Bristol restoration

Full Set – Making the New Carpet Set for the 1970 Bristol 411

The trim team at Bridge Classic Cars have been working on carefully removing the original carpets from the 1970 Bristol 411 in order to template replacement pieces as part of its restorative works.

Brian, one of our trimmers, has been removing the pieces from the classic GT in order to separate them into their basic parts for pattern making and to work out the plan of how they all lay into the cockpit of the car.

Once out, the original pieces are laid onto new carpeting and carefully cut, test fit and then bound before being put back into the car over the top of the replacement sound deadening material.

New Lease of Life – Refurbishing Rear Seat Parts on the 1954 Bristol 405

The interior trim team have worked on refurbishing and refinishing several key parts of the rear seats for the 1954 Bristol 405 currently in with Bridge Classic Cars.

Lydia, one of our trim team, has carefully stripped back the parts to bare metal to fully assess and inspect each individual piece before then preparing them to be refinished in hard-wear durable black paint.

With these pieces now curing, the team can carry on with the retrim of the rear squab seat in the classic Bristol.

Begin Again – Strip Down and Rebuilding the Seat Bases of the 1954 Bristol 405

The in-house trim team at Bridge Classic Cars have been working on stripping down the front seats of the 1954 Bristol 405, in our Suffolk restoration workshop, before rebuilding the bases.

The team always take care when removing the original covers so they can be preserved for reference or pattern making later down the line. The cores of the seats are then stripped back to their most basic features and sanded/cleaned down before the restorative work can begin.

With the bases completely stripped back, the first job was to remake the wooden inner backboards using the originals as a rough template to work from. Once these were cut and refined, the team could create the outer backboards before foaming work could begin.

New Metal – Replacing the Sill of the 1970 Bristol 411

The Bridge Classic Cars restoration team have replaced the sill on the 1970 Bristol 411 after finding corrosion hidden behind and on the sill itself.

The team cut the sill back and treated the solid metal. Then, our in-house fabrication team hand-formed a new sill and patch panel for the inside of the rear arch which had also been removed due to corrosion. These were then carefully trimmed and then welded into position following the original pieces as guidelines.

With this job now completed on the classic Bristol, the team can move on to the next phase of work.

Revisions – Modifying the Heater box of the 1970 Bristol 411

The 1970 Bristol 411 which is in the Bridge Classic Cars restoration workshop to be converted to left-hand drive has to have several important pieces in the engine bay modified to fit the application.

One of these pieces is the heater box of the classic Bristol. The inlets and outlets of the heater box, once it has been rotated during its relocation across the firewall, were in entirely the wrong orientation. This means that our restoration technicians have had to modify and relocate each of the individual outlets. Along with that, other openings in the heater box has had to be blanked off and reopened 180 degrees out.

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.

Bristol Series 3 411 Completed

We’re delighted to see that our 1973 Bristol Series 3 411 has been completed, detailed and is now ready to go back to its owners, looking good as new.

Mauro spent this morning tightening the wheel bearings as Mauro felt some play so made some adjustments.

Bristol’s Door Disassembly

We’ve been stripping the door of our 1974 Bristol so that we can access the rubber to replace it. This includes Mauro taking apart both door cards to fit fresh seals.

Bristol’s New Exhaust

Mauro has been working on our 1973 Bristol which has had its exhaust manifold refacing due to leaking. He’s also added new spark plugs.

Bristol Dent Correction

Our 1973 Bristol has gone into the paint shop to have a small dent repaired. Now finished, you’d never know it had been there.

Bristol In For Service

Our 1973 Bristol 411 Series 3 is in for a service and a dent repair. Mauro has been working on fixing the door which is hard to open. This has meant Mauro has had to adjust the rod and linkage. He is also replacing the window seal. We’ve sent the exhaust manifold off to be refaced to solve the leak.

Next up the Bristol will head to our body shop to have a small dent repaired.

Bristol Arrival

This 1973 Bristol has arrived with us for a service and a tidy up.

New Arrival – 1971 Bristol 411

In our restoration workshop this week is our lovely Bristol 411.

The Bristol 411 was built in Britian between 1989 to 1976 by Bristol Cars. The 411 is a luxurious vehicle with a good amount of power produced form its 6.3l V8 engine.

This wonderful Bristol 411 is in with us for a full service and MOT.