The new fuel pickup for our 1953 Aston Martin DB2/4 fits other models so has longer pipes than needed. Steve has modified it so it now fits the tank on our car.
The front suspension crossmember of our 1953 Aston Martin DB2/4 has been stripped and overhauled. New bearings and seals were fitted to the main part, then the steering idler was stripped and new parts fitted. Now it has been masked up for a clear coat with the other aluminium parts, this will stop any future corrosion and protect the parts for the future.
Some parts of the suspension were also painted in black satin.
James has stripped the front suspension and hub parts of our 1953 Aston Martin DB2/4 ready for painting. Some of the bolts and pins were seized and had to be drilled out to release them. Once the parts are prepped and cleaned, new bushes and bearings can be fitted ready for reassembly.
Classic Car Technician Neil has been prepping the chassis of our 1953 Aston Martin DB2/4. Alongside this, Clinton has been pulling dents out of the car and repairing them.
Once the chassis was fully prepped, Tony took it to be powder coated.
Christian has had our 1953 Aston Martin DB2/4 in the fabrication bay as he has been making some repairs on the chassis.
While he was doing this, many of the parts are now being stripped, cleaned and checked ready for painting. New bushes and other small parts have been ordered, and when the parts have been painted, the sub assemblies can then be rebuilt ready to be fitted to the chassis and body.
Over the last few days, the workshop team have been completing some final checks and road testing our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 in readiness for completion and hand back to the customer.
The lights have been checked and set, all levels checked and topped up, and road tested with small adjustments and checks each time. Technician James fixed a small fuel leak on one of the carburettors, checked all the bolts for tightness, and removed the speedo head for calibration to ensure its accuracy.
The bump stops for the bonnet have been renewed and the brakes re-adjusted after bedding them in.
Our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 has been getting a lot of attention lately. The stripped chassis has been sent off to the sandblasters.
Before it went, Rob stripped the last remaining parts off the shell and chassis and removed the bodyshell. He also separated the sill/bulkhead structure from the rear bodyshell. Rob went on to remove the steel inner structure from the outer ally rear body in preparation for blast cleaning.
Last week, James started to strip the running gear down of our 1953 Aston Martin DB2/4 for refurbishment. The axles have been broken down into component parts ready for blasting/cleaning and then painting, any worn or damaged parts have been located and will be replaced on re-assembly. The brake and clutch pedal unit has also been stripped and will be refurbished ready for when the chassis is back so the rebuild can start.
Rob has continued the strip down of our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe.
As he was doing this, he found some highly questionable previous repairs. I think Rob said it best when he said:
“The next time you look at a classic car, however much it may be worth nowadays, just remember that once it was just an old car, and worth less than a packet of fags, and will have been bodged up accordingly. This is the previous repair that has been carried out to some very extensive damage on the sill of the Aston. Mind-boggling!”
Rob also removed all the securing bolts and lowered the front and rear suspension assemblies, as complete units, ready to be stripped for rebuilding at a later date.
The front doors and windows have now been stripped out ready for refurbishment, all parts will be cleaned, sorted, painted or replaced where necessary before refitting the newly painted doors and body, when they are ready.
The mechanical strip out of our 1953 Aston Martin DB2/4 has started at the rear of the car. The tailgate, lights, spare wheel carrier and fuel tank have all been removed. Classic car technician James actually found some of the original black paint on the car too!
The dashboard and clocks have also been stripped out ready for refurbishment. James made sure that the wiring was labelled for reference and pictures were taken to aid in reassembly later on.
Brian and Lydia have also been working on the interior of our rare Aston. They removed the old covers from the front seats before going on to remove the foam and runners as well. The seats from this vehicle were in fairly bad condition and did not want to come apart easily. Lydia ended up grinding away a lot of the screw heads to be able to remove the seat back from the base. She then cleaned up the interior dash cubby boxes and the door pockets too.
Brian removed the metal runners from the base of the seats, and the base foams. He then removed the carpet from the back of the squab seat, removed the old cover & foams, removed all side wood sections, removed frames, and cut out new side wood sections & new backboards.
Perhaps the most obvious change to our DB2/4 is that the body has now been removed. This is a big step in the strip down and the whole team is excited to see this beautiful car continue to make progress.
Brian and Lydia have continued their work on our 1953 Aston Martin DB2/4.
Using the new plywood panels that Brian had cut out for her, Lydia covered them in leather at the top. The bottom part is a piece of carpet with bound edges, so she also cut and sewed this , then attached it to the panel with staples.
The wooden-shaped pieces are simply covered directly with leather, so Lydia cut the material out and glued it straight onto them.
Parts of the interior were painted black before Brian repaired the tailgate top trim panel as well as the headliner.
Lydia then covered the pre-made wooden panels in headlining fabric. Some panels required a small amount of padding, so she added some scrim foam to these before covering them in wool headlining material.
Brian and Lydia have been working on our 1953 Aston Martin DB2/4, specifically the centre console and rear panels.
Using the existing material from the original, Lydia remade the centre console to match the new leather choice. This involved cutting and making new piping, new top and side sections, and also covering the wooden base section. The paintwork underneath was looking a bit tatty, so Lydia cleaned this off and then re-sprayed it with a fresh coat of black.
As for the rear side panels, the old ones had all but disintegrated. Lydia cut new ones from plywood, checking the shape in the car as she went. Then she cut new fabric and binding for the cover, sewed this together, and glued the new piece to the board.
We currently have 3 Aston Martin DB2/4s in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop. Out of all of them, our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Mark I is the furthest along its restoration journey.
In fact, it is coming to the end of its time in the workshop, and preparations have already begun to complete road tests and alike ready for it to go home to its owner very soon.
Before we can fire it up though, classic car technician Paul fitted a new starter motor as well as making and fitting a new main cable.
The video of our Aston Martin DB2/4 firing up for the first time is coming soon…
Brian has started work on our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe.
He has been making the centre console lid.
He did this by making the wood base, adding the wood edge sections, glueing this to the base section, making a new foam top section, cutting to shape, and fitting foam to the wood base.
The Bridge Classic Cars interior trim team of Brian and Lydia have continued their work on the interior of our 1953 Aston Martin DB2/4.
Lydia carried on her previous work making the seat backs. She altered the shaping slightly to improve the fit, added piping where necessary and then attached the sides. Lydia then fitted the covers with staples, cutting out excess foam and leather where needed to ensure there was no extra bulk in corner areas.
To finish off the seat backs, Lydia stapled the piping on, shaped and bound the carpet, and then used small tacks to secure this on. Before binding the carpet, she skived the piece of leather she was using to ensure there was no extra bulk, and that the carpet would sit flat. Lydia had to move the position of the piping a few times to make sure that it sat close to the edge of the carpet, and that no staples were showing. The seats are now ready to fit into the car when it’s ready!
Brian repaired the damaged wood rail, cutting new leather & covering the rail.
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