Land Rover: removing the diamond plate from the front and rear
November 18, 2018
In our workshops ready for the beginning of the week we have our 1964 Land Rover. This amazingly quirky car is somewhat of a challenge
Projects
1976 MG V8 ready for resale
November 17, 2018
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”23891,23898,23897,23896,23895,23894″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Credit, as always, to Paul Johnson Valeting for carrying out an excellent job on detailing our 1976 MG B V8. The car is now
Jensen radiators ready for refurb…
November 16, 2018
Here we have a set of radiators all ready for the trip over to Sheldrake & Wells in Ipswich for their complete overhaul. In amongst the
Polishing the bright-work on our Austin 10
November 14, 2018
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Brian has been busy polishing the faded bright work on our 1934 Austin 10. A little elbow grease and TLC and it’s come up lovely,
Completing the work on our Granada sills
November 13, 2018
Work is almost complete on the refit and welding of our 1989 Ford Granada sills. The sills are brand new and have been a fantastic
Lowering the seats on our 1971 Jaguar E-Type
November 13, 2018
Dave has successfully re-manufactured the strengthening bars that hold the driver and passenger’s seat into position. Our objective was to lower the seat as much
Removing our Packard’s head
November 13, 2018
We needed to remove the enormous head of our 1939 Packard to reveal the gasket and as expected unfortunately this is what is causing the
The new heat shields are now in position
November 13, 2018
There are fores and againsts’ with the Jaguar E-Type V12 engine; the fores are that it is a truly stunning engine that looks and sounds
Fitting up the body panels of our Mini
November 13, 2018
We are now fitting up our body panels to check for any issues with the lines and curvatures of the bodyshell.
Repairing and re-chroming the Jaguar E-Type bumper
November 12, 2018
Our rear off side bumper required some repair work due to it being ill-fitting. A replacement bumper was becoming difficult to source so we opted
Work on now complete on our 1968 Jaguar E-Type Accident Repair
November 12, 2018
The repair work on our 1968 Jaguar E-Type is now complete. The chrome work and fittings were removed, we have repaired and re-shaped the door,
Organising the parts ready for chroming
November 12, 2018
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Our 1957 Jensen 541R (chassis 328) metalwork has now been sorted ready for the trip to Wyatt Polishing in Thetford. Tony and the team at
Overhauling the heater matrix’
November 12, 2018
Both heater matrix’ have now gone off to the guys and girls at Sheldrake & Wells in Ipswich to be overhauled.
Rebuilding the rocker shaft
November 11, 2018
As part of the full engine rebuild within our engine shop, Ady has successfully completed the rebuild of our 1955 Austin Healey’s rocker shaft and
Chromework, Pedal Box, Air Filter.
November 9, 2018
Sorting through the chrome work of our 1960 Jensen 541R 1960 Jensen 541R – chassis 493 Brian has also successfully stripped, cleaned and repainted both the
Fitting the new sills
November 8, 2018
It has been a tough few days and Tommy has been working solidly but we have now successfully fitted up the new sills. Still a
Replacing the damaged BMW 840 radiator
November 8, 2018
We were informed of a water leak on our 1998 BMW 840CI the day before she arrived in our workshops so part of our task
Running up our 1961 Ariel Leader
November 7, 2018
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Prior to releasing our 1961 Ariel Leader to it’s new home, Brian first gave it a run up to ensure the engine was running as
Working on the Corvette engine
November 7, 2018
Ady is now actively working on the restoration of the Corvette V8 engine that will be married up to our 1957 Jensen 541R. The block
Removing the worst affected areas
November 6, 2018
Tommy has now started to remove the worst affected areas to the nearside sills. Only by removing can you see the full extent of work
Front Seat Re-Upholstery
November 6, 2018
In today we have the front pair of 1936 Riley Merlin Nine seats along with a beautiful piece of hide supplied to us by the
Fabricating the Jensen’s front grille surround
November 6, 2018
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]We already hold the tooling to re-produce the front grilles themselves but now requiring the front grille surround it was back to design mode for
Our 1969 Pontiac Firebird is now leaving Canada
November 5, 2018
We can now confirm that our 1969 Pontiac Firebird is leaving Canada for UK shores. A huge thank you to our good friend Bud for
Recommissioning our 1939 Packard 120
November 3, 2018
In our workshops today we have our stunning 1939 Packard 120. Having been in the showroom of world renowned classic and vintage car dealers Vintage
Collecting our 1939 Packard 120
November 2, 2018
Here is our 1939 Packard making it’s way to our workshops having spent some time with the guys at Vintage & Prestige in Grays, Essex. We’ll
Fitting the new Jaguar 240 wheel hubs
November 1, 2018
As part of the re-commissioning of our 1968 Jaguar 240 the customer has decided to fit the vehicle with a set of multi-spoke Jaguar wheels.
Undersealing our 1998 BMW 840Ci
October 30, 2018
Some very questionable repairs have been carried out to the underside of the spare wheel carrier so we’ve stripped the entire area back to reveal
Work complete on our 1933 Talbot AX65
October 29, 2018
Work is now complete on our 1933 Talbot AX65. The rear boot panel and door have been repaired and painted. The rear wing has also
The newly rebuilt BMW shocks have arrived in the UK
October 29, 2018
Rebuilding the BMW 8 Series shocks are a very specialist skill so we called upon the experts over in Poland to help us out on
Fitting up the newly refurbished radiator
October 29, 2018
As always, Sheldrake & Wells have carried out the rebuild work of our SL’s radiator and oil cooler beautifully. The final piece of the puzzle
Land Rover: removing the diamond plate from the front and rear
November 18, 2018
In our workshops ready for the beginning of the week we have our 1964 Land Rover. This amazingly quirky car is somewhat of a challenge for Tommy as we look to remove the diamond plate (checker plate) from the top of the front wings and bottom of the rear wings.
The car has been hand painted using a variation of reds but it’s this random feature which makes this car very unique. Our objective is to remove the plate, hide the signs of where the plate once was but try to keep the amazing characteristics of the car.
1976 MG V8 ready for resale
November 17, 2018
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”23891,23898,23897,23896,23895,23894″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Credit, as always, to Paul Johnson Valeting for carrying out an excellent job on detailing our 1976 MG B V8.
The car is now ready for re-sale.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”23899,23910,23909,23908,23907,23906,23905,23904,23903,23902,23901,23900″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]A few more images before she moves over to our showroom.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”24106,24107,24109,24110,24111,24112,24113,24114,24115,24116,24117,24118″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Jensen radiators ready for refurb…
November 16, 2018
Here we have a set of radiators all ready for the trip over to Sheldrake & Wells in Ipswich for their complete overhaul. In amongst the collection we have the radiators from our 1957 Jensen 541R and 1960 Jensen 541R.
Polishing the bright-work on our Austin 10
November 14, 2018
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Brian has been busy polishing the faded bright work on our 1934 Austin 10. A little elbow grease and TLC and it’s come up lovely, a complete transformation.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”24046,24047,24048,24049,24050,24051,24052,24053,24054,24055″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Completing the work on our Granada sills
November 13, 2018
Work is almost complete on the refit and welding of our 1989 Ford Granada sills.
The sills are brand new and have been a fantastic purchase for us. Buying pre-made sills has saved Tommy a huge amount of time and effort. Without them, he would have had to re-shape the metalwork to replicate the Granada’s sills. This would have taken time and money.
It is often a worthwhile exercise to spend some time looking for parts that you may help you with your projects, things that will essentially ‘make life easier’ for you.
Lowering the seats on our 1971 Jaguar E-Type
November 13, 2018
Dave has successfully re-manufactured the strengthening bars that hold the driver and passenger’s seat into position.
Our objective was to lower the seat as much as we could to allow for more head room and hopefully a more comfortable driving position.
The new structure has resulted in the seats being able to be lowered almost 1.5 inches but maintaining everything that will be required to keep the them safe and secure. the new bars have been colour coded to be in keeping with the Golden Sands finish.
Removing our Packard’s head
November 13, 2018
We needed to remove the enormous head of our 1939 Packard to reveal the gasket and as expected unfortunately this is what is causing the running issues.
A new gasket has been order from the US and the head is currently being machined to remove all imperfections.
We can now confirm that the head is misshapen by approximately 3/4mm which explains a lot of the difficulties we’ve been facing. Once we’ve machined and skimmed the head the new gasket can be applied.
The new heat shields are now in position
November 13, 2018
There are fores and againsts’ with the Jaguar E-Type V12 engine; the fores are that it is a truly stunning engine that looks and sounds incredible…the againsts is that it is so big and tight that it is difficult to take close up pictures of things 🙂
Here we have the new heat shields now in position. As always, Dave has worked methodically on getting these into position and we are very happy with the results.
We’ll now start to look at the interior fit…
Fitting up the body panels of our Mini
November 13, 2018
We are now fitting up our body panels to check for any issues with the lines and curvatures of the bodyshell.
Repairing and re-chroming the Jaguar E-Type bumper
November 12, 2018
Our rear off side bumper required some repair work due to it being ill-fitting. A replacement bumper was becoming difficult to source so we opted for repair work instead.
Dave carried out the repair work in-house to ensure a perfect fit. Once completed the bumper went away to Wyatt Polishing to be re-chromed and polished ready to be fitted back up.
Work on now complete on our 1968 Jaguar E-Type Accident Repair
November 12, 2018
The repair work on our 1968 Jaguar E-Type is now complete.
The chrome work and fittings were removed, we have repaired and re-shaped the door, wing panel and lower bonnet. The body has been prepared and painted, blending in the quarter and scuttle.
Organising the parts ready for chroming
November 12, 2018
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Our 1957 Jensen 541R (chassis 328) metalwork has now been sorted ready for the trip to Wyatt Polishing in Thetford. Tony and the team at Wyatt will now strip and prepare the metalwork ready for the re-chroming process to begin.
This process can take around 8-10 weeks but as we are not in an immediate rush for these parts we are somewhat ahead of ourselves on this part of the restoration project.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”24058,24059,24060,24061,24062,24063,24064,24065,24066,24067,24068,24069,24070″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Overhauling the heater matrix’
November 12, 2018
Both heater matrix’ have now gone off to the guys and girls at Sheldrake & Wells in Ipswich to be overhauled.
Rebuilding the rocker shaft
November 11, 2018
As part of the full engine rebuild within our engine shop, Ady has successfully completed the rebuild of our 1955 Austin Healey’s rocker shaft and fingers.
Now this is complete we can wrap up and store safely until such time as we are ready to refit.
Chromework, Pedal Box, Air Filter.
November 9, 2018
Sorting through the chrome work of our 1960 Jensen 541R
1960 Jensen 541R – chassis 493
Brian has also successfully stripped, cleaned and repainted both the pedal boxes and heater boxes from both our Jensens.
Fitting the new sills
November 8, 2018
It has been a tough few days and Tommy has been working solidly but we have now successfully fitted up the new sills.
Still a bit of work to go before we can carry out the paintwork but we have made fantastic progress up to now.
Replacing the damaged BMW 840 radiator
November 8, 2018
We were informed of a water leak on our 1998 BMW 840CI the day before she arrived in our workshops so part of our task was to identify the issue and rectify where necessary.
As a short term fix and to enable to vehicle to reach our workshops safely, the customer applied Radweld into the system. Radweld repairs holes caused by damage and corrosion. It has been specifically designed not to block channels and clog radiators. Radweld will target small leaks in your radiator without causing blockages.
With the car successfully in our possession we can now look to the cause of the problem and address the issues first hand.
Upon removal it is clear to see the bottom of the radiator shows damage. With the radiator removed we can now call upon the assistance of our good friends at Sheldrake & Wells.
2 days later they arrive with a brand spanking new one for our project. Sometimes it’s good to look around. It’s very easy in the classic car world to assume that parts can not be sourced and therefore the only way to overcome an issue is to repair what you have. This is a great example that not all components need to be rebuilt, some are still available and on the shelf.
…and a much more cost effective solution too!
Running up our 1961 Ariel Leader
November 7, 2018
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Prior to releasing our 1961 Ariel Leader to it’s new home, Brian first gave it a run up to ensure the engine was running as it should.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8aQ9IG16Jg” align=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Working on the Corvette engine
November 7, 2018
Ady is now actively working on the restoration of the Corvette V8 engine that will be married up to our 1957 Jensen 541R.
The block has successfully been machined and the unleaded conversion has been carried out with the 3 angled valve seats – 75′, 45′ to 30′
Removing the worst affected areas
November 6, 2018
Tommy has now started to remove the worst affected areas to the nearside sills. Only by removing can you see the full extent of work required.
Patching up may be a short term solution and may help to get the car through an MOT successfully but rust spreads and just by hiding it underneath something new does not mean it stops growing.
Removing the corrosion and replacing with brand new is the only way to fix the ever growing problems.
Front Seat Re-Upholstery
November 6, 2018
In today we have the front pair of 1936 Riley Merlin Nine seats along with a beautiful piece of hide supplied to us by the vehicle’s owner.
The seats will be completely stripped back, the frames will be refurbished before we apply new cushions and bespoke covers.
They’ll be good as new in no time.
Fabricating the Jensen’s front grille surround
November 6, 2018
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]We already hold the tooling to re-produce the front grilles themselves but now requiring the front grille surround it was back to design mode for Dave as he got to work fabricating the surround edging.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Our 1969 Pontiac Firebird is now leaving Canada
November 5, 2018
We can now confirm that our 1969 Pontiac Firebird is leaving Canada for UK shores. A huge thank you to our good friend Bud for arranging the transportation over in Canada.
Now over to Schumacher Cargo Logistics for the shipping scheduling.
Recommissioning our 1939 Packard 120
November 3, 2018
In our workshops today we have our stunning 1939 Packard 120. Having been in the showroom of world renowned classic and vintage car dealers Vintage and Prestige for over 3 years she has had little to no attention with regards to servicing and maintaining.
The car is owned locally to us here in Woodbridge so we are looking to get her back on the roads running and sounding as beautiful as she looks.
Initial inspection suggests a possible head gasket issue as she is not running as sweet as she should be. We’ll also look over the entire car and assess exactly what needs to be done from start to finish. We do not envisage there being too much to tackle on this one…
Collecting our 1939 Packard 120
November 2, 2018
Here is our 1939 Packard making it’s way to our workshops having spent some time with the guys at Vintage & Prestige in Grays, Essex.
We’ll look to carry out a full re-commission of the car to ensure everything runs as it should before we find her a new home in the new year.
Fitting the new Jaguar 240 wheel hubs
November 1, 2018
As part of the re-commissioning of our 1968 Jaguar 240 the customer has decided to fit the vehicle with a set of multi-spoke Jaguar wheels. In order to carry out this task firstly we need to replace the existing hubs with new ones, supplied to us from the guys MWS.
Easier said than done, the hubs were seized sold and a lot of time and force needed to be taken to released the old ready for the new.
Undersealing our 1998 BMW 840Ci
October 30, 2018
Some very questionable repairs have been carried out to the underside of the spare wheel carrier so we’ve stripped the entire area back to reveal exactly what needs to be done to put it right. Fibreglass had been applied over the corroded areas which is only a short term fix and is not recommended.
These repairs will be carried out properly prior to the entire underside being stripped, cleaned and sealed. The corroded areas will be cut away and new metal will be secured back into position. This is the only way to properly tackle the spread of rot.
Work complete on our 1933 Talbot AX65
October 29, 2018
Work is now complete on our 1933 Talbot AX65. The rear boot panel and door have been repaired and painted. The rear wing has also been blackened once again and we have carried out various sympathetic touch ups around the entire car so as to improve but not detract from the originality of the bodywork.
And thank you to the guys at Car Glass and Trim for re-manufacturing the damaged windscreen and side window.
One final task now to carry out prior to returning…a good good to get her looking even more lovely once more.
The newly rebuilt BMW shocks have arrived in the UK
October 29, 2018
Rebuilding the BMW 8 Series shocks are a very specialist skill so we called upon the experts over in Poland to help us out on this one. The results are incredible.
The Nagengast company is a Polish enterprise operating on a European wide market, which has specialized in regeneration of automotive parts for 35 years.
Main activities of the company:
- regeneration of shock absorbers
- regeneration of bellows (pneumatic shock absorbers)
- regeneration of steering transmissions
- regeneration of power-steering pumps
- regeneration of gas springs
- manufacture of electric spring extractor
- sales of new, specialist parts for pneumatic and adaptive suspensions
And now we have them successfully fitted to our BMW.
Fitting up the newly refurbished radiator
October 29, 2018
As always, Sheldrake & Wells have carried out the rebuild work of our SL’s radiator and oil cooler beautifully.
The final piece of the puzzle in the re-commissioning of our 1985 Mercedes 280SL before she can head home.
