Our 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona recently visited Hangar 111 to make use of their rolling road.
This was the best way for the 6 carburettors to be correctly set up.
Our Daytona is a very eye-catching car and it always draws lots of attention from any visitors we have to the workshop.
Lots of progress has been made on our 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona and we look forward to seeing it returned to its owner very soon.
Classic car technician Brian recently installed the glovebox radio in our 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona. He started by making the cardboard patterns for the inner section of the glovebox that would hold the radio.
He then cut out the base from mill board and the centre sections from plywood. To make sure everything was exactly the right size, Brian trial-fitted the front panel and radio before moving on to the next step in the process.
After a successful trial-fitting, Brian went on to fit the side panels of the glovebox as well as making and fitting the rear bracket. Once this was complete, he could cut and glue the Alcantara (a synthetic suede-like material that is referred to as a “material of the future”) to the front edge of the glovebox.
The radio was then put into the box and everything was ready to be installed in the car.
Once the glovebox and radio were in the car, Brian turned his attention to the glovebox lid. He first fit a piano hinge to the lid and screwed it in place before fitting this to the dashboard in the car.
The finished product of the glovebox and radio look very impressive and we are very pleased with the result.
Our 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona is getting closer and closer to being complete and we are extremely excited to see this beautiful car drive out of the workshop and back to its owner in the very near future.
The trim team at Bridge Classic Cars have been working on the interior of the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona with several key jobs finished off for the car.
The team have fitted in the final carpet pieces to the cockpit of the Daytona. The trim team have hand-finished each of these pieces which includes fixing the rubber panels and installing the clips onto the pieces before being fitted into the car.
From there, the team could turn their attention to the centre console. This was trimmed in match green leather to the rest of the car. Each individual piece of the centre console has been perfectly made and trimmed by hand to make sure that it fits the console beautifully and is tailored specifically for it. Even down to perfecting and refining the handbrake lever cover.
Then, the team could begin to work on the door cards of the classic Daytona. The fibreglass cores that sit at the heart of the panels have been reworked by our body team to allow them to sit in just the right place and flush to the tops of the doors. Then the interior team could begin to fit the handmade ribbed panels and grab handles onto the doorcards. Once everything had been fit up properly onto the door cards, 3mm thick foam could be cut and formed to be fixed onto the fibreglass pieces for the car.
April 28, 2022 10:56 am
The in-house trim team at Bridge Classic Cars have been working on getting the headliner sorted on the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona.
The team began with a basic paper template so they could make sure the final piece had the best possible fit and finish to match the rest of the bespoke interior going into the classic Daytona replica. From there, the whole piece was transferred to fabric. The original headliner was used as inspiration as it had metal strips welded in to give the vertical lines in the padding, this new headliner has the same pattern but is stitched.
We’re excited about the progress on the Arrow Daytona and look forward to showing you what’s happening next on the classic Ferrari replica.
April 19, 2022 1:39 pm
The workshop at Bridge Classic Cars has worked on getting the AC/Heater Unit fitted into the interior of the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona.
Scott has made brackets to adapt the mounts on the AC/Heater unit to the dash structure in the Daytona. The piece was carefully test fit into the car and bolted down before the freshly retrimmed dashboard was placed over it to make sure the fit and finish were perfect on the car.
Next, he turned his attention to the handbrake on the car. The lever has been fitted with a genuine Daytona cover and then the bracketry fitted onto the transmission tunnel, painted and bolted down. Then the necessary cables could be run to the rear brakes.
March 22, 2022 11:29 am
The dashboard from the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona is in with the Bridge Classic Cars trim shop to be recovered after its reshaping by the restoration technicians.
The dashboard has undergone several modifications and revisions while in the body shop, so with that, it has gone upstairs to our in-house trim shop to be retrimmed in black vinyl. This retrim is completely bespoke to the dash with every hole, seam and panel hand-cut and templated by the team.
Lydia made individual templates for each piece using reference materials and photos of the original Daytona pieces to first test fit for the vinyl pieces, and so that any revisions could be made to create an entire piece that fit the dashboard perfectly for the classic Daytona replica.
March 7, 2022 8:48 am
The glovebox of the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona is being worked on by our restoration workshop at the Bridge Classic Cars Suffolk HQ. It’s having some modifications done to give this piece of the car the perfect fit.
Scott has been in charge of working on the fibreglass pieces of the dash to get the entire dash (and all the pieces) fitting perfectly and as close to an original Daytona as possible. Scott has had to cut and section the glovebox door to allow the pieces to have a uniform opening and close lines for that complete and flawless fit you would expect from a restored Daytona.
The Bridge Classic Cars restoration technicians have an excellent of understanding working with composites (especially Fibreglass) due to our extensive work on the Jensen 541 family of cars. So, working on the Fibreglass 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona means we can make sure that the fit and finish of the entire car is perfect.
March 4, 2022 10:48 am
With the engine bay wiring loom routed for the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona, the Bridge Classic Cars restoration technicians could begin work on the dash and interior loom.
The wiring loom for the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona has to be carefully laid out and routed throughout the entire car. Rob, one of our technicians, has been working on cleaning up unnecessary wiring for the car and then making sure the harness is carefully wrapped in loom tape to protect the wires from any chafing and to bundle them together for tidiness.
Rob has split the harness into each of the individual systems like it would have been done on the original Daytona and neatly put them into the wire carriers.
March 2, 2022 8:54 am
It has been a solid week for Scott on the rebuild of the Ferrari Daytona. The brake lines are now in, along with the new fuel filler neck, headlamps and rear lights.
The indicator clusters need to be altered slightly prior to fitment so that will be a job for the beginning of next week.
Scott’s making great progress on the build now. Middle of next week we’ll be looking at re-installing the monstrous V12 engine.
Lydia and Brian have been working on various panels for the Ferarri Daytona. Lydia has taken off the original leather and the screws from the sun visor panel to clean the fibreglass, ready to be recovered. She has also been taking the covers and foam off the A, B and C posts and sanding off the old glue. She then glued on s fresh 3mm of foam before wrapping the posts in new stretchy vinyl. Brian has removed the old cover from ‘c’ posts, sanded and filled any fibreglass to make it smooth before recovering in new vinyl. He has also removed the cover from the ‘a’ posts and cleaned the metal so it’s ready to be recovered. He did the same for the B panel too. Brian then removed the cover from the rear window top bar and cleaned up the fibreglass. He added new foam onto the top bar and glued new vinyl onto the rear of the panel. He repeats this process on the a, b and c panels too.
Kath has been recovering the head rests with new updated modifications to make the head rests a slimmer design on the clients request.
Kath has made the skirt and clipped the four sections together in position before sewing all the parts together. After sewing the mock together, Kath could refit the foam. She then unpicked the skirt ready to cut out new parts to then sew together. Once all sewn together, Kath could place the cover over the frame to see how it’s going to fit. With a few modifications, the cover fits perfectly and the skirt folds over the back of the cover. For the inner piece, Kath drew around the centre of the foam, marked out new leather, clipped together the pieces and finally sewed them all in. Once she ensured it fit perfectly, she could assemble all the pieces. She repeated the process on the second headrest.
Lydia has also been working to make the centre rear carpet section. The original carpet was red, which she needed to remove first before cleaning all the glue off the base. She drew around the original pieces of carpet to make out the new template which she then cut out new leather from. Once this was done, she sewed around the edges of each carpet to bind, then glued around the surround section. She then glued the fabric into place.
James has just started making up a brand new bespoke dashboard out of fibreglass for our Daytona. This will be a detailed and difficult process but worth it in the end.
Scott has been working to add new springs into the front suspension. He is also working on removing the front cross member mount bolt which has seized. This eventually will be holding in the front suspension.
The body of our Ferrari Daytona has officially left the paint shop and found its place in our main workshop, ready to begin the next step in its mechanical journey. The doors, boot and bonnet are set to be completed imminently and will join the body to be fitted.
Scott has been working on re-aligning the front suspension of the Daytona as well, making sure all the elements fit back together nearly after its refurbishment.
The trim shop are continuing with the interior with Lydia focusing on the rear quarter panels. She started off by taking the original leather and foam off them both, glued new 3mm foam onto each one and placed new leather over the top. She then turned her focus to working on the bottom sills where she started off by taking the original leather and foam off and sanded off the surface rust.
Brian has continued to strip down the old door panels and has added new foam to the panels as well. He’s then marked out new leather for the doors, glued the cover around the edges and pulled the leather tight. Brian also turned the fabric over the edges of the hole for the centre section and speaker hole. He has also fit rubber grommet for the door lock button to finish.
Lydia has also continued to take the covers off the seats. First, she undid the bolts holding the wide bars down which hold the seat in place in the car, then she drilled the rivets outs holding the covers into place. Next Lydia took out all the rusted staples which originally held the covers in place. Lydia had to twist the hog rings out, which were holding the inner seat cover tight around the frame as well as cutting the strings holding the inner seat tight in the middle and at the top. She then took the metal bars off that hold the rubber webbing over the frame and took the inner cover off, and then had to drill out a couple of more rivets to get the surrounding cover off.
Scott has been working on the suspension for our Ferarri Daytona. He’s replaced all the UJs, bearings and bushes on the front and rear suspension. He’s also started to reassemble the front and rear axles.
Brian has been marking up the old armrest covers ready to make new covers. He used the old pattern as a template to cut out the new leather, glued in the new metal trim for inside the handles, added the foam and glued up the edge of the arm rest. By pulling the arm rest tight and stapling it down, Brian can get a neat finish.
Lydia has been working on putting together the seat covers by adding pipping around the outside, adding calico underneath which gets pulled over the bars in the frame to keep it tight. Lydia then marks out the new back and skirt on fresh leather. Lydia sews on the hem to the skirt and adds the pieces back together.
Kath has been working on making the test run for the head rests. She starts by drawing around the inner section and adding the seam allowance. She then makes up the skirt, clips it together and sews it in place. Kath then makes the pattern for each part of the head rest, marks out the positions on the leather and foam and sews it all together. Once all the parts and skirts as sewed up, she fits it onto the foam head rest and adjusts it to fit. Once she’d modified it to fit perfectly, Kath can then sew round the inner section and fit that. Once that the pattern is made, Kath finds she needed to unpick the stitching and mark out the parts in he sage green leather.
Matt and Chris in the paint shop have smoothed and flattened the paint so its looking really shiny and even. Once the doors and panels have been painted, it can all be fitted together.
Lydia has continued making the seats for our Ferrari Daytona. Now with a whole new colour pallet, this is more than renovating the seats, its a total make over.
Lydia had to position the black insert strips onto the leather in the marked places for the squab covers and sew them into place. Lydia then punched holes out of the Insert Strips and stuffed scrim foam in-between the insert strips. She then sewed all round to seal them into place. She then sewed the middle strip between them.
Our specialist classic car painter, Matt, has been working on spraying our Ferrari Daytona its new green colour. Having sat in primer, Matt could then mask up the body, apply a base layer and then finish by applying the final colour. The doors, bonnet and boot still need to be done separately however we’re very excited to see this major development in the Daytona’s restoration.
Chris has also been working on the Daytona paint work and has sprayed many of the internal components black.
Kath has been working on the seats for the Daytona. Last week she rolled out and marked all the leather for two seat faces. Once she’d marked out the foam ready to stuff into the fluted panels, Kath cut the calico out so that all the seat faces were ready to be sewn together. All the parts for the seat face with the black strips were then laid out ready to be added to the frames.
Kath has been working on the Daytona seats again. The face of one of the seats wasn’t sewn straight originally, so Kath found that all of the red strips were uneven, and the centre strip wasn’t centralised either. With this in mind, Kath roughly drew around the original to get a basic shape before then making a template. Kath had to work out the distance between the black strips to make sure all the holes in the strips are even all the way down each strip.
Once Kath had worked out the correct measurements, she cut out the template and laid it into the seat. She found that the sides needed more as the frame came out, so she amended it to run along the seat frame in a nicer fashion.
Once Kath was happy with it, she cut the template up to make individual parts, and worked out the seam allowance around the frame and punched holes.
The pattern was then ready with all the parts to be marked out now for the final trim. Lydia is up next to make the cover.
The Ferrari Daytona is currently sat in primer and is being smoothed and prepared for its final paint step: the official colour. Before it can be painted, it needs to be masked. We hope to see the shell painted by the end of the week which will mark an exciting milestone in this restoration.
Here are some examples of different stitching options for the interior of the Daytona. The trim is set to be a similar tone of green to the exterior.
Scott has also been continuing his welding to the front subframe of the Daytona. The bottom of it was heavily damaged so he cut the damaged area out and straightened the supports inside. He then, cleaned up the rust inside and treated it by applying a zinc primer. Scott then fabricated a new panel and welded it in. Finally, he dressed the welds so it was ready to go to paint.
With Scott’s Land Rover hiatus now over, he can get back to the Daytona. Today he’s been welding the front cradle that holds the suspension as the element was suffering from some intense rust and corrosion. With new patches welded in, Scott can put it aside to fit once the Daytona has come out of paint.
Scott has drilled out the spot welds that held the spring locator into the spring seat to gain access to the rot underneath. He then cut all affected metal out and cleaned up rust off the sound metal and applied a zinc primer to the parts he knew wouldn’t be able to access after its welded back up. Scott then fabricated a new piece and welded that in place. After repairing the spring locator, Scott lined it up perfectly to where it came off and then placed it back on. He finished by grinding flat the plug welds so that once its painted it will look like it’s never been touched. Success!
The Daytona shell is sat in the paint shop in a bright green primer as we prepare it for its final paint. Chris hand made the green primer by adding a tint of green paint into the body primer. This allows the final green paint to sit more naturally.
Meanwhile, the interior trim has landed in the trim shop for our team to begin tackling. Lydia has begun taking apart the seats by removing the old and deteriating staples. Lydia then drilled out all the rivets, hiding the bottom flap in place and the sides. the next step was to undo all the bolts with a spanner which were holding these metal bars in place. These metal bars hold the seat down into the car on the floor. Lydia then begun undoing all the laces that run through the back straps and the inner seat cover. After more staples were taken out, Lydia had to undo these metal bars holding the edges of the rubber straps in place going along the back. Before Lydia could start to get the covers off, she had to then cut the strings running down the middle, which help the cover keep tight. Lydia could then take off the middle cover from the foam and frame, peeled the foams off the rubber straps that were held in place with glue and took the outer cover of the foam and frame. Once the covers had all come off, Lydia could then look at the construction of them properly and start marking them up to help make new ones in the future.
Scott has continued blocking out the Ferrari Daytona after its recent visit to the paint bay. All the primer has now been blocked down on the body. There’s a few more imperfections to smooth down before the next primer coat but otherwise, its almost ready for the next step!
The term blocking out refers to smoothing over the body and filing out any imperfections to make sure the body is all straight and ready to be painted.
Now that the Daytona has been primed and prepared in the paint shop, Scott has taken it back into the fabrication bay to continue smoothing over the body. The primer allows for any imperfection in the lines of the body to be seen more clearly and can therefore be addressed easier. Scott can make sure that the body lines are straight by sanding it down using a block.
Heres some progress photos from inside the fabrication bay and the paintshop. Its exciting to see such a huge project progress so well.
The Daytona entered the Paint Bay today under the trusted hands of Scott, one of our classic car technicians. We’re very fortunate that so many of our engineers are multifaceted in their skills, allowing us to, at times, dedicate one technician to an entire restoration. We of course get our specialists involved in these instances, but its great to see an individual technician lead a restoration from start to finish. This is what we’ve done with Scott, who’s a very experienced and talented classic car engineer. Assigning him to just one restoration means that he will see the total project from start to finish, taking on multiple disciplines. Under the supervision of our paint specialist, Scott tackled the primer stage of painting our Daytona.
Here we see him focusing on masking up and cleaning the body of the car, wiping clean all the elements in the preparation of the primer.
The cleaning process is an important part of the primer preparation as it removes any dust or debris that may interrupt the primer.
The next step was for Scott to apply the black epoxy primer on the chassis and engine bay. This black layer is a non-porous, high-bonding, anti-corrosive primer.
Scott’s next task was to spray on Polyfan Primer which is a polyester filler primer.
The final step was to apply an anticorrosive primer onto the underside of the Daytona. These steps can take all day as each layer must dry before applying the next. The advantage of this is that the paint booth is kept warm, making a cosy workplace during these cold winter days.
If you’ve been following us for a while, you’ll know we love getting behind the scenes shots and behind the behind the scenes shots! Here’s Ellie, our in house photographer and latest member to the marketing team, snapping Scott prepping the Daytona.
The Daytona is days away from entering the paint shop and we can’t wait! Scott is currently masking it up to protects elements of the body we don’t want to be painted such as the sills.
We’ve also engineered a frame for the Daytona to sit on to allow Scott to get under and around it easier.
Scott has continued to prep the body of the Daytona by preparing the chassis and engine bay for paint.
Scott has removed the heater blower to gain access to repair the rotten battery tray. The repair was done by cutting the rotten metal out and making a new panel to be welded in.
Scott has continued to clean up and remove rust from the chassis and engine bay to get it ready for paint. He’s also removed rust from the A posts by using a rust treatment. Scott has then repaired where the fibreglass of the body meets the steel framework of the ‘A’ posts that had been damaged by rust.
James has also been working on our Daytona. He’s removed the lower part of the left rear lower subframe mount as it had a snapped and rusted bolt. He made a replacement and location bracket to ensure that the new thread remains centred. Once this was made, James then welded it back in place.
Kath has been working on creating a custom dashboard by refurbishing the existing parts and designing elements as the client wishes. After stripping the dashboard, Kath will then start to recover the parts. The client has requested a custom dashboard with piano hinges. Many of these components are also original Ferrari pieces that the client has sourced, making this project not only a Ferrari Daytona Replica but a custom replica.
Kath removed the cover from the glovebox and dashboard to reveal the wood underneath meaning it is now ready for one of our workshop engineers to modify.
Here is Kath’s process:
The steering rack has been sent off to Kelly Bray Steering to be refurbished as it was leaking and the steering arm is bent.
Scott has continued with the fabrication and bodywork on the Daytona. This mostly includes going over the entire shell with filler to make sure all surfaces are smoothed over and perfected to allow the layers of paint and primer to sit correctly on top.
We’ve also sent the chrome off to Tony at Wyatt Polishing and hope to have them back soon so we can begin fitting them after the body has been painted.
There’s a long list of work that’s going on with the Daytona, which mostly has Scott at the helm. The brakes have been sent off to be refurbished at Norfolk Brake and Clutch, the chrome work will be sent to our friend Tony Wyatt and we will do the stainless steel refurbishments in house. As seen in a previous Daytona update, Tom has taken apart the rear axel so it is now ready to be sandblasted. We’ve also found a leak in the differential which needs to therefore be rebuilt, as does the steering rack after finding a leak there too.
Scott has also been focusing on doing filler work on the Daytona body. He’s been repairing any imperfections in the body and getting neat panel gaps. This is done before we prep the body for paint.
We also discovered a large amount rust on the chassis which will need to be repaired and fabricated.
Scott has also removed the radiator and oil cooler, and stripped some elements out of the engine bay to make it easier to prep for paint. He has also removed the front and rear windscreens too.
Tom has also stripped down rear and front axle ready for it to be sandblasted and painted. He’s also checked the bushes and sub-frame condition. Tom has prepared the power steering rack to be repaired as well as the brake callipers.
January 20, 2021 2:19 pm
We’ve sent off the chrome to be re-worked and polished at Tony Wyatt Polishing. Once these come back clean and new, we can set them aside to be re-fitted once the car is painted.
Our 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona replica has some big colour related changes coming it’s way. It’s been sat comfortably in a stunning red however shades of green are on the horizon that is sure to turn passers-by a similar shade of envy.
We understand that the exterior colour is likely to be an Aston Martin Sage Green which means the interior is likely to be a similar shade to match. As it stands, the choices are likely to be between the patches below.
We’re excited to see this what this already stunning red Ferrari Daytona will look like after it’s dramatic jump across the colour wheel.
Scott has been working on preparing the Daytona door frames by welding the bottom to correct the rust damage. He’s essentially grounding out the rotten parts before we send it off to chrome.
Here’s a closer look at the Daytona engine we have sat here waiting to be installed. This huge piece of machinery is what gives the Daytona its iconic power.
Tom has been stripping down the rear axel by cleaning and preparing it to be refurbished.
Scott has removed and repaired the sash on the door glass as it was rotten. It was then painted it and bonded it back onto the glass. Scott then cut any rotten bits out of the door frame and welded in some new metal and then got it ready for chrome. Scott has also removed the door handles and got them ready for chrome.
Scott has also removed the complete front axle assembly and the radiator to start checking over to see what needs to be refurbished.
Here’s the rest of the work Scott has been doing to the Daytona:
And so it begins, we cannot wait to begin work on our Arrow Ferrari Daytona restoration.
This car will be treated to a new engine rebuild, full respray, interior restoration and any other nessasary works to get her back on the road.
The original Jaguar V12 engine currently in the car has blown. There has been a replacement Jaguar V12 engine sourced, which has been restored a number of years ago. Before it goes back into the car it will be sent down to to Rushden engineering, specialists in V12 Jaguar engines for a complete rebuild.
