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1960 Jensen 541S

Peony Red Paint Prep

February 15, 2021

Our 1960 541S Jensen has been continuing its paint process with the bonnet and wings being masked, prepped and primed and the undersides painted black.

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Red Jensen interior fit continues!

July 9, 2021

Thomas has been fitting the mushroom shade leather front seats into the peony red Jensen. He first had to fit runners into the front of the car, these are bolted in, either side, as a pair. The seats then slide onto these with attachments on the bottom of each front seat. These runners are what make the seats move backwards and forwards, to give more or less leg room in the front!

Thomas has also fitted the centre mirror, centre console and sun visors.

Kath has been making a boot carpet for the Jensen 541s too. She made a carpet cover for the fuel pipe, to match the boot. These were both made by her creating a paper pattern first. All the edges of the carpet were binded in the mushroom leather.

Jensen 541 – Spare Wheel Carrier and Dash Modifications

July 7, 2021

Tamas has manufactured a spare wheel carrier bracket to hold the carrier in place.

Having recently recovered the original dash, when fitting to the car we recognised that the dash was slightly larger than required. We have now stripped the dash back to reveal the area that requires adjustment. It has now been rectified and re-covered to make a perfect fit in the car.

And finally, Tom has fitted the grommets under the engine area.

Peony Jensen Update

July 6, 2021

The exhaust on our Peony Jensen has been fitted by Demand Engineering. We now need to put the seats and pins in, air filter, bleed the gearbox and modify the number plate.

Peony Red’s Boot Lid Interior

June 30, 2021

Our 1960 Peony Red Jensen has had a new boot lid carpet. Brian has cut and glued a leather strip around the inside edge of the boot lid and then glued down the carpet to the inside, cutting holes in the boot to support the arm and catch.

We’ve also sent the entire car off to Demand engineering to get the exhaust manufactured and fitted. We’ve found that the profile of the downpipes are not the correct profile so we’re also having them re-profiled so that they allow the exhaust to sit correctly.

Peony Red Paint Perfections

June 23, 2021

Chris has been neatening up one of the side panels to correct some imperfections that have happened whilst assembling the car. It’s very common for scratches and knocks to occur when building a car back together and luckily Chris is on hand to correct any accidental damage.

Peony Red Is Finding Its Voice

June 23, 2021

Our 1960 Jensen 541S, fondly nicknamed ‘Peony Red’ after its colour, is currently having its horns fixed by Tom. He’s also checking over a few issues with the wiring and ensuring that the lights work and the earth cable is responding correctly.

Peony Windows Fitted

June 14, 2021

Our 1960 Peony Red Jensen 541S has had the windows fitted and is now resembling more and more of a working car.

Peony Red Jensen Gets New Carpet

June 10, 2021

Kath has made a boot carpet for out 1960 Jensen 541S. She begun by inserting rubber grommets in the holes, made templates and then cut out the patterns. When she had cut out the carpet, she could bind and shape the edges.

Peony Red Air Vents

June 8, 2021

Kath has made a cover for the metal plate Paul made as part of the windscreen air vents.

Peony Red Jensen’s New Chrome and Dynamometer

June 2, 2021

Our 1960 Jensen 541S has had new chrome fitted around the door as well as ‘weather strips’. Paul has been working to apply the smaller chrome details.

Paul has also fitted a new dynamometer.

Peony Jensen Tweaks And Adjustments

May 25, 2021

Our 1960 Peony Red Jensen is having its newly built dashboard fitted by Tom and the chrome adjusted by Paul.

Kath has continued with the door side panels and had now completed the passenger side. She has screwed in the panels for the air vents, added carpet fasteners and was then ready for Tom to work on the dash and Paul to work on the chrome.

Peony Red Jensen’s New Dash And Door Cappings

May 20, 2021

Tom has been working on building up the dashboard for our 1960 Peony Red Jensen 541S. A keen eye for detail and a steady hand is needed to build up dashboards as it is a tricky job.

Brian has been adding wood to the front door to make the capping fit correctly. He’s then covered the door capping and new board for the side panel and added in a seat belt slot. Lastly he added the pipping between the side panel and rear quarter panel and glued it all in place.

Sound Deadening The Peony Jensen

May 13, 2021

Kath has been laying sound deadening in the Peony Red 1960 Jensen 541S which is starting to look more and more complete.

Kath began by covering the section of floor she was working on, with leather and then started to lay the sound deadening, being careful to check how each piece fitted and glue them securely in place. She then went over the sills and added the carpet under the rear seats and bound the ends. Then Kath started laying the carpet in the passenger footwell, around the side of the centre tunnel and bound the edges.

Peony Red Headliner Continues

May 11, 2021

Kath has continued on the 1960 Jensen 541S Peony Red headliner by bolting in the screws in the front header rail. She’s then covered the B posts in leather and added 3mm of foam to the rear. Kath has then covered the back parcel shelve in the same headliner leather and then followed it up by fitting the panels along the top of the head liner.

Next up, Kath made a pattern for the rear pocket sections and then glued it in place. She then removed the seat belt to fit the rear quarter panel. She then modified the rear quarter panel to make it fit better. Kath then attached the rear door capping and rear panel as well as fitting the seat belt back in place. She then repeated this process on the driver’s side.

Once everything was covered and fit, Kath could lay the rear seat in place to make sure it all fits. Next up is the sound deadening and carpet.

Peony Red Jensen Gets New Badges And Headliner

May 5, 2021

The owner of our Peony Red custom 1960 Jensen 541S took the decision to get the badges painted in a diamond red as he didn’t like how the silver looked. Here’s the before and after:

Kath has also fit the headliner for our Peony Red Jensen. She begun by attaching the metal rods to the edge of the car and then attaching the leather around the windscreen. The next step was to attach the front header rail and then screw it in place, lining up the holes.

Peony Red Jensen Bonnet Catches

April 14, 2021

Paul has manufactured some new bonnet catches for our 1960 Jensen 541S. These components are crucial to keeping the bonnet closed and secure. Being made by hand, these catches have been designed and made to fit our Jensen perfectly.

Peony Red Grills And Shields

April 9, 2021

Paul has fit the heat shield into the engine as well as the front grill and badge into our 1960 Peony Red Jensen 541S. Every day our Peony Red is starting to resemble a real car more and more as it makes exciting developments daily.

Peony Red Gets More Chrome

April 6, 2021

Our 1960 Peony Red Jensen is coming along well. With the continuation of chrome fitting, Paul has been making an fitting seat belt strengthens to ensure safety. Originally only being fitted to the metal shell, Paul has made some enforced pieces of metal to make sure the seat belts are fixed in well.

Tom is also linking up the main loom to the fuel gage and reserve, as well a securing it in place so that it runs to the rear loom.

Peony Red Jensen Taking Shape

April 1, 2021

Our stunning custom build Peony Red Jensen is really taking shape now. Thanks to the continuous hard work from our skilled classic car technicians, this classic is looking more and more like the beautiful motor it was meant to be. Stay tuned for more exciting updates!

Peony Red Jensen’s Wiring Loom Fitted

March 31, 2021

Tom has begun to catalogue the different wiring looms for our 1960 Jensen 541S. He’s started with the rear wiring loom, connected the rear indicators, brake lights, sidelights, number plate lights and the reverse light. Tom has also allocated the rear wiring loom in the rear junction box. He has then continued to install the bonnet wiring loom and has connected the headlights, indicators and sidelights wirings to the bonnet wiring loom.

Paul has also fitted the rear bumper.

Lydia has also taken apart the head lining. She’s started by laying out the old fabric to see what it looks like. Once she made the new version, she sewed in calico loops onto each headlining part while attaching the sections together.

Peony Red Jensen Fitting And Fixing

March 26, 2021

Paul and Tom have been working on the Peony Red Jensen 541R today, both fitting more chrome to the body and fixing in place the underside bonnet clips.

Paul has been steadily getting through all the chrome pieces, fitting them to the body and ensuring they all sit perfectly. Tom has been fixing in place the clips which hold in place the bonnet rods and hinges that allow the bonnet to open.

Tom has also assembled the dash, fitted the boot and bonnet as well as fitting the indicators and chrome.

Peony Red Jensen Assembly Continues

March 12, 2021

Our lovely 1960 Peony Red Jensen 541S is at the stage where we’re putting lots of pieces back together and fitting them in, meaning that day by day, its looking more like a Jensen. Paul has fitted the vacuum pipe for the carburettor manifold as well as working alongside Tom to fit the sills. With the doors now on as well, the body of the car is more or less recognisable.

Peony Red Jensen Progression: Trim, Engine And Steering

March 10, 2021

Brian has been working on the door cappings for our 1960 Peony Red Jensen 541S. He began by fitting metal brackets to the rear door capping and then glueing in the wadding. Brian then glued the leather cover to the door capping and turned the leather over onto the back to neaten up the corners and pull taught the material.

Paul and Ady have recently fit the engine into the Jensen which is arguably one of the key milestones in a restoration. With this now in place, engine refurbishments and adjustments can be made to ensure its up and running.

The assisted power steering pump has also been prepared and fitted into our Jensen.

Peony Red Project Continues

March 3, 2021

The bonnet, boot and internal components have been painted for our 1960 Jensen 541S. The parts sat in primer and a base coat before having their iconic Peony Red paint applied. The internal parts and engine block have been painted black to keep them uniform with the rest of the internal elements.

Paul has been working on the mechanical elements for our Jensen, which has included fitting the rear section boot floor, new hand brake cables, and re-manufactured the bolts on the rear axle half shaft.

Ady has been working on refurbishing the engine by attaching a new rear seal conversion and replacing the bolts that hold it in and fitting a new cylinder head with new valves spring and valve guides. The engine has also been rebored to take new pistons, the crankshaft has been reground and new bearings fitted. A new timing chain, cam followers and gaskets have also been fitted.

Ady and Paul are have also been working on fitting the re-conditioned gear box to the engine.

We’ve also fitted the rear lights this week, ready to be wired in.

Twenty Twenty: The Year Of The Jensen

March 1, 2021

Some of you may remember we mentioned our busy Jensen workshop last year, and it hasn’t slowed down in 2021. We’ve become the Jensen Specialists of the UK with a constant set of Jensen 541R and 541S projects passing through our doors on a regular basis. With projects ranging from full nut and bolt restorations to small fixes and services, we’ve been inundated with Jensen’s, and we love it!

2020 saw 8 Jensen’s in at the same time, which led to this amazing shot of them all lined up. Our technicians are now well versed in Jensen mechanics, electrics and bodywork as we’ve still got 6 of them in the workshop plus another stored at Bentwaters waiting to find a new home.

With only 193 Jensen 541R’s ever made and 127 541S’s made, and even fewer still on the road, we’ve had a large quantity of them in the workshop.

Peony Jensen Heat Shield

February 25, 2021

One of our technicians, Pauls, has made and fit a heat shield for our 1960 Peony Red Jensen 541R. Paul has cut out, measured up and fitted the panels which are made up of Asbestolux.

Peony Red Mechanics Underway

February 17, 2021

The Peony Red Jensen, now finished in paint, has been moved into the workshop to begin its mechanical journey.

Our technician Paul is currently fitting new brake lines as the original ones are worn out.

Peony Red Paint Prep

February 15, 2021

Our 1960 541S Jensen has been continuing its paint process with the bonnet and wings being masked, prepped and primed and the undersides painted black.

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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