Lotus Cortina
December 18, 2024
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
1968 Ford Lotus Cortina
Wherever you look, it’s competition cars!
December 10, 2024
We have so much going on at Bridge Classic Cars Competitions right now; cars coming in, cars going out, cars finding new homes, cash alternatives
A week after Buxton
December 5, 2024
A relatively successful trip was had heading up to The Pavilion in Buxton for the H&H Classic Auction last week. We came away with 4
Lotus Cortina
December 18, 2024
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.
Wherever you look, it’s competition cars!
December 10, 2024
We have so much going on at Bridge Classic Cars Competitions right now; cars coming in, cars going out, cars finding new homes, cash alternatives flying about all over the placed. It’s difficult to keep up!
So I thought I’d do a weekly round up of all competition car updates for you. I’m really sorry if you come on to read about one specific car (which I know a lot of you do) but I just thought I’d be a bit different today. Normal updates will follow…
2024 MG Cyberster
Our 2024 MG Cyberster, one of the very first models to arrive in the UK was won last week by Paul Butcher. Paul opted for the cash alternative of £45,000 which is an incredible sum of money just before Christmas. Being one of the first MG Cybersters to arrive on UK soil and being one of the most important EV’s to be released, this car is certainly set to be one for the future. A very special car indeed and now in the hands of EMG MG to sit as pride of place in their Ipswich showroom.
Available now if you want to get the keys to your own Cyberster in time for Christmas! Contact EMG MG for more information.
1987 Maserati BiTurbo
We can not wait for this car to be ready. The Maserati has been in our possession for many many years and is a genuine 11,000 mile car. Since taking ownership of this incredible car the values have soared, especially in the hard top models.
We are currently recommissioning the car and as it has been standing for some time this is not a 5 minute job, but will be well worth it when it’s complete.
We have stripped and cleaned the plenum chamber, inlet manifold and rocker covers ready for painting.
The carburettor has been removed from the inlet, we’ve cleaned out the float chamber and freed off the needle valve. Blow out jets and reassemble.
The rest of the parts have been removed from the manifold. to be degreased.
Make new seal with O-ring kit and refitted the manifold bottom water chamber.
We have flattened and polished the car.
The badge and lettering is now back on the car as well as the rear light and number plate.
Jon has finish preparing the parts for painting. He has cleaned the throttle and choke spindles.
The manifold has been masked up before being given to the body shop.
1968 Ford Lotus Cortina
Next up, our 1968 Ford Lotus Cortina in for a full appraisal on the workshop floor.
Swap wires from coil and ballast. Electronic ignition fitted and wired to coil 12v. Coil wired through ballast at 6v. We’ve swapped the wires from ballast to coil to 12v feed. Tighten steering idler bolts.
Next up, we’ve put the car up on the ramp to continue with our assessment.
The rear rear wheels have been removed to check the brakes. Nearside rear wheel bolts loose and wheel holes now elongated and won’t tighten so requires a new wheel.
We’ve fitted smaller nyloc nut to nearside trailing arm so bolt actually goes into nyloc.
There is a fuel leak from fuel tank sender area so we have drain the fuel. We’ve used the fuel pumps on the car to empty the tank. Next up, we’ve remove the sender, cleaned and tested. Removed the spark plugs and cleaned out holes. Cleaned and regapped before refitting the plugs.
Remove battery from boot and start to re-route the fuel pipes to pumps.
Continue re-routing the fuel pipes to pumps in the boot area. Drill and fit p-clips to floor, to hold pipe in place.
Refit battery and secure. We have slackened the alternator belt and checked waterpump and all is ok. Unbolt pulley and refit fan blades. Refit alternator belt and adjust. Remove driver’s seat and carpets. Fit fibre washer to ignition barrel and secure. Strip and fit new rear shoes but clip missing from offside so unable to finish.
Next, we have tested the repaired fuel sender and all seems to be ok.
Remove passengers seat and carpet. Start stripping to remove heater box.
Still more to do on our Cortina in preparation for filming. We have drain the coolant, remove some extra items attached to dash so we can finish removing the heater box.
Once removed, we have strip the heater box and removed the heater radiator.
Tested the radiator and found a split in the seam causing it to leak. With it removed, we are now able to tidy up the area.
And for now, we are up to date on competition cars!
A week after Buxton
December 5, 2024
A relatively successful trip was had heading up to The Pavilion in Buxton for the H&H Classic Auction last week. We came away with 4 cars ourselves and a 5th made it’s way down on our car transporter for some work required by our team in the workshop.
The car’s have now arrived with us and unfortunately, as is often the case, it is not as plain sailing as we would have liked. It is very difficult to look at a car in the auction environment and be 100% certain that you have bought right. We are certainly not disappointed with our purchases but more work is required on all of them than first thought which is a real pity. It is often the seller who refrains for telling the full story and we pride ourselves on our honesty so it is always a bit of a blow when cars arrive out of fuel, who with no reverse gears, not running on full power. None of the work is too much for us but it eats into valuable time in our workshops.
On a plus note, the team at H&H were as brilliant as always, I had a wonderful time. Channel 4 were there filming some bits so I might be on TV in the near future and I met with Lewis from The Crescent, Buxton who took me on a tour of the hotel and spa. We put our heads together to come up with some great ideas that we will now look to work on in 2025.
