All-New – Recovering the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona Dash in Alcantara

March 8, 2022

The dash for the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona is continuing its journey with Bridge Classic Cars at our in-house trim shop.

The team have been working on transferring the pattern made on the black vinyl to the black Alcantara the owner has chosen. The new covering has been hand cut and stitched by Lydia to create a tight, elegant fit to the synthetic suede.

With these pieces now in their finishing stages, we’re excited to show you the next stage of the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona.

Start of the Process – Retrimming the Dash of the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona

March 7, 2022

The dashboard from the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona is in with the Bridge Classic Cars trim shop to be recovered after its reshaping by the restoration technicians.

The dashboard has undergone several modifications and revisions while in the body shop, so with that, it has gone upstairs to our in-house trim shop to be retrimmed in black vinyl. This retrim is completely bespoke to the dash with every hole, seam and panel hand-cut and templated by the team.

Lydia made individual templates for each piece using reference materials and photos of the original Daytona pieces to first test fit for the vinyl pieces, and so that any revisions could be made to create an entire piece that fit the dashboard perfectly for the classic Daytona replica.

Before and After – More Pieces of the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona Refinished

March 4, 2022

Both the workshop and paint teams at Bridge Classic Cars have been working together to clean up and refinish several pieces for the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona.

The parts from the engine bay of the Daytona were meticulously sanded, cleaned and prepared the pieces before they were taken into our spray booth to be refinished in glossy and matte black depending on the piece.

After the pieces had completely cured and hardened, the workshop team could begin putting the parts back together and ready to be put back into the car.

Perfect Fit – Modifying 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona Glovebox

March 4, 2022

The glovebox of the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona is being worked on by our restoration workshop at the Bridge Classic Cars Suffolk HQ. It’s having some modifications done to give this piece of the car the perfect fit.

Scott has been in charge of working on the fibreglass pieces of the dash to get the entire dash (and all the pieces) fitting perfectly and as close to an original Daytona as possible. Scott has had to cut and section the glovebox door to allow the pieces to have a uniform opening and close lines for that complete and flawless fit you would expect from a restored Daytona.

The Bridge Classic Cars restoration technicians have an excellent of understanding working with composites (especially Fibreglass) due to our extensive work on the Jensen 541 family of cars. So, working on the Fibreglass 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona means we can make sure that the fit and finish of the entire car is perfect.

New Finish – Parts from the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona in Satin Black

March 3, 2022

The in-house paint shop at Bridge Classic Cars have taken some of the parts from the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona to be refinished.

With the Arrow Daytona project making great progress, some of the parts from the iconic car have been taken from our restoration workshop into the paint shop to be prepared for refinishing. Alan, has worked on sanding down and cleaning each part individually ready for its time in the paint booth.

Each of the pieces was hung and then shot in a heavy-duty and durable satin black to match the rest of the pieces in the car. These will be packaged and put into storage for when the project calls for them.

Neat and Tidy – Working on the Dash and Interior Wiring Loom of the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona

March 2, 2022

With the engine bay wiring loom routed for the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona, the Bridge Classic Cars restoration technicians could begin work on the dash and interior loom.

The wiring loom for the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona has to be carefully laid out and routed throughout the entire car. Rob, one of our technicians, has been working on cleaning up unnecessary wiring for the car and then making sure the harness is carefully wrapped in loom tape to protect the wires from any chafing and to bundle them together for tidiness.

Rob has split the harness into each of the individual systems like it would have been done on the original Daytona and neatly put them into the wire carriers.

Making Sense – Modifying the Wiring Harness of the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona

March 1, 2022

The workshop team at Bridge Classic Cars are working on cleaning up and modifying the wiring harness for the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona.

Rob, one of our restoration technicians, has taken the entire harness for the car and begun to strip it back into individual systems to assess what is and isn’t there for the classic Daytona replica. The harness itself comes from a Jaguar XJS which includes multiple sensors, relays and components which aren’t needed or found on a Daytona.

So, Rob is working his way through and cleaning up the harness to make sure everything that needs to be connected is there and both neatly and safely in the car. Stripping away any unneeded pieces to simplify the car’s electrical system.

Cut and Finish – Reworking the Dashboard of the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona

February 28, 2022

The workshop at Bridge Classic Cars have been working on reworking and finishing the dashboard on the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona in preparation for getting the switchgear test fitted.

The team have been remoulding parts of the dashboard and structure to make it as close to an original Daytona as possible, using reference photos Scott has been laying new layers of fibreglass in different areas to recreate the original shape.

After that, he could then begin to do the bodywork preparations on the dash to smooth out areas and joins in the panel which included glassing over new mounting bolts to fix it into the structure behind the piece securely. After that, the new openings for some of the switchgear could be cut and test fitted into the interior, again using reference photos to scale the spacings between each piece.

Every Fibre – Modifying the Dash and Centre Console of the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona

February 17, 2022

The workshop team at Bridge Classic Cars are on a mission to making sure the interior of the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona in with us for restoration is as close as possible to the real thing.

Part of that job is the fit and finish of the dash and centre console. Scott, one of our technicians, has been put in charge of modifying the fibreglass pieces that make up the dash and console fit perfectly and look authentic to the car it pays homage to.

Piece by piece, he has cut and reshaped the fibreglass to allow not only the tightest fit between individual components but follow the contours of the original using reference photos and videos to guide him. This being fibreglass, Scott has a certain amount of movement within the material to get it lining up and fitting just right before putting in filler pieces and strengthening the whole panel.

This process of reshaping and modifying the dash and console is not one to be taken lightly but crucial in the execution of the project as a whole.

Progress – Working on the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona

February 11, 2022

Bridge Classic Cars have been getting back to work on the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona. The next phase involves working on the inside of the car to get it to the next stage.

Scott, one of our technicians, has been working through the list of jobs to do on the car.

He had to modify the steering column to go from the Jaguar steering rack to the Ferrari steering column while also clearing the bottom of the genuine Daytona instrument cluster. After this, he began to work on the steering boss.

The steering boss needed to be modified to fit inside of the original Daytona column shroud while also allowing the indicators to self cancel.

After all this had been done and tested, Scott worked on getting the gear stick into the same place in the cockpit as it would have been in a real Daytona.

The Genuine Article – Real Daytona Wheels for the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona

December 17, 2021

The Bridge Classic Cars workshop here in Pettistree, Suffolk has had an incredible delivery. A set of refurbished genuine Ferrari Daytona wheels.

These will be fitted to the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona which is undergoing a thorough and complete restoration by our in-house restoration teams. These wheels have been refurbished which must be done by specialists due to their magnesium construction.

This is going to be an amazing addition to the car once the restoration is complete by the team.

Back in the Workshop – 1979 Arrow Daytona

November 25, 2021

This wonderful 1979 Arrow Daytona is back in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop in Pettistree, Suffolk from being in storage.

It’s currently under covers while several cars are being worked on around the workshop while it awaits its time with our in-house restoration experts to carry on with the restoration of the car.

Keep an eye out here on the Bridge Classic Cars blog for updates on the Arrow Daytona.

Fit and Finish – Adjustments on the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona

September 10, 2021

One of the key elements of a build is the fit and finish of its most visible items. The first aspect you notice is always the most tactile, for instance, the doors. They must feel right in the hand, they must fit the appeture set for them by the designers. Without that, you will notice straight away.

Our in-house technician Scott, has skillfully rebuilt the doors on this beautiful 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona to a much better finish than could have ever been dreamt of when the car was first crafted 42 years ago.

It first began with the adjustments to doors themselves. Making sure the angular and crisp bodylines matched up with their counterparts on the long and low doors. After the for and aft adjustments had been painstakingly made along with the door strikers meeting the body striker in just the right place and time back to where they had been intended from the start, it was time to begin work on the internals of the doors themselves.

A rebuild of the window mechanisms needed to be done to ensure the specially sized and shaped windows would line up with both the channels and the seals (which had also been replaced by our technicians). It’s all in the details but with our highly trained and meticulous team, it’s all done just right and to the standards people have come to know Bridge Classic Cars for.

Of course, it couldn’t be complete without the finishing touches. A genuine set of iconic Daytona mirrors to grace its timeless silhouette.

With a project of this depth and complexity, some time is needed between each stage to research and fine-tune the approach that a project (and car) like this deserves. Expect to see more soon on this 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona here on the Bridge Classic Car Blog.

Repairing the exhaust manifolds.

August 26, 2021

Scott has been repairing the exhaust manifolds for the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona. They’re made of stainless steel and were cleaned up before being painted in black high-temperature paint to make them look like genuine Ferrari.

Engine plunges into the Ferrari!

August 24, 2021

On Friday, the newly-built engine was plunged into the bay of the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona, using a heavy duty crane, with Scott and Ady levering the engine in with the chains. The car originally came to us with an over-heated engine, so wasn’t running. Fortunately, it came with a spare Jaguar V12 engine. The old, blown one was stripped apart and any useful parts were left to be used in the re-building. Scott’s now been re-connecting everything back in the engine bay now it’s in.

Lights on!

August 20, 2021

Here’s another little update on the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona. After adjusting the genuine Ferrari side lamp covers the other day to be able to fit on this replica, they’re now on. Scott is now working on repairing the exhaust manifolds. They’ll then be taken to the spray booth to be painted with paint that can withstand high temperatures.

Ferrari Daytona’s peeling steering rack…

August 19, 2021

We’ve found that the paint was flaking off the steering rack of the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona, so it was taken into the paint shop. There, Lydia blasted as much paint off as she could with an air gun and then took the rest off with a combination of a blade, a grinder attachment on a drill and thinners with a red scotch pad. The steering rack is now clean and masked up, ready to go in the spray booth.

Ferrari gets modified

August 18, 2021

Scott has been doing modifications and fittings on the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona. He’s fitted the rear bumpers, modified the number plate lamp because the car is made of fibreglass, whereas the number plate lamp is made to go on a metal car, the position of the headlamp mechanism has been adjusted and the headlamp motor has been fitted, he’s rewired the motor and checked that it functions properly, the horn has been fitted and it’s got new wiring, and the front grill has been fitted. Scott is now starting to modify the side lamp covers because they’re genuine Ferrari lenses and so they won’t fit in their original state.

Ferrari Daytona – Stop, Go, Shine

August 13, 2021

It has been a solid week for Scott on the rebuild of the Ferrari Daytona. The brake lines are now in, along with the new fuel filler neck, headlamps and rear lights.

The indicator clusters need to be altered slightly prior to fitment so that will be a job for the beginning of next week.

Scott’s making great progress on the build now. Middle of next week we’ll be looking at re-installing the monstrous V12 engine.

Axles fitting time for the Daytona.

August 11, 2021

Scott has now finished re-assembling the front axle for the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona. The rear axle was re-assembled last week, which you can see a blog post about here. A blog post showing the front axle’s progress from yesterday can be accessed here. Now both axles are re-assembled, they were able to be fitted to the car!

The front and rear axles have both been rebuilt with all new bushings, bearings, shocks and springs. The brake calipers have been refurbished and Scott has replaced all the brake lines. The car was then lowered down onto the newly built axles and they were bolted on with new mountings.

Front axle nearly complete on the Daytona!

August 10, 2021

Scott has been getting up to speed on the front axle of the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona. The only tasks left to do on it is that the steering rack needs to be installed, the shocks need to be mounted and the front anti-roll bar needs to be installed. After all that, the front axle will be completed!

Reassembling the rear axle of the Daytona.

August 6, 2021

Now that the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona is back in the workshop, Scott’s been straight back to work with it. In these photos you can see he’s started to reassemble the rear axle back together. An interesting point to make with this car is that the discs are on the inside of the rear axle rather than on the actual wheels.

Daytona back in the workshop!

August 5, 2021

This week we’ve welcomed the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona back into the workshop after it’s been in storage for a little bit of time. The last time it was in here was back in March when the body had just been painted and the seats had finished being re-upholstered. You can read about its progress so far here. Stay tuned for updates!

Ferrari Daytona Seats Finished

March 29, 2021

We thought we’d take a closer look at the finished Ferrari Daytona seats that the trim shop have made. Having had to make these all from scratch with appropriate modifications and alterations along the way, these seats are looking amazing. Finished in a green leather, they will match the colour tone of the Daytona paint work perfectly. We can’t wait to see them fitted in the Ferrari when its ready!

Lydia has also been working on covering various interior panels for the Ferarri as well. The first image shows the pair of console side panels in their original state before Lydia took off all the old leather, foam and plastic vents. She then cut new leather and foams out after cleaning the metal up, applied a layer of 3mm foam to the fronts of the panels and applied a layer of 3mm foam to the fronts of the panels. Lydia made sure that the leather was tucked in and glued underneath, then she added a layer of 3mm foam which was applied to the backs of the panels. All these fabrics were trimmed and tucked around the holes for the plastic vents to fit into.

Lydia then moved onto making the headlining for the Ferrari Daytona. She marked out the headlining fabric and foam for it, she then made slits for the flute lines on the foam so that the headlining fabric to lay better. She then fluted 14 flute lines, checking how it looked as she went. The finished result may look like a flate piece of fluted fabric, but it will become the headlining when fitted into place in the Daytona.

Ferarri Daytona Update: Paint, Trim and Heater

March 25, 2021

Heater removal

Scott has been taking out the heater in our Ferrari Daytona so that it can be re-wired and refurbished.

Trim

The trim restoration for our Daytona continues with Brian taking off any extra leather around the skirt of the seat, adding in eyelets for the headrest and pulling the leather over the side of the base onto the back. Lydia has been marking out and cutting new pieces of foam to glue onto the “inner” frame and glueing the foam in place and adding more foam padding to fill out the frame. Lydia has also pulled the cover over the frame and foam and glued the sides into place. She started with the calico strips that run around the edge, she then pulled it tight to get the shape of the seat. Once the seat frames were completed, she fitted the backboard and inner section into place.

Lydia also sanded down and re-covered the sills recently and then glued on new foam and leather.

Masked And Painted

The engine bay, bonnet, boot and wings have also been masked and painted, meaning that the exterior is now finished.

Daytona Dash, Trim And Suspension

March 18, 2021

Lydia and Brian have been working on various panels for the Ferarri Daytona. Lydia has taken off the original leather and the screws from the sun visor panel to clean the fibreglass, ready to be recovered. She has also been taking the covers and foam off the A, B and C posts and sanding off the old glue. She then glued on s fresh 3mm of foam before wrapping the posts in new stretchy vinyl. Brian has removed the old cover from ‘c’ posts, sanded and filled any fibreglass to make it smooth before recovering in new vinyl. He has also removed the cover from the ‘a’ posts and cleaned the metal so it’s ready to be recovered. He did the same for the B panel too. Brian then removed the cover from the rear window top bar and cleaned up the fibreglass. He added new foam onto the top bar and glued new vinyl onto the rear of the panel. He repeats this process on the a, b and c panels too.

Kath has been recovering the head rests with new updated modifications to make the head rests a slimmer design on the clients request.

Kath has made the skirt and clipped the four sections together in position before sewing all the parts together. After sewing the mock together, Kath could refit the foam. She then unpicked the skirt ready to cut out new parts to then sew together. Once all sewn together, Kath could place the cover over the frame to see how it’s going to fit. With a few modifications, the cover fits perfectly and the skirt folds over the back of the cover. For the inner piece, Kath drew around the centre of the foam, marked out new leather, clipped together the pieces and finally sewed them all in. Once she ensured it fit perfectly, she could assemble all the pieces. She repeated the process on the second headrest.

Lydia has also been working to make the centre rear carpet section. The original carpet was red, which she needed to remove first before cleaning all the glue off the base. She drew around the original pieces of carpet to make out the new template which she then cut out new leather from. Once this was done, she sewed around the edges of each carpet to bind, then glued around the surround section. She then glued the fabric into place.

James has just started making up a brand new bespoke dashboard out of fibreglass for our Daytona. This will be a detailed and difficult process but worth it in the end.

Scott has been working to add new springs into the front suspension. He is also working on removing the front cross member mount bolt which has seized. This eventually will be holding in the front suspension.

Our Ferrari Daytona: Details And Dedication

March 12, 2021

The body of our Ferrari Daytona has officially left the paint shop and found its place in our main workshop, ready to begin the next step in its mechanical journey. The doors, boot and bonnet are set to be completed imminently and will join the body to be fitted.

Scott has been working on re-aligning the front suspension of the Daytona as well, making sure all the elements fit back together nearly after its refurbishment.

The trim shop are continuing with the interior with Lydia focusing on the rear quarter panels. She started off by taking the original leather and foam off them both, glued new 3mm foam onto each one and placed new leather over the top. She then turned her focus to working on the bottom sills where she started off by taking the original leather and foam off and sanded off the surface rust.

Brian has continued to strip down the old door panels and has added new foam to the panels as well. He’s then marked out new leather for the doors, glued the cover around the edges and pulled the leather tight. Brian also turned the fabric over the edges of the hole for the centre section and speaker hole. He has also fit rubber grommet for the door lock button to finish.

Lydia has also continued to take the covers off the seats. First, she undid the bolts holding the wide bars down which hold the seat in place in the car, then she drilled the rivets outs holding the covers into place. Next Lydia took out all the rusted staples which originally held the covers in place. Lydia had to twist the hog rings out, which were holding the inner seat cover tight around the frame as well as cutting the strings holding the inner seat tight in the middle and at the top. She then took the metal bars off that hold the rubber webbing over the frame and took the inner cover off, and then had to drill out a couple of more rivets to get the surrounding cover off.

Daytona gets new suspension, trim and paint

March 9, 2021

Scott has been working on the suspension for our Ferarri Daytona. He’s replaced all the UJs, bearings and bushes on the front and rear suspension. He’s also started to reassemble the front and rear axles.

Brian has been marking up the old armrest covers ready to make new covers. He used the old pattern as a template to cut out the new leather, glued in the new metal trim for inside the handles, added the foam and glued up the edge of the arm rest. By pulling the arm rest tight and stapling it down, Brian can get a neat finish.

Lydia has been working on putting together the seat covers by adding pipping around the outside, adding calico underneath which gets pulled over the bars in the frame to keep it tight. Lydia then marks out the new back and skirt on fresh leather. Lydia sews on the hem to the skirt and adds the pieces back together.

Kath has been working on making the test run for the head rests. She starts by drawing around the inner section and adding the seam allowance. She then makes up the skirt, clips it together and sews it in place. Kath then makes the pattern for each part of the head rest, marks out the positions on the leather and foam and sews it all together. Once all the parts and skirts as sewed up, she fits it onto the foam head rest and adjusts it to fit. Once she’d modified it to fit perfectly, Kath can then sew round the inner section and fit that. Once that the pattern is made, Kath finds she needed to unpick the stitching and mark out the parts in he sage green leather.

Matt and Chris in the paint shop have smoothed and flattened the paint so its looking really shiny and even. Once the doors and panels have been painted, it can all be fitted together.

Daytona Seats

March 3, 2021

Lydia has continued making the seats for our Ferrari Daytona. Now with a whole new colour pallet, this is more than renovating the seats, its a total make over.

Lydia had to position the black insert strips onto the leather in the marked places for the squab covers and sew them into place. Lydia then punched holes out of the Insert Strips and stuffed scrim foam in-between the insert strips. She then sewed all round to seal them into place. She then sewed the middle strip between them.

Daytona Goes Green

March 1, 2021

Our specialist classic car painter, Matt, has been working on spraying our Ferrari Daytona its new green colour. Having sat in primer, Matt could then mask up the body, apply a base layer and then finish by applying the final colour. The doors, bonnet and boot still need to be done separately however we’re very excited to see this major development in the Daytona’s restoration.

Chris has also been working on the Daytona paint work and has sprayed many of the internal components black.

Kath has been working on the seats for the Daytona. Last week she rolled out and marked all the leather for two seat faces. Once she’d marked out the foam ready to stuff into the fluted panels, Kath cut the calico out so that all the seat faces were ready to be sewn together. All the parts for the seat face with the black strips were then laid out ready to be added to the frames.