Although the handbrake lever is not obviously visible we have decided to go ahead and chrome this piece. We believe the original finish would have been black but as the component is in such good condition and wants very little repair work to carried out we felt that refinishing in chrome would look much more impressive.
We have temporarily refitted the newly refurbished dash so that any adjustments can be made to ensure a snug fit.
With the new screen being made as we speak the frame work has now been built up and fitted into position to ensure all curves and lines meet the areas that it should. And as you can see, we now have the eyes back on the car! The brand new headlights have now been fitted […]
We’ve now completed the work on re-covering our 1949 MGYT dash. With the edging strips already re-chromed and the centre plate fully restored the dash can now be pieced back together.
We had a very indecisive moment this morning in the Bridge Classic Cars workshops. The big question, should we or should we not replace the front and rear badges. These are the original badges which in itself is lovely but when you have them fitted to an almost new car they really stand out. With […]
With the newly re-chromed and rebuilt front grille now complete we have been able to loosely refit to the car. This will be tightened once the bonnet section are fitted and secured.
A unique feature on our 1949 MGYT is the invisible cooling blind that is operated by a pulley system beside the radiator. When pulled a blind lifts up in front of the radiator but behind the front grille. It can not be easily seen but it acts as a temperature control feature. The blind itself […]
Dave is now starting to refit the chrome on our 1949 MG YT. A lot of the original parts have been re-chromed however some of the parts were beyond repair so we have replaced with new. When the car arrived at Bridge Classic Cars both the front and rear bumpers had taken a serious hit […]
Can you re-chrome a classic car grille as one piece? The answer is yes… …but we wouldn’t recommend it. If you want to do a job right, do it properly. It may seem like a daunting task stripping a grille like this into individual pieces but it is absolutely worth it for the final […]
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Today, Dave has been concentrating on fitting up the blue leather piping around the front and rear wings of our 1949 MGYT. With lots of blue fabric options on the market as well as a great choice of dark greys and blacks in leather this turned out to be more of a challenge than we […]
Although our MG YT came fitted with solid floors, they had seen better days and needed attention. We felt the car deserved better so rather than repainting the old flooring we made the decision to reshape and build a new floor.
Here we have a couple of up dated pictures taken by Tony at Wyatt Polishing as he gets stuck in to the MGYT chrome work. We should be expecting all of the chrome back with us next week just in time for the refit.
With the new wiring loom securely in position we have now been able to fit the engine and gearbox of our 1949 MG YT.
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 […]
We’ve been debating over the issue of whether to polish and re-chrome the dash of our 1949 MGYT. There was no question on whether to recover the leather as this was very much needed but the metalwork was debatable. It looked tired but were we about to open doors to more issues if we start […]
With the hood removed from the car we are planning to repair the areas that require attention. When this work is carried out we’ll clean up the entire frame to remove all grit, dirt and grime that has built up over the years before finishing in a beige.
The final few sections of the bright-work have now gone off to be chromed at Wyatt Polishing in Thetford The front grille has been completely stripped back to individual sections. This is best way to achieve the ultimate results. If someone tells you they can re-chrome something like this as one piece be very cautious. […]
We get asked this a lot, is it best to buy new or re-chrome original parts? Let’s look at the facts: Buying New Who is the supplier of the new products? Are they a reputable company and do they specialise in your particular vehicle? I guess the last part isn’t crucial but it is something we […]
Today, we welcomed back to our Ipswich workshops our 1949 MG YT from the paint shop. She is now completely transformed from white back to the original colour of Clipper Blue. As a temporary fix, the panels were loosely fitted whilst in transit. We’ll now mount the body back onto the chassis, lining up every […]
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Our 1949 MG YT has now been completed in our paint shop so will return to our Deben Road workshops in preparation for the rebuild. As we speak, John and Asa are across town with the truck and trailer return to bring her back. The first job will be to secure the body shell to […]
Today’s the day our newly refurbished chassis reunites with the freshly painted ‘Clipper blue’ body shell of our 1949 MG YT. We’ll now loosely fit the body panels and start to rebuild. Once we are in a position where we are happy to tighten the panels we’ll proceed to do so. We’ve had just received […]
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Our 1949 MG YT arrived to us from Cyprus looking like this: Last week we revealed the car looking fresh in it’s new Clipper Blue body. Now we can reveal a full series of images of the body shell, the panels and the wheels all finished in Clipper Blue. The next stage for us at Bridge […]
One of the biggest and most exciting transformations to any car is a full ‘colour change’ body respray. At the back end of 2016 we revealed our exciting plans to change our 1949 MGYT from it’s current colour of white back to it’s original colour of Clipper Blue. Whoever had change this beautiful machine from blue […]
The MGYT radiator has now returned to our workshops having been refurbished and re-commissioned at Sheldrake & Wells. Sheldrake & Wells Ltd are based in Ipswich and are now the only radiator specialist in Suffolk that undertake the repair and reconditioning of car, commercial and industrial radiators. We’ve been working alongside Sheldrake & Wells for a number of years on […]
Now that our 1949 MG YT has been transported to our Ipswich paint shop it’s time to start the preparation work ready for the new Clipper Blue finish. The arches have been removed as they require a bit of remedial work where it has had a dink in it’s time. Nothing too scary to repair. […]
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The MG YT dials have been packaged up and sent for refurbishing by world renowned restorers Speedograph Richfield Ltd. Within a couple days we’ll touch base with them, by which time they would have fully assessed the extent of work that will need to be carried out. They are the experts in this field, we have trusted […]
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Now that the car is in the paint shop it gives us a bit of time to assess the chrome. Unlike a lot of classic cars, MG parts are readily available which makes the MG’s not only an affordable classic but also a lovely classic to work on, especially if you like to do bits […]
Even those with a keen eye for detail would think our 1949 MG Y Tourer started it’s life in white…but believe it or not she was originally Clipping Blue (BMC Code: BU14, ICI Code: 0146 or 3300). A credit to it’s former restorer this car shows almost no signs of the original blue colour. We […]
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Lauren has been hard at work over the last couple of days, stripping our 1949 MGYT of all the removable components. As this is a complete rebuild project the entire car is to be stripped. The engine was already out of the vehicle which saved us a lot of time but all we have left […]
Work on our 1949 MG Y Tourer was not scheduled to begin until the beginning of next year but Lauren has managed to squeeze in a couple of days this week to get started on stripping the car. Everything on this vehicle is to removed as it is a complete ‘nut and bolt’ restoration. The […]