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The Details – Reassembly of the 1978 MG B GT Continues

September 7, 2022

The Bridge Classic Cars workshop team are continuing the reassembly of the 1978 MG B GT which is being restored by our in-house team.

This time, our technician Rob, has been getting some of the bigger details installed onto the car. The first was getting the new brakes installed onto the front suspension, the brand new rotors, callipers and lines have all been put into place and checked to make sure everything fits correctly with no interference.

Then, Rob could move onto the getting the rear light assemblies installed into the car to, later on, get the wiring in place and finished up.

Then it was a case of installing the dashboard, heater box and pedal box. All of these have to be in place to also check the fitments and tolerances of each piece individually and together.

Going Deeper – Issues with the 1953 Armstrong Siddeley Hurricane

September 7, 2022

The workshop team at Bridge Classic Cars have been going through the 1953 Armstrong Siddeley Hurricane as part of its recommissioning.

As part of that, the team have been cleaning up the original rocker cover gasket but while off, the team have gone through adjusting the tappets to the correct tolerances before the team began to try and get the classic tourer started.

Jon, one of our amazing technicians, has recently rebuilt the carburettor to make sure everything was clean and freed up to work correctly. Then, once back on the car the team could make the adjustments and start to get it running.

Eventually, Jon got the car started. However, the team noted a problem. As the engine was running, the exhaust was spitting out raw fuel from the exhaust pipes. An issue the team haven’t come across before but are determined to get to the bottom of.

The team have noted that the car is fitted with a later SU carburettor (originally this would have been a Stromberg 55) which could be part of the running issue with the Hurricane.

After it had fired up, Jon rechecked the tappets and found the coolant was actually coming up through one of the head studs which holds the cylinder head to the engine block, both of these issues will need to be investigated further.

Intricacy – Further Metal Repairs on the 1986 Daimler DS420

September 7, 2022

The fabrication team at Bridge Classic Cars have been continuing the lower metal repairs on the 1986 Daimler DS420 which is in at our Suffolk HQ.

Our fabricator Monty has been going through each section of the DS420 to get the metalwork in perfect condition. This time, the team have been working on repairing the front lower sill and inner arch.

Any section of corrosion has been carefully cut out and the area treated and neutralised before the handmade patch panels were put together, refined and welded into the car. The team have been working to tight tolerances and making sure that the structure and strength were put back into the areas.

Piece of the Puzzle – Original Wheels Sourced for the 1999 Rover BRM

September 7, 2022

The Bridge Classic Cars team have sourced a key piece of the puzzle in our 1999 Rover BRM which arrived at our Suffolk HQ recently.

The office team have tracked down and sourced an original set of BRM wheels for the car. The team have found these to replace the wrong aftermarket wheels which are currently fitted to the car.

The wheels will go off to our friends at Wheelworx to be completely refurbished to better than new condition.

Behind the Scenes – Shooting the 1991 Mercedes Benz SL300

September 6, 2022

The latest Bridge Classic Cars Competitions prize is, our 1991 Mercedes Benz SL300.

The classic Mercedes GT car has previously been through our workshop to be fully inspected by the workshop team in order to be ok’d for filming.

The classic Mercedes has also had its optional hardtop retrimmed by the team at the Bridge Classic Cars Suffolk HQ.

The team set off from our storage facility, The Hangar, with the stunning 6-cylinder pulling away smoothly through its long-legged automatic gearbox. The perfect companion for the bright, brilliant sunshine that washed over the Suffolk countryside.

The beautiful silver paintwork danced the light across its meaningful angular shape, complimented by its dark red interior.

Lap after lap, the classic Mercedes worked faultlessly in comfort, style and grace as you expect with all 1990s Mercedes. In every situation, this beautiful example is always the right choice.

And now you, could win this very car with Bridge Classic Cars Competitions. Head over to the website now and get your tickets!

Special Touch – Unique Finish on the Seats of the 1958 Jensen 541R

September 6, 2022

The 1958 Jensen 541R has been having more pieces of its interior made by the Bridge Classic Cars trim team but this time with some unique and personal touches.

The rear seat bases of the classic Jensen have been completely stripped back for the team to inspect and take measurements for the rarely seen fluting of the material which will be carried over onto the new pieces.

Lydia has carefully measured and tested to get the spacing and symmetry of the fluting just right before committing it to the final material. The whole seat base has been entirely made for scratch including the foams and underpinnings specifically to fit the car.

This is a wonderful little touch and something a bit different and unique for this very special car.

Good as New – Painting the Wheels of the 1987 Volvo 240GL

September 6, 2022

The wheels from the 1987 Volvo 240GL have been with the Bridge Classic Cars paint and body team to be completely refurbished.

The Volvo, which is undergoing sympathetic restorative work with our teams, had been inspected and wheels were in need of refinishing. The team carefully stripped back the original paint and reworked the material to give a fresh and clean base for the team to refinish in stunning bright silver.

Stripped Back – Stripping the Subframe of the 1955 Jensen 541 ‘Number 8’

September 6, 2022

The subframe for the 1955 Jensen 541 ‘Number 8’ has been delivered back to the Bridge Classic Cars Pettistree workshop.

The subframe has been checked over and all areas in need of repair have been noted by the workshop for our amazing fabrication shop to carry out getting the piece back to full strength and squareness.

Fresh Coat – Painting the Wheels of the 1969 Morris Minor Convertible

September 6, 2022

The wheels for the 1969 Morris Minor Convertible are the most recent components to be taken into the Bridge Classic Cars paint booth.

The team have been carefully preparing, cleaning and priming the wheels before they were taken into our in-house booth/oven to be shot in colour-matched Snowberry white to match the rest of the car.

These will be left to completely cure and harden before they are mounted with tyres and fitted to the car which is going through reassembly in the main restoration workshop.

This Just In – 1987 Lotus Excel

September 6, 2022

The Bridge Classic Cars workshop at our Suffolk HQ have welcomed this seldom seen and rare 1987 Lotus Excel.

The workshop team will soon begin to inspect and assess the entire classic Lotus with each department compiling their condition report on the car.

Our transport team collected the Lotus from the West Country late last week and brought it back to our Pettistree workshop.

Coming Soon – 1968 Daimler 250 Arrives at The Hangar

September 6, 2022

The Bridge Classic Cars secure storage facility, The Hangar, has welcomed a new resident recently – this 1968 Daimler 250.

The car has arrived to wait its turn for the team to completely and thoroughly inspect it at our Pettistree workshops deep in the Suffolk countryside.

Freshly Built – Rebuilding the Distributor and Lift Pump on the 1953 Armstrong Siddeley Hurricane

September 6, 2022

The workshop team at the Bridge Classic Cars Suffolk HQ have been working their way through the 1953 Armstrong Siddeley Hurricane as part of its recommission.

The first stage of this round of work was to rebuild the distributor. Our technician Jon carefully inspected the unit in the car before deciding to remove it and more thoroughly going through the part on the bench. After checking its operation, Jon completely rebuilt the unit to ensure it worked correctly.

Then the whole piece was put back into the car and wired up.

Next, the team completely went through the lift pump for the fuel tank. Jon removed it from the car to completely go through every single piece making sure it all worked correctly and any gaskets were remade and the unit put back together and installed back into the car.

Out & About – BBC Show ‘Detectorists’ Filming Nearby!

September 6, 2022

We noticed some goings-on up at our filming location the other day but it turns out that the hugely popular BBC show ‘Detectorists’ are filming nearby to us!

The show is being filmed round our area and as you can see, the signature yellow TR7 is making an appearance too!

In Colour – Painting the 2005 Suzuki Every

September 5, 2022

The 2005 Suzuki Every has been moved from the Bridge Classic Cars body shop into our in-house paint shop for the next stage of its work.

The team have been carefully preparing the bodywork of the VW look-a-like to get it ready to be repainted.

Once primed and ready, the team scanned the paintwork to create an identical match to the existing bodywork and laid down several coats. Once cured, the paint work will be colour sanded and polished.

Full Circle – Mia from Fast & Furious Uses Her Fast & Furious Integra For Wedding

September 5, 2022

Recently Jordana Brewster, most well known for playing Mia in the Fast and Furious films, had an old friend at her wedding.

As their wedding car, her and her husband Mason used the 1994 Acura Integra GS-R which was driven by her character in the first Fast & Furious film alongside her late friend Paul Walker in 2001. Also seen are some of the other famous cars from the franchise including Vin Diesel’s original Mazda FD RX7 and the Acura/Honda NSX used in the later films.

Fresh Finish – Freshly Blasted Parts from the 1959 Jensen 541 ‘Hepburn’ in Gloss Black

September 5, 2022

The freshly blasted parts for the 1959 Jensen 541R ‘Hepburn’ have returned to our Suffolk HQ for the team to get into perfect condition for its restoration.

The freshly stripped parts were meticulously cleaned to get rid of any residual blasting material before they were refinished in hard-wearing gloss black.

The parts were then left to sure completely before carefully being packaged and put into storage to awaiting the cars reassembly.

Out & About – 1973 Triumph TR6 in France

September 5, 2022

The 1973 Triumph TR6, which was restored in-house at the Bridge Classic Cars Suffolk HQ, has been out on its travels recently!

The car has been used on holiday in France by its owner and looks like the perfect companion for a countryside jaunt.

We love seeing our cars out there in the world being used and enjoyed!

Going Back Together – Reassembly Continues on the 1969 Morris Minor Convertible

September 5, 2022

The workshop at Bridge Classic Cars Suffolk HQ have been busy getting the 1969 Morris Minor Convertible back together following its fresh repaint.

The team have been getting the body trims in place, perfectly aligning them to each other before moving on to some of the mechanical work.

The team have got the parts out of storage for the car which were taken off during disassembly to inspect further. They have found the edges of the fuel tank have corroded slightly.

The big job was to get the freshly painted engine back into the engine bay but first the team had to get the gearbox mated up to the block. Before this, our technician Scott carefully cleaned up the gearbox casing and bell housing before fitting a new bearing and clutch for the car. Once back together, the team carefully installed the engine and gearbox into the frame of the classic Morris.

Finally, the team could start on rewiring the car now that all of the major pieces were back in place.

Back and Sides – Handmade Seat Parts for the 1958 Jensen 541R

September 2, 2022

The Bridge Classic Cars trim shop have been working on making more of the handmade parts for the interior of the 1958 Jensen 541R.

This time, Lydia has been working on trimming the backs and sides of the front seats. Each of these parts, including the foam pieces, have all been made and cut specifically for each of the seats to get the best fit for them both.

Lydia has carefully stretched and pulled the material to make sure there were as few creases and folds as possible. The bases will be finished with the cushion and bases that will help to pull the material of the bases taught.

Gone Through – Working on the 1969 Morris Minor Convertible

September 2, 2022

The 1969 Morris Minor Convertible, which arrived recently at Bridge Classic Cars, has been in the workshop for our team to take a look at.

To begin with, the team have replaced the fuel pump and filter on the classic Morris Minor to make sure that it was getting all the fuel it needed after the team had noted the original pump had corroded around the connectors. After that, the team adjusted the brakes on the car before it could go out on road test. At the same time, they found a nail in the tyre! Thankfully, the nail hadn’t pierced the tyre but had got stuck in one of the grooves.

After this, the car could be road tested.

Behind The Scenes – Live Draw of the 2008 Bentley Continental GT Speed

September 2, 2022

Last night, the Bridge Classic Cars team got together to find out who the fortunate new owner of our 2008 Bentley Continental GT Speed was.

This week, we were joined by our friend Sam from Bruizer to help us with the new video set-up. As the clock struck 7 o’clock, we welcomed our friends to our weekly Livestream. As everyone joined in, Molly and Freddie took everyone around our amazing Bentley one last time while there were still tickets available.

After showing everyone the video of our Bentley in action, Molly, Freddie and Craig went through some of the other amazing machines we currently have in our competition building. Just like our beautiful 1968 Morris Mini MkII 850, a car we’ve all become massively fond of and proving to be massively popular with our followers, so we showed our friends around it.

Then, it was time for our new history segment where Nick goes a little bit further in-depth into some of the cars and motorcycles that we currently have in. This time, it was the history of the 1994 Ducati 750SS going back to the early 1970s.

Afterwards, Molly introduced what the team had been up to the week before visiting Knowledge Visual Technology in Oxford to try out their racing simulator but then it was time! By the time the competition closed, there were only around 400 tickets remaining on the Bentley.

With our pre-published entry list now live on website, we could find out who the lucky new owner of the 2008 Bentley Continental GT Speed was using our random number generator.

Molly input the numbers for the generator to choose from and then it was down to one single click… The first number hadn’t been allocated. It took a few attempts until finally, we found it. Ticket 1630.

That number had been allocated to Terry Richardson. Terry was the winner of our 2008 Bentley Continental GT Speed.

He was absolutely ecstatic when we called him. He said that he was gonna use it every day for a while once it is delivered right to his doorstep very soon!

Make sure you watch along next week for the draw of our 1968 Morris Mini 850 MkII.

The Other Side – Metal Repairs on the Passenger Side of the 1986 Daimler DS420

September 1, 2022

As the work is being carried out on the other side of the 1986 Daimler DS420, our fabrication team have been working on the passenger side of the car at the same time.

One of our amazing fabricators, Chris, has been working on removing any corrosion from the classic limousine. Much like the other side of the car, the team have been focusing on the rear arches, inner arches, sills and front arches. Every time an area is in need of repair, Chris would create handmade patch panels specifically for the area they were needed in recreating much of the sills and inner arches by hand.

Teardown – Stripping Down the Body of the 1955 Jensen 541 ‘Number 8’

September 1, 2022

The 1955 Jensen 541 ‘Number 8’ has been further stripped down by the Bridge Classic Cars workshop team.

The workshop have removed the roof and rear bodywork from the early 541 to expose its chassis to be thoroughly inspected. The fibreglass parts have been put away into storage after being catalogued for when the classic GT car is ready for restoration.

Check Over – Inspecting the Subframe from the 1960 Jensen 541R ‘Lilac’

September 1, 2022

The subframe from the 1960 Jensen 541R has arrived back at the Bridge Classic Cars workshop after being sent away for blasting.

The team sent away the subframe for blasting to get a better look at the condition of the piece. Once it arrived back, the team have noticed that several of the mounts and brackets are heavily bent and misshapen while the bottom of the subframe has some areas of corrosion.

The subframe will be taken over to our in-house fabrication shop to be repaired and further checked over.

Bit by Bit – Reassembly on the 1969 Morris Minor Convertible

September 1, 2022

The 1969 Morris Minor Convertible, which has recently finished up in the Bridge Classic Cars paintshop, has been moved into the restoration workshop at our Suffolk HQ to begin reassembly.

Our technician Scott has been put in charge of beginning the reassembly of the classic Morris Minor. He begun by getting some of the rear trims in place such as the rear lights with the rubber seals before moving on to getting the glovebox in place for later.

Scott also got the doors built up on the car with the new handles and mechanisms along with the window regulators to then build up the frames and put the glass securely in place. After that, it was time to move to the interior where the wiring would begin.

The speedometer has been wired up after a few key wiring repairs were done, then he could begin to trace the wiring through the firewall and up to the various key systems in the engine bay.

Back and Better – Refurbished Steering Rack for the 2005 Aston Martin DB9

August 31, 2022

The steering rack from Craig’s 2005 Aston Martin DB9 has arrived back at the Bridge Classic Cars workshop after being refurbished by the amazing team at Re-Go Autoparts.

Re-Go (especially Gary) has been a massive help in the work we have done on the left-hand drive and power steering conversion of our 1970 Bristol 411. So, when Craig’s DB9 developed a power steering issue and leak the team gave them a call. After taking the rack out and sending it down to the Re-Go team, they stripped down the whole unit to find out what the issue was.

Upon inspection, the Re-Go team found a weakness in the material that makes up several seals inside of the power steering rack so when more pressure (more turning lock) was applied, part of the seal would fail and leak. So, they have replaced the seals with a new style and material and then checked/tested the rack before sending it back to the team here to get refitted to the DB9.

Like New – Painting the Rear Axle of the 1905 Riley 9HP

August 31, 2022

The paint shop at Bridge Classic Cars have prepared and painted the rear axle assembly for our 1905 Riley 9HP restoration project.

Since returning from the blasters, the paint team have been getting all of the bare pieces into the spray booth to be finished in gloss black, the same as the rest of the frame. This will be left to cure properly before being reunited with the rest of the prewar tourer.

Handmade – New Coolant Pipes for the 1905 Riley 9HP

August 31, 2022

The restoration team at Bridge Classic Cars have been working hard on recreating the coolant system on the 1905 Riley 9HP.

Our technician Dave has been busy carefully making up new coolant pipework for the 117-year-old tourer. These are being made from brass and copper, as it would have been originally. For this, Dave removed the water pump from the engine block after taking countless measurements in order to create a jig that meant Dave could more accurately solder the entire piece without worrying about it moving.

After this, everything could be test fit back onto the car. Dave remade the now long-gone gaskets by hand before the pipework was tested and then painted in the glossy black.

Piecing Together – Finishing the Wiring and Dashboard of the 2022 Bridge C-Type Replica

August 31, 2022

The workshop team have been carrying on with the work on our 2022 Bridge C-Type Replica.

They have been carefully running each part of the custom wiring harness for the car and making sure all of its routing is precise and orderly throughout the car and under the dashboard and around the steering column.

At the same time, the team have been putting together the dashboard and instrument cluster to go into the car and be completely wired up.

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.

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