Matt’s been continuing his transformation work on the 1973 Jaguar E-Type Series 3. The outside of the body has now been painted Fern Grey to match the inside! There are photos and a small write-up of the inside and the newly painted front frame in yesterday’s blog post, which you can access by clicking here.
There are other parts that are now in the line-up to be painted, so watch this space!
Lydia has also continued sanding down the primer on parts for the E-Type. This time, the door hinges. They were gone over with 500-grade soft pads, grey scotch after and cleaned off with panel wipe.
Ady has been continuing his investigation into the engine of the 1971 Lotus Elan. He’s replaced the points condenser and coil and put fresh oil in the car. The underside of the car needs looking at next, where the suspension bushes are.
We’re welcoming this 1971 Lotus Elan into the workshop! It’s in here because it doesn’t run, so the engine needs checking over to see where the issue(s) lies. Stay tuned for progress on the matter.
Ady has started investigating this Lotus Elan’s engine after the owner bought it into us because of it not running quite right. He’s found that the tips of the points are black, which is not what they should be, and explains why there’s no spark in the engine. Stay tuned for more progress on this…
Scott has been getting up to speed on the front axle of the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona. The only tasks left to do on it is that the steering rack needs to be installed, the shocks need to be mounted and the front anti-roll bar needs to be installed. After all that, the front axle will be completed!
Lydia has continued sanding down the primer on various parts for the 1973 Jaguar E-Type Roadster Series 3. This time it was the gearbox cover, boot hinges and door rubber channels. The gearbox cover had 320 soft grade on the front/face, 180 soft grade underneath and grey scotch pad all over afterwards. The boot hinges had 500 soft grade and then grey scotch pad. The door rubber channels also had 500 soft grade and grey scotch. They were then all cleaned off with panel wipe to get rid of sanding and paint dust.
After thinking the 1977 Daimler Double Six would only be in and out rather quickly, James has unfortunately discovered layers of more corrosion than expected on the right-hand side, front inner wing and chassis rail/leg. The whole inside of the subframe is corroded. So James has been going through it all and working out which parts can be repaired and which parts need to be replaced altogether.
Sometimes this is the way with classic cars. You think you have the problem noted down and are prepared for it, but then you start uncovering more than expected. Thankfully we have a talented group of staff that are there to solve these issues!
Dave has been working on the 1960 peony red Jensen 541S. He’s adjusted the cover for the gearbox so it can come apart for an easier inspection. Bolts have been fitted so it’s fixed in securely but also has a way to undo. We definitely have clever people working for us!
Lydia has also had a part to play in this process by sanding carpet, glue and paint off one of the floor panels that sits underneath the gearbox.
Our 1978 bronze Lancia has recently been getting some TLC. This car is an upcoming competition car and is being serviced just like all the other competition cars, to make sure it’s in good condition before it heads to a new home!
Mauro inspected the vehicle all over last week and now John has been doing work to the brakes after it was found that they were sticking and would go on but not come off. New brake lines have been put on the front and have solved this issue.
Kath has been fitting the second front base seat cover to its foam and frame for the 1955 Aston Martin DB 2/4. It’s exactly the same process as the other front base, which you can read about here.
Lydia has finished sanding down the primer on the front frame for the 1973 Jaguar E-Type Roadster Series 3. You can read about the process here. The sanding dust has been cleaned off with panel wipe, ready for the frame to be painted now.
James has been continuing his repair work on the 1986 Daimler Double Six. He’s now finished the left-hand side, which you can read about the process of here. The same work will be carried out on the right-hand side now.
Dave has been working on the 1975 Triumph TR6. He’s installed a new speedo cable and new clips to go on them. On the original, there was a bad earth connection and it appears that the car had been driven with this happening, which meant the cable had melted. Another problem that he encountered was that the angle box had been destroyed from the drive out of the gearbox. Dave had to, unfortunately, take the interior out to access the drive and speedo cable, which always adds time to the process of anything. He also found there was a missing split pin on the offside bottom trunion.
Dave is now in the process of doing the 4 wheel alignment, which means putting lasers on it and setting up the geometry of it all. Shims have to be put in, to square everything up.
Brian has been re-covering these rear quarter backboards for the 1963 Bentley S3 Continental. They came to us as bare wood, without the original leather on. Brian put some poly-flex filler on parts where it wasn’t flat and sanded this down. He then cut some 3mm foam out for the top part and glued this onto the wood. New leather was marked out and cut out to cover this foam and was glued below the foam and underneath at the sides.
Brian has been re-covering a few more pieces for the 1955 Aston Martin DB 2/4’s interior.
The rear seat top panels have been done. He took the original leather off the wood and cleaned off any old glue that remained. He used the original leather covering as a pattern on the new leather to draw around and then cut out. Brian then simply had to glue the new leather onto the original wood, wrapping the leather around the edges and sealing underneath to provide neat edges. This panel will sit on top of the rear seat once in the car, which just provides a cover so there isn’t a gap. If you think of a modern car and its parcel shelf, that’s the position this will be in.
The sun visors have also been recovered. Brian started the process by taking the original material off the boards that formed the sun visors. He then used these boards to work out the measurements of new fabric he needed to cut out. He cut out new boards and then glued the new headlining fabric to one side and wrapped around the edges, sealing in place. Brian trimmed down the flange down one side on lengths of piping and glued it to the inside edge of one board. He then attached the other side of covered board to finish the sun visors.
Scott’s been sorting the fuel system for the 1968 Jaguar E-Type 1.5 4.2.
There was a smell of fuel in the car, which he tracked down to a bad gasket between the pick up pipe and the tank. The gasket had been made from a corrugated cardboard box, would you believe it! So Scott went about making a proper gasket made from cork. He then cleaned out the pick up well in the tank because it had a load of sediment in. The sender unit was also cleaned and was re-fitted. The fuel system was then flushed through to get rid of any bad stuff that was in the lines. Scott then plumbed it all back in and checked for leaks. He found that it leaked at the filter and one banjo union on the centre carb. Also, the float had got stuck on the rearmost carb, which meant it was overflowing. So the float level was adjusted and all is working fine now.
Now that the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona is back in the workshop, Scott’s been straight back to work with it. In these photos you can see he’s started to reassemble the rear axle back together. An interesting point to make with this car is that the discs are on the inside of the rear axle rather than on the actual wheels.
Just a quick update here to show photos of the 1973 Jaguar E-type Roadster Series 3’s hood frame that’s recently been painted by Chris in the paint shop.
John has been giving the heater valve some attention on the peony red 1960 Jensen 541S. When it was being tested, the heater was blowing hot when it was actually being set to cold on the control. So John set about changing the valve for it to work properly.
James has been doing the last bits of welding repair work on the 1998 Honda Integra Type R. He removed the left hand quarter panel and repaired around the wheel arch. Then he finished the spot welding around the rear wheel arch.
James has got the 1986 Daimler Double Six in the fabrication bay and has been starting the welding work on it!
He’s been concentrating on the inner wing and bonnet hinge housing area today. He found there were spot welds that had been previously been put in and weren’t holding anything in place, so he’s given that some attention and welding parts in properly. He’s also taken out the corroded areas so he can fabricate replacement sections.
Here we have a new arrival to the workshop, a 1977 Daimler Double-Six. It’s only in for a small amount of work, which is that both front inner wings need to be repaired and painted and there’s a sheered bolt that needs removing from its trailing arm. Stay tuned for the progress!
Another little update on the 1955 Aston Martin DB 2/4 coming your way!
In the trim shop, Kath has been re-covering the door straps. She began the process by taking the original leather off one of them and using it as a pattern for both of them on the new leather. Once cut out, she sewed the new leather piece onto each one, by hand. The way that it was sewn couldn’t have been done by machine.
Kath has been doing more seat work for the 1955 Aston Martin DB 2/4. This time around she’s been fitting the front base seat covers onto their foams and frames. She’s already sewn up the new front bases, which you can read about here.
The process started with Kath adding sections of new foam to the original, where it had deteriorated, and blending it in. She then cleaned off old glue from the wood around the straps and re-painted it. She also tightened up the straps after becoming loose from age. Kath took the original strip of wood from the gap in the foam, cleaned it up and attached it to the end of the calico piece that was sewn into the new front base seat. This piece of wood gets attached to the underneath of the foam and straps frame and helps keep the middle piped section down into place. Kath glued a piece of black calico to the wooden frame, to give a neat finish behind the straps. The front base seat could then finally be stapled onto the wooden frame. After that was done, the metal seat sliders were fixed onto the underneath of the seat and the matching front squab was attached to it on top.
Kath is now in the process of fitting up the other front base, so stay tuned!
Mauro has been doing a little work on our 2005 Aston Martin DB 9. The panel that went from the rear seats to the parcel shelf in the middle was rattling so he took it all apart and adjusted the metal bracket that holds it in place.
This week we’ve welcomed the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona back into the workshop after it’s been in storage for a little bit of time. The last time it was in here was back in March when the body had just been painted and the seats had finished being re-upholstered. You can read about its progress so far here. Stay tuned for updates!
You can read about the full story of this car here!
At the start of November 2019, this 1968 Triumph TR5 came into our workshop as a part restoration. In January 2020, the components were stripped to assess which parts could be refurbished and which parts needed to be replaced. In February 2020, the interior work began and the chassis was built up. In March 2020 the seats were finished, the body shell was repaired and we welcomed in a delivery of parts. In April 2020 more body shell repair work was carried out. In October 2020 the body was mounted onto the chassis and electronics were carried out. In November 2020 heat resistant paint was applied to areas. In January 2021 engine bay work was carried out, work on corrosion was carried out, colour matching to the paintwork was done and windows were fitted. And from then to June this year, the finishing touches were put into place.
Fast forward to today, where the car is now complete and ready to go!
Lydia has been sanding down the primer on the front frame for the 1973 Jaguar E-Type Series 3. This was simply done with 500-grade soft sanding pads all over. This is all prep for the final coat of paint!
Today we delivered this maroon 1959 Jaguar Mk I to its rightful winner! The draw for this car was held last Sunday at the annual Helmingham Hall Festival of Classic and Sports Cars. This has a bit of story that goes with it! The winner was actually at the event but we couldn’t track him down! In the end, we put a post out on Facebook quoting the winner’s name asking for help from the public to contact him, and it got over 30,000 views! Hours later, we got hold of him and he’s now received his prize.
Brian has been continuing the interior trim work for the 1955 Aston Martin DB 2/4.
This time, he’s been working on a pair of dash trays and a pair of under dash panels. For the dash trays, Brian started the process by taking off the rubber lip that went around the hole, then took off the original fabric pieces. He cleaned off as much original glue from the metal frame of the under dash panels. He then lay out the new headlining fabric chosen for the car, and placed the original fabric pieces on top of it, using them as patterns. Once marked out around, Brian cut out the new fabric and the first piece to glue onto the metal was the centrepiece. Glue was applied to the back of the fabric and to the metal and then Brian slowly attached the fabric to it, after the glue had gone tacky, making neat cuts around the hole so the material sat nicely. The inside sides were also covered in headlining fabric. Brian then cut out grey leather for the outside of the under dash panels. These pieces were glued on, then the finishing touch was to place the rubber lip back on.
For the under dash panels, Brian simply took the original headlining fabric off them, sanded down the excess old glue, used the original fabric pieces as patterns on the new headlining fabric, cut out, and glued the new material onto them.
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