Paint prep for the Jaguar Mk II engine.
August 20, 2021
Lydia has been taking the flaking paint off the engine block for the 1963 Jaguar Mk II 3.4. It’s going to get re-painted, so a
paint prep
Capri gets stripped!
August 20, 2021
Chris has started to strip the 1983 Ford Capri 1.6 LS, in preparation for re-painting.
Flaky Lancia lights.
August 19, 2021
Lydia has been helping Matt with the headlights for the 1978 Lancia Beta. After the paint was found to be flaking off them, they were
Continuing prep work for the Honda.
August 3, 2021
Chris and Lydia have been continuing their work on the 1998 Honda Integra Type R in the paint shop. As before, Chris has been spraying
Colour Matching on the TR5
January 21, 2021
Our TR5 has been colour matched today by our friend and partner, Dean, from GB Refinish.
The Mercedes Has Blue Blood
November 12, 2020
Our 1987 Mercedes 500SL has had its colour transformation initiated with a prep mask being applied in the engine bay. It then continued to have
MGA Bodywork Progress
February 4, 2020
Our MGA restoration has been progressing nicely. The body has been down in our in-house trim shop with Chris. Chris has been checking body panel
Paint prep for the Jaguar Mk II engine.
August 20, 2021
Lydia has been taking the flaking paint off the engine block for the 1963 Jaguar Mk II 3.4. It’s going to get re-painted, so a smooth surface is required. The block was cleaned several times first to get grease and dirt off. She used an air gun, to begin with, to blow off as much as possible, then a mini air sander for the worst bits that were on a flat surface, and sanded the curved flaking areas by hand. Once all the sanding was done, the engine block got blown again with an air gun to remove debris and then cleaned over a few times. Lydia finally masked up any areas that aren’t getting painted. It’s now ready to go in the spray booth!
Capri gets stripped!
August 20, 2021
Chris has started to strip the 1983 Ford Capri 1.6 LS, in preparation for re-painting.
Flaky Lancia lights.
August 19, 2021
Lydia has been helping Matt with the headlights for the 1978 Lancia Beta. After the paint was found to be flaking off them, they were taken into the paint shop, where Matt removed the existing paint completely and then primed them. Lydia then sanded down the primer to obtain a smooth finish for the final painting stage. They’re now all masked up again and ready for the spray booth!
Continuing prep work for the Honda.
August 3, 2021
Chris and Lydia have been continuing their work on the 1998 Honda Integra Type R in the paint shop.
As before, Chris has been spraying primer onto various panels from the car, including the front and rear bumpers, the sills, the registration plate panel, the spoiler and the wings.
Lydia has then been sanding down this primer, using either a block sander, DA sander or by hand. She covered each panel in black guide coat beforehand to help see how much sanding needed to be done. You can read about last week’s work on them here. https://bridgeclassiccars.co.uk/more-stages-of-the-prep-work-for-the-honda-integra/
Colour Matching on the TR5
January 21, 2021
“Colour is a power which directly influences the soul.” – Wassily Kandinsky
Our TR5 has been colour matched today by our friend and partner, Dean, from GB Refinish. Before Dean was able to assess the colour, one of our paint technicians had to polish part of the car so that the CME Colour Matcher can work its magic without picking up any dust, as that will affect its accuracy. We’re needing to add some paint touch-ups to the TR5 but didn’t know the exact colour as it was painted elsewhere but this is where Dean comes in!
Dean uses a nifty piece of equipment called the CME – Colour Explorer. This clever device used LED technology which asses the colour and creates unique codes for the surface that it has scanned. This scanning is done at several angles and when complete, Dean will then plug the device into his computer where it will provide the unique codes that will relate to an exact colour.
This is an incredibly useful tool when trying to colour match on classic cars that may have bespoke or ‘extinct’ colours that would otherwise be impossible to find. Dean’s expertise and equipment mean we can find the exact colour needed to ensure that each classic retains its original colour. Having Dean as a partner and contact at Bridge Classic Cars means we can provide specialist paint services.
The Mercedes Has Blue Blood
November 12, 2020
Our 1987 Mercedes 500SL has had its colour transformation initiated with a prep mask being applied in the engine bay. It then continued to have prime and topcoat added.
Soon it’ll have a whole body of fresh paint.
MGA Bodywork Progress
February 4, 2020
Our MGA restoration has been progressing nicely. The body has been down in our in-house trim shop with Chris. Chris has been checking body panel fitment and making any nessasary adjustments for perfect panel gapping.
From this stage, the panels have been thoroughly prepared. Chris has sanded and filled in the panels multiple times to make sure the surface is perfect before it goes into paint.
Great work, Chris! We can’t wait to see how this MGA looks after painting!
