classic car restorations

Head Gasket Delivered and Ready to Test our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4

The bespoke head gasket for our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 has arrived at the Bridge Classic Cars HQ.

This means that the team can now begin getting everything back together, including its beautiful one-piece clamshell front end before it begins testing very soon and then delivered to its excited owner.

Inspecting the Brake Calipers on the 1973 Dino 246 GTS

Steve has been working on the driveline of the 1973 Dino 246GTS while the car is in the fabrication bay at the Bridge Classic Cars workshops.

After pulling the calipers off the car, Steve began to inspect the units on the bench. Looking into them, he found that the piston seals had failed causing the internal pistons to corrode and become stuck in the body of the calipers. These will be sent off to be completely refurbished and looking as good as the rest of the car will along with some of the other driveline parts which have been sandblasted ahead of refinishing and refurbishment by the team.

Reprofiling the Rear Arch on the 1975 Cobra Replica

Our body shop team have been working on the 1975 Cobra Replica which is going through its restoration journey at the Bridge Classic Cars workshops.

Whilst working on the panels gaps and line up, Mauro noticed that the relationship between the rear tyres and trailing edges of the arch was different from side to side. After checking that the axle was square in the chassis, which it was, the team found that it was an issue with the mold when the body was cast. So, Mauro had to carefully measure, cut and sections the rear part of the arch to make sure it was even on both sides of the car before fibreglassing it back into the body and then could continue his work on shaping the bodyshell.

Work Continues on our 1973 Rover P5 Coupe

Jon has been working hard on the 1973 Rover P5 Coupe, this time he’s been working inside and underneath the classic 70’s coupe.

”Adjust nearside chassis seam to avoid exhaust flange hitting floor. Flange is fixed in position so unable to turn.investigate headlights not working. Eventually trace to faulty switch and also main beam dip switch faulty. Continue to wire in new fans. Route wiring and tape into loom. Find ignition live feed and fit connector so able to make connections when ready. Remove air filter assemble and inspect throttle linkage etc.”

”Finish wiring fans. Mount brake fluid reservoir with bracket supplied. Investigate horn not working. Check horns for power supply, ok. Remove steering wheel centre push. Short out wiring and horns worked once or twice and now they don’t. Check continuity from horns to steering wheel, none. Start looking at tracing horn wires.”

Drivers Side Metal Repairs Complete on the 1973 Dino 246GTS

The Bridge Classic Cars fabrication team have finished up work on the drivers side of the gorgeous 1973 Dino 246GTS. Chris has been working incredibly hard to make all of these panels from scratch to make sure they all fit perfectly on the car as well as allow him to take his time blending them into the original bodywork.

With this side now complete, Chris can move on to getting the passenger side of the car into the same condition.

Making a New Carpet Set for our 1952 Fiat 1900A

Our trim team have been hard at work on the 1952 Fiat 1900A which is in the finishing workshop at the Bridge Classic Cars HQ. Our trimmer Lydia has been making a whole new carpet set from scratch for this unique classic Fiat to fit perfectly inside the cabin and to replace the original which was very heavily worn and damaged.

Stripping Down the Suspension of the 1973 Dino 246GTS

Our technician Steve has been working on the 1973 Dino 246GTS at our Pettistree workshop. At this point he is beginning to strip down the suspension of the car to be inspected, so with that he has taken many reference photos for the car when it goes into the finish room for reassembly.

Under Lock and Key – The 1967 Morris Traveller Transported to Storage

Another classic is on its way to be looked after at our secure and discrete storage facility – The Hangar. This 1967 Morris Traveller has been at the Bridge Classic Cars workshops in Pettistree to have a few jobs done by our classic car restoration technicians in the past couple of weeks but this morning the car was handed over to our transport team for them to take it over to The Hangar.

The car will be stored alongside the rows of other beautiful classic cars and motorcycles in our weather sealed facility – Looking for somewhere to store your classic/collectible car? There are still a few places remaining!

Upgrades to the 1973 Rover P5 Coupe

Jon has also been working on a few upgrades to the 1973 Rover P5 Coupe whilst its in our workshops.

This time, he’s been fitting electric pull through fans to the radiator of the car to help with cooling that glorious 3.5-litre V8. Jon built up the new fans onto the cage to make sure that they fit correctly and there was no obstructions for wiring or the fans themselves. Then, he carefully removed the radiator which had previously been drained, with the hoses already being on the job sheet to be replaced he still took his time to make sure that everything was checked and inspected at every stage.

Whilst the radiator was out of the car, it also gave Jon access to look into why the horn on the car wasn’t working. Power to the unit was correct so Jon traced it back to an earthing issue on the steering wheel, which he fixed. Then, he mounted the new fan cage to the radiator before carefully putting the whole assembly back into the nose of the classic Rover. He soldered and secured the connectors for the fans in place before mounting the relay into the inner wing for easy access.

Continuing to Tune our 1973 Porsche 914

The workshop team at Bridge Classic Cars are continuing to get our 1973 Porsche 914 running as good as it looks. Jon has been tuning the car through multiple road tests to get it to behave correctly in all different conditions – after making some adjustments, he noticed the car had a slight misfire. He traced this back to cylinder 2 which was giving off a weak spark and narrowed it down further to a fouled plug. So, a whole new set has been ordered for the aircooled flat-four.

Repairs on the 1973 Rover P5 Coupe

Our technician Jon has been working his way through the list of jobs on the 1973 Rover P5 Coupe which is in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop at our Pettistree site.

Here’s what Jon has been up to, ”Start repairs. Customer reported one rear door doesn’t lock. I found NSR door button doesn’t go down very far when locked but door is actually locked. Lift button and door opens, so leave for now. Lube all locks and handles. Adjust drivers door striker but door pins worn and door dropped slightly. Lights: Strip rear number plate and test bulbs. Replace 1 bulb. Check power supply ok and earth good. Clean contacts and test, ok, reassemble. Our indicator not working. Strip light and test bulb, ok. Trace wiring inside boot and found loom taped up and wires pulled out of connection. Strip loom. Reconnect indicator wire and swap side repeater wire from side light to indicator power and test both, ok. Reassemble. Repeat same process for NSR repeater. Swap wire from stop light feed and swap to indicator feed and test. Tape up looms. Investigate fuel gauge and temp gauges not working. Check fuel sender, short wiring and gauge still doesn’t work. Remove gauge and test, ok. Both gauges run through voltage stabiliser. Drain coolant and remove radiator.”

Fit Up – Getting Everything Lined Up on our 1975 Cobra Replica

Our paint and body team have been working their magic on the 1975 Cobra Replica currently in at the Bridge Classic Cars workshops here in Suffolk.

Our technician Mauro has been on this project and at this stage, he’s been working on getting the panels onto the car (bonnet, boot and doors) in order to check and adjust to make sure the body lines are correct and all the panel gaps are exactly how we like them to be.

Hadleigh & District Classic Motorcycle Meet at Whatfield

This past weekend our director Craig, an avid biker, took a trip down to a local bike meet at Whatfield with a close friend, Luke, who just passed his test to check out this Hadleigh & District Classic Motorcycle Meet.

Pretty much the entire history of motorcycle history was represented and Whatfield Community Centre on a glorious summers day. Take a look here:

A Few Quiet Moments with our 1960 MGA Roadster

As this project comes closer to completion, earlier this week before the Bridge Classic Cars restoration team began work on the 1960 MGA Roadster I got a few quiet minutes to photograph this truly stunning classic sports car.

The paint and body team have worked incredibly hard to perfect the fit and finish of this wonderfully nostalgic machine. So, I had to take this opportunity before they take the car back into our paint and body department to finish off and finesse the last few bits and pieces.

Special Motorcycle in Storage

We get to caretake and look after some incredible machines, we also share that passion for storing and preserving them to ensure they are kept perfectly for their owners. Much like one of our recent arrivals, a 2013 Harley-Davidson Breakout.

One of just a handful of these sensational cruisers known to be in the UK, its owner has asked to care for the bike in our safe, secure and discrete storage facility – The Hangar. There we can make sure it is kept at a consistent temperature and safe from the elements in our specific motorcycle room which is purely built for holding two-wheeled beauties in hibernation.

If you have a motorcycle or a classic/collectible car that you want protected and preserved, get in touch with the team today.

New Arrival – 1995 Toyota Celica GT-Four

The team here at the Bridge Classic Cars HQ in Suffolk have welcomed a new addition to our classic car workshops with this 1995 Toyota Celica GT-Four.

This 4-wheel-drive, 2-door coupe will be checked over by the team here to make sure everything works as good as this thing looks!

Reinforcing the New Workbenches at our Workshops

As the work inside our new finishing workshop begins to ramp up with the first series of projects being moved into the former Atelier, our technician Steve has been working on reinforcing the new workbenches to accept the new vices and allow them to be more robust as one of the most used workshops items in our restorations, we want to make sure that they are safely and securely bolted onto the new workbenches.

Building Up the Idler Arm of the 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe

The 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe has been making some incredible progress in the last couple of weeks at the Pettistree workshops. As part of the restoration of this vintage Aston Martin, our technician Rob (who is the technician in charge of the project) has been working on building up some of the suspension and steering components.

This time, he has been working on the idler arm for the steering of the car. With some new fittings and pieces, Rob has been fitting them back into the newly refurbished original housing.

Inspection of the 1963 Fiat 500

Our technician Jon has been tasked with taking a look at our this beautiful 1963 Fiat 500 which has come in with a quite the noise according to its owner. Here is Jon’s report:

”Raise car on ramp and go through customers list of issues. Fit small circlip to offside wiper linkage beneath scuttle panel and test. Investigate starter issues. Check start pull cable. Cable moves but doesn’t engage starter. Inspect starter and found 1 bolt missing and starter motor insecure in Bell housing. Disconnect battery and remove starter. Found starter gear badly worn and requires replacement. Find new bolt that fits bellhousing when new starter arrives. Whilst in the air inspect underneath. Found gearbox/engine mount is loose and nut fallen off offside mount.”

With that, Jon has begun to carry out more inspections with the tyres and running gear along with some small repairs such as fitting a new bolt to secure the gearbox mount and the checking and topping up gearbox oil to the correct level. He also reshuffled some of the fuel lines around so as to not have it kink while in the car.

Repairing the 1973 Dino 246 GTS

The beautiful 1973 Dino 246 GTS which is in the fabrication bay at our Pettistree workshops has been under the skilled knife of our fabrication Christian. For this stage of repairs to the 70’s sports car, Christian has been repairing the passenger side of the car.

To begin with, Christian has begun to repair the inner arch section. The original section was cut out of the car and used as a template for him to create a perfectly fitting replacement specifically for this area of the car. To do this area, Christian (along with the help of the technicians in the workshop) removed the passenger door from the car but this also gave him the opportunity to begin repairs to the bottom of the doors. Much like the inner arch, this area’s replacement panel has be specially made specifically to fit the Dino perfectly and give the best fit and finish for the car.

Washer Jets and Intake on our 1956 Jensen 541

Our Carriage Green 1956 Jensen 541 is getting closer to the end of its restoration here at the Bridge Classic Cars Suffolk HQ. Paul, the technician heading up the project, has been making amazing progress in the past couple of weeks.

Today he’s been fitting up the washer jets into the car before plumbing them into the pump. Then he moved onto fitting the air filter to the airbox for the triple carburettor set up currently fitted onto the 541 and finishing it off with the fabricating the front grill vents to finish off the look of this incredible 1950’s GT car.

Compression Test on the 1973 Rover P5 Coupe

The 1973 Rover P5 Coupe which recently arrived at the Bridge Classic Cars workshop has been under the careful hands of Jon and John in our Pettistree workshops.

At this stage, Jon has performed a compression test on the car as part of the checks he’s been asked to do. For this, Jon removed all spark plugs from the legendary 3.5-litre V8 to check and gap them, whilst also removing the relay for the new electronic fuel pump. Then, he began to perform the compression test which was reported as ‘all ok’ meaning everything was within specification.

Tuning and Set Up Work on our 1973 Porsche 914

The workshop team at Bridge Classic Cars have been working on getting our 1973 Porsche 914 tuned and set up to run perfectly. The classic aircooled sports car was brought up to temperature by our technician Jon, to correctly set the timing of the car before taking the car out on road test.

On road test he noticed a positive improvement in the driveability of the car but the carburettors will require some adjustments made to them which the team will look into what the best combination is for this particular car.

Brake Lines and Master Cylinder on our 1987 Mercedes 500SL

The 1987 Mercedes 500SL is currently getting fitted out by the Bridge Classic Cars team at our Suffolk HQ. Jon, one of our restoration technicians, has been working on beginning the braking system on the 1980s V8 roadster. To begin with, he’s been laying out the brake lines to make sure everything fits correctly around any existing components and up to the master cylinder which has also been installed on the firewall. Whilst doing that, he’s methodically cleaned up any parts which also needed installing onto the car.

Revisions to our 2022 Bridge C-Type

Our workshop team have been working on fine tuning our 2022 Bridge C-Type as part of the cars sign off. The team at the Bridge Classic Cars workshop, have taken the car out on test multiple times and worked on a list of revisions which need to be done to the car. Firstly, the suspension.

It was noted that the front suspension of the car sits too high, so during the process of lowering the ride height our technician, Jon, noted that the threads on the adjusters have become damaged and were very poor in their design and fitment. So, the units have been removed from the car in order for the team to engineer a new, improved solution.

At the same time, the team wanted to take a look at the Dynometer. For this, Jon slackened off the auxiliary belt to remove the pulley so it could be measured. After inspection, Jon found the issue was that the pulley size was too large and a new, smaller pulley is being sourced for the car.

New Home – Our 1989 Porsche 928 S4 Meets Its New Owner

Our transport team made the journey yesterday from the Bridge Classic Cars workshops in Pettistree to deliver our 1989 Porsche 928 S4 to its excited new owner, Steve.

Steve recently won our 928 S4 through Bridge Classic Cars Competitions and as part of winning the car, we delivered it straight to his door. The car was moved inside of our secure and enclosed trailer for our driver Tony to make the journey with complete confidence that the car was safe and sound for its excited new owner.

We want to wish Steve many happy miles with his new V8 Porsche and hopefully will see it on some adventures throughout this year.

New Arrivals – 1963 Fiat 500 & 1973 Rover P5 Coupe

Our Pettistree workshops have welcomed 2 new additions this afternoon. The first, is this beautiful 1963 Fiat 500 which belongs to a long time client of ours. It’s come in for the team to get to the bottom of a few unwelcome noises with the car which the team will begin to get to the bottom of when the workshops open tomorrow morning.

Next up, is our 1973 Rover P5 Coupe which has come into the Bridge Classic Cars Suffolk HQ to be checked over by the workshop team to see what condition this fabulous 3.5-litre V8 classic saloon. We love these classic Rover’s here at our workshops so its always pleasure when another one comes through our workshop doors.

Another happy winner! Our 1971 MGB Roadster heads to its new home

Our 1971 MGB Roadster has made its way up to Scotland to meet its excited new owner Jamie! Our classic MGB was won by Jamie through Bridge Classic Cars Competitions a couple of weeks ago, and the day finally came for our transport team to take the trip north from our Suffolk HQ to drop off Jamie’s new dream classic in our enclosed transporter.

We want to wish Jamie many happy miles with his MGB Roadster. If you want to be just like Jamie, head over to the Bridge Classic Cars Competitions website and enter to win your dream classic for just a few pounds.

Close to Perfection – Our 1975 Jensen Interceptor is finished

Our paintshop have finished work on our 1975 Jensen Interceptor here at the Bridge Classic Cars Suffolk HQ. This car has had a considerable amount of work done by both our fabrication team and our paint and body team, each and every hour poured into this car perfectly illustrates the skill of our team.

Finished in a stunning shade of Bronze, this classic Jensen will be heading back to its owner who has chosen to finish the restoration themselves and we are so excited to see the finished car hopefully very soon.

Interior repairs on the 1952 Fiat 1900A

Our trim shop can work wonders, just like with the interior of our 1952 Fiat 1900A. This incredible one-of-one Fiat has been carefully worked on at the Bridge Classic Cars Suffolk HQ by our trimmer Lydia, who has been generally tidying up the whole interior and repair some small parts of the headliner of the car to try and preserve the cars originality.