The John’s have been working mainly on the doors recently. They’ve cut counter sunk bolts to length, fitted and secured both door locks. The door seals have now been fitted into the channels around the door before securing the front
The engine has now been removed in preparation for the engine rebuild.
It’s been a long time coming but we have finally completed the pre delivery inspection on our 1976 Leyland Mini Clubman 1100. The road test proved a success. Just had to inflate the tyres and torque up the wheel nuts.
Scott is making great progress with our 1969 Morris Minor rebuild. Various components are now back on the engine and the fit up of the front end continues.
The engine for the 1969 Mercedes Pagoda is back after its engineering work with Scholar Engines. The cylinder head has been precision skimmed and new valve guides cut to the specifications of our in-house engine builder Ady. Since its arrival
Our in-house engine builder at Bridge Classic Cars, Ady, has been working at trying to get to the bottom of the oil leak with the 1963 Jaguar MkII 3.4. At idle, the engine would behave itself perfectly. Not a spot
On Friday, the newly-built engine was plunged into the bay of the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona, using a heavy duty crane, with Scott and Ady levering the engine in with the chains. The car originally came to us with an
Ady has carefully removed the o’ring from our Jaguar MkII oil pump to replace with new. The parts are all here on the shelf and we’ll start the rebuild of the engine very soon.
Paul has successfully removed the engine from our beautiful blue 1969 Mercedes 280SL Pagoda. The engine will be rebuilt by Ady and the engine bay will be detailed as part of the project. Apart from a couple of small paint
The sun was shining here in Suffolk this afternoon, the perfect weather for a lovely run out in the 280SL. Craig headed up to Rendlesham to experience the issues with the engine running. It’s one of those classics that oozes
Our 1954 Jaguar MKVII has had its cylinder head welded to resolve corroded water ways. Ady has also started revuilding the engine after its been re-bored, cleaned and painted.
Having been in storage for many years with our friends at Brown and Gammons it’s time for the car to out and see the sunshine. We have been commissioned to rebuild the engine and marry up the gearbox. Work will
Our 1960 MGA engine has been cleaned and ready to be rebuilt. The crankshaft, conrods and engine block has been sent off to Scholar who has told us that the crankshaft needs to be totally replaced. The photos below show
Ady has continued working on our 1960 MGA buy removing the cylinder head in his endeavour to fix the issue with the engine.
We’re delighted to announce that our little 1934 Austin Seven Nippy engine has been fully restored. We’re currently awaiting the fly wheel and clutch to arrive but otherwise the engine is ready to be fitted back in!
Our Austin Seven Nippy engine has recently been sent off to Ian R Bancroft Restorations to make sure everything is moving, turning and working as it should be as we discovered a crack in the crankcase. Once this comes back,
The Austin Nippy engine rebuild has continued with our knowledgeable engine specialist Ady. Ady has been working to cut the valve seats, re-bore the engine to take new pistons, white-metaled the conrods to suit the crank shaft, re-profiled the camshaft
Our 1934 Austin Seven Nippy had an issue with rattling pistons that were needing to be bored. We’d sent the components off to Coltec to be pressure tested and bored so that the liner and piston sit in the Austin
We’re currently diagnosing an engine issue with our 1972 Peugeot 504. After going for its test drive, we discovered what we think to be an injector pipe leak. With everything else completed, the final job to do is to repair
Our poor little 1934 Austin Seven Nippy has had some mysterious leaks. The previous engineer had welded the metal and covered the suspected leaking area with sealant. Unfortunately the sealant had not stood the test of time and came off
We discovered what seems to be a wiring issue in the engine of our 1988 Nissan 300ZX. After taking an intensive look, Ady diagnosed the problem to possibly be a cold starting issue with the choke. Although this is situated
Our 1934 Austin Seven Nippy is currently undergoing some open-heart surgery for its precious engine. We discovered a crack in the clutch so both the clutch and the flywheel have been sent away to Norwich Brake and Clutch who specialise
We’ve just welcomed this beautiful 1934 Austin Seven Nippy into the workshop for some engine repairs. The current diagnosis is that it needs an engine rebuild as there seem to be some oil issues. Our aim is to troubleshoot the
We’ve been very busy this week with winners and photoshoots as well as ongoing works to our current projects! Check out the news section of our website for in depth exclusives on our current cars. Live Draws and Winners This
The Peony Red Jensen 541S has had its engine rebuilt. Our engine specialist has been working to refurbish and rebuild the old engine. No one ever claimed that rebuilding engines were easier, nor pretty… Ady cleared out this huge sludge
Our specialist technicians have been working hard on the 1960 Jensen 541S restoration. The latest refurbishments include smoothing and correcting the doors by filling any holes, taking out rust and installing custom made metal pieces. Our engine specialist Ady carried
Our 1985 Lotus Esprit Turbo is back with us for a diagnostics and a possible full engine rebuild. Our engine expert Ady has the whole engine out of the car, with many of its components removed for closer inspection. “When
It’s a bitter sweet feeling when we say our final goodbye’s to a classic that’s been with us for a full restoration. Our gorgeous 1960 MG A has been with us for over a year, so we’ve got pretty used
The 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona has had her engine removed this morning by our expert technicians Ady, Mauro and Tom. “The engine is the heaviest we’ve ever dealt with here” explained Ady, our engine specialist. “We’ve had to source a
Ady, Bridge Classic Cars Engine Expert has been working on the complete rebuild of our 190SL Engine. This is the first time it’s fired up in months. He just needs to adjust the timing and a few other minor tweaks,
The John’s have been working mainly on the doors recently. They’ve cut counter sunk bolts to length, fitted and secured both door locks. The door seals have now been fitted into the channels around the door before securing the front piece with clips.
They they’ve moved on to the boot area where they’ve fitted hose clips to the fuel pipes.
It has been a good number of years now since the engine was fully rebuilt on the SL but as it is such a complex engine that requires everything to very just so, we have decided to send the engine back off to Coltec Engineering to be checked over and tested ready for refit.
The engine has now been removed in preparation for the engine rebuild.
It’s been a long time coming but we have finally completed the pre delivery inspection on our 1976 Leyland Mini Clubman 1100.
The road test proved a success. Just had to inflate the tyres and torque up the wheel nuts.
Jon has refitted the engine identification plate after the engine work has been carried out and she’s now good to go. Next stop, a very understanding and patient Henry who won the car back in January and is yet to see it. I’m sure, with all the unexpected work identified in the previous pre delivery inspection he’ll now be one very happy man.
Scott is making great progress with our 1969 Morris Minor rebuild. Various components are now back on the engine and the fit up of the front end continues.
The engine for the 1969 Mercedes Pagoda is back after its engineering work with Scholar Engines.
The cylinder head has been precision skimmed and new valve guides cut to the specifications of our in-house engine builder Ady. Since its arrival back, the camshaft and valves have been installed into the beautiful cylinder head. This engine is a stunning piece of 1960s engineering alone but after its clean up and refacing, it looks absolutely spectacular and will perform even better.
Ady then began to assemble the long-block as much as we can whilst we await the arrival of the new pistons.
Expect to see more on the progress of the engine build for the 1969 Mercedes 280SL Pagoda at Bridge Classic Cars.
Our in-house engine builder at Bridge Classic Cars, Ady, has been working at trying to get to the bottom of the oil leak with the 1963 Jaguar MkII 3.4.
At idle, the engine would behave itself perfectly. Not a spot of oil but any higher in the revs and it would begin to leak. Ady has spent countless hours hanging over the engine bay of the MkII trying to get to the root cause of the issue. He believes he has found the cause.
Upon inspection for the oil leak, Ady has found the bores in several cylinders to be heavily scored.
With some of the pistons, the rings have too much play in them and allow a lot of the cylinder head pressure to escape past the rings, down the cylinder and into the crankcase. With this added pressure, it begins to push the oil out to any opening that may have a weakness.
The rear main seal on the MkII 3.4’s is a split seal design. Meaning at the bottom engine they are cut to allow them to be slipped into place during installation. This, with the added crankcase pressure, has been pushing the oil from the crankcase through the rear seal and out. So a combination of pistons slop, ring movement and too much crankcase pressure have been causing the leak we have been searching for.
The only remedy for this in Ady’s experience, is a full engine rebuild with new parts including a rebore to clean up the cylinder walls.
Keep an eye on the Bridge Classic Cars blog for more updates on the MkII 3.4.
On Friday, the newly-built engine was plunged into the bay of the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona, using a heavy duty crane, with Scott and Ady levering the engine in with the chains. The car originally came to us with an over-heated engine, so wasn’t running. Fortunately, it came with a spare Jaguar V12 engine. The old, blown one was stripped apart and any useful parts were left to be used in the re-building. Scott’s now been re-connecting everything back in the engine bay now it’s in.
Ady has carefully removed the o’ring from our Jaguar MkII oil pump to replace with new.
The parts are all here on the shelf and we’ll start the rebuild of the engine very soon.
Paul has successfully removed the engine from our beautiful blue 1969 Mercedes 280SL Pagoda. The engine will be rebuilt by Ady and the engine bay will be detailed as part of the project.
Apart from a couple of small paint imperfections the engine bay is very good order so a really good clean followed by some touching up in places will present us with a lovely space to return the engine to once completed.
The sun was shining here in Suffolk this afternoon, the perfect weather for a lovely run out in the 280SL. Craig headed up to Rendlesham to experience the issues with the engine running.
It’s one of those classics that oozes class and sophistication. Lots of smiles and admiring glances as we drove through the villages…we assume it was for the car and not Craig!
The car is in with us for a full engine rebuild. Work will commence very soon.
Our 1954 Jaguar MKVII has had its cylinder head welded to resolve corroded water ways.
Ady has also started revuilding the engine after its been re-bored, cleaned and painted.
Having been in storage for many years with our friends at Brown and Gammons it’s time for the car to out and see the sunshine.
We have been commissioned to rebuild the engine and marry up the gearbox.
Work will commence very soon.
Our 1960 MGA engine has been cleaned and ready to be rebuilt. The crankshaft, conrods and engine block has been sent off to Scholar who has told us that the crankshaft needs to be totally replaced. The photos below show the extent of the wear on the bearings. The conrods also need to be resized, the bearings need tuning into the conrods and the camshaft bearings need to be fitted by Scholar as well as being honed and cleaned.
Ady has continued working on our 1960 MGA buy removing the cylinder head in his endeavour to fix the issue with the engine.
We’re delighted to announce that our little 1934 Austin Seven Nippy engine has been fully restored. We’re currently awaiting the fly wheel and clutch to arrive but otherwise the engine is ready to be fitted back in!
Our Austin Seven Nippy engine has recently been sent off to Ian R Bancroft Restorations to make sure everything is moving, turning and working as it should be as we discovered a crack in the crankcase. Once this comes back, Ady, our knowledgable engine specialist can continue to rebuild the engine.
The Austin Nippy engine rebuild has continued with our knowledgeable engine specialist Ady.
Ady has been working to cut the valve seats, re-bore the engine to take new pistons, white-metaled the conrods to suit the crank shaft, re-profiled the camshaft to fix any imperfections and laid out all the parts ready to place them back together.
Our 1934 Austin Seven Nippy had an issue with rattling pistons that were needing to be bored. We’d sent the components off to Coltec to be pressure tested and bored so that the liner and piston sit in the Austin engine better.
We’re currently diagnosing an engine issue with our 1972 Peugeot 504. After going for its test drive, we discovered what we think to be an injector pipe leak. With everything else completed, the final job to do is to repair this pipe by taking the components apart and remanufacture the part.
Last week the 504 also had some new headlights fitted by our electrical specialist Adam. After rewiring and installing the lights, the 504 is ready to tackle those dark winter mornings.
Our poor little 1934 Austin Seven Nippy has had some mysterious leaks. The previous engineer had welded the metal and covered the suspected leaking area with sealant. Unfortunately the sealant had not stood the test of time and came off when we were cleaning the engine.
We want to go the next step and discover why the engine is leaking. Our engine specialist Ady aims to coat the inside with a red sealant spray. The purpose of using a red spray is that it will seep through any cracks and identify precisely where the damage is. From there we can weld only the areas needing it rather than a general area.
We discovered what seems to be a wiring issue in the engine of our 1988 Nissan 300ZX. After taking an intensive look, Ady diagnosed the problem to possibly be a cold starting issue with the choke. Although this is situated in the engine, it’s more of an electrics issue.
More news to follow!
Our 1934 Austin Seven Nippy is currently undergoing some open-heart surgery for its precious engine. We discovered a crack in the clutch so both the clutch and the flywheel have been sent away to Norwich Brake and Clutch who specialise in Edwardian and Victorian motors. We’ve also sent the rest of the engine off to Coltec.
We’ve just welcomed this beautiful 1934 Austin Seven Nippy into the workshop for some engine repairs. The current diagnosis is that it needs an engine rebuild as there seem to be some oil issues. Our aim is to troubleshoot the engine, identify the exact faults and advise the customer on what to do next.
The Austin Seven Nippy was the brainchild of Herbert Austin and Stanley Edge than run from 1922 to 1937. Despite only 682 models being made, the Austin Seven Nippy was responsible for helping motorise Britain, with the car providing the same footprint as a motorcycle and sidecar whilst still offering all the advantages of an automobile.
The Nippy clever abut simple engineering is based around an ‘A-frame’ chassis which is equipped with an all-round leaf-sprung suspension. The earlier models were fitted with just a three-speed manual gearbox whereas the later models, including ours, has a four-speed gearbox. This small and brisk sports car benefits from a lowered centre of gravity making it an amusing and ‘nippy’ drive.
It’s fun to see a car with a cranking handle such as what this Austin Nippy has. Although it was commonplace for cars at the time, it’s always interesting when we get one in the workshop. The cranking handle manually turns over the engine acted as a backup. It functioned much in the same way as bump starting the car. Cranking handles slowly phased out of car designs, often with the levers ending up in the toolbox as a last resort.
We’ve been very busy this week with winners and photoshoots as well as ongoing works to our current projects! Check out the news section of our website for in depth exclusives on our current cars.
This week we aired to live videos! One being on Wednesday night as a Hanger walk around, teasing some of the cars to come which must have enticed some extra ticket buyers as all three competition cars were drawn and won last night!
A big congratulations to James Colwell for winning our 1979 Mini Clubman with his lucky ticket number 850. Our 1998 Jaguar XJR Supercharged was won by Sam Holmes with his ticket number 134. Finally, our 1999 Mercedes was won by Robert Read with ticket number 131. Although his ticket number was selected, it wasn’t the first ticket number to be chosen by Google’s random number generator. The first ticket pulled was 183, a number assigned to an unbought ticket. This just goes to show it’s worth buying those extra tickets as that could have been you!
We released some details about our new Chevron B20 earlier in the week. Here’s a closer look at our new race car. We’re planning on doing an official shoot for this iconic vehicle next week, so stay tuned!
Yesterday we welcomed this 1934 Austin Nippy to the workshop. This little car is visiting us for an engine rebuild. We’ll be uploading more details about the car and its restoration soon!
As you may have seen in our previous blog, our beautiful 1973 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Race Car project has finally been completed. This has been in progress since 2016 and this week we saw the finishing details such as these pinstripes added.
We can’t wait to start it up and photograph it! Keep an eye out for its full story and photoshoot coming next week!
The Peony Red Jensen 541S has had its engine rebuilt. Our engine specialist has been working to refurbish and rebuild the old engine.
No one ever claimed that rebuilding engines were easier, nor pretty… Ady cleared out this huge sludge ball from the Peony Red’s engine. This rather dubious-looking ball of sludge is made from hard water and dirt caught up in the engine. Its all part of the job…
Our specialist technicians have been working hard on the 1960 Jensen 541S restoration. The latest refurbishments include smoothing and correcting the doors by filling any holes, taking out rust and installing custom made metal pieces.
Our engine specialist Ady carried out a full engine rebuild and has modified the piston holes by making sure the edges are bevelled at an angle rather than a sharp 90 degrees angle. This ensures the pistons fit in neater.
The rest of the engine rebuild has included the rocker fingers being refaced and re-boring with bigger pistons
Our 1985 Lotus Esprit Turbo is back with us for a diagnostics and a possible full engine rebuild.
Our engine expert Ady has the whole engine out of the car, with many of its components removed for closer inspection. “When fitting the cylinder head to the cylinder block, you have to torque the cylinder head up to a certain lbs per ft.” Ady explains. “It was in doing this that I found that the thread in the cylinder block was completely stripped.”
Being an all aluminium engine means the wear and tear is so much greater on the threads. An aluminium engine does however give the Lotus Esprit Turbo its high-speed performance, so it’s swings and roundabouts one might say!
You can see the extent of the damage from the pictures of the parts shown below. The problems been rectified by putting a helicoil into engine.
Our spirited Esprit is longing to be driven down some winding Great British roads. We’re doing all we can to get her back to tip-top condition and return her to her owner as quickly as possible.
It’s a bitter sweet feeling when we say our final goodbye’s to a classic that’s been with us for a full restoration. Our gorgeous 1960 MG A has been with us for over a year, so we’ve got pretty used to seeing this beautiful car every day.
We’ve completed many an MG restoration over the years, but none quite tugged on our heartstrings quite like this one. Not least because of how beautiful the car is itself, but the owner Mike too, who’s won us over with the love he holds for this very special piece of history.
Mike is clearly besotted with his MGA, and rightly so. We too couldn’t help but swoon over the pictures of the MGA from back in her prime in the 70’s. “I was driven in this MGA on my wedding day, by my best man” Mike told us, “so it holds a very special place in my heart”.
After years searching for his beloved MG A, Mike eventually tracked her down. She’d spent 26 years stored in a barn, and although we could all see her potential, a lot of work needed to be done.
Mike had met the Bridge Classic Cars team years before, so knew we were the ones he wanted to bring his precious MGA back to life. We started work on the MGA by stripping the car bare and removing the engine to complete a full engine rebuild.
With the engine parts restored, any parts that couldn’t be restored replaced and a fresh coat of paint on the engine block, the engine was then fully reassembled and looked a treat.
The car’s shell was treated to a good rub down and primed, ahead of going into our specialist paint shop here at Bridge Classic Cars. With so much nostalgia attached to this car, Mike decided to keep her in the original signal red he knew and loved.
The MGA had a lot of mechanical and electrical work to have done to get her into full working order. Restoration work was carried out by Bridge Classic Car’s specialists technicians on the dashboard, suspension, gearbox and brakes.
It was then time for the Bridge Classic Cars specialist trim shop to work their magic on the cars interior. For a full interior restoration the MG A was given newly upholstered chairs, flooring, door and boot panels.
Not forgetting the MGA’s iconic soft top, which was also treated to a custom made roof by Bridge’s specialist trim shop team. All in-keeping with the original design of the car, but with a black roof, as per Mikes request.
With the final finishing touches added to this stunning car, including chrome bumpers, wing badges, a new windscreen and a spare tyre cover, the 1960 MG A was really starting to look like herself again.
As the entire car was undergoing a full restoration, most members of the Bridge Classic Cars family play a part in putting this beauty back together again. We are so chuffed with the final result – as is Mike!
Mike came to collect his pride and joy and was overwhelmed with the special memories this classic car brings back to him.
Mike marked the occasion with a special poem, written especially for us at Bridge Classic Cars.
From a barn to a palace – Bridge Classics.
From a palace to a crown.
The crown fits an Austin Princess,
But who now wears the crown?
1960 to 2020 – the story goes,
The crown was replaced by an octagon (no less!)
In which the immortal letters MG are found,
And in 60 long years,
She faithfully conveyed seven proud owners-
With assorted histories of lives lived and journeys made.
And where is she now?
Why back with me my lads and lassies,
My very first car!
Oh, what a star.
Come back from afar.
Thank you all, at Bridge Classic Cars’
We all wish Mike many more joyous road trips in his beautiful 1960 MG A, it’s been an absolute pleasure for us to restore. Happy driving Mike!
The 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona has had her engine removed this morning by our expert technicians Ady, Mauro and Tom.
“The engine is the heaviest we’ve ever dealt with here” explained Ady, our engine specialist. “We’ve had to source a heavy duty crane especially to lift it out.”
The car came to us as a non-runner, the engine was completely blown. Ady diagnosed a water leak from the bottom hose, causing the engine to completely overheat. It’s sadly spent many years not being driven.
Ady and Mauro carefully remove the heaviest engine we’ve ever had at Bridge Classic Cars!
The spare Jaguar V12 engine is currently being worked on by our specialist engine partners. Now the old engines out, it’ll be stripped for parts and whatever that can be salvaged will be, ready to be used on the new engine.
One way or another, our talented team will get this baby back on the road. We can’t wait to hear that engine roar!
Ady, Bridge Classic Cars Engine Expert has been working on the complete rebuild of our 190SL Engine. This is the first time it’s fired up in months. He just needs to adjust the timing and a few other minor tweaks, then it’s ready to be run-in. Great work, Ady!
The engine was firstly mounted to the subframe before the rest of the vehicle is lowered onto the the subframe.
