Brian has been re-covering more panels for the 1963 Bentley S3 Continental. This time it’s been dash panels, the instrument cover, door cappings and various other panels. The process for all of them involved taking the original black leather off, followed by any foam that was on the panels, and then sanding off the old glue left behind on the wood and metal forms. Brian used the original leather pieces as patterns to mark out around on the new black leather. He replaced the original foam with new 3mm foam. The foam was glued on first and then the leather wrapped over it. Some of the panels, as you can see, just have leather covering them.
September 1, 2021 12:59 pmPublished by Craig Ranson
Lydia has been getting the bonnet of the 1955 Aston Martin DB 2/4 a step closer to the paint shop. The front inside edge had a lot of red oxide left on it so Lydia went about removing as much as she possibly could with thinners and a red scotch pad. There are some parts that aren’t budging so James will look at grinding those out.
September 1, 2021 11:38 amPublished by Craig Ranson
After having a new clear PVC window sewn into the original hood of the 1989 TVR SII 2.9 V6, the rest of the roof needed a bit of attention. The two panels that create the roof in front of the hood has black vinyl covering the underneath. This had various cracks running throughout due to age and wear and it was coming unstuck at the edges. The first decision made was to try and re-glue the edges down, clean off the dirt below the edges of the vinyl, try and glue the cracks together and paint any non-black edges, to take a sympathetic approach so it fitted in with the wear and tear of the rest of the car. However, after Lydia started to try this approach, she wasn’t happy with the results so decided to take the old worn-out vinyl off and start again. Before the vinyl was taken off, the rubbers were peeled off very carefully and with a blade where it was tricky to do by hand. Any remaining glue that was left on the fibreglass was sanded off and cracks in the fibreglass were filled. 3mm foam was cut out and glued on first, making sure to press into the edges and corners to get the shaping right. New black vinyl was then cut out, using the original pieces as patterns. The vinyl was glued over the 3mm foam and pressed into the edges and corners again. You can see in the photos below where the original vinyl was coming away from these edges, which is why it was so important to make those edges as sharp as possible. Lydia went around the sides of the panels to make sure the exposed edges of vinyl looked neat, trimming along the way with a blade. The last step was to re-glue the rubbers on.
September 1, 2021 11:21 amPublished by Craig Ranson
Last Sunday, the 29th of August, East Coast Mini Club came to visit us. The club was doing its annual charity run, raising money for the charity, Mind Suffolk. They managed to raise a grand total of £1,200 for the mental health charity. What an awesome achievement, well done everyone! The run started at 9:30 am at the Ram Meadow car park and was open to both members and non-members, and finished at Bridge Classic Cars. Take a look at our photos from the day. Did you come along on the day? If so, you may spot yourself or your Mini in one or two of the photos.
Well done to Chairman Tom and the entire team behind the event. It was a pleasure to have the club at our workshop.
If you run a car club and are looking for a location to hold an event or have a similar charity run coming up, please don’t hesitate to get in contact with us!
September 1, 2021 10:26 amPublished by Craig Ranson
After coming back from the sandblasters, the chassis of the 1951 yellow Riley RMB is looking a little corroded so James is going to have to repair these sections. Lydia has begun the process by making cardboard templates of these parts, cutting where necessary to get the shaping right. These templates will be used by James to mark out around on the new metal. The original corroded metal will be removed and the new will be welded into place.
September 1, 2021 10:19 amPublished by Craig Ranson
This green 2003 Vauxhall VX220 has just arrived with us. It was actually bought from us back in 2019, so it’s back on familiar ground. It’s only in for a small number of reasons: there’s a squeaking noise when it goes over bumps, which could be down to suspension issues, the customer wants it serviced and put through an MOT and it’s going to get a pre-delivery inspection.
September 1, 2021 8:52 amPublished by Craig Ranson
You might have seen from yesterday’s blog posts that we have bought a “run-around” car, a green 1998 Volvo V40. Well after getting a much-needed clean, our “run-around” car is going to have a service in our workshop to check over everything.
September 1, 2021 8:26 amPublished by Craig Ranson
Charlotte’s been on holiday in Corfu and while she was there, she spotted a yellow VW Campervan and a pink classic Vespa Scooter. Even when she goes away, she can’t keep away from the classic vehicles!
We’ve just bought this 1998 Volvo V40 to use as a run-around car for the business. It will be used a lot for filming the competition videos, the ones you see when each one launches, where Charlotte is seen driving the cars and talking about them. It’ll be getting a good clean for sure!
You may have seen the blog post from last week about the fuel line problems that Dave discovered on the 1971 Jaguar XJ6. If not, here’s a link straight to it. Here are some more photos and another video to show just how bad the problem turned out to be.
James has been continuing his work on the yellow 1951 Riley. The air vent for the second panel was sandblasted last week, so could be welded into its new surrounding. James then used the finished one to determine how much metal to trim off the end. Back in July, he had to do some welding repair work on the left-hand wing. He’s now repaired the other wing. The subframe came back from the sandblasters and showed how much corrosion there was. James has started to make cardboard templates for the parts that need replacing, to mark out new pieces of metal for fabrication.
This 1982 Porsche 911 has recently arrived. The list of jobs that need addressing is the following: the door-bins need fitting, the leather restraint straps on the rear seat need fixing, the upholstery needs reviving with some form of treatment, the passenger window needs fixing because it’s stuck, the steering wheel needs re-stitching, the under-dash panels need to be stuck back down and/or repaired, a battery cut-off switch needs to be put in and the battery is flat so needs to be put on charge.
We’re going to share the blueprint for our extension that’s going on the side of the workshop building. The workmen have arrived today to officially begin the work! As usual, there’ll be photos popping up along the way, so keep watching for updates.
We thought it might also be a nice idea to look back at when our existing buildings started off as a blank canvas and were transformed into what you see today!
Kath has now finished repairing the hood on the 1989 TVR SII 2.9 V6. In the last blog post, we heard about how she was removing the old PVC window out of the hood, because of it becoming delaminated and coming out of the seam at the corners. She used the original as a pattern to mark out around and cut out on a sheet of new clear PVC. Once cut out, Kath applied contact adhesive to the outside edge of the PVC and slotted it in between the layers of hood fabric at the seam edge and left it to dry. She could then sew down the same lines where the previous stitching was to fully secure the window into place. New leather strips were sewn onto the corners. The hood could then be glued to its frame. The vertical bars on the hood frame that is attached to the car had flaking black paint on them. So these were sanded down and then re-painted. The pieces that hold the hood in place at the front and where the front roof panels slot into it, had flaking paint on them too, so these got re-painted in the same manner. The hood could then be attached to the car again. Kath also reglued various pieces of fabric that were coming away around the inside of the TVR.
A small update on the 1955 Aston Martin DB 2/4. The panel that is inside the boot, where the lock is, was corroded and had paint left on it. Lydia took it into the sandblasting in order to remove all of this.
Here’s an update on the 1951 Riley RMB for you. It was found that there was hidden corrosion in between the layers of metal on one of the air vents. In order to get to this, James drilled through the spot welds and eased the metal apart. Lydia then went about sandblasting the main piece of the air vent to remove the corrosion and paint. She also removed existing layers of paint off the side and back of the body shell of the Riley.
As well as the exterior of the 1983 Ford Capri 1.6 LS being transformed in the body and paint shop, Lydia’s been getting pieces from the engine bay in a better state for re-painting. This piece was sandblasted to get the original paint and corrosion off in preparation.
Tamas and Lydia have been tidying up the 1973 MG B GT V8 in various ways. It’s not in for a full restoration so a sympathetic touch was required. There was fraying carpet in places and where it had come unstuck and screws had come out that were holding panels in place. Another thing was there were various painted pieces from the engine bay that had become corroded underneath the paint, so these were either sandblasted or ground down to remove the paint and corrosion, before re-painting.
Just launched! Our competition to win this bright red 1958 Triumph TR3! If you follow this link here, it will take you straight to the page where you can find out more information about the car, see more photos and a video and buy tickets for your chance to win! So what are you waiting for?…
The much-awaited arrival of the magenta 1974 Triumph GT6 is here! It left Scotland yesterday for its long journey to us here in Suffolk. Thankfully, it’s turned up looking and sounding great! We’re going to get it detailed by our trusty Viper Auto Valet man, Colin, just to give it a little spruce up.
It’s priming day for the 1983 Ford Capri 1.6 LS! But let’s go back to the end of last week for this blog post, when Matt was marking out with masking tape where he could spot dents were on the exterior of the car. He then masked up the front windows and sun-roof to avoid any damage, and began the process of sanding, filling and sanding again all over the car, using both a DA and block sander for the large areas and then using red scotch to go over the shiny bits lefts behind. The work has continued this week. It’s going to be a sympathetic paint job because we’re not taking the windscreen out, so can’t go all-out on it. Thankfully, Matt has found very little corrosion in the process.
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.
Ady has been investigating the engine on the 1976 Mercedes 350SL. Initially we were lead to believe this to be a running car but unfortunately it has arrived with us as a non-runner, and he’s found that this is probably due to an electrical fault.
There are two sides to the V8 engine and only one bank works. the right hand bank looks to have been tampered with.
The wiring to the injectors on that bank have been cut and rewired to earth. We don’t understand why someone has done this unless they are trying to cover up something more. There would be no other obvious reasoning. Rewiring to earth could possibly mean the engine can still run, albeit on 4 cylinders as it will hopefully not be sending any fuel into the ‘dead’ side. If it has then we have a problem.
We have replaced the points and adjusted the timing but the car remains on 4 cylinders.
We have then removed the plugs and checked the condition of the number 6 plug which looks to have a carbon build up. We have checked easy access compressions on all cylinders.
We have refuelled the vehicle but as before, the engine can only run on 4 cylinders and is therefore running dangerously rich.
This tool tray is from the Peony Red 1960 Jensen 541S. It hasn’t got any tools that were in it, so the customer is going to source those separately. Kath is going to shape a new piece of foam and cover it in black vinyl to match the dash. This piece of foam is the handle part, and the piece you see while sitting in the car. The tool tray sits underneath the dash, on the passenger side, and slots in like a draw into a metal frame.
Dave has been investigating the 1971 Jaguar XJ6 because it wasn’t running very well. He found that the carburettor tubes weren’t the same height as each other, and there was a new one and an old one. This is all why the carburettors couldn’t be set up. So a kit was purchased with all new ones in, the same height as each other. The choke had to be modified because the car had been changed to a manual choke in the past, whereas it’s meant to be an automatic one. Dave installed a better return spring for this. He put the car back together but the car still wasn’t right… It would only run for a limited time and it started to run badly again. After another investigation, he found that it wasn’t getting enough fuel in fast enough. It was soon realised that there was dirt in the offside fuel tank, which could be found without even getting into it properly. This car has got twin fuel tanks and both were the same. Dave has drained the fuel out of both of them, remarking that it smelt like rum! Not quite right then… There’s a video at the end of this post showing him at the start of draining the offside fuel tank.
The 1998 Honda Integra went into the paint bay at the end of last week. The body shell and bonnet have been primed and the doors and boot panel have been coated in the final coat of new white paint.
Kath has been starting the work on the 1989 TVR S2 rear window replacement on the soft top. Yesterday she removed the hood from the roof frame. This involved taking out the metal plates that are on the front, and slot it into place when it’s up. The rubber seal was removed next, in order to start taking the fabric of the hood off the foam on the middle bar of the frame. Kath scraped the old glue off the foam. The removed hood was placed on a table and another bar was removed from it, before unpicking the old PVC window from the surrounding fabric. The old foam and glue that was left on the fabric was then scraped off. Tomorrow, Kath will be cutting out the new window from clear PVC and stitching into place, making sure to go through the same original stitch holes.
The 1974 Triumph GT6 that we recently bought has left Scotland today for its long journey to us in Suffolk. In the same garage was a yellow 1995 Lotus, which you can see photos of at the end of this post. We’re looking forward to the arrival of the Triumph soon!
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