Projects

Updates – Preparation and Discoveries on the 1987 Mercedes 500SL

The 1987 Mercedes 500SL in the Bridge Classic Cars body shop having its engine prepared has turned up some new discoveries.

Our body and paint technicians have been working on getting the engine bay of the classic Mercedes into the same shape as the outside of the car but upon further inspection during sanding, some areas have some rust issues and previous poor repairs.

These will need to be addressed before the rest of the engine bay is finished in primer ahead of its colour coat.

Alongside that our technician, Mauro, has removed several pieces of the suspension in order to get to the harder to reach areas of the classic Mercedes. This is is to make sure every area of the car is inspected, prepared and primered.

First Steps – 1969 Bentley T1 in Primer

The 1969 Bentley T1 has been moved from the Bridge Classic Cars body shop into the paint shop to begin its journey towards its full respray.

The team at Bridge Classic Cars have been working incredibly hard to carry out the rust repairs on this beautiful classic Bentley. With those now completed properly for the car, it was moved so our body shop could begin to prepare it for its appointment with the spray booth.

With the body prepared and cleaned down, our paint Chris wheeled the Bentley into position and began laying down the first coats of primer onto its newly reworked body. This layer will be used as a guide for the body shop technicians to see which areas need to be worked on to get the panels perfect before the full respray on the car.

Moving Forward – Work on the 1986 Ford Capri Wiring, Brakes, Suspension and Parts

The team in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop have been working on the 1986 Ford Capri to get everything working exactly as it should.

First, our technician Jon continued to work on the wiring under the dash of the classic Ford. He found a few repairs to the original wiring which were causing the original radio to not work correctly. So, with the repairs done to the harness and cleaning up unneeded wires, the original radio was now working just right.

Next up, he fitted the freshly repainted and refurbished engine bay pieces into the car. Several shrouds, the rocker cover and pipes were painted by our in-house paint shop for the Capri to give the engine bay a new fresh and clean look.

Finally, work could begin under the Capri. With the car up in the air, Jon had access to the suspension and brakes. First up was replacing the anti-roll bar bushes. These had perished over time and were allowing too much flex, so a new set of replacements were ordered and installed underneath. Whilst in the air, Jon could begin looking into an issue with the rear brakes.

Our other technicians on the car’s initial inspection noted a slight brake bind on the rear. So, Jon looked into the issue and found the rear drums were in need of a rebuild. Along with that, he replaced the hardline that runs across the rear axle to the new wheel cylinders. Then, after bleeding the brakes he reported that all was now OK and no more brake bind.

Now, it’s time to move on to getting the 1.6 litre 4-cylinder running properly.

Guided – 1965 Porsche 912 Body and Bonnet in Primer

The 1965 Porsche 912 in the Bridge Classic Cars body shop has been moved into the paint shop to go through the next stage of primer work and sanding along with the bonnet.

Alan, has been working on the classic Porsche to get the body and all the panels into perfect shape before the car has its next stage of primer. Once the air-cooled Porsche had been moved into the paint booth, our technicians could lay down the first of several coats of polyester primer onto the body and the top of the bonnet.

After several more coats of both Polyester primer and Epoxy primer across the Porsche, it was then taken back out into the body shop to have its final sanding process started before the trip back into the paint booth for its journey into final colour and clear coat.

Bringing Up the Rear – Tackling the Rust on the Rear of the 1987 Daimler Double Six

The Bridge Classic Cars fabrication department have been working their way towards the rear of the 1987 Daimler Double Six and ultimately towards the end of the fabrication work needed on this classic Daimler.

Monty, one of our fabricators, has been carefully working on cutting out the rear sill and rear arch to perform the necessary repairs. Each of the pieces has been made by hand to ensure the best fit and finish on the patch panels. Monty has only removed the affected areas to retain as much of the original metal as possible that is still in good shape. This included a section of the rear door which had rusted out, along with the leading edge of the arch/door jam.

Inch by inch, he welded the new pieces onto the bottom edges of the car until finally the job was completed. All of the pieces were formed and pushed/pulled to the best possible fit so when it is moved to our body shop, there will be as minimal filler work as possible before the car’s respray.

Strip and Clean – Rebuilding the Brakes on the 1958 Morris Minor 1000

The Bridge Classic Cars workshop have been working on servicing and refurbishing the front and rear drum brakes on the 1958 Morris Minor 1000 currently in with ourselves for some work.

Our technicians have taken apart the drums all the way back to the carriers and hubs to be able to fully inspect and assess each part of the drum. The shoes and wheel cylinders needed to be changed as the customer had noted the brakes were very poor even after a recent master cylinder was fitted. After every piece was cleaned and prepared, Rob began to put the whole system back together before testing.

After testing and adjusting, all 4 drums on the Minor 1000 were working perfectly and when the time comes, ready for the road ahead.

In-Place – New Wheel Arches for the 1956 Jensen 541

The handmade wheel arches for the 1956 Jensen 541 have been into the Bridge Classic Cars to be finished in shiny new black epoxy.

The paint team prepared and painted the arches for when the car is ready to be reassembled.

Remove and Repair – Fixing the Sunroof Mechanism on the 1986 Ford Capri Laser

Our recent arrival, the 1986 Ford Capri, has been inspected by the workshop who noted the sunroof on the classic Ford wasn’t working correctly. So, the whole mechanism was removed to be completely assessed by the team.

They found that one of the arms which control the tilt of the sunroof had broken, causing it to not load in and out of the roof correctly. After days of searching for this piece everywhere online, our fabrication team have expertly made a new piece to go back on the car.

With this installed back on the mechanism and the sunroof back in the car, it has been tested by the workshop and works correctly every single time.

This Just In – 1954 Jaguar XK120 Project

Bridge Classic Cars have recently acquired this beautiful 1954 Jaguar XK120 for sale as a project to be restored.

This XK120 was in the process of being restored by its previous owner who could not complete the project, unfortunately. This XK120 project comes with a full V5 as well as a spare chassis and boxes of spare parts to complete the project.

The previous owner managed to get hold of a correct 3.4-litre straight-six engine for the project, but the car itself is not numbers matching. The car if bought, however, could be restored by our workshops if required.

For more information have a look on the advert on our brand new sales platform, MyClassics!

Click here to see the 1954 Jaguar XK120 Project on MyClassics

Back Home – The 1971 Jaguar XJ6 Heading Home

The 1971 Jaguar XJ6 which had some engine work recently has gone back home to its owner after everything has been completed on the car.

The Bridge Classic Cars technicians worked on replacing both fuel tanks on this stunning light blue XJ6 late last year before discovering the engine also needed some work to be done in order to get it running 100%. The team cleaned out every coolant galley in the engine block while the cylinder head was being repaired.

With everything complete and tested on the XJ6, it was held out our secure storage facility, The Hangar, while it waited to go home. Just before, we pulled it out to take some final photos with this wonderful piece of Jaguar history.

Piece by Piece – Removing More Pieces of the 1970 Bristol 411

The Bridge Classic Cars workshop have been meticulously working their way through the dashboard of the 1970 Bristol 411.

Our technician Paul is going through each component and wire to carefully label and catalogue each piece that comes of the classic British GT before it’s removed from the car and put into storage. The wiring harness is being labelled and noted for when the left-hand drive conversion is complete and the car is reassembled. With this part of the removal, it’s crucial to be methodical and attentive to each and every component on the car.

We’re excited to bring you the next phase of this exciting and unique project very soon.

New Arrival – 1954 Jaguar XK120

The latest arrival into The Hangar, the Bridge Classic Cars secure storage facility is this legendary 1954 Jaguar XK120.

This car was acquired by ourselves due to the owner, unfortunately, passing away and therefore the project has been left incomplete. Tom and Brian went to pick up the car, the spare chassis and the numerous spare parts which had been sourced for the car by its previous owner.

This 1954 Jaguar XK120 will soon be up for sale on the new Bridge Classic Cars MyClassics website.

Roof Repairs – Fixing the Convertible Hood on the 1952 MG TD

The 1952 MG TD in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop has been having its convertible roof fixed by our in-house trim shop.

Brian, one of our trim experts, has been working on removing the original webbing straps before replacing them with all new pieces. For this, Brian has had to remove the convertible roof in order to properly remove the complete straps.

The straps themselves are attached to the body at the rear which Brian had to carefully undo so the new pieces could be put in. With the new pieces, Brian could put the whole roof back together and fitted up perfectly.

Getting Ready – Removing the Dash in the 1970 Bristol 411

The 1970 Bristol 411 in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop is continuing its journey on being converted to left-hand drive.

Our technician Paul has been removing the wiring and gauges from the wooden dash of the classic British GT. Along with this, is removing the metres of wiring from behind the dashboard as well. All of these have been labelled and catalogued for when the reassembly begins after the conversion to left-hand drive.

All of these parts from the dash have also been photographed, catalogued and put into storage for the car.

The Smallest of Details – Rust Repairs on the C Pillar of the 1969 Bentley T1

The 1969 Bentley T1 in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop for restoration, has had more metalwork done to get the car back into a better condition.

This time, our technicians found a small hole in the driver’s side C pillar which had to be filled properly. This had previously been filled with body filler and painted over but our team decided that it needed to be fixed properly before the project moves forward.

Dave, carefully filled the hole and ground it back to shape the weld into place so as to make it easier for the body team when it comes to the minimal filler work before the car is completely repainted.

Behind The Scenes – Shooting the 1973 MGB GT V8

The freshly rebuilt V8 burbled in the winter air outside of The Hangar. The Bridge Classic Cars team had been waiting a long time to shoot this particular car, the 1973 MGB GT V8.

With all of the work complete on the car, including the engine rebuild, a new clutch, new wheels and tyres, it was time for the car to go through its photo and video shoot. As the Bridge Classic Cars team set off across the airfield, the GT V8 looked incredible in the bright, low sun.

This particular car has some upgrades which really go to help the useability of the car. The car had previously been fitted with a 5-speed gearbox so the Bridge Classic Cars replaced the ageing clutch to help its next owner use the car more easily. That and the completely rebuilt all-aluminium V8 which ran faultlessly lap after lap during the filming thanks to the newly fitted electric fans.

As Hayley drove the car that morning, we could all tell this was going to be something very special for its next owner.

In the Booth – Priming the Panels on the 1987 Mercedes 500SL

The rest of the panels from the 1987 Mercedes 500SL which is in with Bridge Classic Cars for restoration have been in the in-house spray booth to be finished in bright white primer.

Chris, one of our amazing painters, has been getting the first layers of finishing primer onto the pieces of the classic Mercedes. This is all being done in preparation for the car to be completely refinished in the Mercedes Pagoda colour, Selenit Grau.

It’s all moving quickly now on the restoration of this beautiful Mercedes R107 and we can’t wait to show you the next step!

Remade – New Aluminium Wheel Arches and Boot Lid Stripped for the 1956 Jensen 541

The Bridge Classic Cars body shop have the wheels arches of the 1956 Jensen 541 on the workbench currently.

Our body shop have been forming the new aluminium wheel arch lines by hand for the classic sports car. All of these pieces have to be made by hand for the car due to each arch being slightly different to one another, so for the best fit, our team have made them individually for the car.

Along with that, our teams have finished stripping back the boot lid of the 541 ready for primer and filler work to be completed and ready for paint.

Preparations – Preparing and Inspecting Components for the 1987 Mercedes 500SL

The Bridge Classic Cars body team have been working on getting the parts and pieces from the doors of the 1987 Mercedes 500SL prepared and catalogued before being painted and put into storage.

Mauro has been working on checking each of the components before then carefully disassembling and refurbishing anything that needed to be reworked before final assembly on the classic Mercedes.

Change of Plan – New Discovery on the 1977 Honda GL1000 Goldwing

There’s now a slight change of plan to the recommissioning of the 1977 Honda GL1000 Goldwing project, it’s going to need a complete engine rebuild.

The bike has been getting recommissioned but after its first full test and run-up, it’s been found there’s damage to the engine. It’s believed to just be the pistons but for this classic motorcycle to be in the best health, it will have a full engine rebuild and be gone through meticulously.

As you can see, it looks as though it’s just the pistons and rings which have notable damage but with such an iconic and important part of motorcycle history, we want to make sure it is all 100% ok.

Expect to see more on the rebuild of the 1977 Honda GL1000 Goldwing soon on the Bridge Classic Cars news page.

This Just In – 1959 Austin Healey Frogeye Sprite

This beautiful 1959 Austin Healey Frogeye Sprite has arrived at the Bridge Classic Cars for our restoration technicians to give the car a complete inspection and carry out a list of jobs for its very lucky owner.

We’ve been asked to carry out a full service and pre-mot check on the classic sports car along with a new water pump and fan belt to make sure the plucky little 4 cylinder at its heart is happy and healthy for many years to come.

Expect to see more very soon on this wonderful 1959 Austin Healey Frogeye Sprite in with Bridge Classic Cars.

Up For Sale – Our Glastron SE 175 For Sale with Clarke & Carter

The 1998 Glastron SE175 recently in with Bridge Classic Cars for work is now listed for sale with yacht and boat broker, Clarke & Carter.

The Glastron SE had several crucial bits of work done by our workshop to both its engine and also its trailer to make sure the boat was safe and worked perfectly. Once that was completed, the decision was taken to put it up for sale with the best people we knew to handle its sale, Clarke & Carter.

If you’re interested in the SE175 or seeing what other boats they currently have in stock, click the link below:

Click here to see the 1998 Glastron SE175 for sale with Clarke & Carter

This Just In – 1987 Volvo 240GL

The newest addition to the Bridge Classic Cars collection is this iconic 1987 Volvo 240GL. This particular car is going to live at our secure storage facility, The Hangar and be kept as somewhat of a survivor car.

We acquired the car locally from the sons of its original owner who bought the car brand new in 1987. In its lifetime, the car has only covered a shade over 78,000 miles which when looked at in the context of normal Volvo mileages is just about broken in. It retains all of its original features, which included heated seats, as well as the optional seat covers which are believed to have been fitted to the car the day it was bought.

We think this car is going to be a keeper for Bridge Classic Cars as part of our collection…

Massive Thanks – Photos of a Finished 1905 Riley 9HP Sent to Us

We are hugely grateful every time we get help with the restoration of our 1905 Riley 9HP here at Bridge Classic Cars. This time, it’s a massive boost to the project.

Emma from Historics Classic and Sportscars Auctioneers has very kindly sent over hundreds of reference photos for a 1905 Riley 9HP that they recently sold at auction. These photos are invaluable to the restoration team to use for reference on our car as the project begins to pick up momentum.

This car is believed to be the only other car in private hands along with our 1905 Riley so the photos taken of this car are massively in-depth and detailed which is exactly what the team need to work from on our restoration.

Again, we are so grateful and thankful to Emma from Historics Classic and Sportscars Auctioneers for these!

From Scratch – New Cubbies for the 1955 Jensen 541

The Bridge Classic Cars in-house trim shop has been continuing to work on the interior of the 1955 Jensen 541. This time, Brian has been handcrafting new storage boxes for the rare and unique sports car.

Bridge Classic Cars have become the go-to for Jensen 541 restorations which include our hand-made interiors. Brian, has been working on the new cubbies for the 1955 Jensen 541. These have been entirely made from scratch by hand specifically for this car by Brian and trimmed in brand new black vinyl for the finishing touch.

These are being made as part of the interior that the Bridge Classic Cars in-house trim shop are making specifically for the car.

Removal Continues – Removing the Steering Idler on the 1970 Bristol 411

The 1970 Bristol 411 is currently in the Bridge Classic Cars restoration workshop for a left-hand-drive conversion.

The next step in the conversion is removing all of the steering components on the classic Bristol. Our technician Paul has been working on methodically removing, cataloguing and storing any and all parts that have come off the car in case the car should ever want to be returned to right-hand-drive. The next piece to come out was the steering idler, which can only be removed after the steering box had come out of the car.

The steering idler will be inspected and catalogued like the other pieces from the car and put into storage.

On Top – Making a New Dash Cover for the 1986 Ford Capri Laser

The 1986 Ford Carpi Laser in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop has got some pretty serious cracks in the original dashboard. Our in-house trim shop has filled these but our trimmer Brian decided to go one step further.

Brian used the original dash pad as a template to make a new black vinyl cover for the top of the dash in the 1980s icon. He hand-cut and hand-stitched the edges to give the best finish to the piece and fit the overall finish of the interior of the Capri.

Once in the car, it went well with the rest of the dash and helped to cover the cracks in the dash.

Coming Soon – 1954 Jaguar XK120 Project

Bridge Classic Cars will soon be welcoming this 1954 Jaguar XK120 to our secure storage facility, The Hangar.

This XK120 is an incomplete project with numerous spare and replacements parts in boxes, including a complete spare chassis for the car. The car, all the spares and the V5 have been acquired by us so while its future is decided it will be kept at our safe, dry storage facility.

Second Coat – 1965 Porsche 912 Parts in Primer

Some of the panels and pieces from the 1965 Porsche 912 have been into the Bridge Classic Cars in-house paint booth for their first coats of primer.

Alan has been working on getting these panels ready for the polyester primer in the previous days which has involved hours of careful sanding and reworking of the metal. Now, it was time for the panels to go in for the first round of primer for the classic Porsche.

Now with the panels currently curing in the paint shop, Alan will begin getting the other parts of the 912 ready to go into the paint booth.

The Kindest of Gestures – Winner of the 1976 Mercedes 350SL Donates to Local Charity as a Thank You

We recently welcomed the winner of our 1976 Mercedes 350SL, Zhuman Zamiri, to our Suffolk workshop to show him around and take delivery of his new classic.

As he toured the workshops with the Bridge Classic Cars staff, he kept remarking just how impressed he was with the wide range of cars that our team work on in-house. Then, it was finally time for us to unveil his 1976 Mercedes 350SL to him in our brand new workshop extension surrounded by the other competition cars.

Zhuman was speechless and so excited to get his hands on his first real classic. And what a perfect first classic this car really was. The team here at Bridge Classic Cars took him round the car and gave him the run through of everything to do with running and driving the car.

This week, Zhuman sent us a message to say that as a show of thanks to the team here at Bridge Classic Cars he donated to a local charity near to our hearts, East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices. An amazing gesture and one which will go to help a very worthy cause.

Thank you Zhuman and we wish you many happy miles of motoring with your 350SL from the whole Bridge Classic Cars team.