We thought we’d take a closer look at the finished Ferrari Daytona seats that the trim shop have made. Having had to make these all from scratch with appropriate modifications and alterations along the way, these seats are looking amazing. Finished in a green leather, they will match the colour tone of the Daytona paint work perfectly. We can’t wait to see them fitted in the Ferrari when its ready!
Lydia has also been working on covering various interior panels for the Ferarri as well. The first image shows the pair of console side panels in their original state before Lydia took off all the old leather, foam and plastic vents. She then cut new leather and foams out after cleaning the metal up, applied a layer of 3mm foam to the fronts of the panels and applied a layer of 3mm foam to the fronts of the panels. Lydia made sure that the leather was tucked in and glued underneath, then she added a layer of 3mm foam which was applied to the backs of the panels. All these fabrics were trimmed and tucked around the holes for the plastic vents to fit into.
Lydia then moved onto making the headlining for the Ferrari Daytona. She marked out the headlining fabric and foam for it, she then made slits for the flute lines on the foam so that the headlining fabric to lay better. She then fluted 14 flute lines, checking how it looked as she went. The finished result may look like a flate piece of fluted fabric, but it will become the headlining when fitted into place in the Daytona.
This morning, we welcomed a beautiful green 1970 Jaguar E-Type Series 2 (2+2) 4.2 in for a service to address MOT advisories. Jaguar E-Types are among the most popular classic cars we receive, with a large majority of our projects being E-Types. These classic motors are well recognised and well-loved, with their value increasing every year.
With iconic styling and excellent road manners, the Jaguar E-type design was perfected by aerodynamics of Malcolm Sayer and the keen eye of Sir William Lyons. Series 2 coupes are among the rarest of the bunch, with fewer than 5000 being built.
February 16, 2021 12:12 pmPublished by Craig Ranson
This stunning blue 1998 TVR Chimaera has come in for some interior trim work. Its in need of new carpets and some leather work.
We’re incredibly lucky to have our own in house trim shop and trim team which is now three strong! Over the last year, we’ve gone from one trim technician to a whole department with its specialist team. This means that everything is done under one roof, ensuring that all our restorations are up to the same quality. Its also reduces outsourcing, meaning the time frames are shortened as we rarely have to wait whilst trim parts are ordered in or fitted elsewhere.
If your car is needing an interior trim freshen up, don’t hesitate to get in touch! Give us a call on 01473 742038 or pop us an email on info@bridgeclassiccars.co.uk
This iconic 1958 Jaguar XK150 is known as the grandfather of classic cars, the epitome of class and the ever chased after classics. With only 6,713 ever produced, it lay claim to the greatest post-war sports car ever made. Known for its superb performance, its true testament to great British engineering.
Its currently with us for a partial trim restoration.
January 28, 2021 12:39 pmPublished by Craig Ranson
Brian has begun to strip down the interior of the 1979 Arrow Daytona in at Bridge Classic Cars.
Carefully Brian and the trim team have removed all of the carpeting and necessary trim panels to get access to both the dash and centre console which will be removed and stored before their restoration starts.
Along with the interior trim pieces, the wiring for the cabin has also been removed and catalogued for future reference once the car is back in the workshop to be reassembled.
Lydia, one of our trim shop technicians, has been working on preparing and creating the interior for Craig’s 1987 Mercedes 500SL. A while ago Craig decided to go with a Claret red to dress the interior of his custom classic, and now the interior trim creation begins
Lydia has been focusing on preparing the gearstick holder. Once stripped, it is ready for recovering by sanding and filling. Lydia makes the first draft of the paper patterns, she then cuts out vinyl for a vinyl draft copy. By sewing the vinyl together, Lydia can see how the cover would fit and address any issues that may arise. Once the first draft is made, Lydia then makes a second draft paper pattern, makes it in vinyl and re-addresses how the parts come together. This process also allows her to test out how much topstitching to sew on and if her measurements are correct. From these drafts, Lydia took the decision to add topstitching all over as she believed this would be the most efficient design.
Once the drafts have been made and corrected, Lydia can start making the real leather cover. She does this by marking up the second vinyl draft so that she can take it apart and use the pattern pieces as a guide for the leather. Once the leather is all marked up and ready for cutting out, the leather pieces can be sewn together, topstitched all over and fit.
Our 1961 Morris Mini Delux has had some extra refurbishments recently. It needed the carpet neatened and new footwell mats.
Our trim shop made templates, marked out the correct measurements on the carpet material, cut it out and marked out the binding, they then sewed on a heel mat to the footwell mats and fitted all the pieces in. The base carpets also needed regluing.
The finished work has left Little Eva looking very smart.
December 21, 2020 11:23 amPublished by Craig Ranson
This week the centre console trims have been made and fitted in the 1960 Jensen 541R. The first step was to make the top piece, which was sewn and piped by our interior trim technician Kath, before passing it over to Brian.
Once the leather top piece had been passed to Brian, our other interior trim technician, he added foam padding and made the rest of the centre console.
Now assembled, it can now be fitted into the Jensen.
November 19, 2020 10:22 amPublished by Craig Ranson
Our trim shop is not only incredibly unique but it is also relatively new! The trim shop, as a functioning entity has only really existed since this year. Although we’ve had a trim specialist before, we never had a specific team and workshop dedicated to it until 2020! Both Kath and Brian have joined the Bridge Classic Car family this year and have been invaluable.
It’s rare to have an in-house trim shop at a classic car restoration workshop as many companies prefer to outsource, which comes with its own problems and communications. We, however, are very lucky to have ours in-house which not only saves time and miscommunications but also means everything is made to fit and can be fitted and tested immediately. This makes for swifter restorations and ultimately a better workflow. Anything that’s needed can be made and modified as needed.
Meet Kath
Vibrant and talented, Kath is one of our Trim Shop Trio.
Kath describes herself as arty and crafty, with always having a creative background. Kath holds a selection of qualifications from Interior Design to Spatial Design and history in painting and decorating as well as previous car trim work. Kath then joined the team in January 2020.
“I’ve always enjoyed making things and being creative. I like being hands-on.”
Kath loves VW’s and has always had a soft spot for them. She’s done up her own VW campervan before but currently owns a beautiful red VW Beetle which is her pride and joy.
Kath says she enjoys working in an in-house trim shop rather than outsourcing it as she did before, as you get more of a personal connection with the projects, “You’re never doing the same thing twice!” Kath tells us, “I love everything here, it’s so satisfying learning where everything fits and seeing it being installed.”
Meet Brian
Brian was the second Trim Shop specialist to join Bridge Classic Cars who started in March 2020.
Brian originally started working on Micralite planes but later moved to trim work and interior car design. Brian also worked with Kath at their previous workplace outsourcing interior trim, so made the perfect team when they both moved to Bridge Classic Cars!
Brian has always worked with interior trim and really enjoys being a part of the team.
“It’s great to see cars go from parts to being roadworthy. You have such a big part in keeping these old cars going.”
Brian says he’s always loved hot hatches but currently has a new mini but has his sights set on buying an original mini to do up too. “Working with cars like these, at some point you want to get your own!” Brian tells us.
Meet Rosie
The third and final member of the Trim Shop is Cockerpoo puppy, Rosie!
As an invaluable member of the team, Rosie offers morale and team spirit for not only the trim shop but for the whole of the Bridge Classic Cars team!
Rosie is now 9 months old as she was born on Valentine’s day. She certainly has a talent for spreading the love!
Rosie’s favourite part about being in the trim shop is getting visits from other members of the Bridge team who frequently give her cuddles and attention, she’s a real team player!
November 16, 2020 11:49 amPublished by Craig Ranson
The trim shop has made the centre console for the radio. This entails measuring each section, cutting out those sections from the leather, and then from those pieces, creating a gaiter for the gear stick and an outer shell for the radio console.
The next step was to make and fit the carpets which includes bolting them down and adding deadening to the tunnel.
The speaker panel was next to be made and fitted. As well as the leather, the speaker panels also needed foam padding adding to it.
Once again, the trim shop has done an amazing job fitting the new interior to the TR6. With the seats added back in, it’s looking really smart!
November 13, 2020 12:38 pmPublished by Craig Ranson
Whether it’s a specific design or a certain fit, we can make it. All of the work done in the trim shop is made by hand and designed perfectly for your motor.
One of our clients is making the hard choice between these 4 designs for the interior of their 1982 Porsche 911.
Our super-star trim shop duo Kath and Brian continue work on the exciting 1973 Triumph TR6.
Now all the interior leather seat covers and panels are complete, they’re ready to be fitted into the car.
The team have also added the bespoke biscuit leather door panels. Now they’re fitted in place, the final additions are added like door handles and window crank.
It’s so exciting seeing a colour combination coming together, what do you think to this colour scheme?
Our trim shop duo Brian and Kath have been working wonders on the 1973 TR6 interior.
Brian started by making this centre console cover, pulling the leather around the edges and gluing it to the rear.
He’s then made the trimming and speaker panels in the same way. “I stapled the leather around the speaker panels,” explains Brian. “Seamlessly cutting and turning the holes for where the speakers will go.”
Meanwhile, superstar seamstress Kath has been marking out and stitching the stunning diamond design onto the leather. “This pattern will be featured on the cockpit panel, the wheel arch panels, door panels, seats and headrests,” she explains.
Kath uses much of the original interior as a guide to create the new pattern. She marks out the pattern on the new leather, cuts it to shape and clips it together, ready to be sewn.
Kath’s also made these headrests, they too share the diamond stitching. “This diamond pattern looks beautiful,” expresses Kath. “But it’s very tricky pattern to work with! Along with ensuring all the diamond lines themselves are exact, I also must ensure the diamonds line up nicely along the edges of each panel or section. It’s not so easy to get right!”
Brian then completes the headrests by fitting the foams into the leather covers. “I stapled the leather together around the metal poles of the headrest. Then screwed their newly covered metal plates back into place to hide away the staples.”
Here’s the rear cockpit and door panels Kath’s stitched with Brian then gluing them into their final position. “I trimmed back the foam here to reduce bulk,” Brian explains. “Then I stapled around the edges, trimmed off any excess and cut slots into the leather for the pockets to eventually go.”
It looks like these two have been very busy bees over the last few days! As the car itself is back home with it’s owner, we can’t see the interior back in position just yet. But, keep your eyes peeled for more updates as we hope to be showing off the final result very soon!
September 4, 2020 10:57 amPublished by Craig Ranson
Brian and Kath have both been working on the rear bench seat of our ’39 Riley Merlin Nine.
They have superbly trimmed the rear seats in matching blue leather. The seats just need to be sat in a few times for them to shine in a similar way to the front seats.
There was some leftover leather, so Kath has also made a brilliant tool pouch which fits perfectly into the boot storage space.
Continue reading below for the full process.
Lovely work, Brian and Kath.
The first job was to re-foam the front seats for additional padding. Brian stripped down the seats and added extra foam toppers to pad out the old foam.Brian then glued new leather to the wheel arch top panels. He then added new new wadding to the wheel arch panel and stapled new covers onto the panel.
After stripping out the rear bench seats Brian has added new foam toppers onto the original Riley rear base foam. He then glued the rear base covers made by Kath onto the foam.
Brian has then added chrome fasteners to the cover which will allow it to be clipped into place. He has then fitted the base back into the vehicle before we moved onto repeating the process on the swab.
Kath handled the sewing and stitching parts of the build. With some of the loft over leather Kath has made this lovely little tool bag as an added surprise for the customer.
Visiting our workshops this afternoon is our amazing Mercedes 500SL R107. As you can see, the driver’s seat has suffered from years of use. The customer has purchased the material brand new and is looking for the skills of our trim experts to recover the centres of both front seats.
Brian, one of our Classic Car Technicians who specialises in Interior Trim has been making superb progress on the interior of our 541R.
Brian has fabricated new footpanels with back supports screwed in. He’s also stripped down the old scuttle panels.
He’s cut new scuttle panels and drilled correctly placed holes.
Brian has dismantled the original under-dash panels and is making new under-dash panels from millboard. He’s stripped down the original door panel infills and trimmed in black leather. The attention to detail is second to none. Beautifully done, Brian.
Kath and Brian has done a wonderful job transforming the roof lining of our Jensen 541R. There’s a lot of black components on this Jensen specification. The roof lining however is finished now in this sumptuous perforated cream headlining fabric, expertly trimmed by our Trim Shop team. They begun by fitting the restored roof bars into the roof of the car, using the old headlining as a template, it was a challenge to get the fabric to fit perfectly without any creases. This required the fabric to be kept taught from all angles. It’s now finished and looking wonderful.
Our 1957 and 1960 Jensen 541R interiors have completely taken over our trim shop as Brian and Kath return to work.
They get straight into the rebuild of our Jensen interiors and as you can see, a lot of the original components are beyond repair so many new templates are being made using the original patterns.
The Jensen rear quarter are being remade using new boarding and foam padding before being recovered in black leather.
The original leather work has been stripped, removed and being replaced with brand new material.
Kath, Bridge Classic Cars’ in-house trimmer is working hard on our Black 1960 Jensen 541R interior. Kath is now working on the second Jensen seat from the black leather hide. She begins by marking out the new parts, using the old components as templates. The old seat tub, base and squab has also been prepared and refurbished, ready for the new leather to be sewn on. Lovely work, Kath.
The black interior to match the black exterior will look absolutely stunning when complete. The chromework is sure to look incredible when paired with the all black colour specification.
Kath has done a lovely job restoring the hardtop for our customers Lotus Elise. She’s applied the brushed black nylon to the roof and re-insalled the plastic trim. The roof is now looking fabulous! Great work Kath!
Does your interior need a freshen up? Get in touch today to see how we can help rejuvenate your vehicle.
February 26, 2020 12:18 pmPublished by Craig Ranson
Kath has been making great progress on our Jensen 541R interior.
She’s been carefully stripping down the original interior. The original material is then used as a template for fresh material to be cut to. When cutting out the material its crucial to leave enough spare material for the seam, whilst also making the most out of each roll of the expensive leather.
These Jensen interiors are far more complex than many vehicles of the era. They use plenty of tacs to keep the material in place. This provides a wonderful tight quality finish, but is very time consuming to safely remove. We will upholster the interior in the same fashion to keep everything as original as possible.
The current red interior will be changed to a wonderful rich black leather. This will match the stunning deep black exterior that was recently finished by Chris down in the Paint Shop.
Next up, Kath will be reupholstering the interior in the freshly cut new black leather.
February 26, 2020 9:28 amPublished by Craig Ranson
Kath has been working on our lovely MGA restoration. She’s prepared the seats to be sandblasted and painted. Once this is done the seats can then be re-upholstered to the original specification.
February 24, 2020 4:39 pmPublished by Craig Ranson
Kath has been making progress on our Lotus Elise Hardtop restoration. the head lining was coming apart so we’ve stripped off the old fabric and removed the old glue. It’s now fully prepared for new black brushed nylon headlining.
February 21, 2020 12:16 pmPublished by Craig Ranson
Our beautiful Series 3 Jaguar E-Type is now so close to completion.
The interior restoration has been completed, it’s now a task of reinstalling the final few pieces of interior trim and completing the wiring and electrical systems.
Bob has diagnosed a few minor niggles within the electrics which he will be working on this week. Bob will also be fitting an immobiliser to this lovely Series 3 E-Type
February 11, 2020 9:47 amPublished by Craig Ranson
Our Triumph TR5 is currently having it’s interior trimmed at our in-house trim shop.
Kath has made webbing straps to attach to the seat frames. She then begun stuffing the side bolsters and seat backing with foam, moulding the foam position to fully fill the available space.
The final stage will now be to stitch back up the leather outside of the seat and install components back together. As always, Kath’s attention to detail is second to none. Stay tuned to see our TR5 Restoration progress!
February 11, 2020 9:12 amPublished by Craig Ranson
Kath has been hard at work on our Jensen interiors. For the convertible roof she has tackled the following stages
Dismantled the headlining
Marked out new material patterns onto the new fabric
Cut out and numbered the fabric pieces
Measured out a strips of calico for the convertible loops
Cleaned metal bars
Sewn headlining back together
Inserted metal bars
Kath has also begun stripping down the Jensen seats. They actually sit on a fibreglass base that attaches to the car. The seats are currently still being prepared to be reupholstered.
Kath has made a wonderful repair to this BMW’s rear bolster.
In order to perfectly match the leather, Kath has come up with an ingenious solution. She’s elected to cut out the damaged area at the bottom of the bolster and stretch the leather over, before stitching it back together. This means that when this panel returns back into the vehicle, the leather will have the same ageing and colour as the rest of the interior and will look pristine once more.
Does your interior need some attention? Get in touch with our friendly team today to see how we can help.
Kath, Bridge Classic Cars’ trimmer has created this lovely new Gearstick surround. The VX220’s owner wanted to repair the damaged gaiter so brought it to our trim shop. Great work, Kath!
Kath has been had at work on our E-Type interior. We’ve trimmed several E-Type interiors this month alone. Is your classic car interior in need of a new lease of life? We can source, design and create bespoke trim to give your classic vehicle interior the wow factor. Give our friendly sales team today to discuss your requirements.
Kath has done a fabulous job trimming the black leather Morris J type seats. She’s perfectly matched the design of the old seat to a better than factory finish. Great work, Kath!
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