The Bridge Classic Cars in-house restoration technicians are not new to the world of Jensen 541’s, after restoring several of the 541, 541S and 541R’s
The 1962 Jensen 541S that is currently in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop is currently undergoing a full wiring harness swap. Our workshop manager, John,
The 1962 Jensen 541S that is currently in at Bridge Classic Cars for some work has been handed over to our technician Tom to begin
Our 1960 Peony Red Jensen is having its newly built dashboard fitted by Tom and the chrome adjusted by Paul. Kath has continued with the
Our 1957 Jensen 541R/S is having some final adjustments to its engine and mechanics. We’ve just fitted heat protection to our plug leads, made a
Paul has fit the heat shield into the engine as well as the front grill and badge into our 1960 Peony Red Jensen 541S. Every
Recovering the rear side panels and rear side window surrounds included cutting out dark blue leather to cover the wood and glueing them to the
We visited Jensen Service Limited in Winchester to take a look at this Jensen 541S. This classic Jensen would make the perfect restoration project…who’s in?
Our stunning custom build Peony Red Jensen is really taking shape now. Thanks to the continuous hard work from our skilled classic car technicians, this
Our lovely 1960 Peony Red Jensen 541S is at the stage where we’re putting lots of pieces back together and fitting them in, meaning that
Our 1957 Jensen 541 R(S) is currently being worked through its snag list, which is essentially a list compiled of areas that need to be
Brian has been working on the door cappings for our 1960 Peony Red Jensen 541S. He began by fitting metal brackets to the rear door
We’ve been working on securing the 1959 Jensen 541R’s rear axle frame. New rear axle straps have been manufactured by hand in the workshop and
The bonnet, boot and internal components have been painted for our 1960 Jensen 541S. The parts sat in primer and a base coat before having
Pictured below is the Silver 1959 Jensen 541R recent wiring ammends. John had found that when wiring up, the overdrive didn’t engage. After an investigation,
Tom has been working hard to finish the wiring looms on our silver 1959 541R Jensen. He’s linked the main loom to the dash loom
Our 1961 541S Jensen was having issues with over-heating, but luckily, our classic car technician Paul, put his mind to investigating the issue. He found
Tom has been working on re-wiring the wiring looms in the 1959 Jensen 541R. He’s recently completed the lights and has now started on the
John has fitted a dynamator into our 1960 Jensen 541R. A dynamator is an alternator fitted within the original dynamo housing. Our Jensen 541R project
Paul and Scott are both working on our 1957 Jensen 541R restoration. Today Scott is fitting in the headlights while Paul is installing the handbrake
Bob, Bridge Classic Cars’ electrical specialist has been working on our gorgeous rare 1960 Jensen 541R. He’s connected the wiring loom through the bulkhead and
We’ve made great progress on our beautiful 1960 Jensen 541 R. Bob has installed the wiring harness, front and rear lights and indicators. Paul has
The Bridge Classic Cars in-house restoration technicians are not new to the world of Jensen 541’s, after restoring several of the 541, 541S and 541R’s we have some experience in doing jobs on them.
This particular 1962 Jensen 541S came into us to have a few jobs carried out on it.
Firstly it was the job of our technician Tamas to remove the old steering column from the car as the customer had requested it be replaced in favour of a new power steering unit. Carefully and with the old wiring harness out of the way, Tamas worked on getting the new unit fitted up to the dark green, luxury GT. After that, Tamas made sure that everything fit up to the car with the new harness in place to ensure nothing caught or bound up on the new column and also to check the column-mounted shifter all worked seamlessly.
Then it was time to get the new wiring harness fitted to the car. Our workshop manager John, began with completely removing the old harness from the car and preparing each piece for the brand new harness to be put into the car. Then, it was the turn of our restoration technician Tamas to get the new harness entirely installed into the car. He began by wiring up the new harness into the back of the dashboard and gauges whilst on the work bench. Then with this, he carefully refit the original dash back into the making sure to drape the specific wires through the dash structure to keep them all neat and organised. Then, he systematically went through the harness to connect it into the relevant systems of the car and began testing. Everything worked perfectly!
The 1962 Jensen 541S that is currently in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop is currently undergoing a full wiring harness swap.
Our workshop manager, John, has been given the task of changing over from the old harness to the bespoke harness for the car. John has been making sure that everything is prepped and ready for the new harness but he has found a couple of issues.
This particular 541S has been fitted with electric fans which on inspection of the wiring, was just twisted together and taped over. John cut this out and remade the extensions for it to be wired up to the new harness. The main aim of the new harness is the safety and longevity for the owner so John is making sure each of the systems is being checked as it is installed.
The 1962 Jensen 541S that is currently in at Bridge Classic Cars for some work has been handed over to our technician Tom to begin preparing the car for its new components.
The first job for Tom is to strip the original wiring harness out of the car as we have ordered an entire new loom for the car to make sure all the electrical system works absolutely spot on. A key point for all classic cars. With such a handbuilt car, Tom has had to almost trace every wire individually from front to back in order to make sure everything is removed and safe. After this, each part of the harness is catalogued and stored just in case.
Next, Tom has removed the steering column which is due to be replaced on this particular car. For that Tom had to carefully remove the entire dash to gain access to the gear linkage which is controlled via the column. With everything disconnected and the dash out of the car, Tom could begin to also catalogue and assess each individual component.
There will be more happening on the 1962 Jensen 541S very soon so keep an eye out on the Bridge Classic Cars news page for more.
Our 1960 Peony Red Jensen is having its newly built dashboard fitted by Tom and the chrome adjusted by Paul.
Kath has continued with the door side panels and had now completed the passenger side. She has screwed in the panels for the air vents, added carpet fasteners and was then ready for Tom to work on the dash and Paul to work on the chrome.
Our 1957 Jensen 541R/S is having some final adjustments to its engine and mechanics. We’ve just fitted heat protection to our plug leads, made a bracket to secure the alternator, made a gear leaver and re-bled the clutch and breaks.
Paul has fit the heat shield into the engine as well as the front grill and badge into our 1960 Peony Red Jensen 541S. Every day our Peony Red is starting to resemble a real car more and more as it makes exciting developments daily.
Recovering the rear side panels and rear side window surrounds included cutting out dark blue leather to cover the wood and glueing them to the front of the wood followed by wrapping around the underneath, trimming to shape and glueing down.
Making the new sideboards on the front squab seats for the Jensen included sewing up the corners first to fit over metal bars, stapling them onto the seat around the back, gluing the front of each sideband onto the foam, trimming away the excess leather and then the process is repeated for the other squab.
We visited Jensen Service Limited in Winchester to take a look at this Jensen 541S. This classic Jensen would make the perfect restoration project…who’s in?
Our stunning custom build Peony Red Jensen is really taking shape now. Thanks to the continuous hard work from our skilled classic car technicians, this classic is looking more and more like the beautiful motor it was meant to be. Stay tuned for more exciting updates!
Our lovely 1960 Peony Red Jensen 541S is at the stage where we’re putting lots of pieces back together and fitting them in, meaning that day by day, its looking more like a Jensen. Paul has fitted the vacuum pipe for the carburettor manifold as well as working alongside Tom to fit the sills. With the doors now on as well, the body of the car is more or less recognisable.
Our 1957 Jensen 541 R(S) is currently being worked through its snag list, which is essentially a list compiled of areas that need to be checked and tweaked before its finished.
John is going through all the electrics to check that everything is live and works, and modifying wiring as he goes. He is also readjusting the bonnet lift lever as traditionally it would sit a little too close to the throttle peddle.
Kath is modifying the boot lid trim as the rubber and material is causing some irritation against the metal sills. Kath is currently taking the material off the metal to modify.
Scott is altering the bonnet pin so that the screw fits in tighter as the hole is currently slightly too small as the screw is getting caught mid way.
Due to the V8 Corvette engine that was fitted in Boston in the 1960’s, the owner of this Jensen has decided to have his own personalised model tag fitted to this Jensen that describes it as a 541 R S as it has features of both models.
Brian has been working on the door cappings for our 1960 Peony Red Jensen 541S. He began by fitting metal brackets to the rear door capping and then glueing in the wadding. Brian then glued the leather cover to the door capping and turned the leather over onto the back to neaten up the corners and pull taught the material.
Paul and Ady have recently fit the engine into the Jensen which is arguably one of the key milestones in a restoration. With this now in place, engine refurbishments and adjustments can be made to ensure its up and running.
The assisted power steering pump has also been prepared and fitted into our Jensen.
We’ve been working on securing the 1959 Jensen 541R’s rear axle frame. New rear axle straps have been manufactured by hand in the workshop and bolted in place to avoid unwarranted pressure being applied to the shock absorbers. This also ensures that the rear axle doesn’t move. Our Jensen didn’t originally have these so we’ve had to remove the exhaust lines to fit the straps.
The new front suspension springs have turned out to be too long so we’ve resorted to fitting the old ones back in be recomissioning them by painting and sandblasting them so theyre back to working order.
We’ve also discovered a hole in the front axle which has been welded and fixed before this classic Jensen swiftly leaves us this week.
The bonnet, boot and internal components have been painted for our 1960 Jensen 541S. The parts sat in primer and a base coat before having their iconic Peony Red paint applied. The internal parts and engine block have been painted black to keep them uniform with the rest of the internal elements.
Paul has been working on the mechanical elements for our Jensen, which has included fitting the rear section boot floor, new hand brake cables, and re-manufactured the bolts on the rear axle half shaft.
Ady has been working on refurbishing the engine by attaching a new rear seal conversion and replacing the bolts that hold it in and fitting a new cylinder head with new valves spring and valve guides. The engine has also been rebored to take new pistons, the crankshaft has been reground and new bearings fitted. A new timing chain, cam followers and gaskets have also been fitted.
Ady and Paul are have also been working on fitting the re-conditioned gear box to the engine.
We’ve also fitted the rear lights this week, ready to be wired in.
Pictured below is the Silver 1959 Jensen 541R recent wiring ammends. John had found that when wiring up, the overdrive didn’t engage. After an investigation, John found it was because the solenoid had overheated and melted the terminals, meaning a new solenoid was fitted.
A new stoplight switch has also been fitted because the old stoplight had seized and wouldn’t turn off.
Tom has been working hard to finish the wiring looms on our silver 1959 541R Jensen. He’s linked the main loom to the dash loom and connected up the front loom.
Our 1961 541S Jensen was having issues with over-heating, but luckily, our classic car technician Paul, put his mind to investigating the issue. He found that the wax seal in the thermostat had gotten stuck. To address this he applied a freeing agent that was left overnight so that he could ‘un-stick’ the seal the next day.
The thermostat opens to allow the engine coolant to flow through when it heats up, allowing for the cyclical movement up to the radiator, down through the radiator and round to the thermostat again. With the wax-seal seized closed, hot coolant couldn’t run through the engine, meaning it was overheating.
The thermostat works by regulating the engine temperature. As coolant flows around the engine, it collects excess heat. On leaving the engine, it travels to the radiator, where that excess heat is removed. It then makes a few more stops along its way through the cooling system and finishes back in the engine.
Tom has been working on re-wiring the wiring looms in the 1959 Jensen 541R. He’s recently completed the lights and has now started on the dashboard.
There are 5 wiring looms in total. Two have been completed, two are partially completed (which are the two looms within the dashboard) and the last connects the front looms to the rear. Jensens are known for complex and sophisticated electrics, making the re-wiring a time consuming process.
John has fitted a dynamator into our 1960 Jensen 541R. A dynamator is an alternator fitted within the original dynamo housing. Our Jensen 541R project required a dynamator to cope with the additional electrical draw required to run the power steering.
Whilst installing and wiring in the dynameter, John also installed the wiper motor and connected this up to the wiring loom. Great work, John.
Paul, who is also working on our Jensen restoration has recently fitted the front inner arches and side panels. Paul has also now installed the side panels and all of the sill covers have now been fitted. Dave has almost completed both doors on our 1960 Jensen and is currently working on the rear windows of our 1957 541R.
Paul has completed fabricating the bonnet locators which are now ready for welding. He has also fabricated new sill brackets which are ready to be installed onto the car. Great work, team.
Paul and Scott are both working on our 1957 Jensen 541R restoration. Today Scott is fitting in the headlights while Paul is installing the handbrake lever. Paul has had to shorten the realise button rod to perfectly fit. It’s now being fitted back into the car.
The next major steps will be to complete wiring up the car and prepare the interior for Kath and Brian in the Trim Shop to install interior trim.
Bob, Bridge Classic Cars’ electrical specialist has been working on our gorgeous rare 1960 Jensen 541R. He’s connected the wiring loom through the bulkhead and connected up the dashboard instrumentation.
We’ve made great progress on our beautiful 1960 Jensen 541 R. Bob has installed the wiring harness, front and rear lights and indicators. Paul has fitted the bonnet and bonnet support struts.
This restoration is now really starting to come together. The next stages will be to fit the freshly trimmed dashboard and wire in the dashboard instrumentation.
The wiring harness is labeled by Bob before permanent install.
The bonnet in position before being mounted to the bonnet support struts.
Wiring has now been installed and the lights are tested at this stage.
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