Engine re-paint for the purple MG B GT!
Chris has been re-painting the engine for the 1973 purple MG B GT V8.
He painted the engine in sections, masking up along the way with tape.
Tag Archive: classic car restoration
Small repair on the Honda Integra.
James has been working on the 1998 Honda Integra Type R.
He’s repaired a section on the lower quarter panel by fabricating and welding. It’s now ready to be re-fitted back onto the car.
Engine out for the Pagoda!
Paul has successfully removed the engine from our beautiful blue 1969 Mercedes 280SL Pagoda. The engine will be rebuilt by Ady and the engine bay will be detailed as part of the project.
Apart from a couple of small paint imperfections the engine bay is very good order so a really good clean followed by some touching up in places will present us with a lovely space to return the engine to once completed.
Small adjustment for the red Jensen!
Kath has been laying the carpet back down in the peony red 1960 Jensen 541S. The pedals needed some adjustment, so the sound deadening and carpet were glued back down after this was done.
Finishing the Vanden Plas headlining!
Brian has been finishing the headlining fitting for the 1981 Rover SD1 Vanden Plas.
In this last post about it, you can see that he was glueing in the sunroof section. https://bridgeclassiccars.co.uk/headlining-work-continues-for-the-vanden-plas/ The board with the main piece of headlining on slid in from the back of the car. Brian had to take out the panels with the seatbelts attached, to put the headlining back in, and then they got put back into place.
Don’t forget, you can win this car! Just click on the following link to find out more information about the car and how to enter! https://www.bridgeclassiccarscompetitions.co.uk/product/1981-rover-sd1/
Finishing the front squabs for the Aston!
Kath has been finishing up the fitting of the front squab seat covers for the 1955 Aston Martin DB 2/4.
At the end of last week, she completed the first front squab, which can be read about here. https://bridgeclassiccars.co.uk/the-start-of-the-aston-martin-seat-fitting/ It was exactly the same process for this second front squab seat.
Work on the Jaguar E-Type Series 1.5!
Scott has been working on the 1968 Jaguar E-Type Series 1.5 4.2.
He’s replaced the brake line that connects to the rear axle, bled the brakes, the bushes have been replaced in the steering column, because they were worn out, he’s lock wired any bolts that needed to be, fitted a new radio and replaced the fuel line because it had been badly fitted before!
Getting busy with the 1975 Triumph!
Dave has been carrying out work on the 1975 magenta Triumph TR6. Here’s a list and a look at what he’s been up to!
There were problems with the horn so a new plate was ordered, the earth coil needs re-instating, replaced the fuel filter in the boot, the pipe got replaced, the fuel was drained a couple of times because of debris in it, Dave lubricated to free up the butterflies in the engine bay, each injector was removed to get the air out of the pipes, he set out linkage in sequence, which was done with a vacuum metre, there was oil in the distributor, so Dave cleaned it out, and put it all back together again, the clutch had to be made longer and now works fine, the wiper motor needs attention, and he’s set the points up!
Bentley dash panels get a new lease of life!
Brian has been re-covering more panels for the 1963 Bentley S3 Chinese Continental.
This time, he’s done the panels that go underneath the dash, the dash rail panel, corner panel, the metal plate that goes with it, padded dash panels, and front-seat support wood.
He stripped the original leather off all of them, and any old foam that was underneath. Then sanded off the old glue. Most of the metal panels had 3mm foam glued onto them first, before adding the new leather on top and glueing underneath. The rest of the panels just had the new leather glued directly onto them.
More stages of the prep work for the Honda Integra!
Lydia has been helping Chris in the paint shop with the 1998 Honda Integra Type R panels.
Chris has been priming them, and then Lydia has been coating them in black guide coat, which shows the imperfections in the primer surface when sanded down. She sanded each panel down until no guide coat could be seen anymore. This was done with a mixture of blocking, using a DA and sanding by hand. Lydia then went over each panel with a grey scotch pad lightly and cleaned off any sanding dust with pre-clean.
New stereo box for the 1954 Jaguar!
Tamas has fabricated and welded together a new stereo box for the white 1954 Jaguar Mk VII. Kath has then covered it in dark red leather, ready to go in the car!
The start of the Aston Martin seat fitting!
Kath has been starting to fit the front squab seats and their carpet backs to the frames.
She began by stapling the sides of the front squab to the wooden part of the frame. She then trimmed back the foam on the flutes, to lay nice and flat on the back. Then she stapled the front of the squab to the wood of the seat frame, making sure it fitted nicely. Piping was then stapled around the back edge. The carpet back was placed on top of this, just inside the piping.
The first front squab is now ready! Exactly the same process will be carried out for the second one.
Headlining work continues for the Vanden Plas!
Brian has been finishing the restoration of the headlining for our 1981 Rover 3500 SD1 Vanden Plas.
Once he’d finished getting all the old foam and glue off the board, he cut a piece of nylon foam headlining to the required size and proceeded to glue it onto the board. Brian had to do this in sections because the glue went off too quickly.
Brian has had to glue new headlining fabric to the sunroof section as well. This didn’t have a board, it was just glued straight on. He’s just got to fit the headlining board in the car now!
Don’t forget, you can win this car! Just head to our website by clicking on the following link, which will give you more information about the car and tell you how to enter the competition! https://www.bridgeclassiccarscompetitions.co.uk/product/1981-rover-sd1/
Putting it back together for the 1963 Jaguar!
As you may know, the engine bay of the white 1963 Jaguar Mk II 3.4 has recently been re-painted. You can read about it here. https://bridgeclassiccars.co.uk/engine-bay-re-spray-for-the-jaguar/
Paul has had the job of putting everything back in the engine bay, that was taken out for the re-painting!
Offside sill work on the MG Midget!
Scott’s been repairing the offside sill of our blaze orange 1979 MG Midget. He fabricated a new section and welded it into place.
Prep work on the E-Type continues!
Chris and Matt have been doing more paint prep work on the 1973 Series 3 Jaguar E-Type.
They put the body of the car in the paint booth and masked it up ready for polyester primer. Once primed, it was covered in guide coat and blocked and finished in 180 sanding paper. The underside of the car body was prepped in 180 and any damage that was found was repaired and primed. All metal joints around the car were sealed, like where the metal had been welded together.
Range Rover CSK – in for recommission
Our 1990 Range Rover CSK is in for storage at The Hangar with the intention of a possible full recommission.
It’s also going to get a thorough clean, which you can see is much needed from the photos. There’s also a video of Craig doing a walk-around, for your viewing pleasure.
New owner for our 1960 Jensen 541S!
We have recently sold our 1960 Jensen 541S. It was being sold with the option of either; the buyer could buy the car as-is, or buy the car and have us restore it to its former glory or customise to their heart’s content. The buyer decided to buy it as-is and will be restoring it themselves! Here’s a website link to the original showroom page on our website, which gives you more information and photos.
https://bridgeclassiccars.co.uk/product/1960-jensen-541s/
And if you want to see what else we have for sale, click here
Stripping the Jaguar MkII engine bay
Work continues on our 1963 Jaguar MkII. Paul has stripped the engine bay of key components, clean up in preparation for refit. The refit will commence once the engine bay is prepared and painted by our paint shop.
Aston Martin DB2/4 Seat Strip Down
Although the seats on our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 were re-trimmed not that long ago, the colour and finish were not correct to factory specification.
Original records show red with grey piping and grey carpets. We now begin the process of stripping the seats, side panels and all interior panels so we can manufacture the new interior.
All of the metalwork around the interior will be blasted, cleaned, prepared and painted back to original specification.
Kath has started to mark out the new leather.
Rebuild of the Jaguar E Type hub carriers!
Scott has been busy rebuilding the hub carriers for the Jaguar E Type 4.2.
He started by fitting the universal joints, and then cleaned up all the parts because they were covered in old grease! Scott then inspected all the parts and found that the near side rear wheel bearing was worn from sitting. Handily, there was already another one in stock, so that was fitted. He then reassembled it all and greased it so it was ready to go back together.
Beetle Service
This charming Beetle came into us due to a breakdown caused by a condenser wire rubbing against the body and causing issues with the distributor. Ady is attending to the engine problem whilst Mauro carries out a service.
Peony Jensen Update
The exhaust on our Peony Jensen has been fitted by Demand Engineering. We now need to put the seats and pins in, air filter, bleed the gearbox and modify the number plate.
Hilux’s New Trim
Last week Kath was working on a new headliner and sun visors. Today, Brian is setting up the Hilux so that the ceiling cloth can be fitted. Brian first cleaned the roof, before fitting sound deadening. Once the sound deadening was in place, Brian then begun fitting the roof lining fabric, gluing it perfectly into place.
This restoration is a part home-restoration with the occasional help from us at Bridge. The clients have decided they want to do it themselves with our aid as and when it’s needed.
As always, a wonderful job by our trim team!
Integra Sanding And Fabricating
Pricey and Lydia have been working on our Honda Integra. Lydia has been sanding down various panels in preparation for paint whilst James has been taking apart the internal panels around the arch and fabricating new parts.
Marine Upholstery
We’re lucky enough to have our own interior trim department in house here at Bridge Classic Cars, which allows us to maintain our high-quality services, lower costs and provide tailored custom interior trims for our clients. With a skilled team of three, we attend to worn out, dirty and tired interior, replacing and reworking everything from vinyl, calico, leather, fabric and carpet. We also design new interiors and help classic car owners pick their new colours, materials, and styles to suit the car depending on its age, purpose, or style.
As well as classic car interiors, we also offer boat and yacht interiors as the same keen eye for detail and discipline goes into luxury boat interior as it does for luxury cars.
If you’d like your boat or car interior trim reworked, brightened up or totally re-designed, get in touch at info@bridgeclassiccars.co.uk or give us a ring on 01473 742038 and we’ll be happy to discuss your plans.
Carb Clean Up
We’ve worked on this Jaguar E-Type V12 before but this time it’s only in, in part. Ady has been taking the carburettors off it to be able to strip down, clean and assist.
DB2/4 Interior Progress
Brian has been working to remove the covers from the rear sear rub backs on our Aston Martin DB2/4. He’s taken apart the covers and used them to mark out leather for new covers. He’s then sewn the covers together and glued the original foam back onto the metal seat. Brian has added extra layers of foam over the top of the original foam to pad it out and increase the comfort. He’s then finished by glueing the covers to the bottom edge of the metal backs, leaving the top undone until it is fitted to base section of the rear seat.
Sanding Down The Integra’s Bumper
Lydia has been sanding down our 1998 Honda Integra bumper panels and front grill ready for more restorative work to be done on it.
Riley Back From The Sandblasters
We’ve just received the chassis to our yellow 1951 Riley back from the sandblasters. With all the rust off, we can now start to build it back up.
