A few little electrical issues have occurred on our 1936 Riley Nine so we’ve welcomed the car back in to look at the problem. Turns out, a mouse has made it’s way in and has chewed on a few wires. We have addressed the issues, tidied up the wiring and the car is good to go once again.
Tony recently collected our 1905 Riley 9HP and transported it back to the Bridge Classic Cars workshop.
Now that it is back with us, we can continue getting it ready for its first drive!
April 25, 2024 9:03 am
John has been running the wires of our 1905 Riley 9HP from the front and rear to the batteries. He wired in the switch and the front and rear lights.
Lydia has spent the last few days titivating the Riley before its grand unveiling at the NEC show at the weekend. Mostly, she has been making the last of the buckles and straps needed to secure the spare wheel, and the hood at front and back.
She also made a rubbing patch should the wheel ever come to touch the front mudguard. Lydia also made the leather cover to go from the bottom of the seat to the floor, and this press studs over the rubber mat that has been placed on the floor.
The door cards were also finished and fitted and this meant that the brass strip could be applied to the top.
The backrest of the our 1905 Riley 9HP seat is actually fitted on the body of the car and, as a result, could not be fitted until the vehicle returned from paint. Lydia placed the seat in and began to line up the pleats so that they were straight. She had to stuff the seat with additional coconut fiber to give them extra puffiness and to cover any lumps and bumps in the wooden bodywork. The most difficult part of this was deciding how to get a tidy finish on the front curve of the seat, as she couldn’t staple this to the bodywork.
After Lydia finished stapling the seat to the body, she cut away the excess and then applied piping to the back edge. The raw edges of the fabric will then be covered with a beautiful brass beading that we have bought to replicate the original.
Lydia also made some straps to replicate the original ones, which hold the roof bars at the correct distance apart. The hood has also been made with great care taken to ensure it looks as close to the original as possible.
Various components have been in the paintshop being painted in dtm black.
Lydia made an internal door card for the opening door on our 1905 Riley 9HP.
She first made a template from paper to ensure the correct shape, and then she cut this out from card. She then made her own design based on the pinstriping on the paintwork of the vehicle. She will affix this door card to the door when she has finished staining the wood, and the door handle has been altered and fixed on.
The roof frame of our 1 of 1 1905 Riley 9HP has been in the Bridge Classic Cars paint shop with technician Mauro.
Mauro painted the brackets in black before also painting the wood.
The roof frame of our 1905 Riley 9HP has been in the Bridge Classic Cars paintshop with Mauro.
He has been prepping the frame before applying epoxy primer ready for it to be painted black.
We have received the below pictures which show just how much progress Joby Carter is making on our 1905 Riley 9HP.
As the restoration of our 1905 Riley 9HP is moving into its final stages, the time has come for it to be painted.
For this to happen, Tony and Gordon took the car to Joby Carter in Berkshire. This is so this special car can have traditional methods used to bring it fully back to life.
Once it returns to the Bridge Classic Cars workshop, our Riley 9HP will look as great as its story.
Yesterday, Lydia was preparing the seat backrest that Darin, from Ashbocking Joinery has kindly made for us.
This involved replacing the springs back to their original position and hand sewing them into place. Next came various layers of cotton and horsehair padding, and then working out her fabric allowance with a scrap piece of fabric. This meant that Lydia could then cut the leather.
Lydia has upholstered the base seat of our 1905 Riley 9HP.
She used a 2-inch foam for the base to provide a firm seat so that the driver doesn’t slip out of the seat. She then placed a layer of horse hair on top to give it the correct finished look and feel. This is a tightly woven material which has been needled into hessian sheets.
After this, Lydia cut the face fabric and piping and sewed these together. She used a period-correct paper piping. Then was the border which was made in 2 pieces, and sewed onto the seat face.
Lydia chose to do a border all around so that the seat would have a plump look.
Our 1905 Riley 9HP was originally thought to be just 1 of 3 remaining examples. However, the evidence now suggests that it is, in fact, a 1 of 1 prototype of the first car to have fully removable wheels. This is the moment we started the 119-year-old car in the workshop.
Steve is still working through the few final pieces on the 1905 Riley 9HP restoration. A new final drive chain has been fitted, new fabric body prop, new fabric exhaust has been temporarily fitted to help with routing of coolant pipes.
Our 1905 Riley 9HP has been with a friend of Bridge Classic Cars, Darin, from Ashbocking Joinery.
While our one-off car is with Darin, he has been starting the first phase in the process of mounting the front body and running boards.
Before the running boards are fitted to the car, Darin has been shaping them and it already looks like great progress is being made.
Recently, classic car technician Steve and Bridge Classic Cars Director Gordon took a trip to the British Motor Museum to take a closer look at the Riley 9HP they have on display. The purpose of the trip was to gather more information and references as to how our 1905 Riley 9HP goes together and works.
It’s not quite as easy as simply taking photos and then building our Riley in the same way though, as ours is slightly different to the very small number of others out there. It is strongly believed that we actually have the prototype for the Riley 9HP – the first car ever to have removable wheels. This means that it never looked exactly the same as any of the others produced.
Another challenge the workshop team faces is the age of the car. At more than 100 years old, there aren’t too many people around who saw one of these in their prime or know how they go together. It’s also worth noting that over the last 100 years, it’s highly unlikely that someone hasn’t tinkered with the vehicle in some way, making Steve’s job even harder to work out what is original and what may be a later modification.
That being said, after his trip to the museum, Steve has been hard at work and has made great progress on our Riley project.
He has been trial-fitting various components including the beautiful radiator!
With more photos and a bit more information to hand, hopefully, Steve will continue to make good progress on our very special 1905 Riley 9HP.
We recently welcomed Geoff Haviland into the Bridge Classic Cars workshop, so he could take a close look at our 1905 Riley 9HP.
Geoff was the individual who reached out to us after seeing our Riley project online. He noticed that our car looked different to how it should, and seemed to be a year or two older than it should have been. It was from his information that it now appears that our 1905 Riley 9HP could very well be a prototype of the very first car to have removable wheels.
The level of knowledge that Geoff has about Riley cars is extraordinarily high. In fact, he was one of the main people involved in a project to build a replica of the first Riley car ever made. What makes this even more impressive is that there was almost no information at all about the original car when the project began but, with a lot of hard work, the replica project got underway.
It was great to have Geoff come and see us and our Riley 9HP. Classic car technician Steve, who has been working on the vehicle, spoke at length to Geoff to help confirm some details he will need to finish our project in the near future.
Everyone here at Bridge Classic Cars would like to thank Geoff for taking the time to visit us and for sharing so much of your knowledge and experience.
The time has almost come to say goodbye to our 1929 Riley 9 Tourer. After spending some time in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop, it is clear to see the transformation that it has gone through.
When it first arrived, the interior needed quite a bit of work to bring it back to its current state. Fortunately, classic car technician Brian has been able to do a fantastic job and masterfully took the almost empty interior and turned it into one that perfectly fits this rare classic hill climber.
As you can see from the photos below, our Riley 9 Tourer has come a long way and we are very excited to see it return to its owner very soon.
Classic car technician Chris recently spent some time out of the fabrication bay and in the main workshop while he fitted the metal trim rail to our 1929 Rilley 9 Tourer.
As this classic hill climber is coming to the end of its time with us, it’s great to see it making good progress toward being returned to its owner very soon.
In addition to Chris’s work on our Riley Tourer, Brian has also completed quite a bit of work too. After finishing the hood and cover, he fitted everything back together. During the process of attaching the new roof, the metal trim bar was removed which is why Chris fitted his to the vehicle.
Brian went on to make the window in the back of the hood cover before cutting it out of plastic and fitting it. The rear squab was then re-installed before the rear base seat when in too.
Stud fasteners were fitted to the hood envelope cover to bring our Riley one step closer to going home.
June 12, 2023 9:17 am
Our 1929 Riley 9 Tourer has continued to be in the skilled hands of classic car technician Brian, as he carries on his work on the roof cover and tonneau.
Brian cut out the flaps for the roof bars on the hood cover before he cut out the new sections for the hood envelope cover. After trial fitting the tonneau cover, Brian marked both the front and back covers to show where the zip would need to be sewn in.
The hood envelope then had the sides cut out ready to be sewn, before Brian went on to mark where the fasteners will go on the tonneau cover. Once the steering wheel cover had been trial fitted and marked for sewing, the hood envelope cover and the hood cover were both trial-fitted too. The hood was then clipped to the frame so the side edges could be trimmed straight.
Brian then turned his attention to the interior of our Riley Hillclimber by fitting the rear squab seat brackets and seat.
Holes were drilled in the body of the car for the stud fasteners, and button fasteners were fitted to the cover using a hand tool and punch. The positions of the fasteners were marked before they were attached and the cover flap was fastened to the car.
Once the zip was sewn in place, the front and rear tonneau covers were zipped together and fastened around the car.
Classic car technician Brian has continued his work on our 1929 Riley 9 Tourer.
He first marked out where the front flap goes for the rear tonneau before he made paper patterns for the steering wheel cover. These were then cut out and a vinyl mock-up of the cover was made. Once the steering wheel cover was trial fitted, Brian cut out the front and rear tonneau covers from mohair.
The previously marked-out flap was cut out from mohair, as was the steering wheel cover. Brian then went on to cut a slot in the front tonneau cover for the steering wheel cover.
May 24, 2023 8:25 am
After classic car technician Brian had used paper patterns to get accurate sizes for the roof of our 1929 Riley 9 Tourer, he removed these, folded the frame down, and marked the positions for the stud fasteners.
A trial-fit cover was made from vinyl before Brian fitted the webbing straps to the roof bars using screws and rivets. The straps were held in place by glueing the ends of them around the lower bar. Once the fitting of the straps was completed, the roof frame was folded to make sure it folded as it should. Brian put the vinyl roof pattern to check that it fit before making the roof cover from Mohair.
Patterns for the front and rear tonneau covers were made before they were placed on the car so the hole for the steering wheel could be cut. A cover for the steering wheel was cut out too.
The wooden body of our 1905 Riley 9HP has returned and has been put in place on the chassis of this potential prototype vehicle.
After finding out that our Riley is likely even rarer than we initially thought, it’s great to be able to preserve so much of the original bodywork as we work to restore and bring this historic vehicle back to life.
As the bodywork was carefully lifted into place, you can clearly see the shape of the car really starting to come together.
Now that the body is back with us, the restoration can continue as our Riley 9 gets one step closer to driving out of the Bridge Classic Cars workshop.
Our 1905 Riley 9HP has continued on its way to being restored and rebuilt.
Classic car technician Monty has been working on repairing the exhaust of this prototype car. He was unable to completely finish his work as he is waiting for some extra parts to arrive before he can fully repair and refit the exhaust.
Work continues on restoring this potential 1-of-1 vehicle and we are looking forward to seeing its progress continue.
Our 1929 Riley 9 Tourer has been the focus of classic car technician Brian as of late. He has been making the paper templates which he will then use to make the roof cover of this classic hill climber.
Brian has spent quite a bit of time working on our Riley Tourer lately and a lot of progress has been made. Once the roof cover is made, it shouldn’t be too much longer until it leaves the workshop and is returned to its owner.
Classic car technician Brian has been making and putting together the interior of our 1929 Riley 9 Tourer.
After drilling and fitting screws to the driver’s side panel, Brian made and fitted the supports to fit between the wood beams of the car. The back of the passenger side panels were painted and the driver’s side panel was cut into two sections to make removing it easier.
Brian went on to mark and cut out foam for the panels and glued it to the front faces. The edges were trimmed and the leather for the panels was also cut out. Once the leather was glued onto the panels, Brian removed the floor panels to trim and paint the edges.
The panels were fitted into the car and adjustments were made as necessary to ensure they fit perfectly. Once the rear squab seat had been trial fitted, Brian moved on to removing the front floor panel so the handbrake could be put back in. This was fitted before the floor panel was re-installed and the seat brackets were put back into the car too.
We have recently welcomed our 1929 Riley 9 Tourer into the Bridge Classic Cars workshop.
Looking at this hill climber, it’s obvious that it is a beautiful vehicle. It has a custom-made ash/aluminium body and has been fitted with a 1928 Ford Model A engine. The engine has undergone extensive modifications for competition purposes. These modifications include a 1929 Miller OHV conversion, with purpose-made manifolds and magneto ignition.
Our Riley 9 Tourer is with us for some trim work which classic car technician Brian has already started.
We are looking forward to seeing progress continue and getting this beautiful classic car back to its owner very soon.
The new wheels and tyres for our 1905 Riley 9HP have arrived at the Bridge Classic Cars workshop. Now that they are here, they can be prepared and fitted to our very special Riley.
Since it now seems that our Riley is a prototype for the first car to have removable wheels, the arrival of new wheels and tyres becomes even more interesting.
We have always known that our 1905 Riley 9HP is a very special vehicle. It was believed to be just 1 of 3 remaining examples since it first arrived in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop, however, we have recently learned that it might actually be even rarer and even more special than that!
After being contacted by Geoff Haviland, Chairman of The Riley Cars Heritage Trust, it appears that our Riley 9 is likely to be a prototype for the model that went into production, and was the first automobile to come with removable wheels. If this is the case, then it is a possibility that our Riley is the very first of the first cars to have removable wheels.
The Riley 9HP V-Twin was first released to the public at the 1906 Motor Show and was known as a 1907-season car. However, we have information to say that our Riley dates back to 1905, again, indicating its prototype status. The bench seat of our 9HP also shows its prototype potential as the vehicles that came off the production line had 2 seats instead of the one that ours has.
All signs seem to be pointing to the fact that our 1905 Riley 9HP is something extraordinarily special and helped to lay the foundations of the highly successful run of Riley vehicles that followed.
Since being started for only the second time in several decades, our 1905 Riley 9HP continues to make progress.
With so little information about the vehicle available, our team of classic car technicians are working extremely hard to recreate, rebuild, and bring this rare classic back to life.
Recently, some of the wooden bodywork was re-fitted to our Riley to see what further work needs to be completed on it. The fuel tank was also attached and the holes where the radiator will eventually be attached can be seen in front of this.
Our 1905 Riley 9HP will be restored to as close to original as possible and, with the bodywork starting to come together, it is an exciting time in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop.
Our 1905 Riley 9HP recently came back to life for the second time.
Back in December, classic car technicians Dave and John got our Riley started for the very first time in decades. Recently, they fired it up one more time and, like before, it was a special moment to see a car that is more than 100 years old burst into life.
As the workshop team continue to restore this extremely rare vehicle back to its original condition, these milestones are important to remember.
With only 3 of these cars believed to be left in existence, we are very proud to have captured the moment our 1905 Riley 9HP started for only the second time in many years.
