When you are working on a car that is more than 100 years old, like our 1905 Riley 9HP, it is extremely challenging to find all of the parts you need in a ready-made state.
That’s why classic car technician Dave has been putting his experience and skills to good use by making a carburettor plate for our ultra-rare Riley.
Our 1905 Riley 9HP is believed to be one of just 3 examples left in existence so getting it back up and running is a task we are taking very seriously.
Considering our 1905 Riley 9HP likely hasn’t been started since the 1940s, classic car technician Dave has been working extremely hard to get it back up and running.
At more than 100 years old, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the days of our ultra-rare Riley HP running are long gone, but we are incredibly excited to say that this is not the case!
With some help from workshop manager John, Dave was able to bring our Riley back to life and managed to start it up recently.
Starting a car like this isn’t as easy as turning a key in the ignition, a lot of effort is needed to turn the crank to get things fired up and running as they should.
Long before Dave knelt down next to the car and started his effort to ignite it back into life, he spent countless hours getting it into such a condition where starting it up was even considered a feasible option.
It may have only been running for a few seconds but, at more than 100 years old, after being sat in place since the 1940s, and with only 3 of these stunning cars thought to be left in existence – those few seconds of running were more than enough to get everyone here very excited about what the future holds for our 1905 Riley 9HP.
Our 1905 Riley 9HP has been going through a big transformation over the last few weeks. A big step towards this ultra-rare car looking more like it should was when the wheels were fitted. This was a great opportunity to see much more clearly how our finished Riley will hopefully look.
However, classic car technician Dave has been taking our 9HP through an even bigger stage of its transformation and restoration by trial-fitting the wooden bodywork.
This was the first time in a very long time that the bodywork and chassis were together in what is likely to be their final configuration.
While it’s still not the right time for everything to be secured into place, this trial-fitting gave everyone here at Bridge Classic Cars a clear view of how special this car truly is.
Even Dave couldn’t help himself and had to take a seat in the car he has been working so hard to bring back to life.
Obviously, there is still a long way to go before our 1905 Riley 9HP is ready to leave us, but it certainly won’t be too much longer before the sound of the engine is heard throughout the workshop.
Starting the engine for the first time in decades will be an extremely special moment and it is one we are very much looking forward to.
The photos below show just how much of an impact having the bodywork on the chassis has on the car. A huge amount of work has gone into the project to get it to this stage and it is always rewarding to see it make big steps towards its finished state.
You can’t get much rarer than our 1905 Riley 9HP. With only 3 believed to be left in existence (including the one in our workshop), we understand how important it is to bring this truly classic car back to life.
Our team of highly skilled classic car technicians have been working hard to rebuild our 9HP and, despite numerous setbacks and challenges, progress is still being made in the restoration of this more-than-a-century-old car.
Classic car technician Dave has been continuing work on our 1905 Riley 9HP.
He has recently added the wheel hub nuts and the nut locking ring. As work continues on this truly classic car, it has already come a long way since it first arrived at the Bridge Classic Cars workshop.
With quite a bit of work still to do though, the whole team here are excited to see this car back in its original state and ready to head outside for its first drive in a long time.
Our 1905 Riley 9HP looks very different to how it looked when it first arrived at the Bridge Classic Cars workshop.
Working from photos, drawings, and a whole lot of skill, our classic car technicians have been making progress on the restoration of this ultra-rare car.
Recently, the wheels have been attached to our 9HP making it look just a little bit more car-like. While there is still a long way to go before it can be driven out of the workshop, the addition of the wheels certainly does a good job of showing how far things have come with this classic car.
On the 19th October 2022, at 1 pm, an H and H Classics auction will take place at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford. It is here that our 1934 Riley 9 Lynx Tourer will be available for sale.
This beautiful classic car has been with us for a little while but, the time has now come for it to move on to a new owner. If you want to know more about how you can become the new owner, take a look at it on the H and H website here.
H and H describe our 1934 Riley 9 Lynx as:
“Introduced in 1933, the Lynx Tourer had much in common with its similarly rakish and elegant Kestrel Saloon sibling. Notably low-slung, both were four-seaters that placed their occupants between the front and rear axles. Powered by a ‘sports’ version of the Coventry marque’s advanced ‘twin-cam’ four-cylinder 1087cc engine mated to four-speed manual transmission, the pair enjoyed a level of performance that belied their 9hp tax rating. Based around a ladder-frame chassis equipped with all round semi-elliptic leaf-sprung suspension and bias-adjustable drum brakes, they were known for their crisp handling too.
Recently repatriated to the UK, ‘AXR 525’ is offered finished in a vivid Blue with a Black full leather interior. A 1934 Riley 9 Lynx Tourer, from the second year of production, the car hides its 88 years incredibly well. The car has lived part of its life in South Africa where the climate appears to have preserved both its paint, wood, bodywork and interior remarkably well, and evidently a testament to the level of care and attention given to the car by its previous owner. The Lynx Tourer comes with a UK V5C.
During the car’s residence with the vendor, we are told that it has been given an inspection by his restoration team. A ‘full’ service, carburettors rebuilt, rear lights and wiring were replaced, as well as a small repair carried out to its folding soft top roof. Additionally, the brakes have had some mechanical fettling, with adjustment all around and road tested on several occasions by the vendor. The gearbox is described as working smoothly, and the engine runs evenly and is said to be balanced through the revs. This is an attractive example of the 9 Lynx Tourer built by Riley which still wears its original brass chassis plate on the top of the firewall. A pre-war classic that would be a beautiful addition to an existing collection or as a single pride and joy for an enthusiast owner.“
Our 1905 Riley 9HP has been in the Bridge Classic Car workshop for quite some time now. Restoration work on a car like this is extremely complex and can only be done by expert classic car technicians.
Dave has been putting his close to five decades worth of experience to good use by getting more work done on this truly unique car. If you haven’t heard the story of our Riley 9HP before, then it’s one you should definitely make yourself familiar with.
Firstly, the fact that there are believed to be only 3 of these cars left in existence should be enough to grab the attention of any classic car enthusiast. One of the remaining three is in the Gaydon Motor Museum, one is thought to be in a private collection, and we have the third in our workshop which is the one Dave has been working on.
Initially, our 9HP was missing a radiator. While we searched for a way to source something that could be used as a replacement, we were extremely fortunate to be offered an unbelievably rare Riley 9HP radiator that had been found during a house clearance. Not only was this radiator a match for our Riley, but it was actually very likely the radiator that had originally been in the car.
While we may have had some good luck with the radiator, the rest of the Riley has been much more challenging to restore. As there are only 3 left, there are only 2 others we could potentially look at in order to see how the finished vehicle should look.
We were offered the opportunity to visit the Riley 9HP in Gaydon Motor Museum which we took and were able to get a whole load of photographs that would hopefully help us rebuild this incredible car. It’s these photos that Dave has been using as a reference to try and bring everything back together in its original form.
Relying on photos and a wealth of experience shows how skilled our classic car technicians really are. There aren’t too many people out there who could take on this type of work but, fortunately for us, we have experienced technicians like Dave who are determined to get the job done.
The most recent work Dave has completed on the car was making the water return pipes from the cylinder head, fitting the front stub axles with bearings, along with fitting the anti-tramp bars too.
It’s worth repeating one more time that our 1905 Riley 9HP is one of only 3 left in existence. We have one of the last remaining examples of this truly classic car and we look forward to seeing what the future holds for it.
The paint shop at Bridge Classic Cars have prepared and painted the rear axle assembly for our 1905 Riley 9HP restoration project.
Since returning from the blasters, the paint team have been getting all of the bare pieces into the spray booth to be finished in gloss black, the same as the rest of the frame. This will be left to cure properly before being reunited with the rest of the prewar tourer.
August 31, 2022 12:57 pm
The restoration team at Bridge Classic Cars have been working hard on recreating the coolant system on the 1905 Riley 9HP.
Our technician Dave has been busy carefully making up new coolant pipework for the 117-year-old tourer. These are being made from brass and copper, as it would have been originally. For this, Dave removed the water pump from the engine block after taking countless measurements in order to create a jig that meant Dave could more accurately solder the entire piece without worrying about it moving.
After this, everything could be test fit back onto the car. Dave remade the now long-gone gaskets by hand before the pipework was tested and then painted in the glossy black.
August 31, 2022 11:53 am
The chassis and engine from the 1905 Riley 9HP has recently been delivered back to the Bridge Classic Cars Suffolk HQ after being blasted by local specialists.
After being brought back, the paint team thoroughly cleaned down every part before taking it into our in-house paint booth. The team then set-up the system to finish the whole unit in a beautiful gloss black as it would have been originally.
We’re excited to see the restoration of the 1905 Riley 9HP progress even further very soon!
August 22, 2022 12:38 pm
The rear axle and differential on the 1905 Riley 9HP is on their way back to the Bridge Classic Cars workshop after being sent away for blasting.
The process that was suggested would preserve some of the 117-year-old Patina and help to show the originality of the car.
August 5, 2022 10:38 am
Friend of Bridge Classic Cars, Carl, has been down to pick up the restored radiator for our 1905 Riley 9HP from Newquay for the project.
The radiator, which was found during a house clearance, was taken to Newquay Radiators to be restored and reworked so it’s as good if not better than new. This is a massive piece of the restoration journey for 117-year-old Riley and we’re excited to start getting everything back together!
July 11, 2022 10:15 am
More often than not, in the history files of our cars here at Bridge Classic Cars we’ll find some little gems that help to build and understand the story of a particular car.
This time, we found a few loose photos and a drawing from inside the history file of our 1934 Riley 9 Lynx. The car was exported from the UK to South Africa before many years later making its way back home to us. Well, thanks to the photos we now know that was the 10th of March 1973 in Southampton. The car was literally driven to the docks and loaded up, bound for its new life.
A life that we could see in another photo with our friend John behind the wheel. John was the previous owner of the car before us and loved his pre-war Riley. So much so, that we also found a cartoon of the car dated from 2004 which shows John and some friends huddled around the car with what appears to be an Ostrich in the back seat…
It’s always amazing when we find these little nuggets of nostalgia locked away within the paperwork of the car. These hidden treasures tell as much of the story as the invoices, receipts, notes etc. We love it when we find these types of bits and pieces.
Also, this very car is still up for sale! Head over to MyClassics now and take a look!
June 29, 2022 2:57 pm
The paint shop at Bridge Classic Cars have painted the restored fuel tank of the 1905 Riley 9HP as part of its restoration.
The team cleaned down the recently restored and tested fuel tank before painting it satin black to go back on the car.
June 24, 2022 11:38 am
Our 1905 Riley 9HP has had its steering wheel removed by the workshop team here at Bridge Classic Cars to be sent off for a new cleaning process specifically made for delicate or antique parts. The steering well was sent to Re-Go Auto Parts in Kent where the team could carry out the process.
The original steering wheel shows 117 years of ageing across the wooden and metal surfaces of the piece. With a new process of Laser cleaning, the team could be extremely precise with just where and how strong the laser was. They cleaned up the main spokes of the steering wheel with a relative high-powered pass to clean off the steel but made sure that the power was turned down when passing over any softer materials like the aluminium.
The wood wasn’t touched by the laser. This was hand-cleaned by the team at Re-Go to bring it back to as close to the original as possible.
It looks absolutely incredible and we cannot wait to get it back to our Pettistree workshop to have a proper look at it.
June 24, 2022 7:45 am
The workshop team at Bridge Classic Cars have been working on preparing the 1905 Riley 9HP for the next stage of its restoration journey.
Our technician Dave has been capping off any openings in the engine block or gearbox case after removing the entire rear axle and differential from the pre-war antique Riley. Then, Dave could move on to removing any small fixings and cappings which are too delicate to withstand the media blasting process.
The choice of blasting shot material is going to be plastic as this has been selected for the nearly 117-year-old metalwork due to not being as extreme or harsh on the material.
We can’t wait to see the frame and all the metal parts return for the car! So, keep an eye out here on the Bridge Classic Cars news page for more updates very soon.
June 24, 2022 7:00 am
The 1905 Riley 9HP has had its rear differential and suspension pulled off the chassis to be moved to the workbench for the Bridge Classic Cars workshop to rebuild/refresh.
After testing last week, the team pulled the pieces from the chassis to pull apart and rebuild. The rear differential has had new ball bearings and races put in and everything cleaned up and regreased. The rear swing arms were also pulled out to be inspected and the mounting holes redrilled and cleaned for the new shackle bolts to slip through with no binding.
Finally, the team have been working on the spark plugs for the car and inspecting the correct gaps and spacing on the new adapter.
June 20, 2022 8:21 am
The workshop team at Bridge Classic Cars have begun the process of test fitting and aligning the original rear axle into the chassis of the 1905 Riley 9HP.
Dave, one of our technicians, has been trying to get the shackles around the axle in order to test fit the mounts to the trailing arms. The shackle bolts which came with the car are believed by dave to be replacement pieces as they are of a different style and size to the single original which came with the hoards of spare parts.
But, the team have managed to get everything into place to test the operation of the chain driven rear differential.
June 16, 2022 1:54 pm
The original radiator for the 1905 Riley 9HP has been with our friends at Newquay Radiators to be completely refurbished and rebuilt for the project.
This is an important part of the restoration project being down by our in-house team at Bridge Classic Cars. It looks absolutely incredible and we love to see the craftsmanship that goes into jobs like this by the best specialists we know.
May 24, 2022 10:15 am
The Bridge Classic Cars in-house trim shop has begun the process of carefully taking apart the original interior of the 1905 Riley 9HP in order to recreate and understand the car better.
The original leather was brittle and stiff, so Brian carefully began to remove the trim pieces in order to best remove it from the car as complete as possible to use as a reference when it comes to making the new piece. Each item that has come off the car has been meticulously catalogued and stored for the restoration project even the original springs and hessian backing of the seat and all the hardware.
This is a very exciting part of the project and we’re excited to show you more progress on the 1905 Riley 9HP soon here on the Bridge Classic Cars news page.
March 16, 2022 11:37 am
The radiator of the 1905 Riley 9HP has been collected from Devon in order for it to be taken to a specialist and refurbished ready for the restoration of the car here at the Bridge Classic Cars HQ in Suffolk.
Our director Gordon made the drive down to the West Country to collect the radiator from our friend Carl who picked up the radiator from the auction house who originally found it and got in touch with us about it.
From there, Gordon made his way through Devon but stopped in Padstow where he couldn’t help but stop and stare at the stunning Caterham Superlight.
After the stop, it was onwards to the guys over at Newquay and Exeter Radiators where the now 117-year-old piece will be refurbished and restored for the car. The guys at Newquay and Exeter Radiators wasted no time beginning to assess the radiator and showing the damage and solder work previously done to the component.
We’re really looking forward to getting hold of this incredible piece of the puzzle that is our 1905 Riley 9HP.
March 16, 2022 11:13 am
The doors for the 1951 Riley RMB are currently at local joinery specialists Ashbocking Joinery to have the wooden sections of the doors assessed and replaced.
As you can see from the photos, the doors aren’t in the best condition, but Darren and the team at Ashbocking Joinery are working their way through each of them methodically to perfectly recreate the frames.
Darren and the team at Ashbocking Joinery are using what is left of the original wood as templates and then meticulously interpreting any missing pieces into the design.
This is all happening alongside the metalwork which is being down by our own in-house master fabricator, Clinton.
January 19, 2022 8:25 am
Our master fabricator here at Bridge Classic Cars, Clinton, has sent through some close-up and detailed photos of the wings of the 1951 Riley RMB to illustrate the state of the panels before our teams begin working on them.
The level of corrosion and warpage on the original pieces is clear to see in the photos and takes a highly skilled and talented fabrication specialist to get the metal to be in the right shape and fitment. This is a photo of a single piece from the 1951 Riley RMB to highlight just how much work goes into each and every restoration that comes through the Bridge Classic Cars restoration workshop.
January 14, 2022 1:43 pm
The Bridge Classic Cars in-house fabrication shop is working on the wings for the 1951 Riley RMB that we have in for restoration by our amazing teams.
The car is currently with our incredible fabricator Clinton, who has been working on repairing the wings for the classic Riley. He has carefully removed rusty or corroded sections of the wing of the Riley in order to repair them and thanks to his skill and talent, completely disappear into the existing metal.
The new pieces have been entirely hand-formed by Clinton in cour in-house fabrication shop for the Riley RMB using traditional techniques and practices. As you can see, the results are absolutely fantastic.
January 14, 2022 10:58 am
The brass parts of the 1905 Riley 9HP are in need of a clean and refurb. So, these are being carefully catalogued and packaged to be sent off to a specialist to come back as good as new.
These parts are over 100 years old so special care is needed with the refurbishment of them. Bridge Classic Cars works closely with a series of trusted and well-respected specialists for jobs such as this to ensure the best long-lasting results on the parts that are sent away from us here.
January 13, 2022 10:18 am
The Bridge Classic Cars in-house restoration teams have been working on getting the beautiful 1934 Riley 12/4 Lynx running properly.
Our technician Jon, has been heading up the project. After the Riley had been fully serviced, Jonn noted the engine wasn’t running the best it could. With that, he removed the SU Carburettors and began to inspect and assess each and every component. There was quite a build-up of sediment inside the bowls of the carbs so Jon began to clean out both of the carburettors. Still, the car wouldn’t run right.
Our parts department managed to get hold of a set of rebuild kits for the SU’s and Jon began to take them apart in order to fully rebuild the carbs. After rebuilding the units and then getting them adjusted just right, the Riley Lynx ran perfectly!
January 11, 2022 8:32 am
This 1934 Riley Lynx we have in at Bridge Classic Cars has got a few issues. Mainly electrical and involving the lights. So, our restoration technician Jonn has started to dig a bit deeper into it.
Upon inspection, Jonn found that the rear lights in the car had been wired in using what appeared to be an old household cable. Not the correct way of doing things. Jonn inspected all of the wiring for the Riley and found that a lot of it would need to be replaced in order for the car to be safe and to find out why the rear lights had not been working.
Jonn began by replacing the wires individually and testing their continuity as he want. Wire by wire he remade the harness for the rear lights in the proper way and ensured they were all safe and secure, once he began testing the lights he found that the rear lights that were fitted still did not work. Replacement ones were ordered and once they have arrived, Jonn fitted them to the car.
Once he tested the new lights, he found they had a dead short inside and kept blowing fuses in the car. So, Jonn took the new units apart and fixed the problem easily. Then, once they were working we noted they only intermittently worked. Jonn traced the issue back to some wiring issues at the front of the car and a faulty switch.
After the wiring at the front and the switch had been replaced and resolved, everything worked! now, it was time for Jonn to have a look into the leak carburettors.
January 7, 2022 9:17 am
The Bridge Classic Cars in-house trim shop have been working the magic on the 1934 Riley 12/4 Lynx. With the rest of the car in the workshop with our restoration technicians, some of the interior pieces have been handed over to our very own Kath to do what she does best.
First across the trim table is the Tourneau cover. This piece needed a few repairs doing to it which Kath has managed to get done by combining traditional techniques with modern materials and approaches. The edges of the pieces had become heavily frayed so Kath created all new edging to surround the deep back cover. Also, several small leather pieces inside the cover had deteriorated, which Kath managed to create a template for and replace with new material.
Kath also replaced several of the tin snaps which fix the cover to the body when the soft top is folded down and stowed. So, with that completed and pressed. It was time to get it back into the car and on to the next job for this beautiful 4 door tourer.
December 20, 2021 2:14 pm
The 1934 Riley Lynx is in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop today to begin work on the list of jobs that need doing on this amazing classic tourer.
First off for the Riley, is a full service and set up to make sure it’s running in perfect condition. For this, our in-house restoration technician Jonn has begun to inspect and replace the serviceable items on the car. Many will purely need cleaning up as they are in amazing condition but it will still be thoroughly gone over and serviced by Jonn.
There will be more updates very soon on the Bridge Classic Cars news page.
December 14, 2021 11:16 am
