What a weekend! Now we’re back at base, it’s time for a re-cap of another classic car-fueled weekend. After a canceled 2020 show, Helmingham hall
A possible future project for us at Bridge Classic Cars may be our 1990 BMW E32 750 il with a droopy headlining. A common problem
Scott has been working on the 1968 Jaguar E-Type Series 1.5 4.2. He’s replaced the brake line that connects to the rear axle, bled the
Dave has been carrying out work on the 1975 magenta Triumph TR6. Here’s a list and a look at what he’s been up to! There
Brian has been re-covering more panels for the 1963 Bentley S3 Chinese Continental. This time, he’s done the panels that go underneath the dash, the
Lydia has been helping Chris in the paint shop with the 1998 Honda Integra Type R panels. Chris has been priming them, and then Lydia
Tamas has fabricated and welded together a new stereo box for the white 1954 Jaguar Mk VII. Kath has then covered it in dark red
Kath has been starting to fit the front squab seats and their carpet backs to the frames. She began by stapling the sides of the
Brian has been finishing the restoration of the headlining for our 1981 Rover 3500 SD1 Vanden Plas. Once he’d finished getting all the old foam
The transformation is now underway as Colin from Viper Auto Valeting has been working his magic on our Range Rover. The exterior and interior has
John has now fitted the new steering wheels …and has been adjusting the throttle linkage and gear change linkage.
It appears that changing the thermostat has not resolved the issue of over heating. Having carried out various tests upon fitting the new thermostat we
As you may know, the engine bay of the white 1963 Jaguar Mk II 3.4 has recently been re-painted. You can read about it here.
This Sunday, 1st of August, will be the annual Festival of Classic and Sports Cars at Helmingham Hall in Suffolk! Having had a year off
Mauro has been finishing his work on the 1971 Bristol 411. He’s given it a full service, put new break pads on and the contact
Scott’s been repairing the offside sill of our blaze orange 1979 MG Midget. He fabricated a new section and welded it into place.
James has been doing some more work on one of the wings of our 1951 yellow Riley RMB. He’s been finishing by welding in the
Kath has been continuing her work on the front squab seats for the 1955 Aston Martin DB 2 4 Mark I. Now the fronts of
We thought you might like to see some more photos from last Sunday’s Bridge Classic Cars Classic and Bike Show. Thank you again to the
Pricey has been continuing his repair work on the white 1998 Honda Integra Type R. The original floor edge was very thin, so he welded
Chris and Matt have been doing more paint prep work on the 1973 Series 3 Jaguar E-Type. They put the body of the car in
Lydia has been re-covering the headlining panels for the Aston Martin DB 2/4 Mark I. She started by peeling off the original fabric from each
Brian has been busy in the trim shop with our gold 1981 Rover SD1 Vanden Plas. The original headlining was ill-fitting, and the previous owner
Our 1990 Range Rover CSK is in for storage at The Hangar with the intention of a possible full recommission. It’s also going to get
What a day! It was so lovely to welcome you back to our workshops for the 2021 Bridge Classic Cars show. After having to cancel
Without a belly-rub or a dog treat, nobody makes it past ✋ Kath, one of our talented Interior Trim Specialists has made Rosie her very
Familiar face appeared on the First. Coffee Shop + Lifestyle social feed, @ashleyharvey985 (formerly Spud985) went for a coffee in his 1973 Triumph TR6.
East Anglian Practical Classics are helping Woodbridge Methodist Church celebrate its 150th anniversary. This is particularly apt as, in the same year that the was
We had the pleasure of looking at this 1981 gold Mercedes-Benz 230 CE yesterday. It came to us for an insurance assessment for vehicle valuation.
Kath has been continuing her interior work on the 1955 Aston Martin DB 2 4 Mark I’s seats. This time she has moved onto the
What a weekend! Now we’re back at base, it’s time for a re-cap of another classic car-fueled weekend. After a canceled 2020 show, Helmingham hall played backdrop for a wonderful show. Charlotte and the Bridge team were all at the show to present our restoration projects and current competition lineup. We even closed out the show by drawing the winner of our 1959 Jaguar MK1 which was Shaun Clarke, with ticket number 1486.
Here are a few snaps we took at the show.
Were you at the show? It was lovely to meet so many of you yesterday.
A possible future project for us at Bridge Classic Cars may be our 1990 BMW E32 750 il with a droopy headlining.
A common problem with classics and modern classics is the headlining starting to droop. A few factors that can cause this to happen is direct sunlight and in particular the heat that is generated from the sun. This can often melt the glue which causes the material to become unstuck and drop.
It would also be an age related issue. The fixings and adhesive used may be getting old and tired. The material used may be stretching.
I had a similar issue myself on my Aston Martin DB9 so we removed the ceiling board and fitted with new material.
Scott has been working on the 1968 Jaguar E-Type Series 1.5 4.2.
He’s replaced the brake line that connects to the rear axle, bled the brakes, the bushes have been replaced in the steering column, because they were worn out, he’s lock wired any bolts that needed to be, fitted a new radio and replaced the fuel line because it had been badly fitted before!
Dave has been carrying out work on the 1975 magenta Triumph TR6. Here’s a list and a look at what he’s been up to!
There were problems with the horn so a new plate was ordered, the earth coil needs re-instating, replaced the fuel filter in the boot, the pipe got replaced, the fuel was drained a couple of times because of debris in it, Dave lubricated to free up the butterflies in the engine bay, each injector was removed to get the air out of the pipes, he set out linkage in sequence, which was done with a vacuum metre, there was oil in the distributor, so Dave cleaned it out, and put it all back together again, the clutch had to be made longer and now works fine, the wiper motor needs attention, and he’s set the points up!
Brian has been re-covering more panels for the 1963 Bentley S3 Chinese Continental.
This time, he’s done the panels that go underneath the dash, the dash rail panel, corner panel, the metal plate that goes with it, padded dash panels, and front-seat support wood.
He stripped the original leather off all of them, and any old foam that was underneath. Then sanded off the old glue. Most of the metal panels had 3mm foam glued onto them first, before adding the new leather on top and glueing underneath. The rest of the panels just had the new leather glued directly onto them.
Lydia has been helping Chris in the paint shop with the 1998 Honda Integra Type R panels.
Chris has been priming them, and then Lydia has been coating them in black guide coat, which shows the imperfections in the primer surface when sanded down. She sanded each panel down until no guide coat could be seen anymore. This was done with a mixture of blocking, using a DA and sanding by hand. Lydia then went over each panel with a grey scotch pad lightly and cleaned off any sanding dust with pre-clean.
Tamas has fabricated and welded together a new stereo box for the white 1954 Jaguar Mk VII. Kath has then covered it in dark red leather, ready to go in the car!
Kath has been starting to fit the front squab seats and their carpet backs to the frames.
She began by stapling the sides of the front squab to the wooden part of the frame. She then trimmed back the foam on the flutes, to lay nice and flat on the back. Then she stapled the front of the squab to the wood of the seat frame, making sure it fitted nicely. Piping was then stapled around the back edge. The carpet back was placed on top of this, just inside the piping.
The first front squab is now ready! Exactly the same process will be carried out for the second one.
Brian has been finishing the restoration of the headlining for our 1981 Rover 3500 SD1 Vanden Plas.
Once he’d finished getting all the old foam and glue off the board, he cut a piece of nylon foam headlining to the required size and proceeded to glue it onto the board. Brian had to do this in sections because the glue went off too quickly.
Brian has had to glue new headlining fabric to the sunroof section as well. This didn’t have a board, it was just glued straight on. He’s just got to fit the headlining board in the car now!
Don’t forget, you can win this car! Just head to our website by clicking on the following link, which will give you more information about the car and tell you how to enter the competition! https://www.bridgeclassiccarscompetitions.co.uk/product/1981-rover-sd1/
The transformation is now underway as Colin from Viper Auto Valeting has been working his magic on our Range Rover.
The exterior and interior has been given the once over to get rid of all the nasties that have been living and growing in and around the car.
When we get a space in our workshops the next step will be to carry out a full assessment to see what is required for the recommission.
John has now fitted the new steering wheels
…and has been adjusting the throttle linkage and gear change linkage.
It appears that changing the thermostat has not resolved the issue of over heating. Having carried out various tests upon fitting the new thermostat we thought we had overcome the problem but no. The HMC is now back with us for further checks.
We will do some further investigations but this may be more serious than first thought. We will see…
As you may know, the engine bay of the white 1963 Jaguar Mk II 3.4 has recently been re-painted. You can read about it here. https://bridgeclassiccars.co.uk/engine-bay-re-spray-for-the-jaguar/
Paul has had the job of putting everything back in the engine bay, that was taken out for the re-painting!
This Sunday, 1st of August, will be the annual Festival of Classic and Sports Cars at Helmingham Hall in Suffolk! Having had a year off due to the pandemic, it will be fantastic to see the vast array of cars again that so many enthusiasts and owners bring.
We’ll be there of course, along with all of our current competition cars, including our maroon 1959 Jaguar MK I. This will be won on the day and the draw for it will be live from the show at 4:00 pm.
So if you’re a Jaguar fan or simply want to add to your collection of cars, come and grab a ticket on our website this very minute, for your chance to win! If we haven’t sold out online, tickets will also be available on the day, on our stand, up until 3:00 pm. So why not come and say hi to us!
Here’s a link to the competition page on our website, which gives you all the information you should need about the car and how to purchase tickets. https://www.bridgeclassiccarscompetitions.co.uk/product/mk1-jag/
Here’s a link to the Helmingham Hall website page about the day, and how to buy tickets to the show. https://www.helmingham.com/events/the-festival-of-classic-sports-cars/
Mauro has been finishing his work on the 1971 Bristol 411. He’s given it a full service, put new break pads on and the contact points got changed. It’s been for a test drive and is looking good!
Scott’s been repairing the offside sill of our blaze orange 1979 MG Midget. He fabricated a new section and welded it into place.
James has been doing some more work on one of the wings of our 1951 yellow Riley RMB.
He’s been finishing by welding in the wire rolled edge of the left-hand wing and repairing a section at the front.
Kath has been continuing her work on the front squab seats for the 1955 Aston Martin DB 2 4 Mark I. Now the fronts of them have been re-made, she’s moved onto the backs. These are made out of carpet!
So Kath started by cutting a piece of the new grey carpet roughly to the size she needed, using the seat frame as a template. She then laid this piece of carpet out and marked around the original front squab back with tailor’s chalk. She checked the fit of it against the seat frame. Kath then measured out a strip of the dark grey leather and cut out. The leather was sewn around the edge of the carpet and then folded under, and sewn again to create a bound edge, which completed the front squab backs!
We thought you might like to see some more photos from last Sunday’s Bridge Classic Cars Classic and Bike Show.
Thank you again to the members of Suffolk Vehicle Enthusiasts Club for coming along and showing a vast array of cars!
Here’s a link to their fantastic Facebook group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/1497182980562555
Pricey has been continuing his repair work on the white 1998 Honda Integra Type R.
The original floor edge was very thin, so he welded a new one in. He also welded in a new section on the nearside rear wheel housing. The quarter panel was corroded so Pricey fabricated a new one and welded it in and made it fit to the wheel housing. The nearside outer wheel arch lip needed work as well so he cut out and welded a new one.
Chris and Matt have been doing more paint prep work on the 1973 Series 3 Jaguar E-Type.
They put the body of the car in the paint booth and masked it up ready for polyester primer. Once primed, it was covered in guide coat and blocked and finished in 180 sanding paper. The underside of the car body was prepped in 180 and any damage that was found was repaired and primed. All metal joints around the car were sealed, like where the metal had been welded together.
Lydia has been re-covering the headlining panels for the Aston Martin DB 2/4 Mark I.
She started by peeling off the original fabric from each of the different panels and sanding down the old glue and giving the wood and metal a clean up.
The original fabric pieces were used as patterns on the new headlining fabric, and Lydia drew around them using a fabric pencil. They were all cut out and then one by one, wrapped around tightly onto the panels and glued into place. These panels will go around the sides, front, back and middle of the headlining in the car.
Brian has been busy in the trim shop with our gold 1981 Rover SD1 Vanden Plas. The original headlining was ill-fitting, and the previous owner had placed studs into it, to create a quilted effect, which wasn’t true to the design. So Brian started by removing the headlining board, took the original fabric off, along with the aforementioned studs, and rubbed all the old foam and glue off that was underneath.
The headlining board itself was repaired with fibreboard, where it had broken at the front. This is now all ready for new headlining fabric to be glued onto it!
Don’t forget, you can enter our competition to win this very car! Here’s a link to our website page with all the information on how to do so! https://www.bridgeclassiccarscompetitions.co.uk/product/1981-rover-sd1/
Our 1990 Range Rover CSK is in for storage at The Hangar with the intention of a possible full recommission.
It’s also going to get a thorough clean, which you can see is much needed from the photos. There’s also a video of Craig doing a walk-around, for your viewing pleasure.
What a day! It was so lovely to welcome you back to our workshops for the 2021 Bridge Classic Cars show. After having to cancel both our 2020 Summer show and 2021 January show, we were well in need of a good catch up. The day started at our Bentwateras Hangar, before a convoy of roughly 150 cars made the journey through Woodbridge to our Woskhops in Pettistree.
Thank you to Matt Woods Photography for the imagery below.
Without a belly-rub or a dog treat, nobody makes it past ✋
Kath, one of our talented Interior Trim Specialists has made Rosie her very own Bridge neckerchief.
Familiar face appeared on the First. Coffee Shop + Lifestyle social feed, @ashleyharvey985 (formerly Spud985) went for a coffee in his 1973 Triumph TR6.
East Anglian Practical Classics are helping Woodbridge Methodist Church celebrate its 150th anniversary. This is particularly apt as, in the same year that the was founded, Dr John Wesley Carhart, an American Methodist Minister, began constructing a steam-powered cart that laid the foundations of early mechanised personal transport. His machine, named ‘The Spark’, was so successful it earned its inventor the title ‘Father of the Automobile’.
In recognition of this ‘double event’, East Anglian Practical Classics will be displaying a selection of heritage vehicles that would have common in 1971 at the Church, marking 100 years since the beginnings of both the Woodbridge Methodist Church in 1871 and the car as we know it today.
This unique display will take place on Bank Holiday Monday, 30th August, on the forecourt of the church in St John’s Street, Woodbridge.
On display, we hope to include two extremely rare cars, a 1966 Gordon Keeble (no. 94 of the 99 made) and a 1950’s Paramount, one of only 72 examples originally made, of which less that half a dozen still exist.
There will also be a Toyota Carin, which was a brand new in 1971, a 1950’s Vauxhall Cresta, to show off the time periods fashion for fins, and, from the 1930’s, there is a venerable Austin Seven Ruby, which were still being used daily in 1971.
We had the pleasure of looking at this 1981 gold Mercedes-Benz 230 CE yesterday. It came to us for an insurance assessment for vehicle valuation. If you’re in need of this service, please do get in contact with us and we’d be happy to help!
Kath has been continuing her interior work on the 1955 Aston Martin DB 2 4 Mark I’s seats. This time she has moved onto the front squabs.
She started by marking notches and important places to remember when sewing, with a pen on the original covers, before taking them apart carefully. She didn’t unpick the flutes, but instead, measured them to work out how to create the new flutes on the new leather. Once calculated, Kath measured and marked out flute lines on the back of the new leather and a piece of scrim foam, cut to size. This acts as a backing and will create the same effect as the original, whereas they had used calico as a backing and stuffed the flutes with lengths of foam instead.
Once the flutes were all sewn, Kath used the original fluted face as a pattern to mark the edges. Pieces of leather cut to shape were sewn onto the sides of the fluted face. The sidebands were then cut out and piped in the dark grey leather around the curved edge. These sidebands were sewn onto the plain leather sides that were just attached.
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.
