Craig Ranson

Managing Director โ€“ Bridge Classic Cars

MGBGT V8 works

One for the future: we have our 1975 MGBGT V8 in need of a few remedial alterations and a possible full respray. The underneath of

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The secret key…

Whilst cleaning up and refurbishing our 1972 Jaguar E-Type’s dash we discover, tucked neatly behind the dash, a rusty key. We have no idea what

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Welcome to Project 668…

Introducing Project 668, the new home of Bridge Classic Cars classic car and motorcycle showroom.

Due to our recent expansion within our Woodbridge workshops and with the opening of our in-house engine building facilities, body shop and trim shop we have decided to grow and relocate our retail division.

Bridge Classic Cars: Project 668 will soon be home to a large collection of classic cars and motorcycles, all available to buy.

Our new ‘by appointment only’ showroom will display everything from DIY projects, barn finds through to unquestionable perfection.

Set in the beautiful surroundings of the iconic military base, Bentwaters Parks has been at the heart of some of the most stunning television and films in recent years. From zombie apocalypses to the Fast and Furious 6 where we provided some of the cars for them to use.

Like us, Bentwaters Parks is an exciting place to be and they have some great plans for the future.

So if you share our passion for classics, if have the ambition to own your dream classic, maybe you want to build on your already wonderful collection then we would love to hear from you.

Alternatively, if you have a classic to sell, we can offer this service for very modest commission rates. The commission will cover point of sale, liaising and front of house with all potential buyers, marketing and advertising worldwide and any warranty claims that may come out of the sale.

Email or call the office now on 01473 742038 if you wish to discuss.

Refurbishing our E-Type dash

Our 1972 Jaguar E-Type dash top, glove box and dial section have now been cleared up, repaired and polished ready for the dials to be refitted.

A visit from Duncan of Brightwells with his MG.

Today we welcomed to Bridge Classic Cars Duncan Potter, Classic & Vintage Auction Consultant from Brightwells auctioneers with his beautiful 1931 MG C.

The Brightwells story: “Established in 1846, Brightwells is a leading provider of auction services, estate agency and chartered surveying, serving customers principally in the UK, but also in Europe, the North Americas and Asia Pacific. Its principal activities include auctions of fine art, vehicles, horses, machinery, agricultural livestock and land; estate agency for residential property sales, residential lettings and farm & land sales; professional services of chartered surveying, including land management, for urban and rural land owners.

In the UK, Brightwells annually serves more than 50 thousand businesses and members of the general public. The head office and air-conditioned sales centre is established at Easters Court, Leominster, and is one out of fourteen venues across England and Wales from which we operate.

Brightwells’ strategy is to build long-term partnerships with our customers. With their support, we aim to maximise the potential of our traditional business โ€“through a combination of enhanced quality of service, creative marketing, knowledgeable & experienced professionals and cost efficiency โ€“while pursuing profitable growth by migrating our customers to new ranges of auctions and services such as real-time online auctions and product sourcing. We are also relentlessly working to encourage new customers to take advantage of our quality services and experience.

We are committed to helping all of our customers succeed by becoming the leader in the delivery of auction and professional services.”

Morris J Type Body Repair

Andrew has been working tirelessly on getting the bodyshell of our 1959 Morris J Type into a position where the paint preparation guys can take over.

The body repairs are almost complete and we’ll be looking at wheeling her in to the paint shop early next week.

New Arrival: 1973 Triumph TR6

Travelling down from Leicester and arriving in our workshops today we have our 1973 Triumph TR6. An original right hand drive Triumph TR6 2.5 PI CP Series, the 150 bhp model comes finished in Sienna brown with tan interior.

Our Triumph TR6 is the last right hand drive CP Series made for the UK market, built in Sept 1973. The car comes complete with heritage letter as confirmation. The chassis CP 77716 confirms this and the last two; 77717 and 77718 were left hand drive exported.

The car is now owned by us here at Bridge Classic Cars and has been owned previously for 12 years with MOT history dated back to 1986.

The car is completed original and does require some work with a view of a full restoration some day. The car has covered 86000 miles and the last MOT expired in 2018.

The car runs well and drive’s beautifully. The bodywork is starting to age and rust in places. The front bumper has a slight crease, the seams are showing signs of rust and there are paint imperfections all round.

The interior is completely original, the seats are worn as expected.

1990s American Collector Cars Destroyed in HBO Film Set Blaze

Source: Motorious

At least 20 classic American cars circa 1990 have been destroyed in a fire that engulfed 613 Automotive Group during the early hours of Thursday morning.

A ferocious blaze has ripped through a beloved car dealership used by HBO for the upcoming TV series I Know This Much Is True. A total of 20 classic vehicles were totalled as the fire took grip during the early hours of Thursday morning.

The cause of the incident is yet to be established, but authorities believe the inferno started near the dealership entrance around 12.45am on May 9, located on Mainstreet, Elenville. Filming had reportedly finished only 90 minutes beforehand. 

No less than 15 fire crews from surrounding counties tackled the emergency head on. However, despite an 11-hour fight to subdue the flames, 613 Automotive Group suffered total destruction.

Cars claimed by the furnace included various American classics. Several circa 1990 Chevrolet Corvettes and Camaros were incinerated during the incident, supplied to the HBO production crew via a film-car company owned by Automobile Magazine New York bureau chief Jamie Kitman.

Further losses include a C1500 pickup, a 454 SS pickup and a super-low-mileage 1990 Chevrolet Beretta Indy Pace Car replica.

The 613 Automotive Group used-car dealership was dressed as a Chevrolet/Pontiac/Oldsmobile/Isuzu showroom for the miniseries starring Mark Ruffalo and Juliette Lewis. The story partially takes place in October of 1990 and is currently scheduled for broadcast later this year.

Alongside the loss of various classic collector cars, firefighters could only watch as HBOโ€™s filming equipment caught alight. Production of the TV series, based on Wally Lambโ€™s novel of the same name, has been temporarily shut down as a result.

Despite the evident loss of the entirety of the business, fortunately no one was injured. Families from the surrounding areas have been displaced for safety precautions, while roads surrounding the showroom are closed for public safety.

The general manager, Chris Busby, commented: โ€œThe business is a total loss.โ€ He continued: โ€œThereโ€™s nothing left, itโ€™s a huge loss for us and HBO. They are just as heartbroken as we are.โ€

โ€œThe whole front side of the building where the showrooms were … fire was coming out of the windows and it progressed back through the garage rapidly,” Ellenville Fire Chief John Avery told Spectrum News.

Investigations into the blaze are ongoing.

Source: Motorious๏ปฟ

Stripping the Mercedes engine

Ady has now stripped our 1953 Mercedes 220 engine to identify the running issues.

As you can see, we have discovered two major problems which will most certainly require repairing.

Firstly, the pistons have been picked up in the bore causing scoring and the lines that you see. Upon further investigation we discovered a 26 thou clearance which is dragging oil through the system. This clearance should be around 3 thou. In order to rectify this we will need to bore out to fit new pistons. If we are unable to source new pistons then we will have to bore out and fit new linings. The linings will then house standard pistons.

Further more, you can also see the cam lobes are severely pitted so a new cam shaft and followers will need to be sourced. Failing that we will need to send away the original to be re-profiled.

Francis Barnett Restoration Progress

Our Francis Barnett trials bike restoration is progressing well, the paint and parts for restoration are all away being worked on.

The engine however has problems. The big end is shot and likewise the small end. Piston two is in a bad way, it has been fitted omitting the top ring (its a three ring piston) as the top ring groove has seen a ring break up at some point and the lower piston skirt is also damaged. The bore looks ok so we are thinking that the cylinder is a replacement. But here’s the problem, the pistons for this engine are very hard to find. So two is a connecting rod/big end kit.

Still going through the other parts of the engine which looks to have a few but less significant problems. 

In summary, the frame has been broken in to its 4 pieces, 5 if you include the swing arm, 2 rather large chassis dings have been filled with braze and taken back, number board mounts have been reinstated to the left subframe diagonal, brake pedal has been straightened up and the toe pad brazed back on (it was holding on by its finger nails). The brake pivot post straightened and re-drilled for the brake lever retaining bolt, someone had welded a washer in place to keep the lever on the pivot. New rear guard mounting brackets have been fitted and the left foot rest straightened up. The right hand foot rest doesn’t belong to this bike so we are trying to source the correct item currently. We have also reinstated a deflector bar that has been lost at some point.

On our travels…

Monday’s are a good day for the staff here at Bridge Classic Cars. In theory, Monday is a day where the technicians are not required to work. You see, we work a four day week here, Tuesday to Friday with the team being able to enjoy a three day weekend; Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

Having said that, a lot of the team choose to work Monday’s so they can get a lot of their projects pushed forward.

For other’s it’s a day to spend with the family. Going out and about in Suffolk. It’s normally a day we get to capture some of the incredible sights of Suffolk and the fantastic cars also out enjoying a Monday off…

Here we are in Felixstowe where we spotted this stunning Ferrari.

And then, we captured the little MG enjoying a spot of lunch in Rendlesham.

1956 Ford Consul: Body Repairs Complete

The body work repair is now complete on our 1956 Ford Consul. The corroded areas have been cut out and replaced with new metalwork. Next stage will be to get the car up and running and mechanically sound before heading into our paint shops to be prepared and painted.

We will also be manufacturing a new carpet set whilst here before returning the car back to the owner to be completed.

BMW Car Magazine – May 2019

Today, we welcomed BMW Car Magazine to Bridge Classic Cars to photograph for an upcoming feature on our 1973 BMW 2002 Targa.

Unfortunately due to copyright restrictions we are unable to show you the full photo shoot until the magazine has been published but it was fantastic to have them here and see their photographer Matt Woods in action.

Automotive Photographer Matt Woods is based here in East Anglia and has been a professional photographer for more than 16 years. matt has built a reputation for exceeding client expectations and has been commissioned by leading brands and magazines around the world.

We are desperate to show some of his work on our car so hopefully it won’t be too long until the magazine feature gets released…

Priming our E-Type bodyshell

Prostrip automotive restoration specialise in removing paint, rust and other contaminants from all types of vehicles and substrates involving steel and aluminium, ranging from classic cars to vintage motorcycles. Their vast in-house facility ensures they have the correct and most cost effective process to suit your application.

Prostrip Ltd. Has developed Phos-Stripโ„ข a chemical dip process for the removal of paint, rust and under seal from complete car shells or individual panels. Its chemical formulation strips away contaminants from all internal and external areas.

Our 1967 Jaguar E-Type body shell has now been through the Prostrip treatment.

We’ll now apply primer to the exposed shell to prolong any deterioration whilst we store the shell ready for the restoration to commence.

MGBGT V8 works

One for the future: we have our 1975 MGBGT V8 in need of a few remedial alterations and a possible full respray.

The underneath of the car is in very good condition. Some of the under seal is missing and other sections have become detached, which allows moisture and wet to get between the floor pan and the underseal. This will eventually cause the floor pan to rust and hole.

The webasto roof seems to be getting stuck so we will need to investigate the poor clamping of the opened webasto roof and repair.

The car has micro blistered in multiple areas and this requires to be taken back to bare metal and resprayed. The only way to successfully eradicate the micro blistering 100% and to achieve the required finish is to respray the total car.

We will look to strip the car totally, remove the front and back screens, to prepare, paint in original two tone colour and reassemble, using new rubbers where required.

It also appears that the engine mounts are weak causing the nearside exhaust manifold to rest on the inner wing.

Repairing the Jensen’s fibreglass body

The fibreglass bodyshell of our 1957 Jensen 541R arrived to us in a pretty sorry state, covered entirely in miniature cracks and blisters that have developed over time.

Repairing the fibreglass body is quite a time consuming task but one that is a necessity in ensuring the finest results with the restoration. Any imperfections at this stage will be heightened as we progress with the restoration and every care and detail is required with this section of the rebuild.

A Corvette powered Jensen

Our Jensen 541R has now been fitted with the newly built Corvette Engine and brand new 5 speed Tremec gearbox.

Body repair begins on our Morris J

Darren and Andrew are busy (well Andrew is, Darren’s chatting on his phone!!) working on the body of our 1959 Morris J, to get it repaired, welded and ready for paint preparation.

Jaguar E-Type: Sound Deadening

The boot area of our 1972 Jaguar E-Type has now been cleaned up and fitting with a new Tetrosyl sound deadening layer. Not only does this tidy up the area but also acts as a sound barrier to cut down the noise level inside the car. making for a more pleasurable driving experience.

Tetra Pad Textured Sound Deadening Pads are designed to absorb vibrations in sheet metal panels and provide an effective sound insulation. Formulated to give maximum flexibility even in cold conditions, these may be applied to vehicle panels, floors, engine compartments, garage doors etc.

The secret key…

Whilst cleaning up and refurbishing our 1972 Jaguar E-Type’s dash we discover, tucked neatly behind the dash, a rusty key.

We have no idea what the key is for but what a fantastic hiding place.

Brian has now stripped and cleaned the dash surround ready for the newly refurbished dials to be refitted.

Mercedes 220 Engine work

Our objective is to investigate the poor running of our 1953 Mercedes 220 engine. Already, we have discovered a defect in the carburettor. As you can see from the images below, we have laid a flat edge across the top and one edge shows a slight concave whereas the other shows a convex. This should be completely flat and these are very minor but enough for the carburettor to be operating with a weakness.

We have now stripped the carb and flattened the edge all over to remove the imperfections before rebuilding.

Re-routing the pipework

During this weekend’s Ipswich to Felixstowe run an unusual noise had appeared whilst driving.

Now in our workshops to be investigated we have diagnosed it to be coming from the crankshaft breather pipe knocking against the exhaust.

Having now re-routed the pipework the noise seems to have gone and the car is now back at home.

Building up our new rear diff

John is currently rebuilding the up-rated rear diff for our 1965 Jaguar E-Type Series 1.

We are fitting new groove and drill up-rated discs, pads and calipers. We are fitting a Series 3 set up and installing new easy bleed pipework.

The Turks Head Beer, Cider & Gin Festival

This weekend saw the fourth year of The Turk’s Head Beer, Cider and Gin Festival. We were there with our good friends Jack and Arabella on Sunday to experience first hand the amazing selection of ales, real ciders and unusual gins in the marquee.

Thank you as always and we’ll see you next year.

The Turkโ€™s Head is an award winning proper country pub serving perfectly kept local real ales. We are well known for our extensive gin selection and wine list, from our wonderful house Merlot to a fragrant Chablis from our fine wine list, with many available by the glass. We also have a fabulous restaurant and use the finest local ingredients to create menus offering beautifully executed seasonal dishes.We welcome dogs in the bar and the snug and they can often be found curled up in front of one of our log fires on a chilly afternoon, after a long walk in the beautiful Suffolk countryside. Our โ€˜Indulgent Brunchโ€™ is available on Saturdays from 10am until 2pm. You can enjoy a bowl of porridge with caramelised apples, a full English breakfast or huevos rancheros along with many other dishes. There is an indulgent drinks list to accompany it with teas and coffees, juices and smoothies, brunch cocktails and fizz.

We are extremely proud of our team and our pub. We have been named โ€˜Best Pub in Suffolk โ€˜ for the last two years and we have been in the finals of the Great British Pub Awards every year since we reopened in 2015. Please take a look at all the delicious options. We look forward to offering you a warm welcome at The Turks Head.”

Modifications to our 2017 Volvo V90

In our paint shop this weekend we have our 2017 Volvo V90 for some subtle modifications.

To tie in with the black wheels the owner would like all silver/chrome trims to be blackened.

After masking up the areas in question Darren gets to work applying the black finish.

The finished results are incredible. A very simple yet effective modification.

BMW M3 Evo Recommission

Peter is working on getting our 1997 BMW M3 running. Having been stored up for many years first impressions suggest that the car is immobilised and that the fuel pump is not working.