Search
Close this search box.
My Account
My Account

Craig Ranson

Managing Director – Bridge Classic Cars

Almost ready for second stage primer

March 23, 2017

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]We are now working on the last few areas that needed our attention before the second stage of primer will be applied.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”10852,10853,10854,10855,10856,10857,10858,10859,10860,10861″][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Read More »

New addition to any garden…

March 21, 2017

How amazing are these Volkswagen Camper Plant Pots? Posted on Facebook by our good friend Nikki Caborn: New addition to the garden ❤ #springtime#vwcamper #primroses#doesthismeanimgettingold

Read More »

The Riley Returns

March 17, 2017

Our wonderful Riley 11/40 Sports Tourer returns! She was part of the Bridge Classic Cars family back in 2012 and we loved her. We are

Read More »

Rebuilding the MGYT engine

March 16, 2017

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Back in November 2016 our 1949 MGY Tourer arrived with us from Cyprus. As you can see, the engine wasn’t quite right upon arrival. If

Read More »

Mr Tye – Hadleigh, Suffolk

March 24, 2017

“Excellent service by Bridge Classic Cars. I was very impressed with their professional approach. It is nice to find a genuine garage. Thank you again”

WIN a meal for 2 and a bottle of wine with your April MOT

March 23, 2017

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

WIN this April with

Win a 3 course meal and a bottle of wine for 2 at Aurora Bar & Restaurant, Ipswich, book an MOT in for April to enter our free prize draw.

To book your April MOT call Peter or Andy on 01473 743033 or email info@bridgemot.co.uk and you could be enjoying a meal on us.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”10906,10905,10904,10903,10902,10901,10900,10899,10898,10897,10896,10895,10894,10893″][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Ivy Rose Studio in Manchester goes Vintage…

March 23, 2017

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Ivy Rose Studio is a boutique creative photography studio based in Chorlton, Manchester.

As you can see, they offer beautiful boudoir photography and vintage pin up photography, as well as stunning family portraits, fun kids photo shoots and memorable bridal and maternity photography.

Makeup artist Michelle Lawrenson, a very good friend of ours at Bridge Classic Cars has recently modelled for the new Ivy Rose Studio website.

Although there are no vintage or classic cars in sight we still couldn’t resist showing you a sneak peak of some of the images taken from their recent vintage shoot.

Michelle Lawrenson – Ivy Rose Studio, Manchester

A special thank you to Ivy Rose Studio and Michelle for allowing us to share the amazing classic images.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”10881,10880,10879,10878,10876,10875,10874,10873,10872,10871,10870,10869,10868,10867,10866,10865″][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Almost ready for second stage primer

March 23, 2017

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]We are now working on the last few areas that needed our attention before the second stage of primer will be applied.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”10852,10853,10854,10855,10856,10857,10858,10859,10860,10861″][/vc_column][/vc_row]

More E-Type engine pictures

March 23, 2017

We have now positioned the newly rebuilt V12 engine in our workshops ready to be fitted to the reinforced engine stands.

Our Jaguar E-Type Roadster is ready for paint preparation

March 22, 2017

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Our 1971 Jaguar E-Type V12 roadster is now ready for the paint preparation.

At this stage we are estimating a further 150-180 hours will be spent on the preparation before the complete respray commences.

Various conversations have been had but at this moment in time the colour combination is undecided. Our original plan of black with red MAY be altered but at this stage of the build this is not a a problem. With preparation and primer to concentrate on we still have time to make the colour combination decision.

The colour choice will be solely down to the new owner and his/her preference.

 

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”10833,10834,10835,10836,10837,10838″ onclick=””][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]This morning, we had the pleasure in meeting Brian Page of Classic Assessments as he visited our workshops to learn a little more about Bridge Classic Cars.

The reason for his visit was to inspect the work we have carried out and our plans for our 1971 Jaguar E-Type Roadster. As the workshop was full of our classics we were able to show Brian various stages of the current projects we have; our 1924 Riley 10.8HP 11/40 Sports Tourer, our 1949 MGYT, our 1976 Maserati Merak, our 1960 Jensen 541S, as well as our 1965 Jaguar E-Type and finally over to Colchester to see our 1967 Jaguar E-Type.

It was a very busy morning but hopefully very worthwhile for Brian.

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

Mercedes W123 300TD Respray

March 21, 2017

The respray is now complete on our 1984 Mercedes W123. With a few more components to work on our next job will be to finish off the refit before carrying out a full polish and thorough clean.

This is a stage restoration project, agreed with the customer. Stage 1 was to repair the bodywork, carry out the full respray and refurbish the wheels. Once we have the sign off we can then arrange the schedule for Stage 2.

Insurance assessment on a 1969 MGBGT

March 20, 2017

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Today, we have inspected a 1969 MG BGT that was involved in an unfortunate accident yesterday.

From first impressions; the original bumpers and front grille will need to be repaired. During the impact to the front, the weakness around the front headlights, due to age related corrosion, have been further weakened so will need to be cut out and repaired. The bonnet has been slightly buckled, preventing the mechanism from running smoothly. The front valance, arches and bonnet will need to be resprayed.

A full report will be drafted up and then we will await further instruction from the insurance company.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVR7qdNdd5Q”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”11360,11361,11362,11363,11364,11365,11366,11367,11368,11369,11370,11371,11372,11373,11374″][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Fitting the new MGYT wiring loom

March 20, 2017

Due to the rarity of our 1949 MGYT the wiring loom as been specially manufactured, for us, by Autosparks. It was an 8 week lead time but due to forward planning it arrived within our time scale. Forward planning reduces the risk of set backs, doesn’t always work this well but on this occasion it has!

Autosparks are the world leading supplier’s of classic car wiring looms. There are lots of wiring looms suppliers online but from previous experience they all seem to use Autosparks as their supplier so we choose to buy direct from source and deal directly with the manufacturer.

We started back on the MGYT today, with Dave’s first job being to to install the new wiring loom.

Drive It Day 2017 – Kersey Mill – Sunday 23rd April

March 20, 2017

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Sunday 23rd April – 10am to 5pm

Free Entry for all exhibitors.

After the success of ‘Drive It Day’ 2016 Kersey Mill are pleased to announce a return for 2017 as classic car and motorcycle enthusiasts are invited to take part once again at the mill on Sunday 23rd April.

The idea is for owners of veteran and vintage cars and motorcycles to meet each other and show off their vehicles.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”3810,3809,3808,3807,3806,3805,3804,3803,3802,3801,3800,3799,3798,3797,3796,3795,3794,3793,3792,3791,3790,3789,3788,3787,3786,3785,3784,3783,3782,3781,3780,3635,3634,3633,3631,3630,3629,3628,3625,3624″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91TMrygP3HE” title=”Images from @hudsoninbury on YouTube”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]To view more images from Drive It Day 2016 click here to see the Kersey Mill Gallery.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Triumph TR7 – The body preparation continues…

March 18, 2017

With less than 2 weeks to go until our 1982 Triumph TR7 is scheduled to enter the paint bay there is still lots of work to carry out on the body shell in order to get it ready.

Although the previous owner had carried out a stunning £16,000 ‘nut and bolt’ restoration on this car, the paint had suffered from micro-blistering. In order to put things right we made the decision to strip back the car and carry out a full respray.

 

The Riley Returns

March 17, 2017

Our wonderful Riley 11/40 Sports Tourer returns!

She was part of the Bridge Classic Cars family back in 2012 and we loved her. We are very pleased to say that we own her once again. Here she is arriving this morning from Grays in Essex.

You win some you lose some…

March 17, 2017

So today I lost the battle of the big trucks.

Andreas from Vintage and Prestige arrived earlier today to show me his truck, a 2008 Ford F350…and it’s massive, so big that it’s wouldn’t fit down the road!

 

 

We bid farewell to our 1959 Austin Healey Frogeye

March 17, 2017

Today, we said goodbye to our beautiful 1949 Austin Healey ‘Frogeye’ Sprite as she makes her way down to Grays in Essex to settle in the Vintage and Prestige showroom.

John had the last drive of her for now but who knows if we’ll see her again.

Unfortunately I didn’t manage to get any photos of John getting out of the Austin Healey ‘Frogeye’ Sprite which is a real pity for comedy value alone!

Here we have her being loaded onto the Vintage and Prestige ready for the trip.

Building the Volkswagen T25 Interior

March 17, 2017

With our May deadline of completion on the horizon Asa is now working on the interior of Daisy, our 1989 Volkswagen T25.

The old tired and worn grey seats have been stripped and replaced with a brand new grey and cream interior theme. The Rock n’ Roll bed has also been re-cushioned, covered and the interior structure will start to take shape next week.

All new appliances and lighting will be installed to the customer’s specification.

Rebuilding the MGYT engine

March 16, 2017

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Back in November 2016 our 1949 MGY Tourer arrived with us from Cyprus. As you can see, the engine wasn’t quite right upon arrival.

If you were to remove the sheeting and pull out the white perspex boxes off the front and back seats you’ll find a 1949 MGYT engine…

…and if you look under the bonnet you’ll also see that we seem to be missing an engine.

So one of our first tasks was to rebuild the engine. In order to do this we needed to establish what parts, if any, were missing from the white boxes.

We called upon our good friend and one of the UK’s leading MG engine builders George Edny to help source and rebuild the components on our engine.

We have now carried out a full and extensive rebuild; including work to the front pulley, ring gear, water pump, oil filters, rocker caps, plugs, bearings and brackets. The exhaust has also been blasted and sprayed, the gearbox has been totally rebuilt, along with the carbs, inlet manifold, dynamo and starter motor.

The engine is now back in our Ipswich workshops ready for work to commence once again next week.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”10714,10715,10716,10717,10718,10719,10720,10721,10722,10723,10724,10725,10726″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAXJKbUFJEk” align=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS4sC3pMEHA” align=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

The triple SU Carburetor are now complete

March 16, 2017

Our triple SU carburetors are now complete. Our renowned race engine builder Don Warman has carried out a fantastic job on restoring these tired looking Jaguar carbs back to their best.

We will now be able to fit them to our newly rebuilt 4.2 Jaguar engine ready for a full test run next week.

Jensen 541S chassis is now complete

March 14, 2017

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

With the body shell once again removed, the final improvements to our Jensen 541S could then be completed.

The wheel arches, boot floors, bumper hangers, body retainers, closing panels all round and all floor retainers have now be re-fabricated.

We have also removed the battery casing to replace with a safer, enclosed and vented battery box.

All protruding welds have been linished to accept the body.

The chassis is now ready to go to our paint shop to be prepared and painted.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”10681,10682,10683,10684,10685,10686,10687″][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Work continues on the Maserati Merak engine bay

March 14, 2017

Progress has been further made on our 1976 Maserati Merak engine bay. The plumbing in of the brakes is now complete, the water pipes and vacuum pipes have also been connected up. We’ve replaced all of the pipes on the return system for the brakes. The fuel hoses have been fitted.

John has also successfully installed the Alternator, Brake Pump and Air Conditioning Compressor.

Still a bit of a way to go on this very challenging project but we are certainly getting through it. John has been working tirelessly on this project and it certainly hasn’t come without it’s frustrations. It’s when you step back and look at the pure beauty of this machine do you realise that all the hard work and hours are absolutely worth it.

We are now on the look out

Our 1965 Jaguar E-Type returns from paint shop

March 14, 2017

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]It has been a long time away but time very much well spent. Our 1965 Jaguar E-Type 2+2 has finally returned to the Bridge Classic Cars workshops in Ipswich for finishing off, completely rust and rot free and looking amazing!

The new windscreen has been fitted but the existing rubber is not looking at it’s best so we’ve decided to replace with brand new. Along with fitting the new number plates to the front and rear this will be the final task to carry out on the car before she can return to Felixstowe and enjoy a full summer of shows.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”10653,10652,10651,10650,10649,10648,10647,10646,10645,10644,10643,10642″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”10657,10658,10659,10660,10661,10653″ title=”The view from our tea break this afternoon…”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Refurbishing the Mercedes Mexican Tophat Wheels

March 13, 2017

As part of the restoration of our 1984 Mercedes W123 300TD, we have two full sets of Mercedes Mexican Tophat alloy wheels to refurbish.

A very desirable wheel indeed.

It wasn’t until we removed the set from the vehicle that we realised the car was actually fitted with odd wheels. It was sitting on three 6 inch wheels and one 6.5 inch wheel. This was most strange until we pulled out the second set of wheels to refurbish to find three 6.5 inch wheels and one 6 inch wheel.

Very difficult to see on the image above the the wheel closest to us is slightly lower than the rest.

Either way, the wheel refurbishment is now completed, 2 full sets and a spare all ready and looking amazing.

Ready for the summer

March 11, 2017

All of the work is now complete on our 1978 Aston Martin AMV8.

Here she is this morning looking lovely and clean waiting for owner Chris to arrive.

 

Completing the rear arches

March 10, 2017

Tommy has now completed tacking the new rear arches to the chassis. The next stage will be to complete the welding work on the rear arches before the chassis can go off for paint preparation.

Our 1984 Mercedes Touring Diesel Turbo in primer.

March 10, 2017

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]We are now into the priming stages of our 1984 Mercedes W123 300 TD.

The front arches have been temporarily fitted up and all lines have been checked to ensure a neat fit and finish.

They have now been removed and primed separately along with the bonnet.

Trevor will be concentrating this morning on correcting the damage to the front quarter. We believe the vehicle was involved in an accident early in it’s life whilst in California.

Once this area is corrected the next stage will be to respray the body.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery interval=”3″ images=”10607,10606,10605,10604,10603,10602,10601,10600,10599,10598,10597″][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Building our Jaguar race-replica engine

March 9, 2017

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Popped in to see the Ady and the guys at Scholar this afternoon to catch up on a few tasks we are working together on.

Whilst I was there I managed to get a few pictures of our 1967 Jaguar E-Type race-replica engine being worked on and looking incredible.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”10592,10591,10590,10589,10588,10587,10586,10585,10584,10583,10582,10581,10580,10579″][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Our rebuilt Jaguar 4.2 Engine

March 9, 2017

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]If you visited The London Classic Car Show at the Excel in London a few weeks back you may have seen our beautiful engine on display.

Our now complete Jaguar 4.2 engine which has been completely rebuilt to exceptional standards and sympathetically upgraded to our customers specification.

The beautiful Weber carbs, polished manifold, linkages and trumpets are only installed on the engine to allow testing, whilst the original triple SU carburettor setup is being completed.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”10569,10576,10575,10574,10573,10572,10571,10570″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The Weber carbs shown above will be married to our 1967 Jaguar E-Type race replica engine which is currently being rebuilt to the same exacting standards. Then we will be fitting to a rebuilt 5 speed gearbox, whilst this engine will be fitted with the original 4 speed Jaguar E-Type set-up.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Bridge Classic Cars are award winning Classic Car Restoration and Maintenance specialists. Your pride and joy is in safe hands with our expert Classic Car Technicians. Take a look at our awards here.

As seen on
As seen on the Daily Mail
© Bridge Classic Cars Holdings Ltd, T/ as Bridge Classic Cars. Registered in England and Wales with company number 5047706.