classic car restoration near me

Our 1972 MGB Roadster is now live on Bridge Classic Cars Competitions

Our 1972 MGB Roadster is now live on the Bridge Classic Cars Competitions website!

The stunning classic roadster, finished in vibrant, summery red could be yours just in time for the start of show season but you’re going to want to be quick, over 50% of the tickets have already been sold.

Here’s what our very own Rob Harvey has written about what might be the worlds most popular sports car:

”Our 1972 MGB Roadster is a quintessential example of British automotive engineering. Manufactured by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and later by British Leyland, the MGB Roadster was first introduced in 1962 and continued production until 1980.

A 1.8-litre B-Series engine powers our MGB and provides ample power for the lightweight, two-seater roadster. A four-speed manual gearbox, with overdrive, helps our MGB to offer a lively and engaging driving experience.

The 1972 model is noted for its classic design, characterised by clean lines, chrome bumpers, and a distinctive front grille. The cockpit is driver-focused, featuring well-placed controls, supportive seats, and a traditional wooden steering wheel.

MGBs are always popular competition cars and this one, finished in striking red with a beige interior, looks like it’s going to be exactly the same.”

  • 1.8-litre engine
  • 4-speed manual gearbox with overdrive
  • Finished in Red with a Beige interior
  • Bridge Classic Cars Pre-Delivery Inspection

Inspecting our 1981 Austin Allegro Vanden Plas

Our Steve has been working on our 1981 Austin Allegro Vanden Plas to inspect the classic family saloon.

To begin with, he resecured some of the trims on the B-pillar and then moved onto checking the other parts of the car. He discovered that the rear suspension pushes have perished as well as the rear brake wheel cylinders have leaked and contaminated the brake material and will also require replacement along with the suspension bushes.

Steering Repairs, Final Checks and First Run Up of the 1962 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Coupe

The workshop team at Bridge Classic Cars have been flat out this week working on various cars in our Suffolk HQ, one of those being the 1962 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Coupe which is being cared for under the watchful and skillful hands of our technician Jon.

Jon has continued with his project of repairing the steering of the classic Jaguar. After he rebuilt the column on the bench, Jon secured the steering rack back onto the frame of the car and then fitted up the lower universal joint for the column along with fitting a new pinch bolt. When fitting the indicator cancel bracket, Jon had to modify it slightly to get it to sit higher up on the column to increase usability but also to help remove any play from the shaft once fitted into the car. The column was then aligned with the lower shaft and slipped into place, with the opening for the pinch bolt drilled in situ to allow for the best engagement. Once all together, Jon could then test the steering column and was happy to report that all play had been worked out of the system. He could then fit up all the various trims, wiring and brackets before moving on.

The next detail was to get the radiator and fans back into the car and connected up before getting the air filters fitted back on the car in preparation for the cars first drive under its own power for many years. Before that, Jon made sure to knock down and tighten each wheel in series, added more fuel to the brand new tank before checking the timing and firing order were all corrected and adjusting before turning the key.

At this point, Jon was ready to pull the classic sports car outside to let it run up to temperature for the first time and check each system individually for function and engagement such as the cooling system, but to also allow the ceramic coatings on several parts cure following the manufacturers process.

After repeating the run up and cool down procedure several times, Jon checked and topped off all fluids in the car and checked for any visible leaks and secured all the dash wiring before putting the car away.

Inspecting our 1954 Daimler Conquest

Our technician Jon has been begun his inspection on our 1954 Daimler Conquest Roadster in the workshop of our Suffolk HQ.

With some estimates showing less than 60 of these unique cars ever to have been built, the team wanted to go through the entire car to check it over. The first step is a preliminary visual inspection of the car to check for anything that completely stands out as being incorrect or in need of attention, which is what this phase is. Next, the car will be safely put onto one of our workshop ramps for Jon to full inspect the mechanical aspects of the car.

Welcoming back an old friend – 1968 Morris Mini 850

We’ve welcomed an old friend back to the Bridge Classic Cars HQ, its our 1968 Morris Mini 850 which was previously won through Bridge Classic Cars Competitions.

The car has come back to us to have some work carried out on the classic Mini to get it back into tip-top condition for its owner who uses and enjoys the car regularly. So, our driver Tony headed out to go and pick up the car in our covered trailer and bring it back to our Pettistree workshops.

Tidying up the interior of our 1954 Daimler Conquest

Lydia in the Bridge Classic Cars trim shop has been working on tidying up the interior of our unique 1953 Daimler Conquest.

He has carefully replaced the boot floor and glued the new pieces into place, she also modified the pattern to take into account the external fuel pump. During the pattern making process, Lydia noted that one of the original pieces was missing from the classic roadster so she made this piece from scratch to perfectly fit the car. Whilst working on the car, Lydia also patch a series of small holes in the roof as well as re-rivet the roof straps back into place.

Progress on our 1975 Jensen Interceptor Mk3

Our 1975 Jensen Interceptor project has made massive strides forward in the last few weeks. The classic V8 coupe has been in the talented hands of our paint and body technician Chris who has worked on getting the car to take its first steps into colour.

Firstly, the team completely stripped the car of any paint or surface rust and then cleaned down the entire car before take the shell and parts into the paint booth to be put into epoxy primer. Then, the team could begin work on levelling the panels with the use of filler and the first stage of getting the car ready.

After all the panels had been perfectly leveled, Chris could then get the car back into the booth and begin to seal the car with another coat of epoxy primer. Once this had flashed off and settled, Chris could go back with the polyster primer to make sure that the panels were even straighter and level.

Road Test and Checks on our 1972 MGB Roadster

Jon has been continuing to work on our 1972 MGB Roadster ahead of its launch as one of the classics you could win through Bridge Classic Cars Competitions.

The next phase of Jon’s work was to get the glovebox on the classic sports car open, which involved stripping down and rebuilding the lock after one of the internal pins had dropped. After that, he could take the car out on its road test.

After pulling the car out of our Pettistree workshop, Jon got the car fired up in order to carry out mixture and idle speed adjustments before heading out on the open road to test the car. However, during the test, the car cut out multiple times and would not restart until the ignition switch was grabbed and shaken. After that, the car would fire back up. So, Jon got the car back to the workshop and tightened down the connections in the switch as well as the main power feed and then retested the car. All was ok after test.

Changing out the Clutch on our 2003 MG ZT V8

The team here at Bridge Classic Cars have been working on our 2003 MG ZT V8 to get the car back to tip-top mechanical condition. The next step, is to replace the clutch in the manual gearbox.

First off, Julian remove the exhaust in order to gain access to the gearbox but for extra clearance he had to drop the back of the front subframe in order to safely drop the gearbox. Whilst on the floor, Julian could then replace the old clutch pack with a new unit and then refit the gearbox back into the car. Before getting the exhaust back in place, Julian fitted the centre and rear sections of the exhaust and rebuilt the nearside front brake caliper before bleeding both the clutch and brake systems.

Preparing our 1972 MGB Roadster

Our technician Jon has been working on preparing our 1972 MGB Roadster for the marketing team to shoot ahead of its competition.

In our Suffolk workshops, Jon has removed the carburettors from the classic sports car and stripped them down on the bench. From there he could clean the units down and free them up as the jets had seized into their tubes, so after their removal Jon completely cleaned every part of them back down again individually before reassembling the units and setting the jets to the correct .90mm depth.

Jon could then begin to carry out the inspection on the Roadster with his findings as follows:

”Refit both carbs and secure. Adjust throttles and chokes to balance and check for full throttle etc. Run and test. Started ok on full choke.. starter motor has an issue and car has an oil leak from oil filter area. Take round to workshop to carry out inspection and repairs. Adjust steering rack pinion adjuster to remove play from rack. Clean and tighten oil filter adapter plate. Tighten and secure both mirrors. Strip and remove starter motor. Test on bench. Works intermittently,. Remove rear cover and withdraw stator. Clean contact inside and reassemble. Retest and works ok everything. Refit and test, ok. Check axle oil level, ok. Secure wiring at rear to tank sender. Reposition loom from boot. Top up engine oil and place new jack and wheel brace in boot.”

First off, Jon installed the new flexi hoses onto the underside of the car. Next up, Jon worked inside the cabin of the MGB to refit the nearside seat belt correctly into the car before moving on to cleaning up the wiring underneath/behind the dashboard. Whilst there, he had to reposition the heater fan as it was slightly off and causing a noise but after moving it he reported all was ok. Then Jon could attach the new battery terminals to make sure the connection was absolutely perfectly. Finishing off these repairs, he reposition the steering column cowling and horn wiring to get rid of an annoying noise.

And to finish off these repairs, Jon did the following:

”Check gearbox oil level via dipstick inside car. Lift carpet and remove bung etc. Refit bung and carpet after checking level. Remove drivers electric window switch and remove both terminals to window motor. Swap round in multi plug and test. Window now operates in correct direction with switch. Lube window runners. Remove nearside electric window switch and swap round multi plug. Refit and test, ok. Try keys in glove box. Eventually got it open. Remove lock and barrell. Inspect and found 1 plunger in lock not dropping in when key in lock. Grind off and retry. Ok. Refit and test.”

Work on the 1991 Nissan 200SX

Our technician Julian has been in charge of completing the work on the 1991 Nissan 200SX Turbo currently in our workshop.

The customer had requested that the cam-belt be changed and along with that, the water pump but the team also had been asked to full service the CA18DET engine so Julian drained all fluids and removed the old oil filter before removing the old water pump and timing belt cover. He then could install the new units and then begin work on carrying on with the full service including oil, oil filter, air filter, fuel filter, spark plugs.

Then he could go through working on the brakes which included a strip down and freeing off the seized rear slider pins. After that Julian could clean and grease all the brake pads. Before carrying out the assessment, his findings were:

”check diff and gearbox levels, grease all linkages. All shock absorber dust covers perished, slight corrosion to all suspension arms and subframes.”

Bike Collection at The Hangar

Our collection of vintage motorcycles has been transferred up to our safe and secure storage facility, the hangar.

After being recommissioned by the Bridge Classic Cars workshop team, they were transported by our team to be kept safe and dry.

Fitting the new registration to our C-Type

With our C-Type project coming to an end and the car due to begin road testing imminently, it was time to get the cars very special and personal registration onto the car.

This numberplate is holds a special place in our director Gordons heart so its only fitting it is fitted to the latest ‘special’ built by the team here at our Suffolk HQ. Our technician Jon did the honours of fitting the registration to the car. This was challenging due to the shape of the front end of the C-Type, so the sticker actually had to be sectioned into 2 in order to be fitted cleanly to the front of the C-Type.

Paint repair on the 1981 Austin Vanden Plas

The paint team here at the Bridge Classic Cars Suffolk HQ have been working on repairing a small section of paint on our 1981 Austin Vanden Plas.

Alan, one of our painters, has carefully worked on the area to mask up, prime and respray the gold paintwork on the iconic 1980s British saloon car to get it looking as good as new.

Heading Out – Two Classics head to the Suffolk Show

With part of the Bridge Classic Cars being at the Suffolk Show for the last couple of days, it was only right we had a set of classic cars there along with our 2011 Morgan 4/4.

The team took over our 1977 Triumph TR7 along with our 1954 Daimler Conquest to be displayed on our stand.

Working on the 1955 MG TF

Our workshop manager John has been working on getting the 1955 MG TF back on the road with a few jobs.

He replaced the old starter motor with a new high-torque unit to make sure the car had enough force to turn over strong and fire up. Alongside that, he also replaced the fuel pump on the classic sports car.

New Pieces – Repairing the rear valance of our 1973 Ferrari 246 GTS

The 246GTS has been in the fabrication bay of the Bridge Classic Cars HQ under the care of our fabricator Christian.

There are a few areas of corrosion on the classic sports car which are being addressed by the team. After Chris had repaired the chassis gussets on the underside of the car, he could turn his attention to the body of the car. After stripping back the paint and other materials in the rear valance, he could see how deep and far the problem had spread to. Carefully cutting back the piece, it exposed the inner skin which had also begun to corrode so Christian began to prepare for the repairs to that too. One of the first steps was to remove anything flamable nearby to the area he was working in which was the rear storage area, and after pulling up the carpet to check for any more corrosion (which wasn’t there) he noticed that there had been a mouse living in there for quite some time… After hoovering out the area and making sure it was ok to begin the repairs he could begin to fit up and shape the new metal into place making small adjustments as he went to get the best fit and finish.

Progress on the 1962 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Coupe

Our technician Jon has been making progress on the resurrection of the 1962 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Coupe.

The next stage of the cars journey back onto the open road begins with Jon fitting a new rear brake master cylinder. Having the old unit and new unit next to each other, the positions are slightly different from the original to the new unit, so Jon had to make up new brake lines from the master cylinder to the the join in the offside front floor area. Then, he could fit the new flexi hoses to the front and rear of the car before bleeding the entire system. However, the front of the system bled without issue but the rear we were unable to bleed at this point.

Carrying on with recommissioning the hydraulic system in the car, Jon began work on the clutch. This involved removing the old clutch slave cylinder from the classic Jaguar and the pipework. After fitting up the new system and pipes, he could fill up the circuit and begin to bleed them after securing down the new brake pipes at the same time and then cleaning down/tidying up the work area.

Next up, Jon blew out all of the fuel lines and pipework to make sure that any dust or debris from the workshop wasn’t sat in the lines while the car has been on the ramp before securing them all down to the car.

This is when he could turn his attention to the steering of the car. The steering column support in the lower part of the bulkhead was excessively moving (see video) even after Jon had drilled out the lower universal joint and replacement the worn bolt which connects the two pieces with a new nyloc piece, which improved the movement but was still not clamping fully on the piece. So, he removed the upper part of the steering column first to upgrade the component with new elastin bushes and then begin to refit the piece, however the column still moved excessively in Jon’s professional opinion. The bulkhead column support was then put on order to be refitted into the car.

Whilst the steering column was out of the car, Jon could drain the coolant and remove the radiator from the car after the cars initial fire up and testing, to remove the offside steering rack mount and the lower steering column mount from the engine bay, and fully drill out the universal joint better to clean down all the surfaces and refinish it in a new hard wearing coat of black paint.

With the new bulkhead support on order, Jon turned his attention back to the hydraulics of the car. After topping off all the fluid reservoirs, Jon along with the help of our workshop manager John managed to complete bleed each individual system.

After that, Jon began to put petrol in the new fuel tank for the first time in order to check for leaks in the tank – all was ok. He also swapped over the fuse for the fuel pump to a more suitable and durable unit for the needs of the system. After that, he connected up the battery in order to get fuel pressure from the engine on turn over to prime the system all the way to the pre-filter sight bowl. Then, he disconnected the battery.

Finally, Jon moved onwards to getting the carburettors ready to accept the fresh fuel now in the new fuel tank. He carefully tightened down and inspected all connections from the filter to the carburettors before connecting the battery back up again and the turning on the ignition to prime the fuel system and test. Jon found there was a slight leak from the sight glass under the higher pressure and from the number 1 carburettor. This was found to be an issue with the washers used in the connection to carburettor 1 and fitted a new rubber seal to the sight glass sediment bowl. After that, all of the leaks were sorted and he could the refit and secure the boot floor and all necessary trims.

Fit Up – Working on the front end of our 1956 Jensen 541

Paul has been working on assembly and refit of our 1956 Jensen 541 which has had a full ground up restoration by the Bridge Classic Cars team here at our Suffolk HQ.

Paul worked on getting the front clam shell onto the car to begin getting the wiring harness fed through and to check for correct fitment onto the car. Whilst on the car, Paul could then get the bonnet catches mounted into position to make sure that when secured the bonnet sits square and true to the body lines of the car.

At this stage, he has been working on the front end of the classic British GT car. Next Paul has got the radiator fitted into the car with new mounts fabricated to fit the chassis, with each of these cars being entirely handbuilt there are variations which means that many of the mounts and fixings have to be fabricated bespoke to each car. Like the radiator mounts, the cars bonnet stays have also been made bespoke for this particular chassis before heading off to the paint team to be finished in gloss black and the radiator sent out to a local specialist to be rebuilt.

Working on our 1960 BSA A10

Our technician Paul has been working his magic on our 1960 BSA 10 we have in our private collection of vintage motorcycles.

During the bikes assessment, Paul noticed that the brake light switch wasn’t working so the team sourced a replacement for the classic British bike and fitted it to the bike, before testing everything worked correctly. With work complete, the bike will be transferred to The Hangar to be safely and securely stored along with the other pieces in the collection.

Rise and Shine – Our 1971 Triumph GT6 Cleaned and Ready for its new owner

The transport team have been working on getting the 1971 Triumph GT6 all cleaned up and ready to go for the delivery to its excited new owner.

After being signed off by the workshop, our driver Tony worked his magic to get this classic British sports car looking like a million dollars ahead of its delivery later tonight.

Refinish – Painting parts of our 1986 Fiat X19

Our paint and body team have been working on the 1986 Fiat X19 to get this quirky 1980s sports car looking as good as possible.

Overall, the paintwork on the car is in very good condition but there were a few areas which needed the careful and skilled attention of our painter, Chris. Those areas were the front and rear bumpers as well as the removable roof panel. So, after rubbing them back Chris laid down several coats of thick, glossy, hard wearing black to rejuvenate these parts and get the car looking as good as new.

Better than new – repainting and refitting our 1958 Austin-Healey 100/6

The automotive wizard which is our very own Alan has worked his magic on our 1958 Austin-Healey 100/6 to breathe new life into the look of this wonderfully British sports car.

To begin with, he stripped down all of the trims from the car before reworking a few areas of the car to get its beautiful shape into perfect condition before then taking into our paint booth for a new coat of blue over old english cream. Then, it was a case of fitting everything back onto the car but this time with a much better fit and finish.

Primed and Ready – Our 1960 MGA Roadster in Polyfan

Our 1960 MGA Roadster has been perfected by the paint and body team here at the Bridge Classic Cars Suffolk HQ in order to make sure that every panel and surface is smooth as glass.

Our technician Mauro has been painstakingly getting the body of the classic sports car ready by repeated rounds of filler and sanding work to build up areas which couldn’t be adjusted by the use of hammer and dolly. Once this stage was complete, the car was blown off to get rid of any sanding dust before taken into the booth, masked up and spray with its first coats of polyfan before it is sanded down again to begin the next stage.

Our C-Type back from paint protection

Our C-Type is now back in the building after being with a local specialist to have its paint protection film (PPF) applied to the bonnet and front wings of the car.

This is to help protect all the hard work by the Bridge Classic Cars paint and body team from stone chips and any other debris which will come into contact with the front of the car as its out and about on the open road.

A New Shade – Painting a Classic Race Mini for Team C

The paint team here at Bridge Classic Cars have been incredibly busy the last few weeks, including the prep and paint for this. A classic racing Mini belonging to our friend Ted from Team C Racing.

Chris took the shell and sanded everything back before priming it and finishing the whole car in a glossy shade of black for the guys at Team C to then get their livery applied and the bite-sized bruiser will be ready to hit the track!

A Tail of Two Cars – The AGTZ Breaks Cover Recently at Lake Como

Image credit: AGTZTwintail.com / Zagato

There are some names in the automotive world which ignite a feeling of passion and wonder. One of those, is Zagato. The legendary Italian coachbuilders have been designing and crafting dreams since their earliest days back in 1919, but their latest project not only pays tribute to the past but also the future with the AGTZ alongside their partner La Squadra.

The name La Squadra may not be known to many, but its one that you should pay attention to. Created in Katowice, Poland in 2013 they specialise in distributing brands such as Ferrari, Pagani, Koenigsegg, Bugatti and Alpine to true enthusiasts and collectors to fulfill the automotive dreams with stunning pieces of kinetic, mechanical art – such as the AGTZ.

Celebrating the fabled Alpine A220 racecar, which famously began as an elegant and flowing long-tail design before having 300mm removed from its length to give a more muscular short-tail design, the AGTZ has a unique and innovative way of paying homage to both iterations of this famous endurance racer.

The AGTZ, has a removable twin-tail design. The long-tail extension, which gives the car a longer more harmonious design, can be removed to reveal a small, more defined short-tail look depending on what one of the lucky 19 owners feels like. Unlike other manufacturers who offer a ‘long-tail’ specification, the AGTZ grows over 450mm in length with the rear extension in place, this also changes the aerodynamics of the low-slung sports racer for the road as it greatly reduces the car aerodynamic drag coefficient and allow for a higher top speed while maintaining a better high-speed stability.

Firstly, lets take a look back at the car that this modern wonder is based on. The fabled Alpine A220.

The A220 set its sets on winning Le Mans in 1966, although the programme can be traced back to 1963 with the simple, elegant but problematic M63 project. The A220 was specifically designed and engineered to take the fight to teams like Chaparral, Ferrari and Ford in the twilight years of the 4 to 7 litre category of prototype racing. But, its long and impactful bodywork would make that car stand the test of time and would help to cement its place in endurance racing history.

But it didn’t stop there, after the long-tail design was retired the engineers and designs began to test the aerodynamic capabilities of the car as a ‘short-tail’ variant. The longer car, was excellent at high-speed circuits but at more punchy, dynamic tracks the car became a bit of a handful (at the same time, Porsche would have the same idea with their legendary 917). So, sacrificing the high-speed car the team would begin shortening the bodywork to create a car with better aerodynamics for handling and the race wins began to follow.

To honour this engineering challenge and triumph, the team at La Squadra and Zagato teamed up to create a modern day love letter to that beautiful race car culminating in the AGTZ.

Image credit: AGTZTwintail.com / Zagato

In the span of just 12 months, the Zagato team took this bold, modernist designs from the drawing board to the crystal blue waters which lap the shore of Lake Como. In February, the automotive world were blessed with the unveiling of the scale model of the car which set the internet ablaze with wonder and speculation. With deliveries of the 19 cars due to begin in October of 2024, the car has received huge positive feedback from the automotive world after its static unveiling in Italy where more details of the cars have been revealed.

Each of the 19 cars will spend around 15 weeks at the Zagato studios to begin their 1000 hour build process. A team of artisan craftspeople will painstakingly transform the base car into the AGTZ in the customers design specification, making each one of these cars a truly handbuilt masterpiece with the vast array of options open to clients of La Squadra, who will handle the maintenance and sales of each of the cars. Price begin at around £550,000 before tax, but for something as bespoke, exclusive and passion-fueled its a small price to pay for those lucky 19 owners.

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New Arrival – 1991 Nissan 200SX

The Bridge Classic Cars team recently welcomed a new arrival to our Pettistree workshops, this 1991 Nissan S13 200SX Turbo.

A rare sight to see an unmodified survivor of this Japanese rear-wheel drive coupe, the team are going to be servicing the car for its adoring owner as well as renewing the cam-belt and water pump while also carrying out an assessment on the car while it is our care.

Work begins on our 2003 MG ZT V8

The workshop here at Bridge Classic Cars is always busy! But this week we’ve had the pleasure of having this 2003 MG ZT V8 on the centre ramp under the careful eye of our technician Jon.

Jon noted that the car had lost some coolant after a road test. After leaving the car to safely cool down, Jon carried out a chemical block test to see whether any hydrocarbons from the exhaust had made their way into the coolant which signifies a leak somewhere in the system. All was ok and nothing was contaminated, Jon reports that he believes the seal on the radiator cap had gone bad.

Next, Jon turned his attention to the brakes on this V8 super saloon. He began by stripping down the front brakes, blowing out the handbrake shoes and fitting a new seat of discs. While there, Jon also quickly repainted the caliper after adjusting the handbrake shoes.

Jon then began work on the front end of the car. This involved removing the front wheels and the stripping down the front brakes. Whilst in there, he also removed and cleaned up the Ohlins struts back to their former glory before fitting them with new springs and fitting back onto the car. Like the rear, Job took the time to repaint the calipers to make this early 2000’s muscle saloon look the absolute business. However, upon rebuilding the offside front caliper, he found that it had seized.

After that, Jon head inside the car to fix a couple of small issues such as a blocked washer jet and a 12v power socket not working – both of which were fixed. Then, he began to work on the exhaust of the car. He removed the offside rear silencer, removing the mounting straps and then fitted the new silencers to the car except he found that new silencer didn’t fit quite as it should so the original unit had to go back onto the car, but whilst there he repositioned the central rear mount as it was contacting the axle of the car under articulation.