitarian Appeal
November 21, 2022
When Russian forces invaded Ukraine, a huge number of people were left in a very bad situation. Aid was desperately needed and that meant money needed to be raised. The DEC Ukrainian Humanitarian Appeal was set up to get much-needed help to the Ukrainian people.
With more than 13 million people being displaced as a result of the invasion, the Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC) started their appeal to raise funds to support its work in Ukraine.
Everyone here at Bridge Classic Cars wanted to help out any way we could and, luckily, some of our friends stepped up too.
One of our previous competition winners, Jar Joyce, got in touch with us and very kindly offered his prize, our 1989 TVR S2 to put back into our competition draw with all the money raised from ticket sales going directly to the DEC Ukrainian Humanitarian Appeal.
Other companies such as Hagerty UK, Car & Classic, Classic and Sportscar Magazine, and more got involved too and, together, we were able to raise £38,500.
We are proud to have raised this money to help people in Ukraine who have been so badly affected by the war.
We are extremely grateful to Jar for offering his beautiful car to us, to all the companies and individuals who helped spread the word, and to everyone who bought a ticket for the draw.
Bridge Classic Cars are passionate about supporting the important work of charities such as the DEC. We have worked with several companies and individuals in order to raise a substantial amount of money for worthwhile causes and we will continue to do so in the future.
All of our charity projects can be seen here.
Raising £100 000 For The Community Sports Foundation Charity
November 21, 2022
In October 2021, Bridge Classic Cars teamed up with Lotus and the Norwich City Football Club charity – the Community Sports Foundation (CSF). We worked with these fantastic partners to raise as much money as possible to help with the mission of using the power of sport to support and inspire our community.
Community Sports Foundation
CSF do incredible work all based around the common love of sport. The charity helps drive inclusion for people with disabilities, boosting mental health and wellbeing, inspiring disadvantaged people, and increasing community engagement.
This type of work is hugely important and we wanted to do our little bit to help the charity.
We worked with Lotus and had the opportunity to offer a very special car as one of our prizes in our competitions. The 2021 Lotus Elise Sport 240 Final Edition we gave away had the very first VIN of the last run of this model making it a very important car.
Through our combined efforts, our competition was able to raise more than £100 000 for the Community Sports Foundation. This is a huge amount of money and we are extremely proud that we had a hand in making this happen.
The lucky winner of our 2021 Lotus Elise Sport 240 didn’t just get his hands on a new car though. He also got to visit the Customer Experience Centre at Lotus Cars to see behind the scenes of one of the greatest automotive manufacturers and most successful racing teams of all time. Not only that, but he also got to drive a range of Lotus cars around the track. He even had a driving experience with former racing driver Martin Donnelly.
Everyone at Bridge Classic Cars is extremely grateful to Lotus and Norwich City Football Club for helping us raise a six-figure sum for a very special local charity.
Full project details can be seen here.
All of our charity projects can be seen here.
