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Our 2002 Ford Thunderbird has been in the paint shop. After its bumpers were primed and painted, other parts of the car received the same treatment before it was put back together again.
Our 1968 Lotus Cortina has only been here in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop for a relatively short period of time. However, Jonn has already completed various tasks to get it ready to go into competition. Here are Jonn’s notes
Our 1964 Mercedes 230SL has been in the experienced hands of classic car technician Steve. He cleaned up the loose sealer and surface rust around the rear arches and the rear chassis rails before applying a new coat of under
Dave has recently been extremely busy with our 1969 Audi 70L. The car needed to be completely stripped down for the rest of the work required to be completed. Once Dave had finished stripping our Audi, the car moved on
While out on our Mince Pie Drive, the driver’s door release cable snapped on our 1961 Austin Mini 850. Once it had finished helping us spread some festive cheer to local care homes, Jonn repaired the cable and it is
John has made and fitted new down pipes to our 1964 Mercedes 230SL. This is because the old ones had to be cut off as they had seized. New baulk head sound deadening was fitted before John investigated the non-starting
It was noted from the appraisal that our 1993 Jaguar XJS had a faulty gearbox mount. Pete recently removed it from the car and stripped it down to its component parts. The rubber had completely degraded and was very much
Our 1994 Land Cruiser has quite a lot of work completed on the areas of rust that have been found. It has been in the Bridge Classic Cars paint shop with Chris as he has begun the repair work on
Our friends at Wheelhouse Alloys recently delivered the wheels to our 2002 Ford Thunderbird.
The fuel pump in our 1967 Mercedes SL250 has been dripping consistently since the workshop team got the car up and running. Peter removed the pump and stripped it. He found that it had previously been sealed using normal silicone
Peter has made more progress with our 1993 Jaguar XJS. The front and rear brakes were checked over and he cleaned up any loose debris. He made minor repairs to the driver’s front backing plate as it was misshapen leading
Jonn has been adjusting the carb mixtures of our 1956 Jensen 541. He left the air filter housing in place and removed the brass jet covers from underneath and adjusted each jet in turn. He then refitted the brass caps,
Earlier today, Tony loaded and delivered our 2003 Rover 75 back to its owner.
Steve has been fitting the heat shielding around the inner wings of our 1975 AC Cobra replica, where the exhaust manifold exits the engine.
Peter has been conducting an appraisal on our 1968 MGC Roadster. Here are his findings: Appraisal.. drivers door lock seized, can’t check keys, passenger door lock spinning in door can’t seem to fit a key, passenger door button sticks in
It’s been a long time coming but our 1979 Ferrari 400 GT is now pretty much ready to be photographed and filmed before going live on the Bridge Classic Cars Competitions website. After Jonn took the car out for a
It’s been a busy week in the headlines for Jaguar and it’s been a busy week for Jaguar in our workshops too. Peter started with us at the beginning of the week and he’s already making great progress on some
Technician Jonn has been continuing his work on Craig’s 19897 Mercedes 500SL. After removing the front valance and fitting the power steering cooler into position, he secured it with new bolts before refitting the valance. He then disconnected the power
Clinton has been repairing parts of the body of our 1963 Rover P4.
Chris has been applying primer and seam sealing the engine bay our 1973 MGB Roadster. Once this was complete, he painted the area.
Technician Jonn and paintshop manager Chris have been assessing our 1969 Aston Martin DB6. Here are their notes: Nearside wiper blade split. Drivers door lock and boot lock stiff. Nearside front fog light cover missing. Coolant low and rusty brown
Jonn has now finished the wheel bearings on our 1970 Fiat 500 and has refitted the offside wheel. Both front uprights have been greased and the car is now almost ready to be won through Bridge Classic Cars Competitions.
Technician Jonn has been looking at our beautiful 1961 Austin Mini. He has been working on the clutch hose and has made the following notes: Fit new clutch slave cylinder flexible hose. Refit cylinder and bleed system. Top up fluid.
Jonn has been servicing our 2010 Renault Wind Roadster. Here are his notes: Carry out service. Check all lights and levels. Drain oil and filter. Check over. Remove air filter and blow out. Clean and regap spark,plugs. Refit air filter.
Various parts of our 1973 MGB Roadster have been powder-coated. Others have been painted too.
Our 1961 Austin Mini has been in the workshop being checked over by Jonn. Here are his notes: Clean outlets and refit rad hoses. Carry out vacuum test. Fit a small washer to heater valve to help seal. Re vacuum
Technician Jonn has been looking at the cooling system of our 1956 Jensen 541. He drained the system and removed various hoses to allow the system to be flushed with water. Once the flush had finished, Jonn ran a hose
Technician Paul has been rebuilding our 2003 Rover 75. He has now refitted the chrome trim and door parts as well as the chrome window surrounds. He then went on to rebuild the boot. Jonn has also been working on
I just had to drop you a message and congratulate you on the way you have run the competition and delivered the mgc – the car is exactly as described if not better. The delivery was executed professionally and promptly
Technician Jonn has been working on the brakes of our 1956 Jensen 541. Here are his notes: Started by reassembling the rear brakes, Fit rear shoes and refit drums. Rears locked up once drums refitted. Unable to pump brake pedal
Our 2002 Ford Thunderbird has been in the paint shop. After its bumpers were primed and painted, other parts of the car received the same treatment before it was put back together again.
Our 1968 Lotus Cortina has only been here in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop for a relatively short period of time. However, Jonn has already completed various tasks to get it ready to go into competition. Here are Jonn’s notes about what he has been doing:
Heater matrix back from repair. Stick foam to edges of rad to protect and blow out heater box. Refit rad and use foam to seal edge of heater. Screw back together. With John’s help refit heater into car. Secure and start refitting ancillaries etc
Continue to install heater box. Fit carpets. Tidy wiring under dash. Refit centre console and map,light. Uee velcro to stick carpet in position. Refit seats and se are. Raise on ramp and refit fuel tank sender with new seal and ring. Refit wire and feed pipe. Put petrol back in car and Inspect for leaks, none found with either pump running. Refill coolant with vacuum fillin tool. Held 25hg vacuum for 5 mins. 3fit lotus badge to steering wheel.with double sided tape. Remove bonnet. Mask engine and sand down offside inner wing around hinge fixing as wing looked cracked and found hole that requires welding. Refit offside headlight chrome surround.
New wheels arrived and Graham swapped tyre from old to new. Refit nearside rear wheel and torque up. Build up brakes for offside, waiting for handbrake clip. Fit drum and wheel for now.
Our 1964 Mercedes 230SL has been in the experienced hands of classic car technician Steve. He cleaned up the loose sealer and surface rust around the rear arches and the rear chassis rails before applying a new coat of under seal.
New rear wheel cylinders have now been fitted as the old ones were corroded and seized. The front brake callipers have both been stripped down, cleaned, and new pistons and seals fitted as the old ones were corroded and very stiff in operation.
Dave has recently been extremely busy with our 1969 Audi 70L. The car needed to be completely stripped down for the rest of the work required to be completed.
Once Dave had finished stripping our Audi, the car moved on to the next stage of paint stripping and welding repairs where required.
While out on our Mince Pie Drive, the driver’s door release cable snapped on our 1961 Austin Mini 850.
Once it had finished helping us spread some festive cheer to local care homes, Jonn repaired the cable and it is now back as good as new!
John has made and fitted new down pipes to our 1964 Mercedes 230SL. This is because the old ones had to be cut off as they had seized. New baulk head sound deadening was fitted before John investigated the non-starting issue. He went through the wiring and traced the fault to the timer relay on the inner wing. He adjusted the gear linkage and inhibitor switch so the car starts in the correct lever position.
It was noted from the appraisal that our 1993 Jaguar XJS had a faulty gearbox mount. Pete recently removed it from the car and stripped it down to its component parts. The rubber had completely degraded and was very much beyond service.
The steel parts were degreased and shotblasted before being primed and top coated in black satin. The unit was then rebuilt using new bolts, new rubbers where needed, and a light coating of anti-seize grease on the mating surfaces. It was then fitted back into the car.
Our 1994 Land Cruiser has quite a lot of work completed on the areas of rust that have been found. It has been in the Bridge Classic Cars paint shop with Chris as he has begun the repair work on the bonnet and wing.
He has also repaired the dents in the doors, rear quarter panel, roof, and tailgate.
Chris then rubbed the car down and treated all of the rust.
Our friends at Wheelhouse Alloys recently delivered the wheels to our 2002 Ford Thunderbird.
The fuel pump in our 1967 Mercedes SL250 has been dripping consistently since the workshop team got the car up and running. Peter removed the pump and stripped it. He found that it had previously been sealed using normal silicone sealant.
After everything was cleaned off, fuel safe liquid sealant was used as a replacement.
Peter has made more progress with our 1993 Jaguar XJS.
The front and rear brakes were checked over and he cleaned up any loose debris. He made minor repairs to the driver’s front backing plate as it was misshapen leading it to catch the upper arm ball joint bolt.
The rear brakes were checked over and no problems were found. The pipes to the callipers were all checked too and found to be in good shape before Peter checked the discs all round.
Peter then fully drained the coolant system ready for fresh antifreeze, and a seized clip was replaced to ensure no leaks.
The air intake to sensors were removed for cleaning and a new filter.
Jonn has been adjusting the carb mixtures of our 1956 Jensen 541. He left the air filter housing in place and removed the brass jet covers from underneath and adjusted each jet in turn.
He then refitted the brass caps, jacked up each corner of the car and checked the brakes.
Earlier today, Tony loaded and delivered our 2003 Rover 75 back to its owner.
Steve has been fitting the heat shielding around the inner wings of our 1975 AC Cobra replica, where the exhaust manifold exits the engine.
Peter has been conducting an appraisal on our 1968 MGC Roadster. Here are his findings:
Appraisal.. drivers door lock seized, can’t check keys, passenger door lock spinning in door can’t seem to fit a key, passenger door button sticks in handle, drivers door isn’t closing correctly, drivers sun visor mount broken, drivers quarter window handle seized unable to open but winder works for main window, passenger quarter window handle missing unable to lock, passenger main window stiff to operate both up and down.
Both door inner handles and locks work fine. Connected battery, ignition comes on with key, fuel pump makes noise but isn’t filling the filter under the bonnet. Car tuns over but no fire. External lights are working, no high beam, flashers are very very slow. No dash lights seems to work other than flasher tell tale and ignition light. No interior lights work. Hand brake travel is fine and it seems to hold the car.
Multiple keys for the car but very few seem to fit. Under the bonnet and gear, signs over overheating or coolant spilling on intake around filer cap, both clutch and gear selection is stiff, unable to check drive as non start. Washer bottle has a glue type repair and is secured with cable ties. Clutch and brake fluid looks clean, possible new clutch master has been fitted. Informed of a popped core plug, engine is wet below intake so definitely a coolant leak. Su carb damper caps were loose. Choke cable disconnected and rusty, radiator is in contact with the body and is damaged, engine bay is grubby and shows signs of various leaks, wiring around coil is loose/untidy and disconnected in places.
Chest height checks, passenger front disc pitted and play in steering joints and bearing. Driver front the same, both tyres are cracking and dot code of 2012. Passenger rear is binding at points suggesting warped drum, also play in bearing. Driver rear binding at all points of rotation, also play in bearing. Rear tyres both are cracked, I wa unable to spot a dot code, condition suggesting older than fronts, all tyres are 165/80/15 but mixed brands. Loose stainless sill trims at driver arch lower, rust bubbling around arches to front and lower valance. Upper shock rubber drivers side isn’t contact body suggesting loose shock, passenger is disintegrated. Underside check, excessive underseal throughout, engine, gearbox, both have oil leaks origin unknown, rear passenger hub/brake backing is wet with oil or brake fluid.
Propeller shaft is hitting chassis (worn check straps) front upper and lower suspension joint rubbers are all degraded beyond repair and are in places metal to metal. Front of sills both sides show corrosion but seem solid with light inspection. Floors show old weld repairs. Brake discs pitted, pads 20 percent worn. Lower sill edge is crusty. Rear anti roll joints look worn. Lower rad pipe has a small cut. Roof not fitted but is present although unsure if complete until tested.
5ltrs of fresh fuel into the tank and we have fuel coming up to the under bonnet filter, new filter fitted as old one was leaking. Removed spark plug and check for spark, spark present, test crank and no fire. Top of carb float bowl removed and it was evident that the fuel bowls and carbs needed and bit of an internal clean. Carbs and associated items removed, stripped and inspected, very dirty old fuel drained, gaskets checked, the needles and jets checked/blown through. Reassemble and refitted to the car, test fire shows a sputter of life, choke not working as cable damaged, minor repairs made ready for a new cable, bypassed this by cable tie onto he choke arm and she fired and ran lumpy (possiblity of just cold) further work needed but started well.
It’s been a long time coming but our 1979 Ferrari 400 GT is now pretty much ready to be photographed and filmed before going live on the Bridge Classic Cars Competitions website.
After Jonn took the car out for a road test, he came back to the workshop and rectified a couple of minor issues such as some rattling coming from the door panels. Once the door panels were refitted, some tracking issues were rectified.
It’s been a busy week in the headlines for Jaguar and it’s been a busy week for Jaguar in our workshops too. Peter started with us at the beginning of the week and he’s already making great progress on some of our cars. Work has commenced on the Jaguar XJS as he has been stripping down the rear, to repair the rusted areas. He cut out the nearside rear sill and fabricated new steel sections. He welded the new parts to the car as he went.
Any parts removed from the car have been safely stored ready for refurbishment (if needed).
Peter also removed and tested the AC fan unit.
Technician Jonn has been continuing his work on Craig’s 19897 Mercedes 500SL. After removing the front valance and fitting the power steering cooler into position, he secured it with new bolts before refitting the valance.
He then disconnected the power steering pipe in the engine bay and fed it through the chassis and secured it. Once the hose was cut to length, Jonn fitted it between the pipe from the chassis and the cooler and secured it with new clips.
The engine bay wiring cleaning and prep work has also continued.
Chris has been applying primer and seam sealing the engine bay our 1973 MGB Roadster. Once this was complete, he painted the area.
Technician Jonn and paintshop manager Chris have been assessing our 1969 Aston Martin DB6. Here are their notes:
Nearside wiper blade split. Drivers door lock and boot lock stiff. Nearside front fog light cover missing. Coolant low and rusty brown colour. Offside front sidelight not working. Reverse lights not working. Drivers quarter light seal split. Drivers seat worn soft and frame loose. Exhaust has various signs of blowing. Both front brakes binding. Nail in offside rear tye. Front pads 20% worn, discs ok. Rear pads 10% worn, discs ok. Handbrake pads 80% worn. Nearside front lower ball joint rubber split. Oil drips from rear sump/rear main area. Spare tyre different size.
Jonn has now finished the wheel bearings on our 1970 Fiat 500 and has refitted the offside wheel. Both front uprights have been greased and the car is now almost ready to be won through Bridge Classic Cars Competitions.
Technician Jonn has been looking at our beautiful 1961 Austin Mini. He has been working on the clutch hose and has made the following notes:
Fit new clutch slave cylinder flexible hose. Refit cylinder and bleed system. Top up fluid. Clutch dragging. Repeat bleeding process 3 more times but still the same. Adjust clutch arm stop. Bleed again but force piston back into cylinder when bleeding. Test. Ok now, top up fluid.carry out stop adjustment and arm nuts according to manual. Refit return spring. Remove exhaust manifold to downpipe clamp. Clean and seal up, refit and secure. Torque wheel nuts and refit locking wheel nut covers.put 5ltrs fuel in and take outside and warm up. Richen mixture and adjust idle. Carry out road test. Brakes pull to right. Staling at idle and door unlock cable inside drivers door come off.
Jack up and adjust brakes. Remove drivers door lock. Refit interior release cable and refit lock and test. Adjust striker plate and test. Car requires road test to check brakes and tune during pdi.
Jonn has been servicing our 2010 Renault Wind Roadster. Here are his notes:
Carry out service. Check all lights and levels. Drain oil and filter. Check over. Remove air filter and blow out. Clean and regap spark,plugs. Refit air filter. Visually inspect brakes. Fit new oil filter and refill with oil. Torque wheels and inflate tyres. Run and test. Reset service light. Locking wheel nut key back in glove box. Nearside front tyre split on inner side wall and requires replacement immediately.
Raise on ramp and look,for reported noise. Nothing obvious. Carry out road test. Slight noise on overrun when coasting. Unable to trace at present.
Various parts of our 1973 MGB Roadster have been powder-coated. Others have been painted too.
Our 1961 Austin Mini has been in the workshop being checked over by Jonn. Here are his notes:
Clean outlets and refit rad hoses. Carry out vacuum test. Fit a small washer to heater valve to help seal. Re vacuum test and tighten all hose clips. Refill with new coolant. Raise in air and clean and blow off underneath. Remove wheels. Strip nearside rear brake and remove wheel,cylinder. Let brake fluid leak out to drain system of old fluid.
Continue brake repairs. Modify both rear brake backplate to accept new cylinders with larger bll3d nipples. Fit rear cylinders in turn. Clean and delip drums and refit. Strip offside front brake and cylinder. Fit new cylinder and eecu3. Refill reservoir and bleed all brakes. Adjust all brakes and pressure test for leaks. Remove and clean out washer bottle. Refill and refit. Burn off frayed part of nearside seat belt. Refit wheels.
Technician Jonn has been looking at the cooling system of our 1956 Jensen 541.
He drained the system and removed various hoses to allow the system to be flushed with water. Once the flush had finished, Jonn ran a hose through the radiator. He opened the blocked drain and let everything drain away.
The heater matrix and head were flushed until the water ran clear before the engine was blown off. Jonn then checked the vacuum system to look for any signs of a loss of the vacuum. He then topped up the antifreeze and radiator and ran the car up to temperature.
Technician Paul has been rebuilding our 2003 Rover 75. He has now refitted the chrome trim and door parts as well as the chrome window surrounds. He then went on to rebuild the boot.
Jonn has also been working on our early 2000s estate. He prepped the car for its fuel tank to be refitted. The breather hose was fitted before being fed through the channel in the arch. The tank was then refitted before the subframe and heat shield were rescued.
The exhaust was also prepped before being refitted to the car.
I just had to drop you a message and congratulate you on the way you have run the competition and delivered the mgc – the car is exactly as described if not better.
The delivery was executed professionally and promptly by Tony and it was a pleasure to meet him. I will send you some photos when I go for my first run (if it ever stops raining).
My SL55 might just have been relegated to second place for the foreseeable future.
Keep doing what you do as you have certainly got it right and dreams do come true for all the petrol heads out there
Technician Jonn has been working on the brakes of our 1956 Jensen 541.
Here are his notes:
Started by reassembling the rear brakes, Fit rear shoes and refit drums. Rears locked up once drums refitted. Unable to pump brake pedal to centralise as no shoes on front axle yet. Refit rear wheels and swap over to front axle. Refit front shoes and drums, all ok. Refit wheels. Pu,p brake pedal to settle. Go back to rear brakes. Found new brake linings fatter than old shoes. Going approx 1mm from the heel of each shoe and refit drum. OK now so repeat for other side. Carry out minor adjustment and refit wheels. Pump pedal and operate handbrake. Final adjustment to be made once car driven.
Take outside to check clutch and brakes. Carry out road test but broke down 1 mile up the road. Eventually managed to get it started and drive back on idle speed as it dies when revved. Investigate misfire/running issue. Found engine only running on 2 cylinders. Remove number 3 carburettor float bowl lid to find no petrol in carburettor. Pump priming handle on lift pump and fuel came out of feed pipe to carb. Refit float bowl lid and continue to prime pump. Put in 10ltrs fuel and start. Runw fine again. Leave to idle for 5 mins and then repeat road test. Same thing again, cut out and won’t rev. Get back to workshop on idle again. Check fuel filter. Has fuel I side but remove and replace with piece of pipe. Found fuel filter had not been manufactured correctly and I don’t know how the car even managed to run. Replace fuel,filter with a correctly manufactured one and repeat road test. All ok now. Clutch feels OK. Brakes OK. Return to workshop and adjust rear brakes.
