Craig Ranson

Managing Director โ€“ Bridge Classic Cars

VW Autojumble

Suffolkbugrs are bringing the Autojumble back at a great new venue, with loads of undercover trading space. Trinity Park, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP3 8UH Entry –

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Squeaky Clean Volvo!

You might have seen from yesterday’s blog posts that we have bought a “run-around” car, a green 1998 Volvo V40. Well after getting a much-needed

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The ECMC Charity Run

Last Sunday, the 29th of August, East Coast Mini Club came to visit us. The club was doing its annual charity run, raising money for the charity, Mind Suffolk. They managed to raise a grand total of ยฃ1,200 for the mental health charity. What an awesome achievement, well done everyone! The run started at 9:30 am at the Ram Meadow car park and was open to both members and non-members, and finished at Bridge Classic Cars. Take a look at our photos from the day. Did you come along on the day? If so, you may spot yourself or your Mini in one or two of the photos.

Well done to Chairman Tom and the entire team behind the event. It was a pleasure to have the club at our workshop.

If you run a car club and are looking for a location to hold an event or have a similar charity run coming up, please don’t hesitate to get in contact with us!

The repair process of a Riley chassis…

After coming back from the sandblasters, the chassis of the 1951 yellow Riley RMB is looking a little corroded so James is going to have to repair these sections. Lydia has begun the process by making cardboard templates of these parts, cutting where necessary to get the shaping right. These templates will be used by James to mark out around on the new metal. The original corroded metal will be removed and the new will be welded into place.

Recovering the Porsche 911 wheel

The stitching had started to pull away on our Porsche 911 SC steering wheel.

Kath has stripped the wheel of the existing leather and successfully managed to re-stitch it back in to position.

We fully expected to have to recover with new leather but once off the wheel we could see that the integrity of the leather was still beautiful so decided to keep with the originality.

VW Autojumble

Suffolkbugrs are bringing the Autojumble back at a great new venue, with loads of undercover trading space.

Trinity Park, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP3 8UH

Entry – Adults (ยฃ2), Kids (Free) – Show & Shine (ยฃ1 Charity Donation – raising money for Marie Curie Cancer Care)

Camp – ยฃ9.50 per plot, EHU ยฃ15 per plot -arrive from 3pm on Saturday

Undercover Trading Space – Autojumble (ยฃ20), Craft Plot (ยฃ12), Trade Plot (ยฃ25)

New in, Vauxhall VX220!

This green 2003 Vauxhall VX220 has just arrived with us. It was actually bought from us back in 2019, so it’s back on familiar ground. It’s only in for a small number of reasons: there’s a squeaking noise when it goes over bumps, which could be down to suspension issues, the customer wants it serviced and put through an MOT and it’s going to get a pre-delivery inspection.

Squeaky Clean Volvo!

You might have seen from yesterday’s blog posts that we have bought a “run-around” car, a green 1998 Volvo V40. Well after getting a much-needed clean, our “run-around” car is going to have a service in our workshop to check over everything.

Spotted in Corfu: VW Campervan!

Charlotte’s been on holiday in Corfu and while she was there, she spotted a yellow VW Campervan and a pink classic Vespa Scooter. Even when she goes away, she can’t keep away from the classic vehicles!

Our Run-Around Car!

We’ve just bought this 1998 Volvo V40 to use as a run-around car for the business. It will be used a lot for filming the competition videos, the ones you see when each one launches, where Charlotte is seen driving the cars and talking about them. It’ll be getting a good clean for sure!

A Red MGB GT V8!

Potentially arriving at our workshop is the red 1975 MGB GT V8.

Honda now in the workshop!

After last being seen in the painting bay, the 1998 Honda Integra Type R is now in the workshop!

Paul is now taking care of it and has taken everything out of the engine bay.

He’s also repaired and welded the chassis section where the captive nuts cover is.

As you can see, the radiator and air conditioning condenser are in desperate need of repair so these will be overhauled prior to being refitted.

More evidence of Jaguar’s dirty fuel line!

You may have seen the blog post from last week about the fuel line problems that Dave discovered on the 1971 Jaguar XJ6. If not, here’s a link straight to it. Here are some more photos and another video to show just how bad the problem turned out to be.

Repair work on the Riley.

James has been continuing his work on the yellow 1951 Riley. The air vent for the second panel was sandblasted last week, so could be welded into its new surrounding. James then used the finished one to determine how much metal to trim off the end. Back in July, he had to do some welding repair work on the left-hand wing. He’s now repaired the other wing. The subframe came back from the sandblasters and showed how much corrosion there was. James has started to make cardboard templates for the parts that need replacing, to mark out new pieces of metal for fabrication.

1982 Porsche 911 incoming!

This 1982 Porsche 911 has recently arrived. The list of jobs that need addressing is the following: the door-bins need fitting, the leather restraint straps on the rear seat need fixing, the upholstery needs reviving with some form of treatment, the passenger window needs fixing because it’s stuck, the steering wheel needs re-stitching, the under-dash panels need to be stuck back down and/or repaired, a battery cut-off switch needs to be put in and the battery is flat so needs to be put on charge.

The first stop will be the trim shop.

Extension work begins!

We’re going to share the blueprint for our extension that’s going on the side of the workshop building. The workmen have arrived today to officially begin the work! As usual, there’ll be photos popping up along the way, so keep watching for updates.

We thought it might also be a nice idea to look back at when our existing buildings started off as a blank canvas and were transformed into what you see today!

Fully charged LIVE 2021

Source: Fully Charged LIVE online

Fully Charged OUTSIDE will be taking place at Farnborough International on the 3rd, 4th & 5th September 2021. The 2021 show will be back with a bang, with more visitor attractions and more exhibits than ever before, all in a safe outdoor environment.

The guys from Electric Classic Cars will be there with our Tesla powered 1967 Austin Mini 850.

Update; on the stand over the weekend we saw BAFTA-winning presenter and YouTuber Maddie Moate from Maddie Goes Electric enjoying the electric Land Rover.

Finished TVR Hood and a General Tidy-Up.

Kath has now finished repairing the hood on the 1989 TVR SII 2.9 V6. In the last blog post, we heard about how she was removing the old PVC window out of the hood, because of it becoming delaminated and coming out of the seam at the corners. She used the original as a pattern to mark out around and cut out on a sheet of new clear PVC. Once cut out, Kath applied contact adhesive to the outside edge of the PVC and slotted it in between the layers of hood fabric at the seam edge and left it to dry. She could then sew down the same lines where the previous stitching was to fully secure the window into place. New leather strips were sewn onto the corners. The hood could then be glued to its frame. The vertical bars on the hood frame that is attached to the car had flaking black paint on them. So these were sanded down and then re-painted. The pieces that hold the hood in place at the front and where the front roof panels slot into it, had flaking paint on them too, so these got re-painted in the same manner. The hood could then be attached to the car again. Kath also reglued various pieces of fabric that were coming away around the inside of the TVR.

Small update on the Aston Martin.

A small update on the 1955 Aston Martin DB 2/4. The panel that is inside the boot, where the lock is, was corroded and had paint left on it. Lydia took it into the sandblasting in order to remove all of this.

Possible Future Projects: Renault 5 GT Turbo, Triumph 2000

We are currently in discussion on a couple of exciting projects that may be entering the Bridge Classic Cars workshops in the not too distant future.

Having been parked up for sometime we have our Renault 5 GT Turbo in need of some serious sill repairs. As you can see from the pictures, the areas underneath have suffered from corrosion and this will most certainly have affected the strength. These will need to be addressed in order to get the car successfully through an MOT and back on the roads.

It is most definitely a car worth saving and would bring a smile to many many faces if seen back on the road.

Next we have a dry stored Triumph 2000. Having been in the same family for many years the current owner would like to see phase 1 of the project being to get the car back on the Suffolk roads safely. A good, thorough clean will unveil what work will need to be carried out but we certainly expect a bit of welding and brake work to be key milestones on this one. Another great car to see back on the road and hopefully with us sometime in the future.

Small update on the Riley.

Here’s an update on the 1951 Riley RMB for you. It was found that there was hidden corrosion in between the layers of metal on one of the air vents. In order to get to this, James drilled through the spot welds and eased the metal apart. Lydia then went about sandblasting the main piece of the air vent to remove the corrosion and paint. She also removed existing layers of paint off the side and back of the body shell of the Riley.

More paint prep for the Ford Capri.

As well as the exterior of the 1983 Ford Capri 1.6 LS being transformed in the body and paint shop, Lydia’s been getting pieces from the engine bay in a better state for re-painting. This piece was sandblasted to get the original paint and corrosion off in preparation.

Having a tidy.

Tamas and Lydia have been tidying up the 1973 MG B GT V8 in various ways. It’s not in for a full restoration so a sympathetic touch was required. There was fraying carpet in places and where it had come unstuck and screws had come out that were holding panels in place. Another thing was there were various painted pieces from the engine bay that had become corroded underneath the paint, so these were either sandblasted or ground down to remove the paint and corrosion, before re-painting.

Do you like TR3s?

Just launched! Our competition to win this bright red 1958 Triumph TR3! If you follow this link here, it will take you straight to the page where you can find out more information about the car, see more photos and a video and buy tickets for your chance to win! So what are you waiting for?…

The magenta GT6 is here!

The much-awaited arrival of the magenta 1974 Triumph GT6 is here! It left Scotland yesterday for its long journey to us here in Suffolk. Thankfully, it’s turned up looking and sounding great! We’re going to get it detailed by our trusty Viper Auto Valet man, Colin, just to give it a little spruce up.

Ford Mustang – researching parts

It’s proving a bit of a challenge sourcing parts for our 1967 Ford Mustang right hand drive converted classic. Many suppliers across the UK are eager and willing to help us find replacement parts but as you would imagine, a lot of original components have had to change as part of the conversion. Parts begged, stolen and borrow from other vehicles…like the Vauxhall Cavalier steering rack.

Through a good friend and colleague of ours, John from Norfolk Brake and Clutch Specialists, we have a guy able to overhaul the steering rack. Fantastic news as this was our first major obstacle.

Now we are speaking with Mustang specialists from all over the UK to help us on our recommission journey.

Who would’ve thought a classic Mustang would be so challenging!

Ford Capri goes monochrome!

It’s priming day for the 1983 Ford Capri 1.6 LS! But let’s go back to the end of last week for this blog post, when Matt was marking out with masking tape where he could spot dents were on the exterior of the car. He then masked up the front windows and sun-roof to avoid any damage, and began the process of sanding, filling and sanding again all over the car, using both a DA and block sander for the large areas and then using red scotch to go over the shiny bits lefts behind. The work has continued this week. It’s going to be a sympathetic paint job because we’re not taking the windscreen out, so can’t go all-out on it. Thankfully, Matt has found very little corrosion in the process.

Repairing the exhaust manifolds.

Scott has been repairing the exhaust manifolds for the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona. They’re made of stainless steel and were cleaned up before being painted in black high-temperature paint to make them look like genuine Ferrari.

Investigation work continues on the Mercedes engine…

Ady has been investigating the engine on the 1976 Mercedes 350SL. Initially we were lead to believe this to be a running car but unfortunately it has arrived with us as a non-runner, and he’s found that this is probably due to an electrical fault.

There are two sides to the V8 engine and only one bank works. the right hand bank looks to have been tampered with.

The wiring to the injectors on that bank have been cut and rewired to earth. We donโ€™t understand why someone has done this unless they are trying to cover up something more. There would be no other obvious reasoning. Rewiring to earth could possibly mean the engine can still run, albeit on 4 cylinders as it will hopefully not be sending any fuel into the โ€˜deadโ€™ side. If it has then we have a problem.

We have replaced the points and adjusted the timing but the car remains on 4 cylinders.

We have then removed the plugs and checked the condition of the number 6 plug which looks to have a carbon build up. We have checked easy access compressions on all cylinders.

We have refuelled the vehicle but as before, the engine can only run on 4 cylinders and is therefore running dangerously rich.

Jensen Tool Tray!

This tool tray is from the Peony Red 1960 Jensen 541S. It hasn’t got any tools that were in it, so the customer is going to source those separately. Kath is going to shape a new piece of foam and cover it in black vinyl to match the dash. This piece of foam is the handle part, and the piece you see while sitting in the car. The tool tray sits underneath the dash, on the passenger side, and slots in like a draw into a metal frame.

Jaguar’s dirty fuel line…

Dave has been investigating the 1971 Jaguar XJ6 because it wasn’t running very well. He found that the carburettor tubes weren’t the same height as each other, and there was a new one and an old one. This is all why the carburettors couldn’t be set up. So a kit was purchased with all new ones in, the same height as each other. The choke had to be modified because the car had been changed to a manual choke in the past, whereas it’s meant to be an automatic one. Dave installed a better return spring for this. He put the car back together but the car still wasn’t right… It would only run for a limited time and it started to run badly again. After another investigation, he found that it wasn’t getting enough fuel in fast enough. It was soon realised that there was dirt in the offside fuel tank, which could be found without even getting into it properly. This car has got twin fuel tanks and both were the same. Dave has drained the fuel out of both of them, remarking that it smelt like rum! Not quite right then… There’s a video at the end of this post showing him at the start of draining the offside fuel tank.

Painting continues on the Honda.

The 1998 Honda Integra went into the paint bay at the end of last week. The body shell and bonnet have been primed and the doors and boot panel have been coated in the final coat of new white paint.