Aston Martin Drophead Coupe Fabrication Work
October 24, 2024
Rob has relocated for now from the main workshops to the fabrication shop as he gets stuck in to the fabrication of the boot-lid. He
1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe
DB2/4 Body Mounts
October 21, 2024
Originally Aston Martin welded the body shell to the chassis on the DB2/4 Drophead Coupe models. As Rob didn’t want to weld the two together
Aston Martin Bodyshell Work
October 14, 2024
Rob has continued his work on our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe. He has carried on fabricating and welding on the rear bodyshell.
Aston Martin DB2 Bodywork
October 9, 2024
Our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 has been in the fabrication bay with Rob. He has bolted the body centre to the chassis as well as
Building up the suspension of our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe
September 30, 2024
The workshop team here at the Bridge Classic Cars HQ have been continuing their work on getting the 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe closer
Aston Martin Suspension
July 31, 2024
Rob has been assembling the front suspension stub axle cross member along with the rear axle of our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe.
Building Up the Idler Arm of the 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe
July 24, 2024
The 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe has been making some incredible progress in the last couple of weeks at the Pettistree workshops. As part
Delicate Work – Repairing the Sills on our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe
July 19, 2024
The 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe is in the fabrication shop at the Bridge Classic Cars with one of our master fabricators, Clinton. This
Stripping Back the Dash of the 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe
July 12, 2024
Our technician Rob has been methodically working his way through stripping the dashboard of our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe. Each individual piece that
Our DB2/4 In Fabrication
July 10, 2024
Clinton has spent a lot of time recently working on our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead. He has been fabricating and repairing various structural parts
Piece by Piece, Bit by Bit – Painting parts on our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe
June 13, 2024
The paintshop at Bridge Classic Cars are always busy! But recently, the booth was cleared for our painter Chris to get some parts for our
Parts painted on the 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe
May 24, 2024
The paint and body team at the Bridge Classic Cars Suffolk HQ have been working on getting many of the suspension and chassis components for
Axle Storage
May 13, 2024
The axle of our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe has been safely put into storage.
Another Pick-Up
April 15, 2024
While out on the road, Tony picked up the differential for our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe. Now that it is back in the
Like New – Shock Absorbers for the Aston Martin DB2/4’s Headed to V&C Engineering for Refurbishment
March 20, 2024
The shock absorbers for both Aston Martin DB2/4 projects have been stripped down by the workshop team to be sent away to the masters at
Bulk Head Repair
February 27, 2024
Our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe has been in the fabrication bay with technician Christian as he has been repairing the bulkhead. He also
DB2/4 Bulkhead
February 22, 2024
Christian has been repairing the bulkhead of our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe.
Collecting A Rare Body
February 8, 2024
Tony has collected the body of our 1955 Astin Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe after its trip to the sandblasters. Now that it is back at
Work Continues
January 18, 2024
The strip down of the axle and brakes from our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe has continued with Neil recently. While he was doing
Chassis And Body
January 11, 2024
Our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 has been getting a lot of attention lately. The stripped chassis has been sent off to the sandblasters. Before it
Uncovering Previous Repairs
January 8, 2024
Rob has continued the strip down of our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe. As he was doing this, he found some highly questionable previous
The Strip Down Begins
January 3, 2024
Our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 has begun its process of being stripped down by classic car technician Rob. It will be stripped down to a
Making seat foam and cardboard
December 18, 2023
After cleaning up the seat of our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe, Lydia has spent some time making the foams fit. Unfortunately, the original
Double Aston Martin Day For Brian
December 8, 2023
…and they say men can’t multitask! Brian’s day has been spent on 1953 Aston Martin’s today. He started off sorting out all interior parts, labelling
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe Stripdown
December 8, 2023
Brian has begun work on stripping down our 1955 Aston Martin Drophead Couple. He has removed the rear boot panels, the rear seat base and
Three of a Kind – Our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe
November 24, 2023
Over the past few weeks, we’ve welcomed a very special addition to the workshop. The third in a line of Aston Martin DB2/4’s which are
Interior Work Begins
November 16, 2023
Brian has started work on our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe. He has been making the centre console lid. He did this by making
On Its Way
October 2, 2023
We are very excited to have our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 2.9-litre Drophead Coupe soon to be arriving at the Bridge Classic Cars workshop. This
Aston Martin Drophead Coupe Fabrication Work
October 24, 2024
Rob has relocated for now from the main workshops to the fabrication shop as he gets stuck in to the fabrication of the boot-lid. He has cut off the lower half of existing boot lid, remove the lower section due to corrosion. He has then started work on fabricating new panels and welded the lower half back into position. The height has been adjusted so that the boot lid fits correctly. He has then gone on to strip the boot catch assembly and sandblast all of the parts but has decided to make a new one as this will be the best option.
The paint has been stripped off the boot lid skin. The left hand door hinge bushes brazed in and the door hung to check alignment. New boot lock mechanism made and fitted.
DB2/4 Body Mounts
October 21, 2024
Originally Aston Martin welded the body shell to the chassis on the DB2/4 Drophead Coupe models.
As Rob didn’t want to weld the two together after they are painted, he modified the brackets so they bolt to the chassis. This involved welding threaded bushes into the chassis and making mounting plates to go between the body and the chassis.
Aston Martin Bodyshell Work
October 14, 2024
Rob has continued his work on our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe. He has carried on fabricating and welding on the rear bodyshell.
Aston Martin DB2 Bodywork
October 9, 2024
Our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 has been in the fabrication bay with Rob. He has bolted the body centre to the chassis as well as bolting on the rear wheel arches ready to start assembling the rear bodyshell.
\rob then clamped the bodywork in place to allow alignment of the internal steel frame. Once he was happy, he started welding it together.
Building up the suspension of our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe
September 30, 2024
The workshop team here at the Bridge Classic Cars HQ have been continuing their work on getting the 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe closer to getting back on the road – this time quite literally!
Rob, one of our restoration technicians, has been working on building up the front suspension of the rare sports car. Focusing on the right hand side, he has built up the front uprights after they had been stripped, inspected and refinished. These will be carefully wrapped up and put into storage awaiting their time to be fitted to the chassis of the car soon. Along side that, Rob has bench built the rear brakes which also await their moment to be reunited with the rest of the running gear on the car.
Aston Martin Suspension
July 31, 2024
Rob has been assembling the front suspension stub axle cross member along with the rear axle of our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe.
Building Up the Idler Arm of the 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe
July 24, 2024
The 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe has been making some incredible progress in the last couple of weeks at the Pettistree workshops. As part of the restoration of this vintage Aston Martin, our technician Rob (who is the technician in charge of the project) has been working on building up some of the suspension and steering components.
This time, he has been working on the idler arm for the steering of the car. With some new fittings and pieces, Rob has been fitting them back into the newly refurbished original housing.
Delicate Work – Repairing the Sills on our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe
July 19, 2024
The 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe is in the fabrication shop at the Bridge Classic Cars with one of our master fabricators, Clinton.
This time, he is repairing some considerable damage to offside sill of the rare vintage sports car. There is quite a significant section missing from sill of the car which is believed to be old accident damage which had never been properly repaired. This time however, Clinton is repairing it the right way. Carefully making new sections of the sill and reinforcing it in places put back the strength needed in this section as with this convertible car, all of its structural rigidity is held in the sill and the frame.
We’re very fortunate to have an incredible fabrication shop with two extremely talented fabricators.
Stripping Back the Dash of the 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe
July 12, 2024
Our technician Rob has been methodically working his way through stripping the dashboard of our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe. Each individual piece that is removed was carefully inspected and evaluated before being bagged and labeled. The dash itself, which is wooden, will be repaired and restored by a local specialist while the clocks and gauges will be sent away to be completely refurbished for this stunning piece of sports car history.
Along with working on the dashboard, Rob has also been working on stripping back some of the controls such as the throttle pedal assembly and handbrake, getting them to where they can be carefully sandblasted and then painted.
Our DB2/4 In Fabrication
July 10, 2024
Clinton has spent a lot of time recently working on our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead.
He has been fabricating and repairing various structural parts of the body including the rear arches, wings, inner rear wings, various panels, and a lot of components that hold the rear of the car together.
The car has been in the Bridge Classic Cars fabrication bay, with Chris and Clinton for a little while now. This is an important part of the restoration as the work they are doing is essentially the foundation for the rest of the car to be built.
Piece by Piece, Bit by Bit – Painting parts on our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe
June 13, 2024
The paintshop at Bridge Classic Cars are always busy! But recently, the booth was cleared for our painter Chris to get some parts for our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe project painted.
These are running gear/suspension/chassis parts so Chris has sprayed them in a glossy, thick and hard wearing black.
Parts painted on the 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe
May 24, 2024
The paint and body team at the Bridge Classic Cars Suffolk HQ have been working on getting many of the suspension and chassis components for our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe.
Finished in heavy duty black and silver, the parts will cure and then be wrapped up and put into storage awaiting the cars reassembly.
Axle Storage
May 13, 2024
The axle of our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe has been safely put into storage.
Another Pick-Up
April 15, 2024
While out on the road, Tony picked up the differential for our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe.
Now that it is back in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop, work can continue on this rare classic Aston.
Like New – Shock Absorbers for the Aston Martin DB2/4’s Headed to V&C Engineering for Refurbishment
March 20, 2024
The shock absorbers for both Aston Martin DB2/4 projects have been stripped down by the workshop team to be sent away to the masters at V&C Engineering for refurbishment for the projects.
Both the Coupe and Drophead’s shock absorbers will be inspected, cleaned up and rebuilt by the team before heading back to our Suffolk HQ to be fitted to the relevant cars.
Bulk Head Repair
February 27, 2024
Our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe has been in the fabrication bay with technician Christian as he has been repairing the bulkhead.
He also braced the suspension mounts.
DB2/4 Bulkhead
February 22, 2024
Christian has been repairing the bulkhead of our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe.
Collecting A Rare Body
February 8, 2024
Tony has collected the body of our 1955 Astin Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe after its trip to the sandblasters.
Now that it is back at the workshop, work will continue on the restoration of this rare classic.
Work Continues
January 18, 2024
The strip down of the axle and brakes from our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe has continued with Neil recently.
While he was doing this, Tony collected the chassis from the sandblasters. Progress continues to be made so it shouldn’t be too long before things start to come back together.
Chassis And Body
January 11, 2024
Our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 has been getting a lot of attention lately. The stripped chassis has been sent off to the sandblasters.
Before it went, Rob stripped the last remaining parts off the shell and chassis and removed the bodyshell. He also separated the sill/bulkhead structure from the rear bodyshell. Rob went on to remove the steel inner structure from the outer ally rear body in preparation for blast cleaning.
Uncovering Previous Repairs
January 8, 2024
Rob has continued the strip down of our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe.
As he was doing this, he found some highly questionable previous repairs. I think Rob said it best when he said:
“The next time you look at a classic car, however much it may be worth nowadays, just remember that once it was just an old car, and worth less than a packet of fags, and will have been bodged up accordingly. This is the previous repair that has been carried out to some very extensive damage on the sill of the Aston. Mind-boggling!”
Rob also removed all the securing bolts and lowered the front and rear suspension assemblies, as complete units, ready to be stripped for rebuilding at a later date.
The Strip Down Begins
January 3, 2024
Our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 has begun its process of being stripped down by classic car technician Rob.
It will be stripped down to a bare chassis, ready for its full restoration to get properly underway.
Making seat foam and cardboard
December 18, 2023
After cleaning up the seat of our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe, Lydia has spent some time making the foams fit.
Unfortunately, the original foam has been lost or destroyed, meaning that it was necessary to make new ones. Having recently seen some original ones, Lydia knew the basic shape that they needed to be and also the way that they were chamfered underneath. This meant that replicating them was not too difficult but still required a few test fits and alterations.
Once she was happy with the seat base, Lydia moved onto the backs. She had one back foam slither that was badly perished, but it gave her a base to work from. She made the backrest foams out of 100mm foam laminated together, then shaped them with the foam saw. After this, she made the cardboard piece that sits on the top of the seats to cover the raw edges of leather.
Double Aston Martin Day For Brian
December 8, 2023
…and they say men can’t multitask! Brian’s day has been spent on 1953 Aston Martin’s today. He started off sorting out all interior parts, labelling up, bagging up all of the small parts of the Aston martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe.
Swiftly followed by work on our other 1953 Aston Martin DB2/4. He’s a little further forward with the interior of this one as he fits new clips to the door panels, cutting out foam, gluing the foam to boards, trimming the foam to size, cutting and gluing the leather to the door panels, gluing and trimming onto the back of the boards as well as turning the leather around the pocket holes.
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe Stripdown
December 8, 2023
Brian has begun work on stripping down our 1955 Aston Martin Drophead Couple. He has removed the rear boot panels, the rear seat base and door panels. The cappings and door pockets have been taken out and the sill carpets. The carpets under the dash, the dash top panels and window surround panels are all now out.
The project will be a big part of our diary for 2024 but heading up to Christmas we have a few weeks to really get started on the strip down.
Three of a Kind – Our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe
November 24, 2023
Over the past few weeks, we’ve welcomed a very special addition to the workshop. The third in a line of Aston Martin DB2/4’s which are being completely restored by our classic car restoration technicians at our Suffolk HQ.
This particular car, is a 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe and one of a rarefied few which remain. This car, which has yet to be named, has been commissioned by its owner for our highly-skilled teams to bring back to its former glory alongside the sister cars of ‘Claret’ and ‘Moonshadow‘.
Although work has already begun on this incredible piece of Aston Martin history, there is still a long way to go. But, like the sister cars, our team are excited and eager to get this wonderful restoration on the move and all of us are lucky enough to have 3 of these stunning DB2/4’s in the workshop.
Interior Work Begins
November 16, 2023
Brian has started work on our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe.
He has been making the centre console lid.
He did this by making the wood base, adding the wood edge sections, glueing this to the base section, making a new foam top section, cutting to shape, and fitting foam to the wood base.
On Its Way
October 2, 2023
We are very excited to have our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 2.9-litre Drophead Coupe soon to be arriving at the Bridge Classic Cars workshop.
This is a fully intact example with matching numbers that requires a comprehensive restoration. This particular car, one of only a few ever produced in a right-hand drive (RHD) configuration, was originally delivered to Ireland and has remained there for its entire existence, until very recently.
It has actually been under the care of a single family for the past five decades and presents a rare chance to restore a rare and very special classic car.
