Projects

An E-Type Arrives

Tony recently collected our 1969 Jaguar E-Type Roadster. When it arrived, James carried out a service/appraisal. He put the battery on charge and carried out

Read More »

More Jensen Progress

The heat shield on our 1956 Jensen 541 has been finished and the throttle pedal has been fitted. The vacuum valve and heater pipes were

Read More »

Appraisal

Workshop manager John recently conducted an appraisal of a 1968 Jaguar 240. Now that the car has been assessed by John, we look forward to

Read More »

Now Available To Win

Our 1976 MG Midget 1500 is now live on the Bridge Classic Cars Competitions website. It has a 1.5-litre four-cylinder engine that is capable of

Read More »

Pre Delivery Inspection

Our 1982 Bedford HA has been undergoing its pre-delivery inspection with technician Jonn. While doing this, he put the jack and wheel brace in the

Read More »

Spitfire Repairs

Jonn has been working on our 1978 Triumph Spitfire in preparation for it to be won very soon through Bridge Classic Cars Competitions. Here’s what

Read More »

C – Type Refit

Classic car technician Jonn has been refitting our 2022 Bridge C-Type Replica. He polished the exhaust heatshield and riveted it to the body. He then

Read More »

Wheel Tubs

Clinton has been repairing the driver’s side rear wheel tubs on our 1953 Aston Martin DB2/4

Read More »

Bulk Head Repair

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

Read More »

Coming back together

The transport team at Bridge Classic Cars have been out and about to collect some important pieces for our 1951 Austin Devon Pickup. Firstly, the

Read More »

Carrying out repairs

Our technician Jon has been working on getting our 1978 Triumph Spitfire ready for its live draw tomorrow! After refiting the nearside door panel he

Read More »

Alfa Repairs

Jonn has been repairing our 1989 Alfa Romeo Spider. Here are his notes on the work completed: Check digital clock not working in centre console.

Read More »

Spitfire Bodywork

Mauro has been polishing the bonnet of our 1979 Triumph Spitfire 1500. He has repaired the chips and cracks along with completing some light welding

Read More »

Bentley Polyfan

Our 1963 Bentley S3 Continental has been in the Bridge Classic Cars paint shop with technician Chris. He finished the panel levelling before masking the

Read More »

An E-Type Arrives

Tony recently collected our 1969 Jaguar E-Type Roadster.

When it arrived, James carried out a service/appraisal. He put the battery on charge and carried out a full inspection of the car. All the brakes and tyres were checked, including the pressure of the spare. The brakes were all good so James removed the carpet and inspected the plug to check the gear oil. This was ok, as was the rear diff oil.

James noticed slight oil leaks from the engine, high up and the rocker covers are showing signs of weeping. He checked all of the lights, washers, wipers, and signals. The horn was not working.

There was a small drop of oil on the rear diff and gearbox. The spare tyre was flat but the tyre and wheel rim were new with no visible puncture.

James went on to grease the rear suspension and drive shafts. The offside rear outer suspension arm was cracked slightly and the grease nipple was loose. The exhaust front pipe was slightly damaged on the lower edge which James thinks could be due to height.

The oil and filter were drained/replaced along with the air filter and spark plugs. Then James investigated the horn not working. The relay that controls the horn was checked, and the horns worked when powered separately. The earth from the steering wheel switch was checked as ok, but there was a live feed missing from the relay. This was traced back to the fuse box, there was no continuity through the fuse despite it looking to be in good condition. A replacement fuse was fitted, and the horns worked, the old fuse was found to be broken internally despite its external appearance.

He then moved on to the oil leak. Both rocker covers were removed, along with the camshaft end plates (these can leak too). All residue of excess sealant was removed from the old seals and mating areas, and then the correct sealant was added to the cylinder heads and rocker covers. New gaskets were fitted, the the covers were installed with new copper sealing washers and tightened. The oil residue was cleaned from the engine, and then new oil was added and the car was run up to recheck for leaks from the rocker covers area and new oil filter.

All maintenance points were greased and levels checked and topped up, tyres checked for pressure and depth, and lights and wiper operation confirmed ahead of an MOT test. The battery was charged but appears low still, so replacement is recommended. Visual inspection of brake and suspension components was all ok.

A busy week of deliveries

Tony’s had a busy week on the road this week. As I sit here writing this he is currently heading up the A65 on his way to the north of Scotland for the weekend to collect 5 (potentially 6) classic motorcycles.

But earlier in the week he delivered the incredible 1992 Rover Mini Italian Job to one very happy Brian. Brian has been waiting patiently for the winning car as we discovered a slight vibration during the Pre Delivery Inspection and we did not want him to have the car until we had resolved the issue.

James accepted delivery of his 1982 Bedford HA van. Although James resides some distance from us here in Suffolk he has a vehicle storage facility close to our door so the journey we were expecting to have ended up a few hundred miles shorter. James is an avid collector of classic cars and we are lead to believe this win is the 16th classic he has in his collection. Enjoy the car James.

But the Alfa Romeo, recently won by double winner Lee is staying with us in our Hangar for a little while as Lee prepares his home for the new arrival. Lee would rather not see his Alfa sitting on the driveway whilst his building works continues so has instantly opted to have the vehicle dry stored with us and we expect to rearrange the delivery for early May.

Inspection And Repairs – E-Type

Classic car technician has been taking a look at our beautiful 1968 Jaguar E-Type Series 1.5

While working on the car he refitted the nearside front bumper trim and swapped the spare wheel with the offside rear and knocked it up tight. He then cleaned and reglued the boot seal.

Jonn also tightened the nearside rear front shock absorber top bolt before checking all fluid levels (these were fine).

He went on to fit new exhaust nuts to the downpipe flange. After adjusting the washer jets, Jonn fitted O rings to the bonnet rear grille and secured them.

The road test of our E-Type went very well and Jonn was happy with the result.

A piece of Bridge Classic Cars at Virginia Auto Show 2024

Back in July 2022 we surprised David with the amazing news that he had won our 1997 Rover Mini. Soon after, he visited our Suffolk workshops in person to see the car for himself.

Almost 2 years on, as I scroll through my feed I recognised a familiar car pop up in a post on the ISMOC Facebook page. That’s our Mini…currently parked up on display at the 2024 Virginia Auto Show and the story has been posted by David! It’s always a joy to see or hear that our competition cars are being used, showed and enjoyed.

And even more lovely to see comments from admirers all over the world. Our competitions are being seen and enjoyed from all over the world, how amazing is that?

If you want to be our next winner, check out Bridge Classic Cars Competitions and maybe we’ll soon be calling you, just like we did for David.

More Jensen Progress

The heat shield on our 1956 Jensen 541 has been finished and the throttle pedal has been fitted. The vacuum valve and heater pipes were also fitted.

Paul removed the handbrake mounts before painting and refitting them.

Paul made a finishing strip for the rear shelf of our 541 to hide some holes where the suspension mounts poke through. Lydia used foam built up in layers to graduate the slope to the wooden bar. She also applied a very thin layer of foam to the shelf to smooth over any imperfections in the fibreglass. Next, this was covered with a layer of black leather. 

Latest cars for sale on MyClassics

We seen a few cars added this week to our ‘free to buy, free to sell’ website MyClassics.

First up, (and I do very much have a soft spot for these), is a lovely 2010 Fiat 500 1.2 Pop currently available from LRH Cars in Hadleigh, Suffolk. The car comes with a comprehensive service history and has also had its timing/cambelt and water pump replaced at 43778 miles on 17/08/2016.

It also has many supporting invoices for servicing including some not stamped in the book and this would be a fantastic little starter car or daily runner with the Insurance Group being just 5U.

For more information on the Fiat 500 contact LRH Cars.

Next up, a ridiculously rare 1988 Vauxhall Belmont Jubilee Edition, believed to be the only one left in existence and one of only twenty three Belmont’s left on the road. Available now, having just gone through the MOT after a light recommission.

Also, listed on MyClassics is a 1985 Austin Mini Mayfair (Berkeley). The car is a very rare Wood & Pickett Mini Mayfair ‘Berkeley’. It has a soft-top, bull-bars, walnut dash, Mountney leather steering wheel and Wolfrace alloys to name a few of the conversion parts. Covering just 29500 miles it has spent most of the last 25 years under cover in storage.

Steve Burkinshaw, the Mini Cooper Register coachbuilt Mini expert, has helped confirm the provenance and rarity as well as confirming that all of my information fits with it being a genuine W&P.

Regarding provenance and the vehicle’s story, we believe that only 3 of these particular Minis were commissioned or still exist. Henlys of Berkeley Square, who owned W&P at the time, commissioned a small number of these vehicles. The service book confirms that it was sold by Henlys with the dealers stamp and the original number plate of C121 BYW was confirmed as a London Reg. Likewise the additions on the vehicle such as the Wolfrace alloys and bull-bars were typical of W&P conversions.

It singles itself out however, as instead of W&P on the detail line around the car, it says “Berkeley”. It also has this on the boot lid. Steve Burkinshaw had only heard of 3 of these mini’s being commissioned so there is a chance for someone to own a particularly rare mini.

If you have a car or number plate to sell, MyClassics is our gift to you. No buyer fees or seller fees involved in any of the cars on our website. If you are looking to buy, simply log on and if you find a car you like you can speck directly to the seller. Alternatively, if you have a car or plate to sell, list it via MyClassics and get it seen my thousands of car enthusiasts.

Radio And speakers

Neil has been working on the radio and speakers of our 1968 Triumph Spitfire.

Appraisal

Workshop manager John recently conducted an appraisal of a 1968 Jaguar 240.

Now that the car has been assessed by John, we look forward to welcoming it back into the workshop to complete the necessary work very soon.

ABS Mounting Bracket

Mauro has been painting the ABS mounting bracket for our 1987 Mercedes 500SL.

Now Available To Win

Our 1976 MG Midget 1500 is now live on the Bridge Classic Cars Competitions website.

It has a 1.5-litre four-cylinder engine that is capable of delivering a driving experience that is both exciting and enjoyable. Paired with a four-speed manual gearbox, the Midget offers a fun and reliable drive.

Designed as a small, affordable sports car, the MG Midget was a popular choice for those seeking the thrill of open-top driving without sacrificing practicality, and now you can own this one!

All the information you need is available on the Bridge Classic Cars Competitions website.

Pre Delivery Inspection

Our 1982 Bedford HA has been undergoing its pre-delivery inspection with technician Jonn.

While doing this, he put the jack and wheel brace in the van ready for it to be delivered to its new owner.

Spitfire Repairs

Jonn has been working on our 1978 Triumph Spitfire in preparation for it to be won very soon through Bridge Classic Cars Competitions.

Here’s what Jonn did:

  • Drain oil and filter
  • Strip and fit new offside front wheel bearing
  • Fit new oil filter and refit sump bung
  • Fill with oil, run and test
  • Check and top up oil
  • Use electrical contact cleaner on the hazard switch and work back and forth until all working ok
  • Adjust both mirrors
  • Lube throttle and choke linkages
  • Carry out tracking, check and adjust

A Rare Vehicle Returns

Our very special one of one 1905 Riley 9HP has returned to the workshop after being handpainted.

As you can tell from the photos, it looks very different to how it did when it left, but there’s no denying it looks as good now as it would have done over 100 years ago.

C – Type Refit

Classic car technician Jonn has been refitting our 2022 Bridge C-Type Replica.

He polished the exhaust heatshield and riveted it to the body. He then polished the exhaust silencer and tailpipes and mounted them to the car. Finally, he positioned and tightened the clamps.

Wheel Tubs

Clinton has been repairing the driver’s side rear wheel tubs on our 1953 Aston Martin DB2/4

Bulk Head Repair

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.

Spitfire Rear Carpet Piece

The piece of carpet for the rear shelf that was supplied with the kit for our 1976 Triumph Spitfire was incorrectly finished and didn’t fit. It required a complete remake to make it sit in the vehicle as it should. Lydia cut out the new piece of carpet and shaped it in the vehicle, before adding pleats to improve fit. She then glued this to the car and secured the new edging under the carpet piece which sits on top.

Collecting An E-Type

Tony recently picked up an old friend of ours, our 1968 Jaguar E-Type Series 1.5.

It is now safely parked up in the workshop ready for the team to look at.

Coming back together

The transport team at Bridge Classic Cars have been out and about to collect some important pieces for our 1951 Austin Devon Pickup.

Firstly, the team headed to Coltech to collect the freshly rebuilt engine which will find its way underneath the carefully restored bodywork currently in our fabrication bay at our Pettistree HQ.

Then the team headed out once more to go and collected the recently powdercoated bed frame which make up the rear end of our 1950s pick up truck.

Handbrake for our 1982 Bedford HA

Our restoration technician Steve has carried out the final job on our 1982 Bedford HA before it heads off to its new home and its excited new owner – the handbrake cable.

Carrying out repairs

Our technician Jon has been working on getting our 1978 Triumph Spitfire ready for its live draw tomorrow! After refiting the nearside door panel he then continued with some work on the offside exterior door handle.

Jon fit the new striker screw to the catch mechanism and refit the handle under load from the striker. After securing and testing, the handle perfectly hits striker earlier and opens the door fine now. All that was left was to the refit door panel and tidy the area.

Afterwards, Jon then managed to finish the final inspection on our classic Spitfire. He then went on to strip, clean and inspect brakes all round. During the inspection, Jon discovered some wear makes on the rear brakes so deliped the rear drums and adjust rear shoes/handbrake. He could then move on and grease all points. Once all of the mechanical jobs were complete, he then wired in the switch to the map light and mount in the dash where he could then refit all the neccesary trims before removing the nearside door panel and attempting to adjust the window angle which required spacing out the runners at the bottom of the door with washers

Rover 216 is going home

Work is now complete on the hood of our Rover 216 so only one more job for Tony to complete, that’s returning the car back home looking lovely in our covered transporter.

From the Brits to Bridge, meet Joby, the man with the Golden Touch

As we continue to see the amazing progress being made on our 1905 Riley 9HP, meet Joby Carter, the incredible talent behind the colour transformation.

Joby is a traditional sign-writer, decorative artist, restoration specialist, author and teacher. He’s a master craftsman with his heritage decorative art skills including signwriting and the endangered craft of fairground art. As well as hosting signwriting courses, Joby is an artist in his own right, having had signwriting commissions for the Brit Awards, the English National Opera and Jools Holland, amongst others. He was also involved as a guest curator for Peter Blake’s curation in the Museum of Everything.

Up until 2022 Joby was the proprietor of Carters Steam Fair, the world’s largest travelling vintage funfair which toured from 1977 to 2022. Our award-winning vintage funfair was famous for its beautifully restored, authentically decorated fairground rides which dated from the 1890s to the 1960s.

Our very own Lily is a huge fan of Joby Carter’s work having followed him on social media for some time.

Joby has kindly sent through some photos to keep us up to date on the progress being made on our iconic 1905 Riley 9HP.

Inspection and repairs

Jonn has been looking at our 1978 Triumph Spitfire. His notes are below:

Finish as much of the inspection as possible on the floor. Carry out repairs. Sort connections to nearside reverse lights. Remove offside door handle and inspect. Strip apart and clean components. Lubricate and reassemble and test. Works fine. Refit to drivers door and test. Still the same. When it has to release the pressure of the lock it slips past p clip inside handle. Requires new handle.

It’s Big, It’s Fast, And It’s Full of Style

Our 1993 Bentley Turbo R is now live on the Bridge Classic Cars Competitions website. For just £9.00, you have the chance of becoming the new owner of this beast of a car.

When the Turbo R was first introduced in 1985, it redefined what it meant for a car to be elegant and stylish, while still being able to excite the driver with its performance on the road.

Our Tubo R is finished in Racing Green with a Magnolia Hide interior and comes with a history file of past invoices, service records, and its owner’s manual.

You can find out more information and enter the draw here.

Alfa Repairs

Jonn has been repairing our 1989 Alfa Romeo Spider. Here are his notes on the work completed:

Check digital clock not working in centre console. Connections good, face illuminates but no digits visible. Refit and leave as requires new clock. Adjust alternator belt. Look into steering issues. James fitted new top arms and springs to front and adjusted tie rods for an even wheelbase front to rear. Disconnect centre track rod and adjust so idler pointing slightly inwards to give more lock to the right. Adjust lock stops so from centre position steering turns 1.4 turns each direction. Fit new lock stop bolt to nearside. Refit track rods and wheels. Lower to ground and carry out basic tracking adjustment.

Top up clutch reservoir and lubricate linkage. Strip and fit new rear springs. Refit wheels and lower to ground. Stance is much better on standard springs.

Torque all wheel nuts and inflate tyres. Start pdi whilst in workshop. Take outside and run up to temp. Idle speed stumbles upon overrun but recovers. Adjust idle speed and test. Steering still pulls to the right when driving straight ahead. Recheck wheel base by measuring wheel centre to wheel centre front to rear. Offside front wheel appears to be further back in the arch ( caster angle ), but we have no way of checking this. Adjustable tie rods to front top adjustable arms set at different lengths on car. Requires 4 wheel alignment.

Spitfire Bodywork

Mauro has been polishing the bonnet of our 1979 Triumph Spitfire 1500. He has repaired the chips and cracks along with completing some light welding next to the headlights.

The car was then prepped and primed.

Front Crossmember Overhaul

The front suspension crossmember of our 1953 Aston Martin DB2/4 has been stripped and overhauled. New bearings and seals were fitted to the main part, then the steering idler was stripped and new parts fitted. Now it has been masked up for a clear coat with the other aluminium parts, this will stop any future corrosion and protect the parts for the future.

Some parts of the suspension were also painted in black satin.

Bentley Polyfan

Our 1963 Bentley S3 Continental has been in the Bridge Classic Cars paint shop with technician Chris. He finished the panel levelling before masking the car up and applying polyfan.

Spitfire Bushes

Classic car technician Neil has been working on the rear bushes of our 1968 Triumph Spitfire.