Our brightwork has returned from the chromers/polishers this week. Wyatt Polishing have done an incredible job as always on our Aston chrome work. Tony has photographed and sorted through all of the pieces and stored them away safely ready for reassembly.
Rob has continued his work on our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe. He has carried on fabricating and welding on the rear bodyshell.
Various parts of our 1953 Aston Martin DB2/4 have been prepared for sandblasting.
This is an important step in the restoration of this rare car and we are very excited to see the results back on the car.
There has also been progress made on the engine and gearbox.
Chris has been prepping and painting with dtm the backing plate for the number plate of our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4.
Here are Jonn’s notes for his recent work on our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4:
Drain oil. Remove oil filter. Clean top edge and inside. Remove filter housing from engine. Remove all sealer from inside and flush through. Clean mating surfaces and make new gasket. Refit to engine and secure. Pour another half litre of oil in and let drain to help remove milky creamy oil. Leave to drain. Refit sump bung and refill with new oil.
Clinton has spent a lot of time recently working on our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead.
He has been fabricating and repairing various structural parts of the body including the rear arches, wings, inner rear wings, various panels, and a lot of components that hold the rear of the car together.
The car has been in the Bridge Classic Cars fabrication bay, with Chris and Clinton for a little while now. This is an important part of the restoration as the work they are doing is essentially the foundation for the rest of the car to be built.
We recently welcomed another exciting new arrival to the Bridge Classic Cars workshop in the form of our 2001 Aston Martin DB7 Vantage.
Once it has been inspected by the team, the plan is for this stunning Aston to be available to win through Bridge Classic Cars Competitions.
The paintshop at Bridge Classic Cars are always busy! But recently, the booth was cleared for our painter Chris to get some parts for our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe project painted.
These are running gear/suspension/chassis parts so Chris has sprayed them in a glossy, thick and hard wearing black.
While out on the road, Tony picked up the differential for our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe.
Now that it is back in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop, work can continue on this rare classic Aston.
We’re excited to share that The Classic Lounge is hosting a special event for the Aston Martin Owners Club.
Club members will enjoy the cosy and welcoming atmosphere of The Classic Lounge, where the bar will be open and ready to serve a mix of hot and cold drinks. It’s the perfect setting to relax, enjoy yourself and, of course, admire plenty of classic cars.
One of the highlights of the event will be a short tour of the Bridge Classic Cars workshop. This behind-the-scenes look will give Aston Martin Owners Club members an up-close look at the work that goes into restoring classic cars to award-winning standards.
For more details, please contact the Aston Martin Owners Club directly.
If you would like to bring your club along for an exclusive event, contact Lily on events@bridgeclassiccars.co.uk
March 18, 2024 4:44 pm
Our 1953 Aston Martin DB2/4 has continued its stay in the fabrication bay here at Bridge Classic Cars.
Clinton has fabricated two rear inner wings and removed the old rear inner wheel tubs and fabricated two new panels.
Chris has also painted some of the car’s components in DTM satin.
Classic Car Technician Neil has been prepping the chassis of our 1953 Aston Martin DB2/4. Alongside this, Clinton has been pulling dents out of the car and repairing them.
Once the chassis was fully prepped, Tony took it to be powder coated.
The strip down of the axle and brakes from our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe has continued with Neil recently.
While he was doing this, Tony collected the chassis from the sandblasters. Progress continues to be made so it shouldn’t be too long before things start to come back together.
Christian has had our 1953 Aston Martin DB2/4 in the fabrication bay as he has been making some repairs on the chassis.
While he was doing this, many of the parts are now being stripped, cleaned and checked ready for painting. New bushes and other small parts have been ordered, and when the parts have been painted, the sub assemblies can then be rebuilt ready to be fitted to the chassis and body.
Over the last few days, the workshop team have been completing some final checks and road testing our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 in readiness for completion and hand back to the customer.
The lights have been checked and set, all levels checked and topped up, and road tested with small adjustments and checks each time. Technician James fixed a small fuel leak on one of the carburettors, checked all the bolts for tightness, and removed the speedo head for calibration to ensure its accuracy.
The bump stops for the bonnet have been renewed and the brakes re-adjusted after bedding them in.
Rob has continued the strip down of our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe.
As he was doing this, he found some highly questionable previous repairs. I think Rob said it best when he said:
“The next time you look at a classic car, however much it may be worth nowadays, just remember that once it was just an old car, and worth less than a packet of fags, and will have been bodged up accordingly. This is the previous repair that has been carried out to some very extensive damage on the sill of the Aston. Mind-boggling!”
Rob also removed all the securing bolts and lowered the front and rear suspension assemblies, as complete units, ready to be stripped for rebuilding at a later date.
Our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 has begun its process of being stripped down by classic car technician Rob.
It will be stripped down to a bare chassis, ready for its full restoration to get properly underway.
After removing the body of our Aston Martin DB2/4 yesterday, classic car technician James has continued his work on the strip down of this classic Aston.
The front doors and windows have now been stripped out ready for refurbishment, all parts will be cleaned, sorted, painted or replaced where necessary before refitting the newly painted doors and body, when they are ready.
…and they say men can’t multitask! Brian’s day has been spent on 1953 Aston Martin’s today. He started off sorting out all interior parts, labelling up, bagging up all of the small parts of the Aston martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe.
Swiftly followed by work on our other 1953 Aston Martin DB2/4. He’s a little further forward with the interior of this one as he fits new clips to the door panels, cutting out foam, gluing the foam to boards, trimming the foam to size, cutting and gluing the leather to the door panels, gluing and trimming onto the back of the boards as well as turning the leather around the pocket holes.
December 8, 2023 4:51 pm
Yesterday and today, Lydia has been working on the rear seat of the Aston Martin DB2/4.
‘Chris has kindly painted the seat tray black for me, and stone chipped the underside, as this part actually forms the bottom of the car and is exposed to all the elements the road can throw at it. Firstly , I re-attached the foam that we removed, and this needed some remedial repairs as the top surface was uneven. Should I have left this, it would have shown through the new leather cover, and it would also have been possible to feel the imperfections beneath. I filled in the deepest dents with some thing scrim foam and then laid a complete piece on top before adding a layer of polyester wadding to ensure that the seats remained soft and comfortable. This also works well at hiding any last imperfections that may remain! Then, I applied the new leather piece which forms the part that the passengers sit on.’
The next part to complete was the backrests, which were a little more tricky. These have to have the fabric half fitted, then they get riveted to the seat tray, then the rest of the fabric is stretched up and over and glued to the seat tray.
Brian has already repaired the foam on these so Lydia added a layer of wadding to make them softer. The leather was cut in 2 parts and sewn together, then fitted to the seat with contact adhesive.
Using heat really helped to soften the leather and made it a lot easier to fit the covers on these.
The final piece is the board that rests on top. This is a simple piece of cardboard, with a thin layer of foam on , then covered in leather. Finally, a piece of piping is applied to the edge to close the gap between the board and the seat underneath.
Brian and Lydia have continued their work on our 1953 Aston Martin DB2/4.
Using the new plywood panels that Brian had cut out for her, Lydia covered them in leather at the top. The bottom part is a piece of carpet with bound edges, so she also cut and sewed this , then attached it to the panel with staples.
The wooden-shaped pieces are simply covered directly with leather, so Lydia cut the material out and glued it straight onto them.
Parts of the interior were painted black before Brian repaired the tailgate top trim panel as well as the headliner.
Lydia then covered the pre-made wooden panels in headlining fabric. Some panels required a small amount of padding, so she added some scrim foam to these before covering them in wool headlining material.
Brian and Lydia have been working on our 1953 Aston Martin DB2/4, specifically the centre console and rear panels.
Using the existing material from the original, Lydia remade the centre console to match the new leather choice. This involved cutting and making new piping, new top and side sections, and also covering the wooden base section. The paintwork underneath was looking a bit tatty, so Lydia cleaned this off and then re-sprayed it with a fresh coat of black.
As for the rear side panels, the old ones had all but disintegrated. Lydia cut new ones from plywood, checking the shape in the car as she went. Then she cut new fabric and binding for the cover, sewed this together, and glued the new piece to the board.
Over the past few weeks, we’ve welcomed a very special addition to the workshop. The third in a line of Aston Martin DB2/4’s which are being completely restored by our classic car restoration technicians at our Suffolk HQ.
This particular car, is a 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe and one of a rarefied few which remain. This car, which has yet to be named, has been commissioned by its owner for our highly-skilled teams to bring back to its former glory alongside the sister cars of ‘Claret’ and ‘Moonshadow‘.
Although work has already begun on this incredible piece of Aston Martin history, there is still a long way to go. But, like the sister cars, our team are excited and eager to get this wonderful restoration on the move and all of us are lucky enough to have 3 of these stunning DB2/4’s in the workshop.
Before our 2007 Aston Martin V8 Vantage got delivered to its new owner (who was lucky enough to win it through Bridge Classic Cars Competitions), Jonn put it through a pre-delivery inspection.
He applied a lockwire to the rear exhaust heatshield to tighten and stop a rattle. He then replaced the 20amp fuse for the cigarette lighter and tested it.
Jonn then wire-brushed all the flexi hose ferrules and anti-roll bar links.
Brian has started work on our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe.
He has been making the centre console lid.
He did this by making the wood base, adding the wood edge sections, glueing this to the base section, making a new foam top section, cutting to shape, and fitting foam to the wood base.
After the re-chromed grill of our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 arrived back at the Bridge Classic Cars workshop, classic car technician Steve fitted it back onto the car.
As you can see, the already stunning classic looks even more impressive with its grill reinstated.
November 15, 2023 8:46 am
Interior trimmer, Lydia has been working on the backrest part of the front seats of our 1953 Aston Martin DB2/4. This was slightly more challenging than expected as they are much larger than the bases, and the flutes run all the way up the faces.
Lydia used her pattern from the bases for the flutes so that they all line up when put together. The hardest part of this was giving enough allowance for the leather to be able to turn under to cover the hinges, so she had to add a separate flute to allow for this. Once Lydia had worked this out, she sewed up the faces and then checked the shape on the seats.
John has found a damaged water pipe on the Aston Martin DB2/4 so has replaced with new.
To begin with, Lydia has made a mock-up panel to test the measurements for the tuck and roll flutes. This requires precise measurement and calculation to ensure that the flutes end up at the correct width. If they do not, then the panel will not fit! Tuck and roll requires the correct measurements on both a cotton underlayer and the leather upper layer. Each flute is then filled with foam after it has been sewn up, thus encapsulating the foam into the channel. Lydia has not tried this method of tuck and roll before, but found it to be quite effective, and it ensures that the seat retains its original look. Next was the shaping of the panel to make it fit the seat. She used a combination of the original pieces and her judgement to determine the size and shaping of the panel, then cut it down to size. As we are working with the original foam, which is in fairly good condition, it didn’t require much deviation from the original pattern piece. Lydia then worked her way through laminating all of the other pieces onto scrim foam, adding her point marks, and sewing them on. After many attempts at trying the covers on and altering them, Lydia is happy with the fit, so she begun to staple them and glue the flies to the foam.
