Our beautiful swing badges have just arrived for the Goodwood Members Meeting at the end of march. We hope that this years event is just as enjoyable as previous years. We hope to see some of the Bridge Classic Cars community there! Do let us know if you plan on attending.
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
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!
Customer, and friend of Bridge Classic Cars, Joerg has sent us these wonderful photos of his beautiful Jensen.
Built in 1935, this was the first vehicle ever produced by the Jensen brothers. They named her the White Lady and that name has stuck with the vehicle to this day.
A truly special automobile, This prototype (Chassis number S1/3799) is powered by a 3.6L Ford V8 which is mated to a three speed manual gearbox. Due to the dual-ratio rear end the white lady effectively had six gears.
What a stunning piece of history! We’re pleased to see this vehicle in the hands of such a huge Jensen enthusiast.
This lovely 72 Peugeot 504 will be coming into our workshop in the coming weeks for restorative works. We will be addressing issues with the paintwork, interior, brakes and chrome.
Friend of Bridge Classic Cars, Phil martin has sent us these wonderful pictures of his Ferrari Dino in Long Melford, Suffolk. These stunning vehicles were produced by Ferrari between 1967 – 1976. Named after Enzo Ferrari’s late son, these iconic classics have aged beautifully.
We love seeing classics such as this Dino out being enjoyed. Please do continue to send us in photos of your pride and joy, we love to see images like this, thanks Phil!
Kath has been hard at work on our Jensen interiors. For the convertible roof she has tackled the following stages
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.
We’ve been making great progress on our 1973 Triumph TR6 restoration.
Within our in-house paint shop, Darren has been working hard on our Triumph TR6 body. Originally brown, Darren has taken the bodywork back to bare metal to ensure the stunning magenta paintwork on the TR6 is perfect. He started by repairing, sanding and priming the Triumph body, ensuring the surface is 100 percent smooth before going into the spray booth for colour. This wonderful magenta was an original factory option offered by Triumph on the TR6 and our customer has chosen this colour for his vehicle.
Mauro has been making great progress working on our TR6’s chassis. He’s fitted new coil springs, brake cylinder, front brake discs, front brake callipers, brake lines, front and rear hubs, rear drum brakes, bushes, ball joints and shock absorbers so far. We’ve also fitted our fully restored suspension arms and uprated bushes to improve ride quality.
.
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!
Our Jaguar E-Type from Beverly Hills Car Club in L.A. has now arrived at the Bridge Classic Cars workshop.
This vehicle will undergo a full restoration. We are currently discussing the specification this vehicle will be finished to. The engine and gearbox appear to be in very good condition so may not need to be refurbished. The bodywork and paint however are in need of some TLC.
Being a U.S. delivered E-Type, this car features a plastic front and rear bumper to meet U.S. safety regulations of the 70s.
Our lovely 1973 Series 3 E-Type has made the long journey from L.A. to Felixstowe and has now been picked up by Gordon and Mauro.
Whilst at Felixstowe docks we spotted some rather interesting vehicles, including a beautiful Porsche SC.
We’ll now be bringing the Jaguar E-Type back to our workshop to begin this total restoration.
Our Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Racecar has been over to Demand Engineering for a full stainless steel exhaust. We elected to go for a side exit exhaust to suit the ethos behind this lightweight race-car build.
Tom has also fitted lightweight perspex glass to the rear windscreen, whilst strengthened glass is fitted to the windscreen.
We’ve made great progress on our beautiful 1960 Jensen 541 R. Bob has installed the wiring harness, front and rear lights and indicators. Paul has fitted the bonnet and bonnet support struts.
This restoration is now really starting to come together. The next stages will be to fit the freshly trimmed dashboard and wire in the dashboard instrumentation.
The wiring harness is labeled by Bob before permanent install.
The bonnet in position before being mounted to the bonnet support struts.
Wiring has now been installed and the lights are tested at this stage.
January 30, 2020 12:14 pm
We’ve welcomed in this lovely Ford Consul to our workshop for restorative works. This fabulous Ford is in such wonderful condition. It truly is a credit to it’s owner.
Whilst with us, the Consul will have a full brake overhaul and engine restoration works.
Pete has been hard at work refurbishing this gorgeous M3’s braking system. He’s replaced the disks and pads before servicing and refurbishing the brake callipers.
Great job, Pete. This M3 is really starting return to her former glory now.
Darren has been hard at work getting our TR6 body ready for paint. He’s carrying out a complete strip down to bare metal, finding and treating rust and carrying out any nessasary bodywork repairs.
Our client has requested this vehicle be converted from left hand drive to right hand drive. To do this Darren has had to alter the bulkhead and reconstruct bodywork to fit right hand drive running gear.
Dave has been working on our wonderful 1957 Jensen 541R. He’s had to convert the door hinges to allow the doors to correctly fit.
To do this Dave has cut out the old door plate and fabricated a new door plate, using our 1960 Jensen door as reference to match it perfectly.
He’s then had to modify the ‘A Post’ on our Jensen to sit 4 inches further forwards towards the front of the vehicle.
In order for Dave to check the fitment on the vehicle, the new hinges have been temporarily tacked together with a mild copper. This is strong enough to take the weight of the door during the test fitting process, yet also easy to remove when we undertake the final welding.
Only once we have the perfect fitment will Dave fully weld up the door hinges and get the panels ready for painting.
Wow, what a beauty! Our completed Jaguar E-Type restoration project was visited by it’s owner at the Bridge Classic Cars workshop. Upon seeing this lovely Jaguar, he couldn’t resist but to take her out for a drive.
Seeing clients of ours happy makes the hundreds of hours spent on our restorations well worth while. We took a look back at how this restoration began and what a transformation this Jaguar has undertaken.
This Jaguar E-Type is now ready to be enjoyed for many a happy mile to come.
January 23, 2020 3:06 pm Leave your thoughts
This lovely 1975 MG B was restored by us here at Bridge Classic Cars last year. It’s been brought in by its owner to fix some running issues with the engine. Upon inspection Ady assessed that the running issues were caused by low fuel pump pressure which would occur after a few miles of driving.
A new fuel pump has been fitted to remedy this issue. Whilst the car was up in the air we’ve noticed a small oil leak coming from the drivers side driveshaft. One of the Inner collars had cracked, allowing oil to break through the seal. We’ve since fixed this by replacing the collar and reassembling the rear hub assembly, ready for this MG B to be taken back out onto the open road.
Chris has been working hard getting our MGA body prepared and painted. After bracing and repairing any rust patches in the metalwork, he moved onto preparing the bodywork for paint.
The underside was the first part of the vehicle to be painted. Interestingly, the underside of the body is painted in coloured Raptor. Raptor is a protective coating that provides a barrier, reducing the chances of rust appearing in the future. It still delivers a perfect colour match to the regular paint, however, it has all the protective qualities to prevent the underside from corrosion.
Once the shell has been baked off, Chris will flip the body over and move onto painting the topside. Great work, Chris!
Here at Bridge Classic Cars, we’ve acquired a very early example of a Morris Mini. We’ve got big plans for this Mini. As pictured, there are still remnants of the original, Cherry Red paintwork. We intend to fully restore this lovely little vehicle to original specification and colour.
This lovely ’62 Jensen 541 S has been collected and brought back to the Bridge Classic Cars workshop. It’s in for paintwork correction and a other remedial works.
Our classic car technicians have a wealth of well experience with Jensens. As such, we’ve picked up a lot of Jensen restorations over the years with clients eager to have their cars seen to by Jensen experts. They are beautiful cars, but also present many demands and challenges in order to restore with the finest quality. Rest assured, this Jensen is now with our expert technicians who will see this lovely 541 S back on the road, ready to be enjoyed soon.
Tom has picked back up work on our 1965 Amphicar, a vehicle that can travel both on land and water.
Tom has been busy fabricating new floorboards, using the original, rotten flooring as a template. He’s also refitted all the rubber seals and started assembling the rear seats.
Kath has been busy in Bridge Classic Cars’ Trim Shop. She’s been working on our Daimler Dart hardtop refurbishment.
Kath started by removing the old headlining off and stripping back the surface. She then prepared with foam and primed brackets and cut new boarding for the edging to ensure a seamless, tight roof lining.
The next stage was applying the brushed nylon headlining.
The roof will now head over to the paint shop for fitting of the rubbers, a final polish and inspection.
We’re in the early stages of our TR5 restoration. We need to asses which parts of the vehicle can be refurbished and which components will need to be replaced. As such, we will be stripping down every component and assembling from the ground up to ensure everything is in perfect condition.
Pictured below, Andy is stripping down the wheel hubs.
Paul has continued work on our lovey 1960 MG A. He’s fitted the rear axle with brakes. The leaf spring suspension and a fuel pump have also recently been installed onto the car. The MG is now ready for the half shafts and brake drums to be fitted next.
Ady, Bridge Classic Cars’ in-house engine specialist has been working on a complete engine restoration on our 1960 MG A engine.
Here is a brief rundown of Ady’s process:
We were at the 2020 Autosport show, hosed at the NEC in Birmingham. There were an incredible selection of vehicles and trade stands on show. Here are just a few that caught our eye.
We also visited the Autosport live action arena to see some live demonstrations.
The Live Action Arena is a unique experience. Described accurately as “petrolhead heaven” it’s an intense 60 minutes of thrilling entertainment that offers an unrivalled variety of racing action, driving demonstrations, record-breaking stunts and celebrity appearances. https://www.autosportinternational.com/
Work continues on our Bedford J-Type. We’ve had to extend the fuel tank pipe to meet the new, wider body shell. We’ve also fabricated brakets for the spare wheel to sit underneath the truck. New exhaust hangar mounts have also been fabricated and installed.
Tom has also restored the door stands, preparing, priming and then painting them in a jet black paint.
